
The End of Reflection - kawera
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/12/fashion/internet-technology-phones-introspection.html?pagewanted=all
======
ahuibers
Donald Knuth on email:

"Email is a wonderful thing for people whose role in life is to be on top of
things. But not for me; my role is to be on the bottom of things. What I do
takes long hours of studying and uninterruptible concentration."

[http://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~uno/email.html](http://www-cs-
faculty.stanford.edu/~uno/email.html)

~~~
p4wnc6
I've never heard of or been part of any organization (academic, non-profit,
corporate, open source, etc.) that respects the basic need of developers for
uninterruptible concentration.

Note also that it is a particular word choice by Knuth: uninterruptible ...
_not_ uninterrupted. It harkens back to what Paul Graham wrote in both _Maker
's Schedule, Manager's Schedule_ and in _Great Hackers_ \-- even just having a
mid-morning meeting on the calendar at all can prevent you from even
attempting something hard at the start of your day, because you know the time
is already interrupted.

You need more than just happenstance of not being interrupted in a given time
window. You need to know that you _can 't_ be interrupted, at least not unless
it's a sky-is-falling kind of emergency (and you need to be able to trust that
your colleagues know the difference).

This is far and away the number one thing I need as a developer. I can write
passable software that I'm not proud of if it's loud, violently anti-privacy,
over-saturated with "collaboration" generally in some ultra-Agile open-plan
nightmare setting. But the only times I've ever written software that I was
proud of -- software that made huge, huge differences in the organizations I
was part of -- was when I could finally find a loophole or something to create
a situation when it was _not possible_ to interrupt me with the usual
bullshit.

It amazes me that even still, status effects and incredibly poor understanding
of where the value of software engineering resides leads to so many
organizations that not only have interruption-is-the-norm open-plan disasters
for offices and a million Agile meetings, but actually praise that garbage and
hold it up as if it is an example of positive collaboration or effective
engineering, despite it being the very antithesis of positive collaboration or
effective engineering.

~~~
jackmott
Oh, it isn't just me! My wife doesn't understand why i have a horrified look
on my face whenever she opens my office door to look for something or pass
through.

~~~
kbenson
I have a small office in a large closet upstairs that I use at night for work,
my SO has a converted room downstairs as her office for her home business, so
there's not a lot of cross traffic. Unfortunately, that means she IM's me
quite a bit, which since it's even lower cost than walking 20-30 feet if she's
already at a computer, I'm not entirely sure isn't worse. :/

~~~
p4wnc6
The number of people here who have both a private home office and a
significant other depresses me.

~~~
kbenson
Why else would you want a _private_ home office? If you don't have a
significant other, there's no need for a separate private space.

In my case, I work from home two days a week, and I have children. I separate
space is _essential_ to get work done. It's a matter of having a private space
that allows me to be home if needed, and save time for with my family, or not
being productive enough to make it economical for the business to allow.

~~~
p4wnc6
I was trying to express that I am envious of people who are able to have a
significant other and a comfortable home with space. Having even just one of
the two sounds like a dream world to me.

~~~
kbenson
Fair enough, I interpreted it differently. Good luck on the search, in both
respects. :)

------
asolove
Anecdotally, switching back from an iPhone to a flip phone has been very
revealing for me. I don't know about all the generalizations made in this
piece, or decrying overall social change. And I expect I am an outlier as
being far more distractible than most.

But I do think it's worth spending a week living your normal life but without
a smartphone to see how you personally are different. Don't just go on
vacation and "disconnect". Try living your life but disconnected. It's
interesting. You have to get places earlier. You have to make plans that have
pre-arranged fallback plans. You have to have something to think about to not
get bored. (Or, at least, I do.)

~~~
laurencei
I want to do this - except I have 2-3 apps I feel I could not live without.

Google Auth for 2-factor been the main one.

~~~
tbrooks
If you use 1Password, they have 2-factor auth built-in.

Read more here: [https://support.1password.com/one-time-
passwords/](https://support.1password.com/one-time-passwords/)

~~~
trusche
I didn't realize they had that feature. Doesn't that kind of defeat the
purpose of 2FA to have your password and your second factor in one single app?

------
jernfrost
I am actually worried about myself for spending too much time with the smart
phone. Even at the bathroom, while I stand peeing I browse stuff that I
actually don't care that much about. It is a compulsion. Probably should get
treatment. I find that I've started to lose the ability to read and
concentrate on longer pieces of text. I hardly read books anymore, which goes
into things at any depth.

I used to take long walks where I thought about difficult problems and found
solutions. I would ponder these problems on the bus, or subway. I never mined
being alone with my thoughts before. I never understood how people could be
bored when there are so many things one could be thinking about.

Yet here I am in 2016 incapable of being alone in my own thoughts for more
than 5 minutes before pulling up the iPhone. I starts to feel more like a bad
drug, than a usable tool.

If anybody has good suggestions for phones or ways of configuring the iPhone
so that I can only read email. I am not addicted to email. It is the browsing
functionality which is so addictive.

I also wish I was not wasting my time on HN writing this comment ;-)

~~~
rtb
Just get a dumb phone. I don't have a smartphone because I'm sure I'd fall
into the same trap.

It's occasionally difficult, but usually just freeing.

------
noobermin
I read the first two sentences, and then I immediately closed the tab. I then
decided to give it a second thought seeing the response on HN, and I see my
first gut reaction was correct.

I'm 27, and I know people who are younger who surprise, surprise are
reflective. I stay about 45 minutes away from my office by bus. By bike it
takes 35. I like the bike ride, but initially, I missed the bus rides because
I had time to contemplate on the bus...yes, with my phone in hand. May be I am
the minority, but even with my phone I think a lot because I decide to and to
be honest, my phone isn't as interesting as my thoughts...frequently.
Technology has always been an augment to my life, it isn't my life. When I
didn't spend 5 hours on my phone I probably spent 5 hours playing video games
or 5 hours doing something else. This feels like another thinly veiled $(echo
Rock and roll is corrupting the youth | sed 's/Rock and roll/Marijuana/' | sed
's/Marijuana/Grunge Music/' | sed 's/Grunge Music/Video Games/' | sed 's/Video
Games/the Internet/') argument--it also is another article that indirectly
targets Millenials ( attacking the selfie, then the tweet ) and that their
culture is "unreflective"...yes, the same generation that drinks, smokes, is
more educated, and has less teen pregnancies than prior ones. Possibly, some
of those 5 hours were spent self-inflicting one's self with cancer in
generations past, which I would argue is quite unreflective.

The phone and the internet is not going away, many introspective introverts
like me still do think and still like it. Just because we have written
language, it doesn't mean the corrupt youth know less since they no longer
have to memorize. In fact, as Aristotle was dead wrong on Newton's 1st Law, I
offer that written language, like all technology, just makes us better
thinkers...it all comes down to how we use it.

~~~
studentrob
Agreed. The article speaks more to the awareness of the author than the
collective awareness of the public.

Every tool will be used by people however they choose. Tech can enhance or
lower intellect. It's how you decide to use it that matters.

Collectively, I'm not convinced this age is becoming less aware of itself.
There are some awesome things out there. Creative, artistic things in all
walks of life. I have my own list of things that won't apply to everyone. It
just depends what you like. If the world isn't producing something that you
think should exist, then make it. I suppose, for this author, that is this
article.

------
ASpring
Active reflection on past experiences has many positive effects on
psychological wellbeing and I'm quite surprised that they weren't mentioned in
this article.

Artie Konrad (disclaimer: a labmate of mine until he graduated recently)
focused on the effects of Technology Mediated Reflection (TMR) which deals
with user's keeping a sort of personal diary and being prompted to reflect on
past experiences routinely. Overall this increases mental wellbeing
significantly with some interesting effects on how memories are evaluated over
time and how the reflective process affects current moods.

~~~
DenisM
I would expect the opposite - ruminating over past problems will make them
worse. It clearly does for some people, but you're saying it's different for
other, do you know where the distinction lies? If you ever find out please
send me an email. Thanks!

~~~
ASpring
Great question. Their result in this area did surprise me. Conscious
reflection on past negative memories slowly turns them into less negative and
less painful memories. There is a lot of work here done by Pennebaker about
how writing about past negative events transforms our memory of them [1]. And
the work done by my lab started off with a system that facilitated these
reflections through technology [2]. There is more recent work on this in
press.

I think the difference lies in the structure. Rumination is symptomatic of
depressive thinking and often characterized by intrusive negative thoughts.
Reflection on the other hand is the conscious process of sitting down and
reevaluating a past situation (often in writing).

1\. Pennebaker, J. W., & Chung, C. K. (2011). Expressive writing: Connections
to physical and mental health. In H. S. Friedman (Eds.), Oxford handbook of
health psychology (pp. 417-437). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

2\. Isaacs, E., Konrad, A., Walendowski, A., Lennig, T., Hollis, V., &
Whittaker, S. (2013). Echoes from the past: how technology mediated reflection
improves well-being (p. 1071). ACM Press.
[http://doi.org/10.1145/2470654.2466137](http://doi.org/10.1145/2470654.2466137)

~~~
studentrob
Meditation/Mindfulness might lead you to some more insight on this subject. It
teaches to observe pain when it comes up rather than ignore it. The book
Mindfulness In Plain English is pretty good. Or, Tuesdays with Morrie. Observe
emotion, then let it go.

To the scientific mind, mindfulness might seem hokey. I certainly thought so
for years until I saw it promoted on HN with some scientific research backing
its efficacy. Then I tried it and was impressed with the results.

~~~
danielbln
To add another book recommendation: "Mind Illuminated", which reads like a
college textbook, straight and to the point yet very in depth.

~~~
studentrob
Sweet thanks, I'll check it out.

------
jgrahamc
I get constantly distracted at work by people asking me questions, needing
something etc. My solution has been to leave the office and go for a walk. No
one knows where I am and I get to think quietly to myself while walking.

I have my phone with me and I just leave it in my pocket.

------
mbrock
This whole question of what to do with one's mind. Introspection sounds nice
but it's not always useful.

What I'm kind of trying to do with technology is study or learn for many hours
every day, it's just that I'm not doing a great job, because the stressful
approach makes it hard to find and approach real valuable material.

I'm also trying to keep up with some kind of professional community as well as
some cultural forms of community. I appreciate the professional or hobbyist
communities because basically they don't revolve around Donald Trump and I can
pretend the world is basically sane.

I've reflected a lot but not really gotten anywhere. I really value two
different three month periods in the past few years when I haven't had
internet access at home at all, though. Having hours every day when my mind
wasn't hooked up to high frequency information systems was pretty wonderful.

There's something in Bob Dylan's memoirs, the first book which is the only one
I read (I don't finish books anymore), about how his "news" for a while was
the history of the Byzantine empire (or something) because that's what he was
studying at the time.

I'm more and more interested in the visceral feeling of "offline" and I think
it's a source of refreshment that is becoming scarce (this ought to be a
considerable driver of interest in meditation retreats).

~~~
studentrob
> Having hours every day when my mind wasn't hooked up to high frequency
> information systems was pretty wonderful.

I feel like this is what many people would describe as a period of
introspection. You are temporarily closing out far away communications and
narrowing focus to immediate surroundings.

You can get more of this by focusing on one object, or closing your eyes. If
you do it for 20 minutes a day, you might find yourself more capable of
handling other stresses. The skill is currently called being mindful or aware,
and you can strengthen it, as you observed, by closing out externalities.
After closing your eyes, the idea is to close out thought. It is a challenging
and useful exercise. There are some books on mindfulness that could say more.

------
mike_hock
_That_ kind of reflection. I was starting to think inspecting the types from
within a language wasn't considered good anymore ...

------
WWKong
Try this 4x4 digital detox. Repeat every 4 months. Customize to your habits.

Prereq = Delete feed apps, turn off notifications

Day 1, 2 = No feeds, forums, news

Day 3 = Introduce News, forums limited to 2 slots of 15 mins

Day 4 = Introduce feeds limited to 1 slot of 20 min

~~~
derwiki
Not sure why you're being downvoted. This might not be everyone's cup of tea,
but this is certainly a valid idea.

Tangentially, I've thought about resetting my phone once a month to make sure
I only have installed what I want/need. But as a first step, I disabled _23_
notifications I didn't need -- kept just SMS and WhatsApp.

------
woodandsteel
The thing about the way the human mind works is that you often can't find out
what would be most rewarding, or why you are acting as your are, good or bad,
unless you spend some quiet time slowly paying attention to your unclear
feelings and various experiences.

Meditation can help a great deal with this, ditto keeping a journal. So can
engaging in artistic expression such painting or writing poetry. Ditto reading
great thinkers or novelists. I particularly like the focusing method developed
by the philosopher and psychologist Eugene Gendlin.

You have to understand, social media corporations don't want you to know what
you really want, because it often would turn out to be something other than
what they are selling. So they keep you distracted with mental candy and an
unending worry that you are missing something important.

------
TheSpiceIsLife
_The last remaining place I’m guaranteed to be alone with my thoughts is in
the shower._

Teddy Wayne clearly hasn't discovered LifeProof cases.

When I first got a LifeProof case many a friend received a photo of water
coming out of the shower head and the words "just having a shower".

But anyway, yeah we spend too much time on our phones. But so what? There are
much worse things. Out of the 20 or so <25 year olds at my work place only
three of them smoke cigarettes. Who cares if we use our phones too much. If we
go to work, pay the bills, and generally don't get too involved in fucking
people over, do whatever you like on your phone.

At least smartphones are interactive, at least to some extent.

~~~
techsupporter
> Teddy Wayne clearly hasn't discovered LifeProof cases.

Tangentially related but I hadn't discovered LifeProof cases prior to you
mentioning it. These things look _amazing_. I'm ordering one for my phone
right now. Less for using in the shower (I take really fast showers) and more
for using in the rain and not worrying about an accidental drop in a puddle.

(And maybe I'm the outlier here but I don't want to go back to having a not-
smartphone. I remember using flip phones like my StarTac as well my complete
tank of a Nokia 3390--complete with Snake--but I also enjoy being able to
e-mail and text with my friends and read books and play music all from one
device. And I'm in my mid-30s so it's not like I've never lived when we didn't
have smartphones.)

------
cgs
I wanted to check my phone less, and one thing that helped was setting the
screen to grayscale (iOS: Settings > General > Accessibility ). When things
are less shiny, you're less inclined to compulsively have a look. Tip from The
Atlantic: [http://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/480240/adventures-
in-...](http://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/480240/adventures-in-
grayscale/)

~~~
spoinkaroo
Thanks for the tip. Is grayscale better for your eyes also? I'd imagine it
would be.

------
agumonkey
All this thread makes me wanna walk on a mountain and do yoga for a few
months.

~~~
DenisM
Go to Vipassana instead. 10 days make dramatic difference.

------
niftich
When I want to reflect, I go for a drive. It takes me through places I don't
see every day, and ensures I keep my hands off my phone. When I get home, I
will have cleared my head, and I often feel I just had an adventure.

~~~
derwiki
It also works just as well to leave your phone at home and go for a walk. We
existed for a long time with just landlines; you weren't at home when Bob
called? That's fine. Just because we _have_ cell phones, we're not required to
be accessible 24/7.

------
CuriouslyC
The single best thing you can do for your productivity and peace of mind is
leave your phone on airplane mode unless you are expecting an important call,
or need to make a call. Anyone trying to reach you that you actually want to
hear from will leave a message, and the hassle of having to switch out of
airplane mode keeps you from compulsively surfing, using facebook/twitter/etc.

~~~
derwiki
I've found that the act of logging out of Facebook after using it generally
has the same effect. If I find myself casually loading Facebook, but it takes
me to a login screen, I remember that I wanted to be purposeful about using
Facebook and put it away.

~~~
cageface
I removed all social media apps from my phone. I will still occasionally
access them from my laptop now but usually when I'm using my laptop I'm
working so the temptation is a lot weaker.

------
samatman
Two observations: first, I would probably underestimate my smartphone use by
the criteria they provide. It wouldn't occur to me to describe checking the
time as 'using' my phone, but it would count, because it turns the screen on.
I'd guess that half the occasions I turn my screen on, it's to check the time.

Second, I easily use my phone for five hours in a typical day, because I like
to listen to music. But listening to music is no barrier to reflection or
introspection at all, rather the contrary, at least for me.

------
brudgers
Maybe I reflect less now than I did before I had a supercomputer in my pocket.
I am not certain. However, today I have more and better information to reflect
upon than back then. Of that I am certain.

When I turn off, tune out and drop into a book it's more out of the habit of
an older generation than some quest for a quality inaccessible to the well
wired. I don't think that being wired has made people less contemplative so
much as it facilitates encountering those who aren't now and would not have
been in the past.

------
rollthehard6
Agree that reflection and contemplation is important.

Likewise, writing your thoughts out is also powerful and sometimes, being
forced to edit your point down to one or two 140 char snippets is not such bad
thing either.

Similarly, being exposed to the views of people you would likely never meet in
pre-internet/social media times is no bad thing either IMHO.

"Everything in moderation" and "Variety is the spice of life" are aphorisms
that persist for a reason.

~~~
miloshadzic
We were writing out our own thoughts before the internet and also cutting the
length down(see graffiti, sms).

Being exposed is not the same as being constantly bombarded with _new_
content. By the way, you're not really being exposed to that differing views
as Google, Facebook, etc are putting you inside a bubble filled with things
you like.

Moderation is hard when companies are working hard to make you use their tech
as much as possible (more looking, more clicking -- more money).

------
apatters
So increased smartphone usage may be impairing our reflective abilities, but
to play devil's advocate, what is it imparting instead which is beneficial? As
the article notes, a thought may be tweeted out to others instantly and
developed in a public forum instead of in isolation in the thinker's head.
That may very well result in better thoughts, particularly for people who
never had very complex ideas in the first place.

------
mbil
For the last few weeks I've been not listening to podcasts or music on my
morning walk to work (half hour). I deliberately did this to give myself time
to be more introspective or creative. Realizing after X minutes that you've
just been lost in thought is kind of satisfying.

------
fimdomeio
The only problem I have with my feature phone is the fact that it has opera
mini which is capable enough to write this comment. On the first week I broke
the email when trying to update it. Facebook on the other hand is kind of
interesting. it takes 2min to send a message.

------
caseymarquis
Initially thought this was an argument against meta-programming till I saw the
source. I got very defensive for no reason. |D

