
I Used to Be a Human Being - oscarwao
http://nymag.com/selectall/2016/09/andrew-sullivan-technology-almost-killed-me.html?mid=twitter-share-selectall
======
resetting
I'd be interested to hear everyone's strategies to combat this, as I assume
many of us that work in the industry encounter similar problems of distraction
and inundation.

First, I don't use any devices directly after waking up. I meditate for about
20 minutes upon waking and then try to read fiction for 40 minutes. So, all
in, somewhere around an hour of no device distractions before starting my day.

Slack is one of the biggest interrupting factors while coding these days, more
so than IRC ever was for me, so I try to have chunks of time during the day
with it closed. This is something I've struggled with recently as co-workers
always expect to be able to get in touch, but often I really need 30-60
minutes of uninterrupted focus for real tasks.

For personal things, I deleted Facebook and feel quite a bit better. I still
scroll Instagram too much. I deleted the Twitter app from my phone and will
only check it from time to time on the web. I try to turn on Do Not Disturb
mode in the evenings, but it's hard when you have systems that potentially
could go down and things could get escalated to you.

On top of that I try to take psychedelics a few times per year, not in any
type of party settings, but with people that are close to me. Screens tend to
turn up this feeling of disgust when I look at them in that state, so I
automatically disengage with them. I find that for at least a short while
after the trip my usage of distracting Internet things goes down a lot as
well.

Interested to hear other strategies!

~~~
CMYK5
One thing that has helped me is a "digital purge." I do mine on New Years Day,
and I go through every app and ruthlessly un-follow/unfriend anyone who
doesn't isn't contributing positively to me in some way (sometimes deleting
entire apps).

At the end of the day I'm offering these people direct access to me multiple
times daily. If I don't get a positive outcome from these interactions, why
keep them around?

~~~
marmot777
That's something I do consistently but I've not really consciously thought it
through. I just delete any apps or "unfriend" people that I determine to be a
negative force in my life even in a small way. This one everyone should do
even if they don't want to get into the digital 12 step program. I'm waiting
to hit digital rock bottom before I quit.

------
simonbarker87
I read somewhere recently that smart phones have essentially become random
gratification engines in the same way as slot machines. Sometimes on a slot
machine you win the jackpot, because of this every pull gives you an endorphin
kick, each time we pick up our phones or get a notification it might be an
important/interesting thing, therefore we get a little endorphin kick that
keeps us checking.

Because of this I turn off all notifications apart from phone calls and text
messages. I don't have app badge counters or notifications for email either,
if it is that important the person would ring me.

~~~
Torgo
This is the daily reminder that technology is not politically or socially
"neutral".

~~~
cushychicken
What was the origin of that quote? I mentioned it offhand in conversation the
other day but couldn't remember where I'd heard it.

~~~
dredmorbius
I'm familar with it from Jerry Mander, Neil Postman, and Joyce and Michael
Heusemann, who address it specifically and at length in their book _Techno-
Fix_. Also in Marshall McLuhan (of whom Postman was a student).

I think you'll find a philosophical basis in Jaques Ellul among others
(Foucalt is also mentioned).

From Postman:

 _[E]very technology has an inherent bias. It has within its physical form a
predisposition toward being used in certain ways and not others. Only those
who know nothing of the history of technology believe that a technology is
entirely neutral._

French philosopher Jacques Ellul, who...

 _...cautions that technology brings with it a great number of unforeseen
effects [4]. This is because “technology leads a double life, one which
conforms to the intentions of designers and interests of power and another
which contradicts them—proceeding behind the backs of their architects to
yield unintended consequences and unintended possibilities” [5]. It is
difficult then for us to control what we cannot always see._

[http://www.helwyssocietyforum.com/?p=1360](http://www.helwyssocietyforum.com/?p=1360)

There's a related concept of Technological Determinism, originating with
Thorstein Veblen:

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_determinism](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_determinism)

More reading:

[http://www.worldcat.org/title/techno-fix-why-technology-
wont...](http://www.worldcat.org/title/techno-fix-why-technology-wont-save-us-
or-the-environment/oclc/709681580&referer=brief_results)

[http://www.worldcat.org/title/four-arguments-for-the-
elimina...](http://www.worldcat.org/title/four-arguments-for-the-elimination-
of-television/oclc/3240263&referer=brief_results)

[http://www.worldcat.org/title/technopoly-the-surrender-of-
cu...](http://www.worldcat.org/title/technopoly-the-surrender-of-culture-to-
technology/oclc/24694343&referer=brief_results)

[http://www.worldcat.org/title/this-is-marshall-mcluhan-
the-m...](http://www.worldcat.org/title/this-is-marshall-mcluhan-the-medium-
is-the-message/oclc/2998154&referer=brief_results)

------
jonstokes
The number one thing I've found to be effective in combatting this is sleep. I
have to get 8 hours of uninterrupted, unmedicated sleep. 9 hours is even
better. And I have to do it for a few nights in a row.

If I do anything at all that interferes with the quality of my sleep, I'm
screwed, and The Stream will suck me in. Conversely, things that increase the
quality of my sleep -- exercise, diet, not using gadgets after a certain hour
-- all increase my ability to fight off Stream-induced distraction.

So that's my recommendation. YMMV.

~~~
toddsiegel
Yes. Lack of sleep weakens my discipline and makes it easier to get sucked in
and it's a vicious cycle after that.

------
morgante
To me, this reads like an alcoholic ranting about how everyone should stop
drinking. Yes, technology can be addicting. That doesn't mean we're "helpless"
or even that it's _bad_. I'm really sick of these hyperbolic luddites.

Personally, it's not at all a problem. I'm not a technophobe—I have an iPhone,
use Facebook, etc.—but it's done nothing but positively improve my life. I can
keep in touch with friends around the world and work remotely from anywhere,
all thanks to the beauty of these "distracting" technologies.

However, even though my life is heavily entangled with technology I certainly
don't feel "addicted" to it. I have no problem going out into the wilderness
for a week and having 0 contact with the world. I certainly don't interrupt
conversations to check my phone.

If technology is hurting your life, the problem could just as easily be with
_you_ as it is with technology.

~~~
callmeed
Respectfully disagree with your view.

Technology in and of itself is not bad. But when technology is run by
_technology companies_ whose motive is profit, it can be bad.

I think what we're seeing is new externalities caused by technology. I think
junk food + soda + obesity is a more apt analogy than alcoholism. It's easy to
say "don't get addicted to junk food or soda" but you have to remember that
these companies specifically formulate their products to hack your body and
make you crave more. Then they bombard you with ads. All so they can sell you
more.

In the same way, technology companies make more money the more you use their
products. So they specifically architect their products to hack your brain so
you will use it more. It's easy to _say_ "don't get addicted to Facebook" or
"the problem is you" but, frankly, I don't think its that simple.

~~~
blisse
But with your junk food analogy, there are still alternatives and it's up to
you to decide how you live your life.

~~~
callmeed
Apologies if I'm using the wrong terms, but this comes off as a kind of
myopic, libertarian view.

Do you have children? I have 4. A lot of this is easier to understand by
watching them. Yes, I know it's my job to teach them how to make good choices.
But why do devices suck them in so easily if I don't direct or enforce their
behavior?

Of course there are alternatives to junk food. But am I completely, 100% in
control of my decisions without any influence from external sources?

There is an entire industry whose sole purpose is to influence your decision
making. People in this industry spend about half a trillion dollars a year
globally. It's called "advertising" and it wouldn't keep growing if it didn't
work.

~~~
buckbova
> But why do devices suck them in so easily if I don't direct or enforce their
> behavior?

Advertising had nothing to do with my addiction to gaming.

When I was a kid I played games nonstop on atari before I got an apple ][.
Then I played games on that until I got a nintendo, then a PC clone, then a
sega genesis, then PS2, and then at some point I had to cut myself off. Cold
turkey. I would honestly play the dumbest simple game for hours and hours. I'd
beat the same game over and over sometimes.

Young children don't understand moderation. They will eat a bag of cookies or
play on a tablet for hours at a time without guidance.

You must direct them and always have an activity at the ready. Set an old
school egg timer for say 60 minutes and when it goes off, go shut off the
game, take away the tablet/phone, and suggest their next task. Don't wait for
them to save the game or fall for the "I'm almost done with the level"
nonsense.

~~~
gnahckire
> Young children don't understand moderation. They will eat a bag of cookies
> or play on a tablet for hours at a time without guidance.

Yeah... this was/still is my problem. haha

~~~
JackJi2011
so do I...

------
hitekker
"I used to be a human being": I like this phrase. It captures, poetically, the
existential despair of losing the conditions of humanity. Regardless of if the
author's particular conditions necessitates the implicit drama, each of one
us, I'm sure, have felt like we lost what made us "real" or "authentic" at
some point or another.

~~~
pmoriarty
People have complained about the loss of authenticity for much longer than the
internet (much less social media) has been around.

It happens around any time of great change. We happen to be living through a
period of some of the fastest changes in human history, so it's not surprising
a lot of people are confused and feel like they've lost something.

~~~
kp1234321
> We happen to be living through a period of some of the fastest changes in
> human history

Couldn't this have been said accurately at just about every point in human
history? I'm not asking to try and refute what you said - I think that
supports the first point you made. The world is always changing at an
exponential rate and we are always on the curve, so people will continue to
lament loss of the past until the end of time.

~~~
elliotec
Not necessarily - before the industrial revolution the pace of change was very
very very slow comparatively. In fact, our rate of change now is pretty slow
and minor compared to the changes during the time that Victoria was the queen
of England.

------
int_19h
What I would say to this guy is this.

Your "virtual" life is also real. The news that you read, happen in real
world. The people whom you talk to are real people. There's no "real life" and
"non-real life". Everything that happens to you is "real life" by definition.
That includes social networks etc.

The only thing that matters is whether it is a life that you're comfortable
with, or not. And there is certainly a point that many people are not actually
comfortable, but forced into comforming.

Being uncomfortable about it because it's "not real" is a fallacy, though.

------
ryandrake
Did this really need a 7000+ word essay? If you don't like Facebook, don't use
it. If you're concerned about "distraction overload" then remove things from
your life you find distracting. Nobody is putting a gun to your head and
forcing you to use smartphone apps and 10 different text messaging systems. If
you want to live as a technology-free hermit, go right ahead. But don't try to
argue that I should live like you.

The author instead seems to be taking his personal opinions about technology
and trying to apply them to everyone. It's not enough that he doesn't like
these things. We should not like them either and here's why. Time with my kid
is invalid because I also have the TV on? GPS leads me to stop remembering
things? Emojis are unsuitable replacements for voicemail? The author imagines
restaurants where smartphones must be surrendered upon entering. Cool, you've
described a place I'll actively avoid. Where's that "stop liking things I
don't like" GIF when you need it?

"Our enslavement to dopamine?" \-- how about YOUR enslavement to dopamine?
Leave me out of it.

~~~
te_chris
Or, how about the writer has experienced something very personal which their
editor thought would appeal to an audience as wide as that of NYMag? Perhaps,
instead of just saying the writer is wrong, you could try and empathise with
the position, see if you feel better after some time apart from the internet.
Try and understand another perspective.

Writing is 1 to many, the author was most certainly not writing just for you.
No need to be so incensed.

~~~
ryandrake
It's fine to say, "Hey, I don't like this--here's the personal story about how
I had a huge problem with it." It goes off the rails when he starts calling it
"our" [collective] problem. Sorry, I just think that's assuming an awful lot
about one's audience.

~~~
crawfordcomeaux
I'm a recovering info addict (not the author) & here's what I mean when I
describe it as our collective problem:

1\. We're living in the Information Age.

2\. Information can be addictive?! Holy shit!

3\. And we barely have a clue as to how to deal with people addicted to
anything else, let alone addicted to that thing we're defining this entire age
of humanity on?!

It doesn't have to be a problem you suffer from to see that information being
addictive implies significant potential for collective harm.

------
FuNe
> The interruptions often feel pleasant, of course, because they are usually
> the work of your friends. Distractions arrive in your brain connected to
> people you know (or think you know), which is the genius of social, peer-to-
> peer media.

Silly as it will sound I'd never thought of it that way. Cunning , brilliant
and cunning again.

~~~
danblick
A related thought: for any app, there's a question ~ "How do I get the user to
open the app regularly? How do I turn checking the app into a habit?"

Messaging apps have a nice solution to this: they allow your friends to summon
you to the app by sending you a message.

~~~
sdegutis
From a business point of view, that's an important goal. The more a user
depends on your product, the more you stay in business. And the goal of a
business is to survive indefinitely.

But from a human perspective, I'd argue it's completely unethical. As a
business, your goal isn't merely to encourage potential customers to choose
your brand over another. It's also to get them to buy it even if they don't
want it. And it's to get them hooked so they come back and buy more.

Now, what if your product is vodka? Your job suddenly became to make as many
high-functioning alcoholics out of customers as possible (high-functioning so
that they can continue to buy).

This may be a stretch from a mobile game or social media platform, but not
much. They both have negative effects with real impacts on the health and
happiness and sometimes even safety of the consumers.

------
Raphmedia
I fixed my brain by cancelling my internet services. All I had was 1gb of
cellphone data.

Never been happier.

Right now I am back with an internet subscription and I'm miserable. I am an
internet addict and having internet at home is very bad for me. I strongly
consider cancelling my internet suscription again.

~~~
ashark
I've had good success putting my laptop away and only using an inconveniently-
located desktop when I want to do Computer Stuff. I can still go spend a lot
of time on it (sometimes you need to, sometimes you actually _want_ to), but
it's a conscious _choice_ to go do that. I can't just carry the cancer that is
the Internet around the house with me, flip the lid open "just to check
something" and surface two hours later having accomplished nothing.

------
RUG3Y
I spent the weekend working on my Honda, replacing the timing belt, water
pump, clutch cylinders. It's been a long time since I've come up for air, so
to speak, and spending the entire weekend off the computer was immensely
gratifying. I found more satisfaction in fixing my car than I have in anything
for a long time. I found myself thinking that perhaps being on the internet
constantly has caused me to lose some taste for life.

I'm taking a vacation soon, 9 days with no computer will be a much needed
reset.

------
mesmerizingsnow
What's clicked for me is:

[https://selfcontrolapp.com/](https://selfcontrolapp.com/)

It's an open source project either:

[https://github.com/SelfControlApp/selfcontrol/](https://github.com/SelfControlApp/selfcontrol/)

What I do is, essentially, the following: every day at around 0-1 am (before I
go to sleep) I set a timer so that it would fire at 7-8 pm (that's when I
would get home). This allows me to force myself from browsing unnecessary
sites (facebook, twitter, HN, reddit etc.) that would otherwise distract me
from doing meaningful work.

As for the other devices, not long ago I would have twitter, facebook, VK, and
a few others social media apps on my iPhone. I deleted everything except
twitter which I check rarely (<= 10m a day). Deleting the facebook app
contributed greatly to my smartphone's battery life either.

~~~
m2qlaeldek
Is it really bad if you aren't doing meaningful work at 8 pm after you get
home from work?

------
agentcooper
Shameless plug: I created a Chrome extension which makes me wait 1 minute
before proceeding to the one of distracting websites, helps me a lot. Maybe it
will help you too: [https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/better-things-
to-d...](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/better-things-to-
do/begggblpkegcnammjagcmplfnpopocla).

~~~
fudged71
Thank you so much! This is great

------
tim333
I rather like the internet connected version of living.

~~~
bernardino
How so?

~~~
tim333
Well at the everyday level you can keep in touch with your friends, catch
Pokemon, access the world's information and the like.

More speculatively you have the points made by Louis C.K in the article, that
"Underneath in your life there’s that thing … that forever empty … that
knowledge that it’s all for nothing and you’re alone …" "you just feel … kinda
satisfied with your products. And then you die." As an engineering type I
think a lot of that can be fixed by technology, that as computers equal and
pass human brain capacities a lot of cool stuff will be possible maybe
including fixing the alone and dying stuff and it's interesting to see things
progress.

------
Disruptive_Dave
Meditation, meditation, meditation. These devices/games/stimuli are training
your brain, so it's up to you to actively combat that with your own training.
That's how I view it - you are being programmed one way or another, either by
outside forces or by your own doing.

------
philippeback
I swim. Often. No phone. No internet for 2 solid hours.

After that my mind is clear. And I do not want to reach for a smartphone.

One great feature on this phone is the ultra energy saving feature. Basically
turning it into a black and white display reminiscent of a Nokia 3310.

Notifications are turned down for everything.

My life is better. Walking the dog and looking at the scenery is feeling good.

I like to have my life back from the social internet blackhole.

------
CMYK5
The problem is that these technologies are increasingly necessary to function
within normal society. Do we somehow regulate the allowable behaviors of apps?
Is it on us to improve our self control so we can act as engaged, but distant
participants?

There's also the ethical question around people not being aware of their
obsessions/addictions (especially in the mobile gaming space)

------
thr0waway1239
One suggestion for people who ask if there is a better way than cutting
yourself off from social networks:

Try to practice "memory walk meditation" \- I made up the word to combine two
things I have learnt about, essentially to combat distraction. (And I have
been generally successful - but I also don't need it a whole lot)

Next time you read a book, or just anything you feel would be good to remember
- take the key points and associate them with objects in the room that you
spend the most time in, or where you usually sit/stand when you interact on
the social network. If you are completely unfamiliar with the field of memory
training, I recommend picking up some old copy of any book written by Harry
Lorayne to learn how people usually commit things to memory when doing memory
training. (For example, creating outrageous and vivid images is key to
retrieval. Learning the major system will help memorize arbitrary numbers)

The actual memory walk meditation consists of traversing those objects first
physically, then eventually mentally in a certain order - as you approach the
object, use the image to retrieve the concept/idea associated with it.
Hopefully you can identify at least 10 or so objects in your room.

After a while, it becomes a bit (too) easy. Read another book, do it for
something else you wish to learn.

The point is, it is easier to move away from a bad habit like too much FB by
building something else that you look forward to than using denial.

A very nice advantage of this technique is that you can decide, for example,
that you will at least go around the room (mentally) once before logging in to
the social network, and increase it to two, three etc. So you can slowly build
up your resistance, so to speak. A second advantage is that since the objects
are usually right in front of your eyes, it gives you triggers all over the
environment to help you build the habit.

------
n72
I'm considering writing a plugin which, much like an ad-blocker, removes click
bait links. There would be various black lists one could use. Any feedback on
implementation appreciated.

~~~
dredmorbius
My thinking is leaning toward a few concepts:

* Quantified content utilisation. I've been looking at measures of just how much content people can engage with in a day, and it's much smaller than you might think. Stephen Wolfram and Walt Mossberg both hit about 150 - 300 emails. The NY Times comment moderation crew tackle about 800 comments each per day. That latter means 36 seconds per comment, assuming an 8-hour day. At some point, your brain simply becomes full. I suspect a much smaller number of detailed items, and a small number (10-30) medium, and perhaps 100 or so trivial items, is about the sane limit.

* A quality metric for content, based on some finite, depletable, periodically renewed resource. "Time" might be one such metric (you've only got 86,400 seconds today, but you'll have more tomorrow!). I have a 5-6 point ranking of content, from '0' (actually makes you stupid for having read it) to 5/6 (defines a field, 6 == extends it). Most news articles fall in the 1-2 range, a good news article perhaps 3, a _solid_ technical paper a 3-4. Key is to _not_ assign everything a top-of-the-scale range.

* Assignment of reputations to sources based on those ratings. Both authors and publishers.

Increasingly, I'm simply adding clickbait sites to my firewall's blocklist.

[https://ello.co/dredmorbius/post/wgtaltzorrurzat3wf-
lwa](https://ello.co/dredmorbius/post/wgtaltzorrurzat3wf-lwa)

Iwould very much prrefer to have that capacity on my tablet itself (Google and
Samsung say I cannot, fuck 'em, fuck 'em hard), or in some brwoser-like tool
(really a next-gen browser).

[https://ello.co/dredmorbius/post/ubkidr7yuc7azg9hdnl7lq](https://ello.co/dredmorbius/post/ubkidr7yuc7azg9hdnl7lq)

------
hprotagonist
reminds me of the poem "The World is Too Much With Us", by William Wadsworth:

>The world is too much with us; late and soon,

Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;—

Little we see in Nature that is ours;

We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!

This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;

The winds that will be howling at all hours,

And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;

For this, for everything, we are out of tune;

It moves us not. Great God! I’d rather be

A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;

So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,

Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;

Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;

Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn.

~~~
fmela
I believe this is William Wordsworth.

~~~
hprotagonist
Whoops. Edited to correct.

------
nxzero
Just wait until machine learning gets really good at providing information
that's of value that you "must have" to get through the day.

~~~
Retr0spectrum
This service does a rather good job of summarising individual articles:

[http://smmry.com/](http://smmry.com/)

~~~
mcguire
I'm not sure nxzero (and I) think that is a good thing.

~~~
Retr0spectrum
I got the impression that nxzero thought it was a good thing. Filtering out
the signal from the noise.

~~~
rhizome
There are two value judgements in there: that there is a such thing as "must
have" information that could be provided by such technology, and that a
technology's ability to provide that information means it's getting "good."

------
n72
The best thing I found to combat this is make distraction difficult. To that
end, the best two things I did was write an FF plugin to hide FB's news feed
and removed the News feed from my iPhone. Now I actually have to type a URL if
I want distraction, which becomes something of a deterrent.

------
marmot777
I see his point and used to read his blog. But could he have been just as
effective online while scheduling in a real life? That is, he could have
achieved as much or more with some measure of balance. Easier said than done.

I'm not saying I have a life but I'm hoping to get one real soon now.

~~~
mcphage
> But could he have been just as effective online while scheduling in a real
> life? That is, he could have achieved as much or more with some measure of
> balance.

I'd like to believe it's _possible_ , but I think he had to accept the fact
that, he didn't know how. Maybe he'll figure it out, now that he has some more
free time?

------
kubernetizen
Gossip + Random Rewards = Addiction

------
SandersAK
This article could have been called "here's all the thoughts I have after
watching anime for the first time"

------
jkot
> _I couldn’t check my email or refresh my Instagram_

> _... trying to describe what I was feeling. The two words “extreme
> suffering” won the naming contest in my head..._

~~~
mcphage
The "extreme suffering" was in relation to his emotional crisis, not because
he was unable to use his phone.

~~~
oldmanjay
Hyperbole makes a point weaker, not stronger.

~~~
crawfordcomeaux
And judging someone's self-described suffering as hyperbole misses the point
altogether.

