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Comment by xavierlint | Hacker News Reader

> Watch junk TV

Agreed with you until this point. At least the junk TV I know also involves (be it consciously or not) comparing yourself, this time with celebrities instead of acquaintances.

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For me it has to be the right kind of junk. There's junk, like in a junkyard, and then there's a toxic waste dump. Stick with the junkyard. The stronger a show's resemblance to your current reality, the more likely you'll find someone in it with whom to compare yourself. So right off the bat, so-called "reality" TV is off the table. Anything where you're able to forget about "you" and be transported into someone else's world, is good. That takes good writing, i.e. yes, an actual script. Old stuff works too - anything so old that you can't possibly imagine yourself in that milieu, that helps. We watch old Columbo episodes from the 70s on network TV on Sunday nights. Granted we are then bombarded with ads for Sono Bello, Consumer Cellular, and every drug on the market (and then ads for the lawyers suing the makers of last year's drugs), and anything else an advertiser has deemed likely to appeal to the demographic that cares about Columbo or the 70s... and all those ads in themselves are an assault on your self-esteem, so just mute that shit or do chores.

Mostly though it just takes time to build a life, and a you, that you love enough that you win most of those comparisons to celebrities. Think about how most celebs are basically slaves in various ways: slaves to public opinion, to the Hollywood social hierarchy, to the crappy contracts under which most of them are laboring, and especially to the fear of not being famous/loved/accepted tomorrow, of being replaced by one of the thousands of others who (maybe just as tragically) would jump at the chance to have that person's shitty contract and precarious perch on the ladder of fame. Slaves to the empty holes in their souls that they have been filling with the quest for fame probably their whole lives. Ah, but to the extent that you spend time on social media, seeking approval from strangers, you are (or your avatar is) kind of a micro-celebrity and would tend to be plagued by all those same problems! So yeah, that ruins it. All the more reason to get the hell off of there, ideally permanently!

Commenting just because I think this is well-said and would like to come back and read it again, from time to time. Nothing else of substance to add, but much thanks.

Heh, thanks, hope it helps somebody!

Nothing at all wrong with a good compliment (I thought it was well-written as well), but worth knowing that you can click the "n hours ago" link to get to the comment page, which has a "favorite" option, where you can collect a private library of favorite HN posts.

Although one shouldn't need to read a book on quitting social media. They can be cathartic if written well. I am fan of this one [0]. A favourite quote of mine from it:

>Cats have done the seemingly impossible: They’ve integrated themselves into the modern high-tech world without giving themselves up. They are still in charge. There is no worry that some stealthy meme crafted by algorithms and paid for by a creepy, hidden oligarch has taken over your cat. No one has taken over your cat; not you, not anyone.

Your writing here is now in the quote collection along with a number of other HN comments over the years. Thanks for sharing your thoughts :)

0. https://www.amazon.com/Arguments-Deleting-Social-Media-Accou...

A more good-faith definition of junk TV might be "television with an emphasis on entertainment and a notable lack of educational content". No need for trash celebrities.

I see it as a bit of a feedback loop. I think that If you're the kind of person who is stuck in the mentality of having to be efficient and productive with every single second you have, then you're more prone to be the sort of person to try and keep up with the Jonses. But, if you're able to disconnect and to have a healthy work life balance then you're less likely to compare yourself to what you see.

Depends what you class as junk I guess. I'd say there's junk like sitcoms and the latest marvel tv series or whatever, you don't learn anything from it but you can relax and have a good time, and then there's absolute trash reality tv about celebrities and making fun of poor people. Junk tv is fine in reasonable amounts. Trash tv is on the same level as social media.

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