4 ms·

That's like saying there's nothing wrong with giving thalidomide to pregnant women, because pregnant women have always taken herbal supplements. The obvious di

by n4r9 4y ago

That's like saying there's nothing wrong with giving thalidomide to pregnant women, because pregnant women have always taken herbal supplements. The obvious difference is that newspapers contain a relatively small amount of information packaged in a non-interactive, non-targeted, and less mind-absorbing format. People don't read newspapers for the dopamine hit, but for lack of something else to do.

idontknowifican 4y ago
that’s not true at all. the process of learning is a dopamine hit. the concept that phones made us antisocial is dumb, it’s a default. arguing to end phones avoids dealing with the problem
- n4r9 4y ago
  > the process of learning is a dopamine hit Perhaps reading newspapers produces some dopamine, but I imagine it is tiny in comparison to the effects of smartphones, and does not provide the user with the easy option to keep scrolling for more dopamine.
Gordonjcp 4y ago
> That's like saying there's nothing wrong with giving thalidomide to pregnant women, because pregnant women have always taken herbal supplements. Your analogy is better than you think, because in fact there isn't anything wrong with giving pregnant women thalidomide at all! You just have to not do it within a very carefully defined range of time within pregnancy, but before and after that it's as safe as milk. Turns out, the same process that makes thalidomide horribly teratogenic also makes it an absolutely first-rate cancer drug with few side-effects even in pregnancy.
- n4r9 4y ago
  Interesting. I've looked for sources on that and found a couple of sites saying that the sensitive period is 20-37 days after conception, but come up short of studies on anything later. This webpage seems to suggest the risks are unknown after first trimester: https://mothertobaby.org/fact-sheets/thalidomide-pregnancy/ https://mothertobaby.org/fact-sheets/thalidomide-pregnancy/ Same from this university classroom material (p.2): https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/MediaLibraries/URMCMedia/life-sciences-learning-center/documents/Thalidomide_Cancer_Treatment.pdf https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/MediaLibraries/URMCMedia/life...

by n4r9 4y ago

idontknowifican 4y ago

that’s not true at all. the process of learning is a dopamine hit. the concept that phones made us antisocial is dumb, it’s a default. arguing to end phones avoids dealing with the problem

n4r9 4y ago
> the process of learning is a dopamine hit Perhaps reading newspapers produces some dopamine, but I imagine it is tiny in comparison to the effects of smartphones, and does not provide the user with the easy option to keep scrolling for more dopamine.

Gordonjcp 4y ago

> That's like saying there's nothing wrong with giving thalidomide to pregnant women, because pregnant women have always taken herbal supplements. Your analogy is better than you think, because in fact there isn't anything wrong with giving pregnant women thalidomide at all! You just have to not do it within a very carefully defined range of time within pregnancy, but before and after that it's as safe as milk. Turns out, the same process that makes thalidomide horribly teratogenic also makes it an absolutely first-rate cancer drug with few side-effects even in pregnancy.

n4r9 4y ago
Interesting. I've looked for sources on that and found a couple of sites saying that the sensitive period is 20-37 days after conception, but come up short of studies on anything later. This webpage seems to suggest the risks are unknown after first trimester: https://mothertobaby.org/fact-sheets/thalidomide-pregnancy/ https://mothertobaby.org/fact-sheets/thalidomide-pregnancy/ Same from this university classroom material (p.2): https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/MediaLibraries/URMCMedia/life-sciences-learning-center/documents/Thalidomide_Cancer_Treatment.pdf https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/MediaLibraries/URMCMedia/life...