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> Trillion dollar companies are waging a war on our attention, using everything at their disposal to make these apps addictive. Or you could just shut the phon

> Trillion dollar companies are waging a war on our attention, using everything at their disposal to make these apps addictive. Or you could just shut the phone off and/or not install the app. It's a simple solution, really, and one that is available at your disposal today at no cost.

kelseyfrog 8mo ago
Drug stores should stock morphine available without age restriction and if you don't want it, just don't buy it.
- tokyobreakfast 8mo ago
  [flagged]
  - kelseyfrog 8mo ago
    Yes. The amount of emotional deregulation apparent in your response only advances my point.
  - ben_w 8mo ago
    Endogenous drugs, exogenous drugs. Same effect on the brain, and in some cases the actual literal same substances. The difference is that endo-/exo- prefix, the former is made in your body, the latter is supplied from outside. We have been learning how to induce certain experiences, which correspond to certain substances, for a long time; we're getting more competent at it; this includes social media A/B testing itself to be so sticky that a lot of people find it hard to put down; this is bad, so something* is being done about it. * The risk being "something should be done; this is something, therefore it should be done"
ahhhhnoooo 8mo ago
Just stop using heroin. Just stop eating fast food. Just stop going to the casino. Just don't smoke anymore. We know plenty of things are quite bad for us, and yet we find them difficult to stop. Somewhat famously difficult to stop. I think telling people, "just don't..." trivializes how difficult that is.
- tokyobreakfast 8mo ago
  It's a phone. Put it in the trash. You will not go through physiological withdrawal symptoms. The amount of people in here right now clamoring for legislation to keep them away from electronics which they themselves purchased is mind-bogglingly insane.
  - happytoexplain 8mo ago
    This is unrealistic.
    - tokyobreakfast 8mo ago
      It's unrealistic to not install TikTok? Laws are not created to be malleable about the population's trivial mental illnesses. We don't need new laws on the books because some people are incapable of turning their phones off. They have addictive personalities and will fulfill this by other means, while everyone high-fives claiming success.
      - ahhhhnoooo 8mo ago
        For many people, it is unrealistic to uninstall Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, Reddit, Instagram, Bluesky, whatever the fuck else all at the same time. I'm proud of you that you are as disconnected as you are. I'm the same -- ditched my addictive social media accounts back in like 2011 -- but not everyone is like us.
        chickensong 8mo ago
        > but not everyone is like us There will never be anything close to uniformity, so we must decide if we cripple freedom to protect the weak while increasing bureaucracy and authoritarianism, or allow natural selection to take its course while improving treatment of symptoms. I'm empathetic to the struggle of addiction, which is a real and terrible thing, but I don't think we should create vague nanny laws as a solution. Even if you're an addict, personal responsibility is still a thing.
happytoexplain 8mo ago
"Just" is the all time champion weight lifter of the English language.
baq 8mo ago
Engineering addiction should be a punishable offense. It already is if you’re a chemist.
- jimnotgym 8mo ago
  That should be the top comment
manuelmoreale 8mo ago
You could say that about literally every single type of addictive behavior present on the face of the planet. You could just stop smoking and/or not buying cigarettes. You could just stop drinking and/or stop buying alcohol. It's a completely pointless observation. There's a reason why these are addictions.
2OEH8eoCRo0 8mo ago
Or the people can decide how their society functions. This learned (or lobbied) helplessness of never changing any laws and we are just stuck with this way of life is silly.
sensanaty 8mo ago
The whole point is that these companies are spending a lot of cash making sure that their products are as addicting as possible to as many people as possible, so "just" shutting the phone off isn't a viable strategy. It's as idiotic a statement as saying "Just stop smoking" around the time when big tobacco was lobbying politicians and bribing scientists and doctors to straight up lie about the deleterious effects of tobacco. It's engineered in such a way as to make it basically impossible for a large swathe of the population to "just not use" the apps.
deleted 8mo ago
[deleted]
camillomiller 8mo ago
Honestly, at this point, just ** OFF to all the useful idiots that just relentlessly block any possible solution to the overbearing power of social media companies with this crooked vision of individual responsibility. They are trying to block a harmless mechanism, that has proven to be addictive, and that companies have willfully exploited for this very reason, proceeding to wreak havoc to various facets of society while concentrating never before seen levels of wealth in the process. Wealth that in many case makes them more powerful than the government that should regulate them, which in many cases drank the kool-aid of self-policing these companies have gleefully distributed and lobbied for for years. So, enough with this fine principled arguments about slippery slope that don't exist. What is your comment good for, if not for maintaining a status quo that makes these companies even reacher at the expense of everyone?
Findecanor 8mo ago
People start using these apps and sites to stay in touch with friends and with current events — and those things are real needs. People should not be exploited for them.
stodor89 8mo ago
"If you're homeless, just buy a house" ahh statement
Aerbil313 8mo ago
Found the guy who won the genetic lottery AND the healthy childhood lottery! Dude, in case you don't know, you are the anomaly. Most people don't have the amount of free will as you do. They can't "just put down the phone". You can. They can't.
neop1x 8mo ago
It started with apps pre-installed on many phones. No one cared. People can easily waste unlimited amount of time watching content from unknown creators which they don't even follow.

kelseyfrog 8mo ago

Drug stores should stock morphine available without age restriction and if you don't want it, just don't buy it.

tokyobreakfast 8mo ago
[flagged]
- kelseyfrog 8mo ago
  Yes. The amount of emotional deregulation apparent in your response only advances my point.
- ben_w 8mo ago
  Endogenous drugs, exogenous drugs. Same effect on the brain, and in some cases the actual literal same substances. The difference is that endo-/exo- prefix, the former is made in your body, the latter is supplied from outside. We have been learning how to induce certain experiences, which correspond to certain substances, for a long time; we're getting more competent at it; this includes social media A/B testing itself to be so sticky that a lot of people find it hard to put down; this is bad, so something* is being done about it. * The risk being "something should be done; this is something, therefore it should be done"

ahhhhnoooo 8mo ago

Just stop using heroin. Just stop eating fast food. Just stop going to the casino. Just don't smoke anymore. We know plenty of things are quite bad for us, and yet we find them difficult to stop. Somewhat famously difficult to stop. I think telling people, "just don't..." trivializes how difficult that is.

tokyobreakfast 8mo ago
It's a phone. Put it in the trash. You will not go through physiological withdrawal symptoms. The amount of people in here right now clamoring for legislation to keep them away from electronics which they themselves purchased is mind-bogglingly insane.
- happytoexplain 8mo ago
  This is unrealistic.
  - tokyobreakfast 8mo ago
    It's unrealistic to not install TikTok? Laws are not created to be malleable about the population's trivial mental illnesses. We don't need new laws on the books because some people are incapable of turning their phones off. They have addictive personalities and will fulfill this by other means, while everyone high-fives claiming success.
    - ahhhhnoooo 8mo ago
      For many people, it is unrealistic to uninstall Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, Reddit, Instagram, Bluesky, whatever the fuck else all at the same time. I'm proud of you that you are as disconnected as you are. I'm the same -- ditched my addictive social media accounts back in like 2011 -- but not everyone is like us.
      - chickensong 8mo ago
        > but not everyone is like us There will never be anything close to uniformity, so we must decide if we cripple freedom to protect the weak while increasing bureaucracy and authoritarianism, or allow natural selection to take its course while improving treatment of symptoms. I'm empathetic to the struggle of addiction, which is a real and terrible thing, but I don't think we should create vague nanny laws as a solution. Even if you're an addict, personal responsibility is still a thing.

happytoexplain 8mo ago

"Just" is the all time champion weight lifter of the English language.

baq 8mo ago

Engineering addiction should be a punishable offense. It already is if you’re a chemist.

jimnotgym 8mo ago
That should be the top comment

manuelmoreale 8mo ago

You could say that about literally every single type of addictive behavior present on the face of the planet. You could just stop smoking and/or not buying cigarettes. You could just stop drinking and/or stop buying alcohol. It's a completely pointless observation. There's a reason why these are addictions.

2OEH8eoCRo0 8mo ago

Or the people can decide how their society functions. This learned (or lobbied) helplessness of never changing any laws and we are just stuck with this way of life is silly.

sensanaty 8mo ago

The whole point is that these companies are spending a lot of cash making sure that their products are as addicting as possible to as many people as possible, so "just" shutting the phone off isn't a viable strategy. It's as idiotic a statement as saying "Just stop smoking" around the time when big tobacco was lobbying politicians and bribing scientists and doctors to straight up lie about the deleterious effects of tobacco. It's engineered in such a way as to make it basically impossible for a large swathe of the population to "just not use" the apps.

deleted 8mo ago

[deleted]

camillomiller 8mo ago

Honestly, at this point, just ** OFF to all the useful idiots that just relentlessly block any possible solution to the overbearing power of social media companies with this crooked vision of individual responsibility. They are trying to block a harmless mechanism, that has proven to be addictive, and that companies have willfully exploited for this very reason, proceeding to wreak havoc to various facets of society while concentrating never before seen levels of wealth in the process. Wealth that in many case makes them more powerful than the government that should regulate them, which in many cases drank the kool-aid of self-policing these companies have gleefully distributed and lobbied for for years. So, enough with this fine principled arguments about slippery slope that don't exist. What is your comment good for, if not for maintaining a status quo that makes these companies even reacher at the expense of everyone?

Findecanor 8mo ago

People start using these apps and sites to stay in touch with friends and with current events — and those things are real needs. People should not be exploited for them.

stodor89 8mo ago

"If you're homeless, just buy a house" ahh statement

Aerbil313 8mo ago

Found the guy who won the genetic lottery AND the healthy childhood lottery! Dude, in case you don't know, you are the anomaly. Most people don't have the amount of free will as you do. They can't "just put down the phone". You can. They can't.

neop1x 8mo ago

It started with apps pre-installed on many phones. No one cared. People can easily waste unlimited amount of time watching content from unknown creators which they don't even follow.