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Comment by LinuxBender | Hacker News Reader

Haven't there been some studies that associate smart phones with addictive drugs? Something to do with dopamine dependency. If true, how do you ween people off drugs?

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Facebook is basically a slot machine. Checking your notifications, almost always it's garbage but one day it could be an old friend reaching out to you. It's designed to be addictive and it's very successful.

Nice, that's one of the most insightful and concise summaries of social media I've yet seen. Well worded.

If you want to learn more about it, the effect is usually called "intermittent reinforcement". Check out the first two episodes of https://humanetech.com/podcast/ (transcripts available)

Studies on smart phone usage should be taken with a grain of salt because it's hard to define the spectrum of use without self-reporting. One might use their phone to watch lectures while another is watching clickbait but both can be on the same app. More like the apps themselves aspire to operate on the level of addictive drugs.

Today’s smartphones are drugs if drugs could tailor their chemical composition in order to more effectively target the individual user.

In other words, potentially far more addictive than drugs.

Great comparison. Alcohol being the most commonly addictive drug.

In the 50s people though 'how can I drink and drive safely'.

It took a while for people to accept that... can't happen.

I see far too many people thinking about texting like people thought about drinking in the 50s.

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