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It's unique in that it's an addiction that enough people have that it's considered entirely normal. And that normalcy means it's not seen as a big problem to fi

It's unique in that it's an addiction that enough people have that it's considered entirely normal. And that normalcy means it's not seen as a big problem to fix, it's just "how it is." Until people decide that reality is better than the unreality of phones, this kind of willful ignorance will continue.

reaperducer 3y ago
Wait until the price of Apple's Vision Pro comes down a bit. You'll see people driving with AR goggles on, watching movies or worse.
- wussboy 3y ago
  Using Vision Pro to watch a movie while they drive home, then sitting at the couch all evening playing a driving game.
- mattgreenrocks 3y ago
  Yup, I'm bullish on the Vision Pro from a purely entrepreneurial standpoint, and not a fan of it from a social perspective. But willing to be wrong on the latter, so might as well watch as it plays out.
snazz 3y ago
> Until people decide that reality is better than the unreality of phones, this kind of willful ignorance will continue. The adoption rate of other entertainment tech like television and video games makes me think that the trend you identify might just be human nature to some extent (with the help of consumerism). I’m not sure people will in fact choose “reality” over entertainment in large enough numbers to reverse that trend.
dazzlefruit 3y ago
I don't use my phone when reality is better. Consider that some people's lives suck most of the time.
- mattgreenrocks 3y ago
  Believe me, I've been there. But staying on the phone doesn't help fix the root cause of the suck.
ls612 3y ago
Do people go into chemical withdrawal if they don’t have phones? Because they sure do if they are actually addicted to a substance like alcohol, cocaine, methamphetamine, or opioids. Calling phones/games/tv/social media/etc addictions just tells me that you have an authoritarian paternalist ideology.
- gspencley 3y ago
  > methamphetamine Although I have never done meth, I had an addition to a type of amphetamine in my teens. It was not a physical addition, in the sense that there were no physical withdraw symptoms, but I can tell you from experience that it was a very "real" addition in the sense that it a) ruined my life b) I felt like I had no control over it and c) I needed professional help to overcome it. A big part of the cycle was that the "down" felt like an overwhelming depression while the "high" felt like pure happiness coupled with the ability to hyper-focus on anything, which really fed into my personality type. It was that cycle that created a psychological dependency that was very hard to break. Every use created an incentive to use again as soon as the high started to wear off. I've never experienced that with anything else ... not even other types of drugs. Basically after staying awake for an entire week because I was high on a stimulant 24/7, when I "crashed" I slept for days and that's when my mother realized that I had a serious problem and got me professional help because she was worried I was in a coma or something. I've never experienced anything similar with video games, gambling, television, social media etc. So I have no idea if it's the same for people who develop "addictions" to those things. All I know is that you don't need physical withdraw symptoms to experience a very real addiction that you can't break on your own.
- kjkjadksj 3y ago
  What you think people don’t get addicted to things like gambling because there is no substance involved? You are standing against a tsunami wave of scientific evidence with this line you’ve arbitrarily drawn.
  - ls612 3y ago
    I’m saying addiction as a term referred to chemical dependency. Now it is being redefined to mean “people doing anything I don’t like and don’t think they should do”. Whatever you call it there is a tremendous difference in type between alcoholism or opioid dependency and social media use. Calling them the same word is grossly misleading if not outright lying.

reaperducer 3y ago

Wait until the price of Apple's Vision Pro comes down a bit. You'll see people driving with AR goggles on, watching movies or worse.

wussboy 3y ago
Using Vision Pro to watch a movie while they drive home, then sitting at the couch all evening playing a driving game.
mattgreenrocks 3y ago
Yup, I'm bullish on the Vision Pro from a purely entrepreneurial standpoint, and not a fan of it from a social perspective. But willing to be wrong on the latter, so might as well watch as it plays out.

snazz 3y ago

> Until people decide that reality is better than the unreality of phones, this kind of willful ignorance will continue. The adoption rate of other entertainment tech like television and video games makes me think that the trend you identify might just be human nature to some extent (with the help of consumerism). I’m not sure people will in fact choose “reality” over entertainment in large enough numbers to reverse that trend.

dazzlefruit 3y ago

I don't use my phone when reality is better. Consider that some people's lives suck most of the time.

mattgreenrocks 3y ago
Believe me, I've been there. But staying on the phone doesn't help fix the root cause of the suck.

ls612 3y ago

Do people go into chemical withdrawal if they don’t have phones? Because they sure do if they are actually addicted to a substance like alcohol, cocaine, methamphetamine, or opioids. Calling phones/games/tv/social media/etc addictions just tells me that you have an authoritarian paternalist ideology.

gspencley 3y ago
> methamphetamine Although I have never done meth, I had an addition to a type of amphetamine in my teens. It was not a physical addition, in the sense that there were no physical withdraw symptoms, but I can tell you from experience that it was a very "real" addition in the sense that it a) ruined my life b) I felt like I had no control over it and c) I needed professional help to overcome it. A big part of the cycle was that the "down" felt like an overwhelming depression while the "high" felt like pure happiness coupled with the ability to hyper-focus on anything, which really fed into my personality type. It was that cycle that created a psychological dependency that was very hard to break. Every use created an incentive to use again as soon as the high started to wear off. I've never experienced that with anything else ... not even other types of drugs. Basically after staying awake for an entire week because I was high on a stimulant 24/7, when I "crashed" I slept for days and that's when my mother realized that I had a serious problem and got me professional help because she was worried I was in a coma or something. I've never experienced anything similar with video games, gambling, television, social media etc. So I have no idea if it's the same for people who develop "addictions" to those things. All I know is that you don't need physical withdraw symptoms to experience a very real addiction that you can't break on your own.
kjkjadksj 3y ago
What you think people don’t get addicted to things like gambling because there is no substance involved? You are standing against a tsunami wave of scientific evidence with this line you’ve arbitrarily drawn.
- ls612 3y ago
  I’m saying addiction as a term referred to chemical dependency. Now it is being redefined to mean “people doing anything I don’t like and don’t think they should do”. Whatever you call it there is a tremendous difference in type between alcoholism or opioid dependency and social media use. Calling them the same word is grossly misleading if not outright lying.