Reddit, of course, is an example; the same can be asked of Facebook, Twitter, a group of friends and of course Lesswrong.com.
But in the case of Reddit, I usually frequent subreddits like /r/slaterstarcodex, /r/machinelearning, maybe communities like /r/Rust, and I don’t dare go anywhere near the frontpage or /r/popular, it’s like someone putting a magazine on my face while I’m walking on the street. (I’m trying to be more focused on what I consume around the internet, so I don’t go anywhere near feeds, such as Youtube index or things like that; an extension like Distract Free Youtube for Chrome work great here).
Indeed I find value on Reddit but only on restricted-and-very-focused discussions which I’m already searching for, like entering /r/SeanCarroll to see what people are saying about a certain podcast episode; About funny comments (usually my friends or family would send me memes and I cannot avoid those!) I think I may be better considering a stand-up of Dave Chapelle or something to the like!
Or, there’s always another option which is that I will end up going back, but at least I can say that I did the test!
I think that all makes sense. My response was prompted by some kind of wariness around “if one only acknowledges ‘virtuous sounding’ things that reddit/facebook/etc has provided you, you may be setting yourself up to be at war with yourself. If you systematically remove things that are ‘merely’ mindless fun, you may find yourself suddenly depressed or unmotivated without understanding why.”
When I ask “what has Facebook provided me last week”, several answers immediately came to mind which weren’t, like, super-obviously imporant, or better than whatever I’d have gotten without facebook, but it included amusement, and at least slight connection to friends I don’t normally see.
I think it’s quite good to notice things like “the stuff facebook/reddit/etc provides isn’t actually very good compared to what else I could be getting.” But if you answer is “literally zero” I think you’re more likely to be rounding things off to “what can I legibly understand as good” which is a very different question than “what has X provided me with?”
Yes, your comment makes me thing, maybe the post should be named “Beware of demands of goodness” à la Scott. But I have tried this before (not systematized like it’s suggesting here, but rather in a nonchalant way) and I have found that the thing which I exchange for say Reddit is usually better by general standards. I’ve done this with Facebook, maybe TV shows, etc...
The good thing (to be mindful) is to catch us if we’re going adrift. Like, if I can tell I’m missing something, then the thing I cut is probably it.
Reddit, of course, is an example; the same can be asked of Facebook, Twitter, a group of friends and of course Lesswrong.com.
But in the case of Reddit, I usually frequent subreddits like /r/slaterstarcodex, /r/machinelearning, maybe communities like /r/Rust, and I don’t dare go anywhere near the frontpage or /r/popular, it’s like someone putting a magazine on my face while I’m walking on the street. (I’m trying to be more focused on what I consume around the internet, so I don’t go anywhere near feeds, such as Youtube index or things like that; an extension like Distract Free Youtube for Chrome work great here).
Indeed I find value on Reddit but only on restricted-and-very-focused discussions which I’m already searching for, like entering /r/SeanCarroll to see what people are saying about a certain podcast episode; About funny comments (usually my friends or family would send me memes and I cannot avoid those!) I think I may be better considering a stand-up of Dave Chapelle or something to the like!
Or, there’s always another option which is that I will end up going back, but at least I can say that I did the test!
I think that all makes sense. My response was prompted by some kind of wariness around “if one only acknowledges ‘virtuous sounding’ things that reddit/facebook/etc has provided you, you may be setting yourself up to be at war with yourself. If you systematically remove things that are ‘merely’ mindless fun, you may find yourself suddenly depressed or unmotivated without understanding why.”
When I ask “what has Facebook provided me last week”, several answers immediately came to mind which weren’t, like, super-obviously imporant, or better than whatever I’d have gotten without facebook, but it included amusement, and at least slight connection to friends I don’t normally see.
I think it’s quite good to notice things like “the stuff facebook/reddit/etc provides isn’t actually very good compared to what else I could be getting.” But if you answer is “literally zero” I think you’re more likely to be rounding things off to “what can I legibly understand as good” which is a very different question than “what has X provided me with?”
Yes, your comment makes me thing, maybe the post should be named “Beware of demands of goodness” à la Scott. But I have tried this before (not systematized like it’s suggesting here, but rather in a nonchalant way) and I have found that the thing which I exchange for say Reddit is usually better by general standards. I’ve done this with Facebook, maybe TV shows, etc...
The good thing (to be mindful) is to catch us if we’re going adrift. Like, if I can tell I’m missing something, then the thing I cut is probably it.