So what do we do about the internet?

[PurpleTree]

It's very addicting. Maybe the most addicting thing there ever was. Lately i've been looking at some of the younger generation who're always glued to their smartphone. I've been thinking which pandemic is worse, the smartphone internet addiction or the covid-19 pandemic.

It's the perfect tool to procrastinate for ever and ever.

For example i got sh*t to do. But i'm a bit tired. So i thought let's watch a few short videos about the situation in Kazakhstan, let's read a few posts on the forum and boom time flies.

 

[Carl-Richard]

The real question is: what do we do about procrastination?  

[PurpleTree]

4 minutes ago, Carl-Richard said:

The real question is: what do we do about procrastination?  

I mean i'm not sure the smartphone addiction pandemic can just be explained with "procrastination"

 

[Carl-Richard]

30 minutes ago, PurpleTree said:

I mean i'm not sure the smartphone addiction pandemic can just be explained with "procrastination"

I don't think it's just about smartphones either . The general point is that there are certain things we want to avoid (e.g. bad concentration ability, procrastination etc.). It's not so much about exactly what causes them, because that's a complex equation. What if the smartphone is just a symptom of an underlying problem? What if it's possible to have a smartphone and also be a functional human being? The question you can ask is: what is the source of concentration ability and work ethic? Can this be tapped into and optimized despite peripheral factors?

[DManKee]

I'm 22 and basically grew up on the internet. Being extremely shy as a child and teenager I've always used it as an escape from social interaction. Now I lack these social skills and my life feels like a prison of routines. Whenever I have to interact with new people it's a huge challenge and I think my internet escapism has a lot to do with it. The internet is great for many things and has advanced and interconnected the world. But for some people it has done a lot of harm. Another example are the hikikomori recluses of Japan who since the rise of the internet have greatly increased in numbers. There are people working on this issue but far too few. I'd suggest anyone who is interested in this topic to watch "The Social Dilemma" on Netflix.

Edited January 8, 2022 by DManKee

[PurpleTree]

2 minutes ago, DManKee said:

I'm 22 and basically grew up on the internet. Being extremely shy as a child and teenager I've always used it as an escape from social interaction. Now I lack these social skills and my life feels like a prison of routines. Whenever I have to interact with new people it's a huge challenge and I think my internet escapism has a lot to do with it. The internet is great for many things and has advanced and interconnected the world. But for some people it has done a lot of harm. Another example are the hikikomori recluses of Japan who since the rise of the internet have greatly increased in numbers. There are people working on this issue but far too few. I'd suggest anyone who is interested in this topic to watch "The Social Dilemma" on Netflix.

i feel for you and your generation

so glad i grew up without internet and smartphones

got internet at home when i was about 13, 14 and a cell phone at the same time

still got my fair share of social anxiety though  ?

[Fearless_Bum]

We take responsibility. 

[mememe]

42 minutes ago, Carl-Richard said:

I don't think it's just about smartphones either . The general point is that there are certain things we want to avoid (e.g. bad concentration ability, procrastination etc.). It's not so much about exactly what causes them, because that's a complex equation. What if the smartphone is just a symptom of an underlying problem? What if it's possible to have a smartphone and also be a functional human being? The question you can ask is: what is the source of concentration ability and work ethic? Can this be tapped into and optimized despite peripheral factors?

i don’t think it’s just a procrastination problem. they def go hand in hand at the beginning. usually people with media addiction have more than one medium they use but many have one which they favour, like in alkoholism. of course if you limit abstinence to the one medium they favour, they start to use another one as replacement or find ways to cheat. media addiction or internet addiction is often sth that happens in inattentive moments. its probably because in the beginning you start using it everytime you wait somewhere, in the bus, train, at the doctors, when you want to relax and ofc compensate. 

there are studies about media addiction or gaming addiction connected to dopamine response. its a legit substance abuse, just your dealer is your perception.

[Gesundheit2]

It's mostly just FOMO.

[MarkKol]

1 hour ago, Carl-Richard said:

what is the source of concentration ability and work ethic? Can this be tapped into and optimized despite peripheral factors?

please do a thread about this oh wise sage Carl-Richard the great

pls

[PurpleTree]

17 minutes ago, Knowledge Hoarder said:

Stupid generalization. You don't know how much time younger generation spends on their phones, or what they're doing. This is just your assumption.

Anti social behaviour is the people's problem, not the internet's problem. It's the same type of argument as video games being responsible for violence. Let's take responsibility over our lives, instead of going full boomer, and blaming technical inovations for our problems, wishing that the good old days would come back.

 

4 minutes ago, Preety_India said:

I'll agree with the user above. As with all other addictions, we're perfectly responsible for how we choose to spend our time. It's laziness to blame anything else but the self when it comes to addiction. 

 

well i don't agree with that

because the younger generation basically just grows up with it they don't have that much of a choice

also it's not the same thing as saying video games cause violence, a completely different topic that i don't agree with

[Carl-Richard]

4 hours ago, MarkKol said:

please do a thread about this oh wise sage Carl-Richard the great

pls

It will be a part of my series on vitality and resilience

[MarkKol]

@Carl-Richard thanks
 

i guess i can be a little helpful here and give everyone my short story, this thread is actually perfect timing.

about a month ago, I was also fed up with my 9-10 year long internet addiction and so I finally decided to quit, for the first time in my life I actually bought a book and started reading it out of my own good will, Youtube was most problematic for me, I convinced myself that Youtube had a lot of helpful videos that could be beneficial to me and that was the reason why I shouldn't quit. And yeah don't get me wrong Youtube certainty does have those "helpful" videos, but all I was using the app for is procrastination and distraction... And so after becoming aware of my delusion, I said to myself "I'm clearly not mature enough to use this app responsibly, So I'll just completely stop using until I grow up" and so I quit cold turkey and haven't touched it since, but the problem is, even though I had all this free time now, I was still finding ways to distract myself from the work I wanted to do.  It just donned on me after I read this:

6 hours ago, Carl-Richard said:

The question you can ask is: what is the source of concentration ability and work ethic?

Even though I'm free of addiction now, I still have no work ethic! that was the root problem all along, the reason I wanted to quit this addiction in the first place was because I wanted to be more productive, I didn't define the problem correctly, and so I had the wrong solution.

Do you have any external resources to build work ethic? Do you literally just sit down a do it?

Edited January 8, 2022 by MarkKol

[Carl-Richard]

11 hours ago, MarkKol said:

Even though I'm free of addiction now, I still have no work ethic! that was the root problem all along, the reason I wanted to quit this addiction in the first place was because I wanted to be more productive, I didn't define the problem correctly, and so I had the wrong solution.

Do you have any external resources to build work ethic? Do you literally just sit down a do it?

Let's use the emotion regulation paradigm for a moment: how do emotions work? It diverts 1. attention and 2. physical energy towards an object. Emotion is the essence of motivation and movement (it's in the word). Ok, so the raw emotion in itself has both a direction and an energy. What about a higher purpose or goal? That's a larger form of attention. How do you harness the potential of this attention? Align it with your emotion, your deepest desire, your passion. You harvest the energy in the emotion and direct it in the direction of higher purpose. Why is this important? Because your internal power and invest it into future growth. The act of expressing emotions in itself is a sign of vitality, but to express it in a direction that enhances your vitality over time, that makes you unstoppable.

If there is anything you can find inherently motivating about your work, find that thing, tap into it and see how it moves you in the direction prompted by your higher goal. Work ethic is simply the attention or the structure of how you will pursue that goal. The driving force is the energy, the primal seat of desire, the deepest parts of your physicality. This energy can be trained in various ways, through things like meditation or physical exercise, to the point where it will effortlessly begin to align with vital patterns of attention. Meditation especially is about cultivating the alignment of energy and attention – desire and purpose. With enough practice, you can't help but to stay focused on your goal.

[universe]

As you said, it is the perfect "tool".

There are many perfect tools for specific outcomes. Machine guns, drugs, pencils, screwdrivers or guitars.

A tool is just a means to get something done.

 

Don't blame the tool.

 

A computer can be used in a way for Growth or to get more and more sedated.

 

You decide.

[mememe]

@Knowledge Hoarder no it’s not a stupid generalization. people use their media devices in a totally unconscious way and the device industry and social media industry has reached a level of cigarette and sugar industry of the 50ies to 90ies in their level of denial.

Edited January 9, 2022 by mememe

[slicketygiggedy]

What about balance?  I know that you are talking about general procrastination, but I find that after spending a huge amount of time on personal development, practice and meditation etc it feels almost necessary to do some 'distractions' in order to start practicing again.

What i'm trying to say is maybe it's necessary for many people of this generation to go through a long period of 'unconscious distraction', like procrastination, phones, social media etc before being able to face the difficulties of personal development and meditation.

Idk, just a thought. 

[itachi uchiha]

start with doing something productive for 5 min a day . as that thing become easy ,increase doing it to 10 min. after 5 or 6 months  doing that thing for 10 min become easy . then increase doing it for 15 min. in this way you can beat procastination and browsing internet by doing productive things