I realized my brain belongs to my phone(qz.com)
qz.com
I realized my brain belongs to my phone
https://qz.com/1165651/smartphone-addiction-this-was-the-year-i-realized-my-brain-belongs-to-my-phone/
88 comments
>It came to a point (for HN and RSS readers) where I would check articles every hour. It culminated with me mindlessly clicking article links, reading the title, scrolling through it (not reading), just familiarizing myself with single words passing through my hyper short attention-span, and getting a "feel" for what the article looked like. It was quite a scary when I did this one time for 30 minutes not remembering anything I have "read" whatsoever.
Not specifically about phones, but I have my router only allow access to sites like that for certain hours in the day. I can always log into the router to turn it off, but adding that extra bit of friction is usually enough to get me to check it later during the designated times.
Not specifically about phones, but I have my router only allow access to sites like that for certain hours in the day. I can always log into the router to turn it off, but adding that extra bit of friction is usually enough to get me to check it later during the designated times.
Oooh this is amazing. Have any writeups on how you've accomplished this? Thanks
You could use a hosts file and a cron job, perhaps, for something similar.
Or do what I do, and just edit the hosts file manually. That means I often go for days without changing it, because it forces me to make a decision, rather than act on impulse.
Or do what I do, and just edit the hosts file manually. That means I often go for days without changing it, because it forces me to make a decision, rather than act on impulse.
> but I have my router only allow access to sites like that for certain hours in the day
My router can do this, but not for sites using SSL (that is, just about every respectable site out there, these days). Do you filter IPs and not by domain?
My router can do this, but not for sites using SSL (that is, just about every respectable site out there, these days). Do you filter IPs and not by domain?
>My router can do this, but not for sites using SSL (that is, just about every respectable site out there, these days). Do you filter IPs and not by domain?
Yeah it's a pain to do it right. I'm just doing it with a local DNS server for the moment.
I've considered setting up a local Raspberry Pi for both PiHole to block ads, and running Squid or whatever on it to provide better SSL filtering. If there a nice writeup for how to do this I would also be interested.
When I am working on a single computer away from home I sometimes just manually edit my hosts file. Crude but it still catches me a bunch of times over the day where I almost unconsciously pop up a distracting site.
Yeah it's a pain to do it right. I'm just doing it with a local DNS server for the moment.
I've considered setting up a local Raspberry Pi for both PiHole to block ads, and running Squid or whatever on it to provide better SSL filtering. If there a nice writeup for how to do this I would also be interested.
When I am working on a single computer away from home I sometimes just manually edit my hosts file. Crude but it still catches me a bunch of times over the day where I almost unconsciously pop up a distracting site.
My Draytek Vigor router can filter SSL sites by keywords in domain.
It results in an ugly SSL error (bad certificate) when the filter is active, but it fits the job.
It results in an ugly SSL error (bad certificate) when the filter is active, but it fits the job.
Leech Block for Firefox or Chrome Nanny on Chrome do a great job of keeping me from veering too far off my intended path without too much configuration...
Just setup domains and the times or limits you want to restrict them.
Just setup domains and the times or limits you want to restrict them.
> It culminated with me mindlessly clicking article links, reading the title, scrolling through it (not reading), just familiarizing myself with single words passing through my hyper short attention-span, and getting a "feel" for what the article looked like. It was quite a scary when I did this one time for 30 minutes not remembering anything I have "read" whatsoever.
Why does this sound so familiar?
Why does this sound so familiar?
Sounds almost meditative to me...
I've been looking for more applications of this little python interface to the HN search API: https://github.com/nicolashahn/py-search-hn
I like the idea of creating a "mindful-hn" web (or mobile or cli) app with it. If I were to do this, what other features would you or others want, besides just aggregating the highest rated posts for the last week?
I like the idea of creating a "mindful-hn" web (or mobile or cli) app with it. If I were to do this, what other features would you or others want, besides just aggregating the highest rated posts for the last week?
I know several families (some with teenagers!) who traded their iPhones for dumb phones, reducing usage to much like a phone behaved in 2005; entirely for phone calls that actually matter, and the simplest of brief text messaging. They all have reported it to be a very positive experience.
Alerts, notifications, badges, social media, apps, vibrations, chimes, dings, rings, virtually all of this is generated from entirely inconsequential noise, distraction, and interference. How do you measure the impact on humans of being interrupted all day long by your phone chiming every 5 minutes with a new email, mundane message, social media trash, or nonsensical alert from some app to come fiddle with it and be force fed a few dozen ads in the process? None of this is good for the human mind or psyche.
Alerts, notifications, badges, social media, apps, vibrations, chimes, dings, rings, virtually all of this is generated from entirely inconsequential noise, distraction, and interference. How do you measure the impact on humans of being interrupted all day long by your phone chiming every 5 minutes with a new email, mundane message, social media trash, or nonsensical alert from some app to come fiddle with it and be force fed a few dozen ads in the process? None of this is good for the human mind or psyche.
My wife and I purchased dumb phones but there were a few pain points we encountered. First, my wife especially would get lost and so we were going to need to buy a GPS, possibly for both cars. We also have a two year old and capturing moments with a camera was limited; we figured we'd end up spending $500 or more on a camera with equivalent features to an iPhone.
Eventually we settled on enabling the parental controls on one anothers phones. I aggressively turn off notifications, to the point where my laptop doesn't even display the time as I consider it a distraction to constantly glance at the clock.
Do you have web blocking on safari enabled? When a friend and I tried this, there was no way to block individual sites that did not also block many sites with seemingly arbitrary rules (stackoverflow was blocked, even though it was not on my blacklist).
Yeah we ended up blocking everything. I’ve found that I almost never actually need Safari. It was annoying though because my wife figured out that Google Maps has a browser baked in (maps “Googleplex” and you have google search) , so we’re stuck using apple maps.
Having a smartphone is quite handy when you are travelling for maps, etc.
I just removed most of the apps and for the remaining apps disabled notifications. The exceptions are iMessage/Whatsapp where I enable notifications for persons who are not spammy and dear to me. I have also enabled e-mail notifications, but most e-mail skips my inbox through filters.
I have also set some very strict rules: no smartphone use during breakfast/dinner/coffee. No Hacker News after 20:30 (outside holidays). I also try to avoid looking at a computer at all after 20:30 (for better sleep cycles), but I am a bit more flexible there.
I just removed most of the apps and for the remaining apps disabled notifications. The exceptions are iMessage/Whatsapp where I enable notifications for persons who are not spammy and dear to me. I have also enabled e-mail notifications, but most e-mail skips my inbox through filters.
I have also set some very strict rules: no smartphone use during breakfast/dinner/coffee. No Hacker News after 20:30 (outside holidays). I also try to avoid looking at a computer at all after 20:30 (for better sleep cycles), but I am a bit more flexible there.
I did this recently with a Nokia 105.
It's amazing how much space it has cleared up in my life, and how distorted the relationship with the phone has become- it's supposed to be a tool that works for me, right?
I wrote some thoughts on it: https://medium.com/@LastZactionHero/quitting-the-smartphone-...
It's amazing how much space it has cleared up in my life, and how distorted the relationship with the phone has become- it's supposed to be a tool that works for me, right?
I wrote some thoughts on it: https://medium.com/@LastZactionHero/quitting-the-smartphone-...
Admittedly, I envy you. I still use an iPhone, which I justify for work and the camera. But I know it's a problematic item, and I am very aware that it is bad for me and was designed and optimized to interfere constantly by interjecting nonsense into the brain. It's a very tough habit to break.
When I really think about it, the camera is likely what I'd miss most. That's the true convenience offered by a smartphone.
I imagine if someone released a new dumb phone that happened to have an amazing camera onboard, it would generate substantial interest.
When I really think about it, the camera is likely what I'd miss most. That's the true convenience offered by a smartphone.
I imagine if someone released a new dumb phone that happened to have an amazing camera onboard, it would generate substantial interest.
One good compromise is to get a Sony Z5 Compact and enable Ultra Stamina mode. Switches off most smartphone features, keeps 20 Mp camera, gets you a week of battery life etc in a compact, waterproof case.
Very cheap second hand now.
Very cheap second hand now.
A phone with the processing power to be an amazing camera is going to have a hard time not packing on "smartphone" features.
Would also reduce the 1 month battery life :)
It's been a good reason to bring the old DSLR back out.
It's been a good reason to bring the old DSLR back out.
Luckily I don't have friends, so I don't have to worry about constant notifications.
Had a dumb phone until a few years ago. I decided to get a smartphone mainly for Urber/Lyft and do use them a lot. To try and keep my old phone sanity I turned off notifications, turned off location except when needed, use airplane mode often when I decide I don't want to be disturbed, have code only access (no easy finger unlock), and leave the phone at home sometimes when I go out. Working well so far. Nice to have maps, camera, video camera, and email on the go sometimes.
Also, no phone out at meals or bars except to look up facts.
Also, no phone out at meals or bars except to look up facts.
I would do this in a heartbeat, except having Maps and needing to look up a quick phone number / look for a place's opening hours while out and about is hard to give up. :(
I've removed most social media from my phone and turned off notifications for anything that I have left. The only thing really allowed to push me notifications at this point is Google Maps. I realized how much more productive I was through out the day without having to constantly check my phone for X social media thing that didn't ultimately matter.
I find myself (mis)using my smartphone a lot more when I‘m down or exhausted. It’s a refuge, and it’s not a good one, just like your random drug. Browsing around past midnight leaves me feeling empty and my sleep quality suffers a lot. Fight with my wife? Go browsing. Kids are little devils and I can’t escape physically? Yep, check the feeds.
If I‘m feeling well (which is the case most of the time, thankfully), I can go the whole day without opening FB, or even the mail client.
Apart from the social isolation that smartphones bring with them, I‘m also worried about:
- How the constant suckling at the dopamine teat messes up our grasp of what is important and what isn‘t
- and how past-sundown-browsing can destroy your mood [1]. Those screens are comparatively dim for a light source, but they are also the only ones you point directly at your retina for hours on time. And I BET they will find even more dire consequences of unbalanced blue light exposure (vs full spectrum, ie including infrared light which has a restorative effect on retinal cells).
[1]: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5299389/
If I‘m feeling well (which is the case most of the time, thankfully), I can go the whole day without opening FB, or even the mail client.
Apart from the social isolation that smartphones bring with them, I‘m also worried about:
- How the constant suckling at the dopamine teat messes up our grasp of what is important and what isn‘t
- and how past-sundown-browsing can destroy your mood [1]. Those screens are comparatively dim for a light source, but they are also the only ones you point directly at your retina for hours on time. And I BET they will find even more dire consequences of unbalanced blue light exposure (vs full spectrum, ie including infrared light which has a restorative effect on retinal cells).
[1]: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5299389/
I also worry about the forced transition from incandescent to other types of lighting in the US. Save a little electricity but high temperature and non-blackbody spectrum LED lights are probably going to turn out to be not so good for humans in many ways.
I would add Netflix to the list. In my social circle, people keep watching episode after episode and just feel a compulsion to "finish" the series even the quality is sub par and degraded. I have been there and uninstalled netflix years ago. The series always start out well and then degrades to the point where you are just addicted and cannot help watching since you are already vested at that point.
I find our cultural acceptance of "binging" somewhat troubling. I often hear about how many hours people have "wasted" watching an entire series in one sitting. There's a sort of ambivalence towards it, like the busy olympics, maybe, where people feel the need to outcompete each other in just how much time they spend on Netflix.
I notice the nights I decide not to watch TV, the evenings unfold more slowly and pleasantly. I feel like I've gotten a lot done, figuring it must be near midnight, and I check and it's only 9:30. The nights I partake in the binging, however, glide by in a flash with nothing to show for it. I wonder, how much are we losing to Netflix?
I notice the nights I decide not to watch TV, the evenings unfold more slowly and pleasantly. I feel like I've gotten a lot done, figuring it must be near midnight, and I check and it's only 9:30. The nights I partake in the binging, however, glide by in a flash with nothing to show for it. I wonder, how much are we losing to Netflix?
Most people would do this with TV before Netflix. The stats on adult TV watching back before the internet was amazing. 5-6 hours a day on average. Ads have always been intolerable for me and the recent streaming trend with no ads and all the year shows on demand is much more addictive.
Yes, but was TV specifically engineered to be as addictive as possible? Was it designed to give you little hits of dopamine just at the moment you were considering turning it off?
There are tradeoffs here, of course. We can now customize our viewing experience to our tastes (though even that, I question the direction tastes are formed), fewer ads means more quality viewing time, etc. Huge improvements, but with many attendant costs.
There are tradeoffs here, of course. We can now customize our viewing experience to our tastes (though even that, I question the direction tastes are formed), fewer ads means more quality viewing time, etc. Huge improvements, but with many attendant costs.
I agree and see the same in my circle. Luckily, I’m just a “half-addict” on Netflix, I have the ascribed compulsion only if the series is really good. I stop the semi-good ones.
What’s getting worse by the day is HN, however. I don’t know why I’m even writing this right now, when I’m supposed to be with my loved ones in the living room...
What’s getting worse by the day is HN, however. I don’t know why I’m even writing this right now, when I’m supposed to be with my loved ones in the living room...
I think experiencing art/entertainment is a little different. You may not love every part of a painting, but still appreciate the work overall. With a TV series - you may not love every episode by there may be gems of writing in acting after your "cut off" point.
Yea, but after watching a TV show for 5 hours, you begin to miss all the details and are just satisfying a craving at that point. You are ruining the art by overexposure.
I agree. That's why I no longer watch TV shows. Movies only. I can easily commit to a few hours one night.
I realized this as well. On my to-do list is to build the "Difference Engine". The Difference Engine does the following:
- When you go to a website the response of the request is saved.
- When you go to the website again, the new response of the request is saved and compared to the previously saved version.
- Finally, when you go to the website a third or subsequent time, the Difference Engine is invoked, which uses some sort of easing function in addition to calculating the "difference" between the responses.
- The point of all of this is that similarity between responses will result in some response, let's call it 704, which says "hey, nothing has changed, cut it out."
- The Difference Engine could be saved, resulting in near instant results, telling you nothing has changed. This saves you time, but more importantly, will slowly wean you off the site in question.
- This is implemented via a VPN, so there's nothing to install.
Basically, the point of the Difference Engine is to instantly tell you to stop if nothing meaningful has changed. The hope is that you'll stop checking so much as you realize nothing changes usually.
Feel free to steal this idea, hah.
- When you go to a website the response of the request is saved.
- When you go to the website again, the new response of the request is saved and compared to the previously saved version.
- Finally, when you go to the website a third or subsequent time, the Difference Engine is invoked, which uses some sort of easing function in addition to calculating the "difference" between the responses.
- The point of all of this is that similarity between responses will result in some response, let's call it 704, which says "hey, nothing has changed, cut it out."
- The Difference Engine could be saved, resulting in near instant results, telling you nothing has changed. This saves you time, but more importantly, will slowly wean you off the site in question.
- This is implemented via a VPN, so there's nothing to install.
Basically, the point of the Difference Engine is to instantly tell you to stop if nothing meaningful has changed. The hope is that you'll stop checking so much as you realize nothing changes usually.
Feel free to steal this idea, hah.
I could have written this exact article. My phone died a couple of weeks ago. I can't accurately convey how unsettling it was to realize how to deeply into my subconsciousness my phone had ingrained itself. Any time there was the slightest lull in stimulation, I found myself reaching for it. I kept carrying my phone with me even though I knew it was dead.
The first night, I was cooking dinner. Once I had everything going on the burners, I had a few minutes to kill. Normally I'd reach for my phone, but I couldn't. After a while, I got bored so I went ahead and did the dishes. Instead of leaving that chore for later and adding to my stress I got on top of it. Better, it required no willpower to do so since I was bored and literally had nothing better to do.
I've felt for years that the days were too short. It turns out they got shorter because of all of the accumulated minutes sucked into my phone. The days felt longer, more relaxed. It was easier to get the minutiae of life done during the between-times. I wasn't irritated by the kids interrupting me. I read more.
At the same time, I really missed the practical aspects of my phone. Listening to the radio while driving sucked. Not having navigation — I have essentially no sense of direction — was a nightmare.
I have a phone again now, but so far I haven't installed any of the consumptive apps on it. (For me that was mainly Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.) It's been good so far. I do find myself sometimes missing the ability to share things on those platforms. If there were write-only versions of those apps, I'd install them and then only consume on my laptop which is a little more naturally self-limiting by not being easily carried around.
A while back, I rewatched the original Alien. One thing that struck me, watching it with modern eyes how all of the characters constantly smoked. When the movie came out, that helped the characters look natural and believable. Now it just looks gross and distracting. I believe strongly in a few decades, we'll look back on phone use today in the same way.
At least, I hope we do. The scary alternative is an entire populace constantly drugged by our own dopamine receptors triggered by carefully engineered cognitive manipulation.
The first night, I was cooking dinner. Once I had everything going on the burners, I had a few minutes to kill. Normally I'd reach for my phone, but I couldn't. After a while, I got bored so I went ahead and did the dishes. Instead of leaving that chore for later and adding to my stress I got on top of it. Better, it required no willpower to do so since I was bored and literally had nothing better to do.
I've felt for years that the days were too short. It turns out they got shorter because of all of the accumulated minutes sucked into my phone. The days felt longer, more relaxed. It was easier to get the minutiae of life done during the between-times. I wasn't irritated by the kids interrupting me. I read more.
At the same time, I really missed the practical aspects of my phone. Listening to the radio while driving sucked. Not having navigation — I have essentially no sense of direction — was a nightmare.
I have a phone again now, but so far I haven't installed any of the consumptive apps on it. (For me that was mainly Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.) It's been good so far. I do find myself sometimes missing the ability to share things on those platforms. If there were write-only versions of those apps, I'd install them and then only consume on my laptop which is a little more naturally self-limiting by not being easily carried around.
A while back, I rewatched the original Alien. One thing that struck me, watching it with modern eyes how all of the characters constantly smoked. When the movie came out, that helped the characters look natural and believable. Now it just looks gross and distracting. I believe strongly in a few decades, we'll look back on phone use today in the same way.
At least, I hope we do. The scary alternative is an entire populace constantly drugged by our own dopamine receptors triggered by carefully engineered cognitive manipulation.
Devil's advocate: smoking still looks cool.
Have you tried using an app like Forest etc. to avoid using your smart device? I'd like to start blocking off a 2-3 hour period of time every evening where I abstain from so much as handling my phone unless I'm receiving a call.
Have you tried using an app like Forest etc. to avoid using your smart device? I'd like to start blocking off a 2-3 hour period of time every evening where I abstain from so much as handling my phone unless I'm receiving a call.
> Have you tried using an app like Forest etc. to avoid using your smart device?
No, this is the first I've heard of it.
No, this is the first I've heard of it.
If you want to significantly reduce your phone usage, consider Apple's $349 iPhone: the iPhone SE.
The iPhone SE is just as secure as other new iPhones. It runs all the latest apps. However, the screen is tiny. This makes it a pain to use for long periods of time. Plus, it only has 32GB of storage. It's impossible to install a lot of apps on it. It's also the most pocketable iPhone.
In some ways, the iPhone SE is the perfect smartphone.
The iPhone SE is just as secure as other new iPhones. It runs all the latest apps. However, the screen is tiny. This makes it a pain to use for long periods of time. Plus, it only has 32GB of storage. It's impossible to install a lot of apps on it. It's also the most pocketable iPhone.
In some ways, the iPhone SE is the perfect smartphone.
It's funny you would describe the SE as "tiny" and only having "32GB". It was the same size as all the other iPhone models before it. It was a pretty standard screen size. Oh, and it also comes in 128GB.
My 2013 Moto X has 16 GB and that's enough to install enough distracting apps to keep me "busy" all the time if I let myself.
The SE is one of the best phones, but it's not a pain to use for long periods and 32GB is enough storage. I have the 64GB version and all the apps I want, but only use half the space.
If you are trying to reduce your smartphone usage, it won't help.
If you are trying to reduce your smartphone usage, it won't help.
I love my iPhone SE but I can’t say it inhibits my web browsing although my eyes didn’t like it compared to the 6 I had before. Smoking was hard too and that didn’t stop me doing ten years of it.
I have a hard time relating to these kinds of critiques. I limit my phone's notifications pretty severely. My phone only bothers me for texts and calls, period. Those are usually human beings I know who want my immediate attention, so I want to be bothered. Everything else just waits until I feel like checking it.
I think the difference for me might be that I haven't posted frequently on social media for many years. That does create a kind of compulsion to see how people have reacted and commented. You're putting yourself out there to be judged and I found that very stressful and eventually just stopped.
I think the difference for me might be that I haven't posted frequently on social media for many years. That does create a kind of compulsion to see how people have reacted and commented. You're putting yourself out there to be judged and I found that very stressful and eventually just stopped.
For me the most important first step is to turn off any notification that consistently gets my attention, but doesn't provide value.
That's assuming you can turn off those notifications. Some notifications can't be turned off. Or if there is a way then it's not immediately clear to me, the end user.
If I can't turn off notifications then I just uninstall the app. I uninstalled Facebook and Messenger because of this. I had been using the Facebook mobile site just fine for years, but this fall decided to stop checking that too...
There are quite a few notifications on my phone that are, provided by the OS, or whose app I can't identify, or the app cannot be disabled in any fashion.
Google's traffic notifications, for example. I literally don't care that the traffic is lighter than normal at 2 AM. I literally don't care about traffic at all. My life does not revolve around traffic. But can I disable these? Nope.
T-mobiles application updates. I don't care about T-mobiles application updates. I don't use T-mobile's application. I don't trust T-mobile's application. Can I disable that notification? Nope. It wastes precious every resource a mobile device has.
"Select Keyboard" notification when I have a keyboard open. Uhh... I selected the default keyboard. Is that not enough? Apparently not. I don't know how to get rid of the notification though.
I install OS updates pretty regularly. But there's a few updates that are pushed without consent because the "I agree" form has no way to opt out, not even for "no I don't want to reboot my phone right now, I have something more important to do" after a few days.
Google's traffic notifications, for example. I literally don't care that the traffic is lighter than normal at 2 AM. I literally don't care about traffic at all. My life does not revolve around traffic. But can I disable these? Nope.
T-mobiles application updates. I don't care about T-mobiles application updates. I don't use T-mobile's application. I don't trust T-mobile's application. Can I disable that notification? Nope. It wastes precious every resource a mobile device has.
"Select Keyboard" notification when I have a keyboard open. Uhh... I selected the default keyboard. Is that not enough? Apparently not. I don't know how to get rid of the notification though.
I install OS updates pretty regularly. But there's a few updates that are pushed without consent because the "I agree" form has no way to opt out, not even for "no I don't want to reboot my phone right now, I have something more important to do" after a few days.
I believe the traffic notifications will go away if you turn off "Commute and time to leave" under "Your feed" in the Google app.
Put your iPhone in DND. Then use VIP or “emergency bypass” settings in Contacts for family or family-like friends.
Everyone else will be fine, you’ll see.
// In the rare occasions you’re actually coordinating live, you’ll be checking your screen every couple minutes anyway.
Everyone else will be fine, you’ll see.
// In the rare occasions you’re actually coordinating live, you’ll be checking your screen every couple minutes anyway.
Galaxy S5, but sure
The book called Deep Work by Cal Newport looks at this same idea in detail. If you've noticed that smart phones and shallow content are affecting you as they did this article's author, I recommend it as a resource for reclaiming that lost time.
This is a real problem that I try untangling myself for many months. I have zero phone addiction but my work requires that I sit by the computer and often use browser for documentation. Which makes limiting distractions a lot harder.
I did limit distractions a lot (compared to what I did before) HN being one of the few rare sites I visit. I am not at all happy with google addiction, that may be biggest problem that is less visible than HN or Reddit.
I did limit distractions a lot (compared to what I did before) HN being one of the few rare sites I visit. I am not at all happy with google addiction, that may be biggest problem that is less visible than HN or Reddit.
I have dealt with this off and on for years. My relationship with my smartphone has always been love/hate. I actually even did go to a dumphone for several months and enjoyed the disconnect, but the lack of maps and a camera ultimately sent me back to the smartphone.
Now I try to swap SIMs over to a dumbphone for vacation every summer and go to remote places for other trips where there just isn't any cellular service. Nothing like being so disconnected you have to walk 15 minutes to the nearest landline phone.
Edit: I am curious, as an engineer, what others are doing from an on-call perspective when it comes to no smartphone. PagerDuty handles SMS alerts nicely and I'm starting to explore Slack/IFTTT. Hangouts is a big missing piece. There are just a few things like that where I'm concerned about being too disconnected.
Now I try to swap SIMs over to a dumbphone for vacation every summer and go to remote places for other trips where there just isn't any cellular service. Nothing like being so disconnected you have to walk 15 minutes to the nearest landline phone.
Edit: I am curious, as an engineer, what others are doing from an on-call perspective when it comes to no smartphone. PagerDuty handles SMS alerts nicely and I'm starting to explore Slack/IFTTT. Hangouts is a big missing piece. There are just a few things like that where I'm concerned about being too disconnected.
I completely agree with this article, and the parallels I draw from it (and some of the comments here) are extremely close.
But why is it that I read this article, agree with it, yet then continue scrolling HN or FB 2 minutes later? How can I get out of this dopamine cycle?
But why is it that I read this article, agree with it, yet then continue scrolling HN or FB 2 minutes later? How can I get out of this dopamine cycle?
I'm really happy using a non-smartphone.
It's super cheap ($30), monthly costs are very low, it comes with unlimited calls, unlimited texts, holds a charge for 3-4 days (even after 3 years of use), has a nice slide out keyboard for tactile typing and is a lot smaller than most smartphones.
For on occasion maps when I travel I have a cheap smartphone that I pay for on demand ($20 for more than enough data for a long trip) and it works great for listening to offline MP3s while I walk / run. The camera is meh, but it gets the job done.
Basically, I carry the non-smartphone all the time except for when I'm walking / traveling because I like either absorbing nature or listening to podcasts with the other phone.
It's super cheap ($30), monthly costs are very low, it comes with unlimited calls, unlimited texts, holds a charge for 3-4 days (even after 3 years of use), has a nice slide out keyboard for tactile typing and is a lot smaller than most smartphones.
For on occasion maps when I travel I have a cheap smartphone that I pay for on demand ($20 for more than enough data for a long trip) and it works great for listening to offline MP3s while I walk / run. The camera is meh, but it gets the job done.
Basically, I carry the non-smartphone all the time except for when I'm walking / traveling because I like either absorbing nature or listening to podcasts with the other phone.
Out of curiosity, which phone are you using? I was tempted to buy a Nokia 3310 recently but it only supports 3G networks which are gradually being phased out across the United States.
The non-smartphone is an LG Xpression 2.
The smartphone is a TracFone Galaxy Stardust.
I don't use the internet on the LG at all because the experience is crippling slow, but the Stardust is actually really good for what it is (I've taken it on trips using Google Maps, etc.).
There are probably better non-smartphones out now but I haven't had any real issues with this one. I even dropped it once from about 5 feet onto concrete and it survived without a case. The entire back came apart and the battery flew out but it all connected together again without a scratch and still works today.
The smartphone is a TracFone Galaxy Stardust.
I don't use the internet on the LG at all because the experience is crippling slow, but the Stardust is actually really good for what it is (I've taken it on trips using Google Maps, etc.).
There are probably better non-smartphones out now but I haven't had any real issues with this one. I even dropped it once from about 5 feet onto concrete and it survived without a case. The entire back came apart and the battery flew out but it all connected together again without a scratch and still works today.
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I have been bogged by this for a long time. I would spend hours jumping from twitter to HN with some TV Shows inbetween. So I decided to take charge by deleting twitter, only going through HN in the night and watching TV only on the weekends. I couldn't ditch HN, I have become a better programmer because of it(I even tried HN subscription programs but those seem to select articles based popularity...I am not one for that). Regardless I will still suggest that anyone having this issues first detach completely. It took a lot of time and discipline to get used to the new schedule.
I've managed to limit my "phone time" significantly since a few years now. Other than the traditional remedies, one thing which works exceptionally well for me is that I've put the device on silent and on vibrate at all time, unless I'm explicitly expecting a very important call (rare). The main reasoning behind this is that auditory signals are much more distracting than visual signals; the latter you must explicitly look for. I just occasionally glance to check the flash notifier. The phone stays out of my hand most of the day.
Is there a market for a screenless phone with voice interaction only (which would not obviate at all many usueful apps "texting", maps, note-taking, etc, btw) -- I know for certain that I would replace my iPhone with (a sufficiently designed) one.
Who else would?
Who else would?
There is, it's called the Light Phone [0]. I've noticed they're engaging in a lot of marketing that seems to be paid native advertising, but the promotion doesn't disclose it's an ad, so proceed with caution. I would maybe wait until they leave the "pre-order" stage.
[0]: https://www.thelightphone.com/
[0]: https://www.thelightphone.com/
What about a dumb phone? My girlfriend uses a Nokia 150, the most distracting thing it offers is snake. You would lose functionality like maps though.
Apparently the most irritating thing is not having threaded text messages.
Apparently the most irritating thing is not having threaded text messages.
One shock-therapy that at least had some benefit for a lot of my friends: Whenever you feel tempted to get out your smartphone in a public place, survey how many people around you are glued to their smartphones. Talk to the few who are not.
The problem here is the narcissistic viewpoint. It's all about the author, their usage patterns, and their device problems. There's no mention of being part of (or missing out on) social debates or discussions. The author also doesn't mention any online clubs, teams, or groups which would miss them. Are they just bouncing off the front page of each site for a quick dopamine rush?
This reminds me of someone who goes to college and never joins any clubs, then comes home and complains that college is a waste of time.
Edit: suddenly, this seems reminiscent of the Inbox Zero initiative from years ago.
This reminds me of someone who goes to college and never joins any clubs, then comes home and complains that college is a waste of time.
Edit: suddenly, this seems reminiscent of the Inbox Zero initiative from years ago.
There's no mention of being part of (or missing out on) social debates or discussions. The author also doesn't mention any online clubs, teams, or groups which would miss them
These things existed long before “attention economy” was even a thing
These things existed long before “attention economy” was even a thing
And they will persist long after. Is the author part of debate on HN, as we are performing here? Or do they just skim articles out of habit?
My argument is that this person is missing connecting with other people.
My argument is that this person is missing connecting with other people.
In no way did I miss the actual content.
And your phone belongs Facebook (or so they seem to think)
The whole situation with attention economics is very illustrative of the neglected power of small things. Facebook can't really hack your dopaminergic pathways, however much they improve their feed AI. AdSense doesn't brainwash you to be a consumerist drone. Smartphones aren't exactly subtle with notifications, and it's easy to disable them. There's no violent, obvious infingement of one's agency, so the opinion that you still make your free choices is not without reason. But more often than not, people don't actively counteract these influences. They go with the flow, they allow the scales to be tipped a little. The more they do so, the more suspectible to distractions they become: that is, less prone to consciously deciding if the next stimulus is worth responding do. So even the tiniest starting amount of influence, as long as it isn't annoying and doesn't raise any internal alarm, is a seed of a serious behavioral change. This is how vulnerabilities work: it's not always intuitive that some small hole can compromise an entire system which is otherwise robust and adaptive. But you don't argue that this is pathetic, you go and patch it before the damage is done.
Hard to do with humans.
On a more practical (if unrelated) note, I think all browsers should block website notifications by default, i.e. when you get a prompt about push notifications, Deny button has to be highlighted. And it shouldn't be ever shown on mobile.
On a more practical (if unrelated) note, I think all browsers should block website notifications by default, i.e. when you get a prompt about push notifications, Deny button has to be highlighted. And it shouldn't be ever shown on mobile.
It's about economy of scale, which modern corporations have demonstrated that they are incredibly effective at. Bank fees that are a small fraction of each user's transaction but add up to billions for the bank. "First month free" subscriptions that only require you to remember to unsubscribe before they start charging.
When you have a billion users, than harnessing even a tiny fraction of their resources — financial, labor, cognitive, whatever — is a huge amount.
If our phones and social media apps take 2% of our attention away, that's next to nothing, but when you scale it up to millions of users, you're talking thousands of person-minds completely hijacked. It's like our brains are all running low priority threads bitcoining mining for these companies and getting next to nothing in return.
When you have a billion users, than harnessing even a tiny fraction of their resources — financial, labor, cognitive, whatever — is a huge amount.
If our phones and social media apps take 2% of our attention away, that's next to nothing, but when you scale it up to millions of users, you're talking thousands of person-minds completely hijacked. It's like our brains are all running low priority threads bitcoining mining for these companies and getting next to nothing in return.
There's also another, intrapersonal scale at play: if you get 20 "free" subscriptions, in 3-4 cases you'll definitely forget to unsubscribe before it starts charging, since it becomes impossible to track and optimize every process. Attentional impact of each one is miniscule, so many people don't notice going way above 2% or any other hard limit they could probably deal with semi-efficiently.
> And [website notifications] shouldn't be ever shown on mobile.
They are not shown on iOS.
They are not shown on iOS.
I found magazines to be a good way of slowly building your attention span back up from basically nothing. The articles are usually short enough that you don't get bored and start reaching for your phone, but they're long enough to require some effort if you want to stay focused.
My favorite so far is Lapham's Quarterly.
My favorite so far is Lapham's Quarterly.
Lapham's quarterly is an absolute amazing publication. Stumbled across the Religion volume in the sprituality section of my local thrift store three weeks ago. Truly one of the more important publications I've been exposed to in a long time, and it's a non-profit! I love how it's essentially classic literature curated just for those who aren't lifelong academics of the classics.
Only if you let it.
Haven't you ever caught yourself checking Hacker News, Facebook, any other social media site once too often?
Yes, but that's the reason I don't have a smartphone. I totally recognize the addictive element in my personality and I stay as far away as I can from things that can take me down. HN on a PC is bad enough, on a smartphone it would be a disaster.
FOMO is programmed into humans at a deep survival level, it’s hard to fight something that exploits a fundamental chink in your armour. Same with obesogenic foods.
Did you read the article, which is explicitly making this point (only, with actual argument instead of assertion)? Or do you just troll HN responding to headlines?
> Did you read the article
Asking 'did you read the article' is just about the oldest troll on HN, so pot, meet kettle.
It also seems that that is a favorite pastime of yours, to ask if people read the article, such as here:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16016803
Only an hour ago.
Asking 'did you read the article' is just about the oldest troll on HN, so pot, meet kettle.
It also seems that that is a favorite pastime of yours, to ask if people read the article, such as here:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16016803
Only an hour ago.
Personal attacks are not allowed here. Please read https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html. You'll notice there's also a guideline explicitly asking users not to do the "did you read the article" trope.
I am still struggling with this a bit but I am more aware now and try to be mindful of what I read. A neat trick I have found is to try to just check once a week using the search tool (popular past week):
https://hn.algolia.com/?q=&query=&sort=byPopularity&prefix&p...
I fail at this quite often, but a weekly mindful check is what I am aiming for