4 ms·

This is no doubt true but smart phones basically give you the option to never be bored, and get instant gratification whenever you feel like it. I don’t think i

This is no doubt true but smart phones basically give you the option to never be bored, and get instant gratification whenever you feel like it. I don’t think it is limited to social media but I imagine there are pretty profound consequences to that.

Jensson 4y ago
It is a self regulating problem, bored people create entertainment until there are no other bored people left. Modern tech makes that process more efficient so you have less bored people, I don't see why that is a problem.
- __MatrixMan__ 4y ago
  It's a problem if the things that people used to do while bored were useful and now that social media is handling the boredom problem those things are not happening anymore.
  - themitigating 4y ago
    Why is that a problem? What about video games or TV? What useful things are you talking about and is their evidence of their decline?
    - __MatrixMan__ 4y ago
      Well here I am on HN, so I'm in a bit of a relapse, but personally I've noticed that not being on social media correlates with: - talking with strangers at the grocery store - working on my novel - building things in my garage - antagonizing institutions that I think have crossed a line And those things are meaningful to me in ways that being on social media is not. As for whether such activities trickle up into some kind of high level aggregate good, I don't know, but it's not hard to guess at how they might.
    - tayo42 4y ago
      TV being a problem was talked to death for years. Now the attention is on streaming binges on Netflix. Not everyone likes or plays video games it doesn't have the same mass appeal
- frereubu 4y ago
  If efficiency is your only goal then no, there is no problem. But I would argue that's an extremely shallow way of looking at entertainment.
themitigating 4y ago
TV and video games are also an option but as you implied you may not always have access to them. However in what situation prior to the internet would a person be forced to be bored. Waiting at the DMV? I guess what I'm saying is it's pretty rare that someone wouldn't have an escape from bordem, even before phones.
- mrbombastic 4y ago
  road trips, standing in line anywhere (toll booth, amusement park, gas station, grocery store etc), riding the subway, waiting room at a doctor’s office, riding in a cab, waiting between customers at your retail job, power outages, camping trips, I am sure I could think of many more.
  - johnny22 4y ago
    i always brought a book for that :)
  - themitigating 4y ago
    For the above you could -listen to music -talk to someone -read a book, magazine, or newspaper -text people (I assume we mean no social media, not no phones) Now my nitpicks - How long do you wait for gas? It's also an activity (assuming you aren't using full service) -Camping is an activity Sure you can come up with a scenarios where people are forced to be bored. Like waiting in a doctors office that you went to by yourself and they don't offer any reading material. Seems rare. Let me offer another one: solitary confinement, what happens to people left alone with their own thoughts? They often go crazy.
- eastbound 4y ago
  > However in what situation prior to the internet would a person be forced to be bored. What? People used to wait all the time. Meeting friends? “See you at 8 at the mall, east corner” and your friend would arrive at 8:13 while you were there since 7:46pm, unable to walk away for fear of missing the evening completely. So people smoked! A LOT! And sometimes you would miss the appointment, have no way to reach the person, and spend the whole evening by yourself in the city, having also missed the movie time.
makeitdouble 4y ago
> smart phones basically give you the option to never be bored Is it true though ? I have the feeling people say this the same way they assume living in a high population density area gives you option to never be lonely. I’d argue having stuff to read/watch is orthogonal to being bored, it’s not a state of mind you can fill with any random crap in your feed.

Jensson 4y ago

It is a self regulating problem, bored people create entertainment until there are no other bored people left. Modern tech makes that process more efficient so you have less bored people, I don't see why that is a problem.

__MatrixMan__ 4y ago
It's a problem if the things that people used to do while bored were useful and now that social media is handling the boredom problem those things are not happening anymore.
- themitigating 4y ago
  Why is that a problem? What about video games or TV? What useful things are you talking about and is their evidence of their decline?
  - __MatrixMan__ 4y ago
    Well here I am on HN, so I'm in a bit of a relapse, but personally I've noticed that not being on social media correlates with: - talking with strangers at the grocery store - working on my novel - building things in my garage - antagonizing institutions that I think have crossed a line And those things are meaningful to me in ways that being on social media is not. As for whether such activities trickle up into some kind of high level aggregate good, I don't know, but it's not hard to guess at how they might.
  - tayo42 4y ago
    TV being a problem was talked to death for years. Now the attention is on streaming binges on Netflix. Not everyone likes or plays video games it doesn't have the same mass appeal
frereubu 4y ago
If efficiency is your only goal then no, there is no problem. But I would argue that's an extremely shallow way of looking at entertainment.

themitigating 4y ago

TV and video games are also an option but as you implied you may not always have access to them. However in what situation prior to the internet would a person be forced to be bored. Waiting at the DMV? I guess what I'm saying is it's pretty rare that someone wouldn't have an escape from bordem, even before phones.

mrbombastic 4y ago
road trips, standing in line anywhere (toll booth, amusement park, gas station, grocery store etc), riding the subway, waiting room at a doctor’s office, riding in a cab, waiting between customers at your retail job, power outages, camping trips, I am sure I could think of many more.
- johnny22 4y ago
  i always brought a book for that :)
- themitigating 4y ago
  For the above you could -listen to music -talk to someone -read a book, magazine, or newspaper -text people (I assume we mean no social media, not no phones) Now my nitpicks - How long do you wait for gas? It's also an activity (assuming you aren't using full service) -Camping is an activity Sure you can come up with a scenarios where people are forced to be bored. Like waiting in a doctors office that you went to by yourself and they don't offer any reading material. Seems rare. Let me offer another one: solitary confinement, what happens to people left alone with their own thoughts? They often go crazy.
eastbound 4y ago
> However in what situation prior to the internet would a person be forced to be bored. What? People used to wait all the time. Meeting friends? “See you at 8 at the mall, east corner” and your friend would arrive at 8:13 while you were there since 7:46pm, unable to walk away for fear of missing the evening completely. So people smoked! A LOT! And sometimes you would miss the appointment, have no way to reach the person, and spend the whole evening by yourself in the city, having also missed the movie time.

makeitdouble 4y ago

> smart phones basically give you the option to never be bored Is it true though ? I have the feeling people say this the same way they assume living in a high population density area gives you option to never be lonely. I’d argue having stuff to read/watch is orthogonal to being bored, it’s not a state of mind you can fill with any random crap in your feed.