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Comment by thenerdhead | Hacker News Reader

Jonathan Haidt has done a great job advocating this problem and is writing a book coming out this next year called "The Anxious Generation":

https://jonathanhaidt.substack.com/p/phone-free-schools

https://jonathanhaidt.substack.com/p/sapien-smartphone-repor...

https://jonathanhaidt.substack.com/p/social-media-mental-ill...

This isn't something that can be solved with "better tech". It is something that is solved with "less tech" or "no tech" entirely.

I wrote a book on this topic too as a millennial who grew up as one of the first waves of smartphones and social media users. I firmly believe it contributed to mental health challenges. We need to find a point where we say we've had "enough".

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It is something that is solved with "less tech" or "no tech" entirely.

i don't believe that. I love technology and always want to have access to a computer (although I also love leaving it off and using paper or analog tools).

But I have a pretty unforgiving standard for people-misusing-technology. Last week I went into a store I hadn't seen before, specializing in imported Asian liquors, drinks, cocktail stuff. I decided to buy a fruit drink. Approached the counter, pulled out a $5 bill, and the guy said 'oh we're not taking cash' and waved at the terminal. It would have been just as easy to whip out my card, but instead I said 'I don't shop at stores that don't handle cash' and put the drink back (though with hindsight I should have left it on the counter, or left the $5 and walked out with my drink, giving up the change).

This was rude behavior on my part. But the squeaky wheel gets the grease, at least in the US. If you're polite, nobody cares.

"If you're polite, nobody cares."

But what's the point if nobody cares?

What I mean is that people nowadays typically don't pay attention to complaints voiced politely. Rudeness is unpleasant but more effective in getting people's attention.

Yeah I get it, I just don't think your behavoior was rude, though. In my eyes, you were being rather polite.

Liquor stores in the US are prime targets for armed robbery. It is completely unsurprising if one doesn't want to handle cash at all.

This isn't a liquor store in the conventional sense. In any case, that's not my problem.

How was that rude?

There’s absolutely no need for a book length treatment for this problem, but the way ideas work in this society, they aren’t taken seriously unless there’s a single-topic book with a catchy title, with an attendant book store tour, podcast blitz, and morning show invite.

It’s incredibly obvious that we should not be on our phones all time, and more so for kids.

It's definitely why I finally bit the bullet and spent about a week or so to refine all of my "focus" status in iOS and have them automatically engage depending on geo-location or specific time of day.

After a week of observing what worked/didn't work for me I enjoy my phone more and get the notifications I want when I want.

Before setting up the focus groups I definitely was receiving too many useless notifications damn near every hour.

That's seriously what FocusMode is good for on iOS/iPhone and Mac. Get them setup and choose the limited stuff you want and need to hear from. Less is more, do what the President does.

It goes a long way towards relieving the anxiety of feeling there's something important but not remembering the thing itself or its temporal context.

The Burnout Society by Byung-Chul Han addresses this as well.

So I'll advocate "Stolen Focus" by Johann Hari [0] and my "Digtal Vegan" [1]

Johann's book has some surprises toward the end, that go way deeper into environmental and cultural factors. He ultimately sees it as a collective/societal problem with collective solutions. Mine tries to advocate for mindful control and rejection of toxic tech and makes it a more individual battle.

[0] https://stolenfocusbook.com/

[1] https://digitalvegan.net/

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