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Managing distraction in an age where everything is at our fingertips is a hard task
by consf 2y ago
Managing distraction in an age where everything is at our fingertips is a hard task
- wkat4242 2y agoIt's not only distraction though. The phone is a window to the internet which offers all the knowledge of the world. And in 'my day' I spent a lot of time at the library which was full of thrillers and comics. And spent most of my time learning about computers and electronics. It's not an unprecedented problem and offers new offers new opportunities too.
- lifty 2y agoSure, but the quick dopamine fix that you can get from scrolling TikTok or Twitter is way more corrosive than reading long form content in a library.
- exe34 2y agoI simply don't use either. never have, never will. they do not serve my purpose, so they are irrelevant to my life.
- jtbayly 2y agoThen it is important for you to recognize that you are a unicorn.
- dullcrisp 2y agoI think that’s only the case if you only meet people through TikTok and Twitter
- oblio 2y agoYour comment is totally irrelevant to the conversation regarding schools, though. Smartphones are massively corroding kids' brains these days, and YES, this is much worse than TV or video games back in the day.
- exe34 2y agomy friends do say "you're so special".
- Apocryphon 2y agoAnd yet, you’re still on here posting along with the rest of us.
- exe34 2y agosays a lot about the company I keep, doesn't it.
- ruthmarx 2y agoYou've definitely used Twitter, even if just to see an announcement or something. Too much important information has been posted there over the last decade for anyone online a lot to have been able to avoid it.
- exe34 2y agoI've seen screenshots of Elon acting like a loser, that's about it.
- ruthmarx 2y agoSo you've never clicked on Twitter links, even when they have been submitted to HN?
- exe34 2y agoI've clicked them by accident, does that count as using? I also "use" adverts then.
- ruthmarx 2y agoYou've only clicked them by accident? No that doesn't count as using, it's just hard to believe. It's like the people who have worked in IT for 20 years but 'never used Windows'.
- exe34 2y agoI only use windows as a dumb terminal to access my Linux system remotely. I'd require a significant payrise to consider using windows as a daily driver.
- ruthmarx 2y agoNot talking about using it as a daily driver, just contrasting your claim that you have never used twitter with the people who claim to have never used windows over a 20 year period of working or hobbying in IT.
- wkat4242 2y agoYeah still I'm much more drawn to long form content. But I guess I'm an outlier like most people on this site that promotes learning new things though text-heavy presentation.
- vertalexgraph 2y ago> But I guess I'm an outlier like most people on this site that promotes learning new things though text-heavy presentation. Bold to assume this is what most people on this site are like! I'd hypothesize you're still an outlier in that group in these regards. And that's great! But lots of the data points to people like HN's general demographic still being pulled away from long form text content and towards synthesized/aggregated content served via mixed media. There's still just such strong cultural elitism in the notion of reading a book to learn something, it's not super sexy to claim on a messageboard.
- wkat4242 2y ago> Bold to assume this is what most people on this site are like! Really, look at the front page of this site. If you're not interested in dense textual content you would have closed the tab within 1 second. I really love this site but most people won't even see the story titles, their brain just registers "a confusing jumble of text" and doesn't even try to engage. > But lots of the data points to people like HN's general demographic still being pulled away from long form text content and towards synthesized/aggregated content served via mixed media. And what data is that? > There's still just such strong cultural elitism in the notion of reading a book to learn something, it's not super sexy to claim on a messageboard. I don't think I'm elitist or sexy. Just different. I hate video content because I can't consume it at my own pace (usually much faster than the content offers because video is tailored for the slowest possible denominator). And it's difficult to build context ("where am I within the story") when skipping forward or backwards. In text this is pretty seamless. I don't tend to consume textual content in a start to end sequential manner. But I jump around. Because some stuff I already know, some i really want to deeper dive on, some I need to refer back to later. This is much harder with video.
- luzojeda 2y agoHaving instant access from your pocket to an infinite source of entertainment is literally an unprecedented problem.
- wkat4242 2y agoIs it really very entertaining though? I use instagram as a tool to follow certain parties and tattoo shops (for announcements of visiting artists). Since about a year they've spammed their 'reels' on me and make it much harder to avoid them. But every time I look at them it's the same brainless crap as the tiktok-branded videos that people send on to me via whatsapp or telegram. I don't really understand how people are being captivated by this. It's all so hollow, shallow and brainless. Youtube is no better. Only full of corporate marketing drones like marcus brownlee and linus tech tips. All very hollow, sponsor-ridden and glossy. The only one I appreciate is dave from eevblog but he posts pretty rarely these days so I never really watch youtube anymore.
- 01HNNWZ0MV43FF 2y agoIt's not all the knowledge. Frequently I have searched for something and not found it
- Nux 2y agoOr we are at the fingertips of everything else..
- l33t7332273 2y agoThis is why I think managing notifications is so important.
- bmitc 2y agoI personally balk at the idea that everything is at our fingertips. Yes, a lot of information is readily available, but it is mostly very shallow, poorly referenced, and in short form. It is actually very hard to find in-depth, long form content on the Internet these days. You have to look very hard. Almost the only way to find it is by crawling dedicated forums and getting links that way. It's still much easier to find information in books.