5 ms·

The more time people spend passively consuming entertainment, the less time they spend doing everything else, including socializing. Most everyone I know just

The more time people spend passively consuming entertainment, the less time they spend doing everything else, including socializing. Most everyone I know just sits on their phones, computers, or TVs a good portion of the day. All boredom is banished, all gaps are filled. The threshold for participation and collaboration is higher, because why risk boredom when you have guaranteed-minimum-satisfaction available.

juunpp 4y ago
The best part isn't even "sitting on their phones", but walking on their phones past other humans.
- hotpotamus 4y ago
  Every time I'm stuck behind someone who inexplicably stopped in the middle of a walkway to answer their phone, I just imagine to myself that it's a book and think of how engrossing the plot must be for them to pull it out and read it at the worst possible time, and at least I'm a little more amused than annoyed.
  - juunpp 4y ago
    Lucky you. I get the equivalent of road rage... but on the sidewalk.
    - hotpotamus 4y ago
      Well, now you know my trick for dealing with it, maybe you can try it or work on one of your own ;)
  - henriquemaia 4y ago
    Thank you for sharing such a beautiful strategy to make what is now a common occurrence into something so meaningful. It's like opening up to so many possibilities, even to creativity, as you can start imagining the all possible threads that create those amazing stop-inducing plots. Thank you!
- trashtester 4y ago
  My favourite so far was teenage boy bicycling with both hands and both eyes on the phone on the way to school, crossing right in front of me in an intersection.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
godelski 4y ago
> Most everyone I know just sits on their phones, computers, or TVs a good portion of the day. All boredom is banished, I see this a lot too, but I disagree with the conclusion. I think more people are bored today than have been before. (How many of you browse Netflix or YouTube, jumping platforms, thinking "there's nothing to watch") But we need to recognize that engagement does not mean a lack of boredom but rather addiction. As the article points out, people are substantially more risk adverse now. While that may be good for things like less people doing heavy drinking and such, our lives are inherently risky. If you talk to people about why they have a hard time making friends you'll find that this risk adverse nature often pops up (not the only cause, but one of many). Same with dating. Any type of relationship is inherently risky. You WILL get hurt by some of them too, but that is the price to pay for the high rewards of successful relationships (which can form online). So I am in agreement that there is a "why risk it" aspect of people, but not about boredom. I believe we are self isolating because that's what animals do, especially depressed ones. If our lives are comfortable enough there is little incentive to take any risks. So it sounds weird, but I think a major part of the issue is that our lives have become so well off that there is fewer incentives to push ourselves out of our comfort zones[0]. But we are human too and able to find challenges for ourselves and create discomfort when there is none. This is a double edged sword that is difficult to wield, but I think it is important that we learn it. It is how we better ourselves: putting ourselves in uncomfortable positions[1]. [0] I do think this also plays a role in the (global) rise in authoritarianism, but that is too much for this comment. [1] Even doing things like learning to code, ride a bike, or learn an instrument requires putting ourselves in uncomfortable positions. Specifically because you're never good at something when you first start. But the challenge is supposed to make us stronger.
- errantmind 4y ago
  I'd say risk aversion and boredom aversion go hand-in-hand. Why even consider taking a risk for an unknown amount of baseline satisfaction? It is a lot easier to dopamine surf social media with proven returns on time, even if those returns are meager in comparison to longer-form activities
  - jesuscript 4y ago
harry8 4y ago
People made this very argument about tv. Your phone, like your tv is actually mostly quite boring and needs a bunch of flashy gimmicks to keep you watching, a la Letterman's "tonight's top 10" launch animations to try and hold your interest over how they didn't have the content for 3 jokes in a week let alone 50. Quick edit to something different with colour and movement!
- flyingfences 4y ago
  > People made this very argument about tv. And they were right then, too. I despise the television.

juunpp 4y ago

The best part isn't even "sitting on their phones", but walking on their phones past other humans.

hotpotamus 4y ago
Every time I'm stuck behind someone who inexplicably stopped in the middle of a walkway to answer their phone, I just imagine to myself that it's a book and think of how engrossing the plot must be for them to pull it out and read it at the worst possible time, and at least I'm a little more amused than annoyed.
- juunpp 4y ago
  Lucky you. I get the equivalent of road rage... but on the sidewalk.
  - hotpotamus 4y ago
    Well, now you know my trick for dealing with it, maybe you can try it or work on one of your own ;)
- henriquemaia 4y ago
  Thank you for sharing such a beautiful strategy to make what is now a common occurrence into something so meaningful. It's like opening up to so many possibilities, even to creativity, as you can start imagining the all possible threads that create those amazing stop-inducing plots. Thank you!
trashtester 4y ago
My favourite so far was teenage boy bicycling with both hands and both eyes on the phone on the way to school, crossing right in front of me in an intersection.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

godelski 4y ago

> Most everyone I know just sits on their phones, computers, or TVs a good portion of the day. All boredom is banished, I see this a lot too, but I disagree with the conclusion. I think more people are bored today than have been before. (How many of you browse Netflix or YouTube, jumping platforms, thinking "there's nothing to watch") But we need to recognize that engagement does not mean a lack of boredom but rather addiction. As the article points out, people are substantially more risk adverse now. While that may be good for things like less people doing heavy drinking and such, our lives are inherently risky. If you talk to people about why they have a hard time making friends you'll find that this risk adverse nature often pops up (not the only cause, but one of many). Same with dating. Any type of relationship is inherently risky. You WILL get hurt by some of them too, but that is the price to pay for the high rewards of successful relationships (which can form online). So I am in agreement that there is a "why risk it" aspect of people, but not about boredom. I believe we are self isolating because that's what animals do, especially depressed ones. If our lives are comfortable enough there is little incentive to take any risks. So it sounds weird, but I think a major part of the issue is that our lives have become so well off that there is fewer incentives to push ourselves out of our comfort zones[0]. But we are human too and able to find challenges for ourselves and create discomfort when there is none. This is a double edged sword that is difficult to wield, but I think it is important that we learn it. It is how we better ourselves: putting ourselves in uncomfortable positions[1]. [0] I do think this also plays a role in the (global) rise in authoritarianism, but that is too much for this comment. [1] Even doing things like learning to code, ride a bike, or learn an instrument requires putting ourselves in uncomfortable positions. Specifically because you're never good at something when you first start. But the challenge is supposed to make us stronger.

errantmind 4y ago
I'd say risk aversion and boredom aversion go hand-in-hand. Why even consider taking a risk for an unknown amount of baseline satisfaction? It is a lot easier to dopamine surf social media with proven returns on time, even if those returns are meager in comparison to longer-form activities
- jesuscript 4y ago

harry8 4y ago

People made this very argument about tv. Your phone, like your tv is actually mostly quite boring and needs a bunch of flashy gimmicks to keep you watching, a la Letterman's "tonight's top 10" launch animations to try and hold your interest over how they didn't have the content for 3 jokes in a week let alone 50. Quick edit to something different with colour and movement!

flyingfences 4y ago
> People made this very argument about tv. And they were right then, too. I despise the television.