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Sounds like this author has independently arrived at the same conclusion that Cal Newport did in Digital Minimalism. I’d expect this movement to continue to pic
by uejfiweun 4y ago
Sounds like this author has independently arrived at the same conclusion that Cal Newport did in Digital Minimalism. I’d expect this movement to continue to pick up steam as people slowly wake up from the digital wool that has been pulled over their eyes.
- andai 4y agohttps://tim.blog/2007/04/19/mastering-the-low-information-diet-and-pre-order-crisis/amp/ https://tim.blog/2007/04/19/mastering-the-low-information-di...
- uejfiweun 4y agoHaha, not surprising to see this. I guess the simple art of isolating yourself from distractions and focusing is something that humanity will have to rediscover time and time again.
- oumua_don17 4y agoRelated to the same topic is Stolen Focus and has been mentioned many times on HN. https://stolenfocusbook.com/ https://stolenfocusbook.com/
- badpun 4y agoYou think so? Before Internet, people were watching TV for hours and hours every day. I think we just love completely effortless, passive entertainment, even if it's ultimately low value.
- kahrl 4y ago[flagged]
- ben_w 4y agoBack in the days when TV was still popular, I remember some headline saying that researchers had monitored brain energy use while watching TV and while literally watching paint dry, and determined that people's brains were more switched off when watching TV. I wonder if that study was ever replicated…
- the-printer 4y agoChill, man.
- knallfrosch 4y agoYou're right. It gets worse over time. People now carry their TV to the toilet, read digital news on the bus and respond to texts on their phone even when "out" with someone else.
- wpietri 4y agoI mostly agree, but I don't think we actually love it exactly. I think, like alcohol, overconsumption is a response to stress and trauma.
- rr808 4y agoYou had smaller low quality screens, fewer channels and no ability to record. Even if some people watched TV a lot, it was much easier to ignore.
- ray__ 4y agoI think the difference is that the digital wool fools us into thinking, at least at some level, that we're being productive. It's much easier to pull yourself away from the TV to "do" something because watching TV genuinely feels passive. Consumption of content on the internet/smartphones blends the passive entertainment with a feeling of productivity so well that you feel like it's actually worth it to just check this or that app, or to just scroll for a little bit longer to see if you happen across something that actually has value. It's harder to break away from.
- grugagag 4y agoThat’s what I feel about reading comments on HN too, though it’s not in the same category as completely wasted time, spending time on HN gives you the false feeling of productivity
- dageshi 4y agoIt's not a feeling of digital being "productive", it's that digital is effectively infinite. With TV you could get bored because there just wasn't anything you wanted to watch on at a given moment. With Digital that is never the case, there is something out there for you, you just haven't found it yet.
- badpun 4y agoI haven't been working these since Jan, and more and more often I've got the feeling that I've "run out of Internet" - there's nothing more to read that interests me.
- dageshi 4y agoI found royalroad.com about a year ago, there's years worth of distraction on there assuming you're a fan of fantasy webnovels.
- uejfiweun 4y agoHonestly, good point. Perhaps I’d rephrase my point to this: for productive members of society, it will be increasingly important to practice good digital habits for focus as technology gets more and more distracting. Of course, this class of “productive members of society” will continue to get smaller for the reasons you mentioned as well as the impact of AI, etc.