They'd rather have dumbphones than brain rot | Hacker News Reader

They'd rather have dumbphones than brain rot

cbc.ca

45 pointsgeox13 comments

It's constantly startling to me describing to people I consider not that much younger than me (I am an elder millennial) that in highschool almost no one had a cell phone (or if you did, you didnt necessarily always have it on you, was just for emergencies) and it absolutely was not a problem. I'm usually met with complete disbelief or "how did you do X then" kind of questions. Almost nothing else makes me feel older, but this really wasn't a super long time ago that we comfortably existed without smart devices in our palms 24/7/365. The only utility I've gained is I can do desktop-like activities like banking etc. on my smart device now, but it's still very little problem to just do that stuff on a laptop.

I've often quipped that my generation may have been the very last ones to experience their primary education without devices.

Agreed...I was in High School from 2006-2010, at the dawn of the Smart Phone revolution. Virtually everyone had phones of some kind, but they were explicitly banned from use during school hours. Yes, people would use them in secret (eg texting under a desk), but teachers would take them away if they noticed.

I don't understand why schools decided to allow students to use phones during the day.

I think that's constant. Look back far enough and there are a lot of questions. A lot of conspiracy theories are based on not understanding how to do things without modern technology. The pyramids are famous for that; people will happily believe aliens helped with them because they can't fathom how level and even they are without a modern laser level and cranes and saws etc.

I'm on the younger end of millenials and I find use in my phone, but could live without. The camera is the biggest one; I still remember how absolutely dreadful dumb phone cameras were and I would strongly prefer not to carry a "real" camera these days. The calendar is also pretty integral. I know I could get by with a paper calendar and thinking ahead, but I'd really prefer not to. A lot of the rest I could get by without. I like Snapchat for the streak feature nudging me to talk to people important to me once a day (though it's always weird to me when 30-somethings are rabid about maintaining them).

Or, just get off social media. You all predicted and wanted handheld pc’s, it’s your choice as to how you use it.

I love my phone, it gives me directions on the road, streams all my content, the camera literally protected and helped me evict my violent neighbor. I wouldn’t have had a camera on me.

Just look back at all the things we used to carry around. It’s truly a wonderful device, the most versatile and easy to use device we’ll see for a long time. But us users are in the infant stages. We trust everything about it then point the finger at the whole device when it’s the software that’s the problem.

I don't think it's the software that is the problem

The problem is the companies that run them. If you go out and get a new android phone, you cannot uninstall or remove youtube, instagram, or in some situations facebook.

You can "remove all data" and "force stop" and "disable" them, in that order, but that's not as easy for layperson who has no idea about technology.

The powers that be, don't give you access to technology in order to improve your life, they give it to you so they can profit from your lifelong dedication to it.

Ironic that they're claiming to take a break from technology but misunderstand what actually IS technology.

> Technology is natural. A seed is technology.

A seed is not (necessarily) technology.

> like reading a book, watching a film

Those are technology. And each generation has had its fill of panic of "over consumption" of the new technology; see Plato re:writing. Every generation has panicked over books/movies/music/tv/internet/games. Yes, even books. I remember as a kid they encouraged us to read but not TOO much.

"The more things change, the more they stay the same" doesnt account for Dopamine level stimulation, which differs depending on the medium.

“Technology is anything that was invented after you were born, everything else is just stuff.” - Alan Kay

“Technology is everything that doesn't work yet.” - W. Danny Hillis

Just wanted to add this. I'm sure there are a few more. Coming from these, they _were_ technology.

> Yes, even books. I remember as a kid they encouraged us to read but not TOO much.

Which is a good advice: too much of a good thing isn't a good thing..

I think the meaning of the word technology is shifting. In common usage things such as simple tools are not described as technology.

Yeah, that's fair, in this sense they obviously mean "internet/modern technology" but it's funny to me that the "take a break from tech" isn't to go for a walk or reflect, but instead it's "Go consume a different form of media!"

Well, it's to go do something more fulfilling. A book is more fulfilling than, say, doomscrolling. To lump them both into "media" misses that difference.

Just like you wouldn't lump tiktok comments and a thought-provoking book into "reading".

It's still reading.

you can get profound insight from random youtube comments. A book can be a waste of time.

To separate them is to put a value on it that isn't there by any objective measure.

I'd argue "take a break from tech" does definitely involve putting down the books. go be with yourself for a bit. let your own thoughts develop, go "touch grass"

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