> So much of the online world is premised on feedback loops and empty rewards, like levels in games or even karma points on Hacker News. You get "praised" by these systems just for using them. It can become an addiction like gambling can become an addiction. It becomes easy to lose perspective and waste time pursuing something that is ultimately valueless.

This isn't endemic to the internet. Businesses have this problem and they have it way worse. And they lie about it too – no manager is going to tell you up front that you're walking into a dead-end job, and that a few years down the line you'll be poorer than you started and with no useful skills to show for it.