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Comment by 15457345234 | Hacker News Reader

> the way to treat that addiction is to address the underlying issue

Given that a very very large number of people are _visibly_ addicted to their phones, what would that look like, what action would you propose, what resources would be deployable?

Are you saying that a majority of the population have an 'underlying issue' that needs to be addressed? What is that issue?

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There are many making money using manipulation and I certainly don't condone that. Hopefully we can push for regulations where it makes sense.

Even still there will always be obstacles in life to overcome. CBT has been helpful for many so it may be a place to start. CBT can help one understand the underlying issue and replace the vice with a healthier coping mechanism.

I think this focus on their being an 'underlying issue' is problematic; many times there is no underlying issue, these are just normal humans with normal brains being totally normally affected by a product that's designed to be addictive. They don't need therapy because there's nothing wrong with them, in fact if there was something wrong with them they'd be less likely to become addicted. They just need to remove themselves from the influence of the addictive substance i.e. put the phone down, socialise normally and build strong bonds with their family and their local community.

People by and large don't need therapy and to pathologise and dwell on nonexistent issues, they really just need to hang out more with other people and realise that what they're seeing online isn't representative of reality.

It sounds to me that we are in agreement on outcome, only that you feel that everyone can get there on their own. In fact you're almost describing CBT without naming it.

I guess my main issue with CBT is seeing it mentioned so many times on reddit, and reddit is such a pathological place that I've come to feel anything mentioned there must be some sort of scam or trick.

That's really it lol

The issues can be as varied as the individuals.

I think one action is this, talking about it, raising awareness. To some it might be obvious that being glued to a tiny screen to the point that you need to constantly look at it while you're driving is a problem, but in some circles it's normalized.

I have seen a number of motorcycle delivery drivers in the city in which I live who have _two_ phones on holders on their scooters - one for the delivery app, one for tiktok. They jam up the traffic lights because they don't notice when the lights go green because they're literally glued to the tok. It's genuinely disturbing.

I'm a fairly calm person and not many things produce anger in me, but seeing someone on their phone while driving is one of the few things that make me rage.

The topic that interests me more is the effect on the general population of addictive apps so if you're going to one-track this onto your pet peeve I'm gonna peace out; it's pretty obvious that using the phone while driving is a bad idea, there's just not a lot left to say on the topic, it's all been said... more interested in discussing a new and vibrant topic than something that's been literally done to death, I mean, people were probably ranting about cellphone drivers on usenet in 1995...

I don’t think smartphones are your problem.

I don't have a problem, I'm just unsure as to why that conversation went the way it did; we're talking about addictive apps and all of a sudden the topic is phone use while driving? Okay I guess but... what conversation are we really having here and why? Odd.

I mean I just expressed agreement with a sentiment that you posed, you brought up texting and driving? What a weird person.

> To some it might be obvious that being glued to a tiny screen to the point that you need to constantly look at it while you're driving is a problem

These are your words. You raised the topic of driving in response to my comment which didn't mention driving.

me:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39256964

your reply:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39258323

What a weird interaction this is. Are you misreading the thread?

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