
The Acceleration of Addictiveness (2010) - reedwolf
http://www.paulgraham.com/addiction.html
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DenisM
By my observation anger is addictive - previously normal people get angry for
maybe a good reason, and subsequently they start looking for something new to
be angry about. It’s a real problem because when they can’t find something
worth getting worked up over they pick on a random subject and try to convince
everyone their pet issue is a huge deal, and everyone who disagrees is a very
bad person indeed.

~~~
kylek
I feel like there is a sort of dominance game at work, not necessarily just
with anger but other moods too. I've noticed if someone is angry or depressed,
he/she will try to bring everyone around them "down to their level" (and if
you're immune, you'll be ignored). I might just be sensitive to it now since
I've been thinking about this for a while, but sighing or other attention-
seeking behaviors (whistling triggers me) are huge tips that someone is trying
to take over and shift the mood. Often people do it subconsciously, and others
around them react subconsciously as well.

~~~
jacobolus
> whistling triggers me

Try not to judge people (especially kids) who hum or whistle or drum their
fingers or tap their feet etc. It is not necessarily a voluntary or conscious
behavior, and often has nothing to do with attention seeking or other people
at all (folks who do this will keep doing it even when alone).

~~~
kylek
Kids I don't mind. What came to mind when I said this were a couple of
whistlers in the last open office I worked in. I honestly couldn't tell if
they were completely unaware of their surroundings, or if they actually were
putting down all their chips in the psychological dominance game I mentioned.

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ThrustVectoring
The essay really neglects the effect of prohibition. Legal risk scales with
volume being transported - it's better for smugglers to move a briefcase of
fentanyl than a 20 foot container of heroin. Hence, the Iron Law of
Prohibition: the harder the enforcement, the harder the drugs.

~~~
keiferski
That seems predicated on the assumption that 1) prohibition efforts are
inherently flawed and 2) that a cultural desire to consume hard drugs is
inevitable.

For example, many East Asian countries have serious punishments for drug
trafficking and also have less general cultural acceptance of illegal drug
use. As far as I know, there aren’t nearly as many drug problems there as
compared to the west.

~~~
marvin
Very hard to have good data on something that's _this_ heavily
persecuted/prosecuted. Would love to see any sources/studies on it, but it
sounds unlikely that a convincing comparison can be produced.

Without comparison wrt. the topic, it's akin to saying "no, of course we don't
have a problem with homosexuality in Iran, we hang homosexuals". Of course,
any prospective subjects for the comparative study will be very hard to find.

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souterrain
> My latest trick is taking long hikes. I used to think running was a better
> form of exercise than hiking because it took less time. Now the slowness of
> hiking seems an advantage, because the longer I spend on the trail, the
> longer I have to think without interruption.

I love hiking for this reason.

That said I’m distractedly on my phone while walking around a mall.

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weeksie
The thing that always bugs me about this kind of thinkpiece is the short-view
assumption that there's some telos to whatever effect they're describing.
Tobacco use has waxed and waned in popularity many times over the centuries
since its introduction to the rest of the world.

That seems like a nitpick but the whole "we'll have more addictive things"
hypothesis rests on there being an arc of history. Like, sure maybe? Then
we'll have less. I like a lot of pg's stuff, I just find this is pretty far
out in left field.

~~~
DenisM
I think pg always tries to make things a part of the big plan or a big arc.
Can't blame him - it's easier to reason about things when they fit together,
and stringing them up as a part of a trend/arc/pursuit-of-telos works very
well for that. It might even be correct sometimes. Despite the apparent bias
it's still quality writing and often generates quality discussions.

I also have to say that most people in our industry cannot generalize at all;
pg is one of only two people I know who can do the job without botching it. To
the extent that we want to generalize anything at all, however well, we have
nearly no one else to look at.

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alex_young
Reading this on a smartphone screen is kind of funny in a way. I wanted to put
it down but it's so compelling.

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Animats
Right. Since 2010, vaping, ketamine, and high-potency THC have been added to
the addictive list.

~~~
sarah180
Ketamine has been around, and used recreationally, since far before 2010. The
only thing that's new is using it as a highly effective treatment for
depression.

~~~
ketamine__
Ketamine was used for antidepressive psychotherapy in Argentina in 1974.

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coleifer
One thing he's not really mentioned is the development of tolerance, and the
subsequent withdrawal when the addictive substance/behavior is taken away.
This is what, to me, separates the so-so addictions like running from the
junkies who will commit violence to avoid withdrawal. There is enough evidence
that stuff like gaming, gambling, social media are activating these rewards
centers and leading to structural changes in the brain.

In other words, I think pg is missing half the story by not discussing the
phenomena of tolerance (higher doses to achieve the same effect) and
withdrawal (profound suffering when effect is taken away). Typical writing of
someone so divorced from the real world.

~~~
wutbrodo
> This is what, to me, separates the so-so addictions like running from the
> junkies who will commit violence to avoid withdrawal. There is enough
> evidence that stuff like gaming, gambling, social media are activating these
> rewards centers and leading to structural changes in the brain.

This is central to the concept of diagnosing addiction, as well as the
colloquial use: it has to be a compulsive behavior whose use negatively and
substantially affects your life, which is why running and normal caffeine use
don't usually qualify.

I doubt that pg is unaware of this, or indeed anyone who's familiar with the
context of addiction, and it's a bizarre leap to say that he's missing it due
to being detached from the real world just because he chooses not to focus on
it.

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Nevaeh
Elon Musk decided to disconnect from Twitter a few hours before this was
posted. I guess sometimes one must disconnect to connect.

