Hacker News Reader

This article is just flat out the dumbest thing I've ever read in regards to addiction

I’m genuinely curious, because of the other discussions happening here. Why is the article bad/wrong?

It’s conflating bad habits and addiction. The advice may work for bad habits such as watching too much YouTube when you’d rather be more productive. An addiction twists the mind around where no amount of reason is going to stick without external systems in place to help. Anyone who’s had any serious struggles either internally or with a loved one is going to recognize this.

I happen to agree. I read it in the same way as many articles on depression. This is an article that discusses a “normal person” problem.

Fortunately, most of the people discussing it here seem to recognize that. A few of them prefaced their comments as a result. And I don’t see anyone disagreeing that bad habits and serious addiction are different problems.

As a result, the discussion has been helpful to me rather than aggravating.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com