

Ask HN: Are you still an information addict? - ghotli

About a month ago quite a few of you identified yourselves as information addicts. Do you feel as if you've been doing better? What strategies have you adopted to curb your information addiction?<p>Previous thread:
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1293262
======
stephenmcarey
First, as long as I am living a healthy life and following through with my
responsibilities, I fail to see how being a major purveyor of information is a
negative trait.

At this time, as a great team has finally gotten my cancer, after six years of
work, into remission, I find that I have to be on disability for a number of
years. It is time to fix all that we damaged on my body over the past years.

Well, with this time I have really jumped into gathering and wanting to absorb
more information. And, I want to understand how the information affects my
life, this world, or those I love. I use Evernote (www.evernote.com) to
collect so much data, then find the back-up data that I had no choice but to
find such a system to manage it all. And, I now enjoy finding the information
which can help others. So, I have designed Evernote notebooks for them. They
can just access it, and they will find a very well organized "notebook" of
information which they may be able to use now or later, or they may be able to
add to and come up with a solution to some issue they were working on.

Now, when I am in the hospital, as I was last week, and I did not have my
computer with me, I was a bit testy. However, my phone has an Evernote phone
program on it and I was able to do just enough gathering and learning (I never
add something to a notebook without first reading it through, top to bottom.).
Sure, a nurse or two thought I was a might over the top, but, I did what I was
supposed to do, heal from a surgery, and, then, was released with no medical
issues. The information I gathered helped make the stay just a bit better.

------
dennisgorelik
Hamas used that picture for their own propaganda purposes:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gilad_Shalit_on_Hamas_post...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gilad_Shalit_on_Hamas_poster.jpg)
:-O

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lukeqsee
Is there something wrong with being addicted to information?

Is that not the single thing that ties us together? Knowing this and that;
then using that knowledge to connect to others? Maybe I'm missing something,
but is there _ever_ too much information?

~~~
davidmathers
_Is there something wrong with being addicted to information?_

[http://pyxelated.deviantart.com/art/Reality-1440x900-7886180...](http://pyxelated.deviantart.com/art/Reality-1440x900-78861805)

~~~
lukeqsee
Your brain takes in information 100% of the time.

You just decide which information you put in.

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stephenmcarey
The first major mathematical calculation, which is augmented by information,
as babies, is the taking of our first step. The math and physics the brain
must use to control what is essentially a fall is massive for such a young
being. But, as noted by others, our minds are always taking in information. It
is, as we get older, more of our choice in what we take in and what we find as
"good" information.

I found that when my God Daughter, now 21, was but 4, she wanted to sit on my
shoulders and walk around outside so she could feel the different colors on
the signs. It makes so much sense, her mind was looking for more information
to better understand what she saw. Though, when she did not feel a difference
between the red on the stop sign and the yellow of the yield sign, her mind
took in more information and she moved on to the shapes of the signs. Yes, as
was said, our minds are always taking things in and working with them to see
how they fit with our understanding of the world we find ourselves in. And,
for me, and for my God Daughter, I pray the day never comes when I am not
interested in information of any form.

~~~
Raphael
Poor, color-blind child.

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rianjs
For me, information consumption is a substitute (in the economic sense) for
television. It's a leisure activity. It fills the gap when I'm not doing Real
Work. When I get bogged down, I just declare RSS bankruptcy and start over.
_shrug_

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j_baker
I'm an information dependent (not an addict). It's important to distinguish
between dependency and addiction[1]. For example, a diabetic is dependent on
insulin. It would be stupid to call a diabetic an insulin addict. In the same
respect, I'm dependent on information because guess what? I'm a knowledge
worker. Knowing things is my job.

[1]
[http://health.discovery.com/centers/pain/medicine/med_addict...](http://health.discovery.com/centers/pain/medicine/med_addict.html)

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GeneralMaximus
I blocked Reddit, Slashdot, OSNews, Cracked, Facebook, Twitter - everything
except HN - for a month. Now I don't feel like going back to any of those
timesinks. In fact, I've unblocked pretty much all of those websites in the
last week, and I still don't spend any time on them (except short trips to
/r/GoneWild :p).

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: /etc/hosts is your friend.

~~~
dejv
Yeah, blocking works well. I removed 90 out of 95 RSS feeds I followed and I
don't miss them.

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petercooper
I'd say I'm an "addict" in the common "enthusiast" meaning of the word, but
information is what keeps me ahead and what has kept my family fed for the
last few years. It's only a true "addiction" if it _damages_ your life and it
certainly doesn't for me.

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cianestro
About a week ago, I decided to cancel my ISP bill at home. The support
technician was very confused when I answered him that I would not be switching
to another provider. The most noticeable result from the experiment thus far
is that I sleep much better and longer--making me more relaxed. Also my eyes
don't burn and I can even go outside without sunglasses. I surf less
(obviously this comment got here somehow) and actually program more. The
necessary stuff gets done, the unnecessary crap doesn't (at least not on my
watch). I see more, and look at less. I'm beginning to think I'm more of a
feedback junkie than information addict.

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AustinBlues
Yes I am an information addict, however like workaholism, abstinence is not an
option. I've set a limit on how much time I spend reading interesting
information (as opposed to stuff I need to read for work). To make better use
of that time, I wrote a Web app for RSS feeds that learns from my reading and
ranks other posts accordingly. It's available in beta form at
<http://AmethystRSS.net/>. It's useful and getting better.

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Pyrodogg
Do I still follow HN....yes

I think that pretty much sums it up.

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bdickason
This is going to sound sad but.. I have been fullscreening videos and forcing
myself not to press escape and check email/hnews/etc.

It really helps and I'm trying to find something similar with webpages and
Balsamiq Mockups.

~~~
ronnier
I've found that watching movies on my iphone helps me with that.

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vishaldpatel
Wrote a block-hosts file and a free-hosts file. Wrote a script to copy the
appropriate host file onto /etc/hosts as needed. I run the script when I want
to start work and when I'm finally done work.

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mindcrime
I missed the initial thread, so thanks for bringing this up. It's interesting
stuff. I'd say I'm definitely an information addict. :-(

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w33dkid
YES I AM/CANT LIVE WITHOUT IT

