Navaneet

I doubt that this question could ever be answered.

I don't know. But, Reality Is. Because it is palpable.

Of course, or with any drug addiction. Even letting someone smoke packs of cigarettes in a sitting to burn through karma is very bad for the body. Probably much much more than binging on social media. So comparing social media addiction with drug addiction is not always the right thing.

Which psychdelics?

Suffering is a part and parcel of life. It can be mitigated sometimes, and for some folk with right techniques and attitudes through longterm practice --- significantly reduced.

She is deluded. It is very easy to be deluded. If you want to know the nondual truths, then meditate and gather esoteric information -- but keep your mouth shut, and don't reveal yourself to anyone. Nargis talked and talked... and now she is lost. And probably would stay lost for the rest of her life.

Unfourtunately, these kinds of experiences are not real. It's delusion. There is no heaven or hell after life. There could be visions of it created by the human nervous system while it is functioning.

There is no hell or heaven after you die. When you die, you die, that's it. If you want to be less depressed - you need to ask who is depressed? Is it you that is depressed or is it your body? It is your body that is depressed. You are not your body. Then who are you? You are not. You do not actually exist. When the body realizes it, then it lets go of it's belief in a seperate self and alongwith it goes your depression (and you). Instead of doing something stupid like committing suicide, if you have a great deathwish... then use all that energy to engage as much as possible in SELF INQUIRY.

No, there is no point to watching them, which does not mean you shouldn't watch them. Whether you watch them or not, it's not up to you. It's up to the universe. Without the universe there in the first place, there wouldn't be any gore videos.

If everything remains undifferentiated, there would be no thought of competition. Maybe there still would be a sense of competition. But, without languaging it as "I am being competitive" - maybe there would be no philosophy about it. Whatever it is (this undifferentiated existence) -- it is what it is. Of course, this is not the answer to your question. I only have this sloppy nondual koanish answer.

It does not give one's mind any ONE SINGLE THING to focus on for more than a 30 seconds. If you watch an interview of someone for an hour straight -- your mind is occupied on that single interview for an hour... Whereas if you are addicted to instant entertainment behaviour like that of watching YT shorts for extended periods, or every now and then... your minds ability to pay attention to something for an extended period of time is getting compromised.. the more you engage in this, the more compromised your mind becomes.. the more easily bored you will get... addiction!

I think it is better to watch an entire season of TV series (without ads) than it is to watch 100 YouTube shorts. The problem with scrolling through YT shorts is that, you are emotionally all over the place.. Whereas in a movie or a TV show, or even a long youtube video, documentary or an actualized video.. you get to stay on one topic... or one over-arching theme... without getting it all mixed up.. YouTube shorts is great if you are binge watching cat videos or something like that.. but when it comes to human beings talking... listening to a hundred human beings for 30 secs, spouting whatever unavoidably disparate things they happen to spout -- simply is not congenial to maintain a clear mind.

Not all YouTube videos are simply entertainment-focused. There is news, talks, and informational content too. Even, what we deem to be entertainment like movies and TV shows have informationally-useful insights and content.. So, yes, being so puritanical and turning everything off is going overboard. This is like surfing. You need to surf for a while, maybe a lot... in order to get that balance correct... and then you can surf through what is relevant for you and what is not, by learned instinct, and intuition..

How's the documentary-watching regimen going everyone? Still on the track?

If you guys want to stop watching YouTube Shorts, then why don't you simply decide to stop watching YouTube Shorts? Why are you searching for plugins and apps which blocks it. You are in charge of these kinds of plugins and blocking apps - if they exist - and therefore you could cheat and disable them yourself whenever you feel like watching some Shorts? So what is the point? If you don't want to eat ice cream, should you stop going to any restaurant that serves ice cream? Or do you need to etch a tattoo on your forehead saying "I don't eat ice creams. Don't give me any!" Now, if you cannot control yourself watching YouTube Shorts -- then simply accept it you are addicted. You are going to do it anyway, sooner or later.