Holistic mentor and writer Tony Schwartz’s generally perused New York Times article “Addicted to Distraction” started with an acknowledgment that he had slipped into a period where he was dealing with his life ineffectively. Thus, he began an “unreasonably yearning” plan to eliminate unnecessary eating regimen pop, liquor, awful dietary patterns, and web and email distractions during the day.
Through incredible assurance, Schwartz fixed almost all that he needed to achieve, fundamentally better-eating regimen and more exercise, however, flopped totally in one conduct – scaling back time on the web. As Cal Newport notes, there is something genuine going on when Schwartz, who has assembled a profession around helping individuals arrive at his maximum capacity, thinks that it’s simpler to commence sugar, liquor, and sloth than his impulsive web propensity.
There is anything but a recommended arrangement here however, it is clear, that it is a requirement we all to look at the idea of our web conduct and trial with arrangements that suit our style this year. Tony Schwartz shares a couple in the article (here) and I, for one, have discovered tremendous incentive from not permitting my cell phone in our room after 8 pm.
Schwartz recalled a powerful story about a man and his 4 or 5-year-old daughter at a family restaurant – “Almost immediately, the man turned this attention to his phone. Meanwhile, his daughter was a whirlwind of energy and restlessness… [attempting many things] to get her father’s attention…she didn’t succeed and after a while, she glumly gave up. The silence felt deafening.”
The Decade the Internet Lost Its Joy
I Disagree wholeheartedly. For me, all the blogs that I cared about back then when I was more into economics are still there: Scott Sumner, Tyler Cowen, or Brad DeLong but also Less Wrong or Scott Alexander.
Now in form of media, I absolutely love the explosion of podcasting and audiobooks as media. It changed the way I learn things – like listening to hundreds of episodes of podcasts like The History of the Twentieth Century or Mindscape – the podcast of aforementioned Sean Caroll. I also have a YouTube downloader so I can listen to some of the YouTube only shows as a podcast. Today if you need to do some plumbing yourself you can learn what to do in a matter of minutes most likely, save yourself some money, and learn something useful.
We also have many other things stemming from the overall connectivity of smart devices to the internet ranging from online gaming to services like Uber or TripAdvisor to things like mobile online banking, smart homes, and who knows what other things there are that make life easier.
Additionally, there is still an active network of people similar to pioneers of old developing open-source software, engaged in peer-to-peer platforms (with blockchain being the buzzword of the day) capable of communicating from safe platforms. And if you have a “darker” streak there still are things you can do.
I think there is Joy aplenty for everyone. Nobody forces you to follow your granny on Facebook or get into the Twitter status game. It is based on the type of people who engage in these things.
References
Tony Schwartz (2015) “Addicted to Distraction”
Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/29/opinion/sunday/addicted-to-distraction.html
[Accessed at: 19 November 2020]
Clio Chang (2019), The Decade the Internet Lost Its Joy
Available at: https://gen.medium.com/the-decade-the-internet-lost-its-joy-4898c2c44cb4
[Accessed at: 19 November 2020]
I fuond bad news about Covid-19 in U.S. reports record 153,400 new Covid cases as Dr. Fauci urges Americans to be careful: ‘It is not futile’:
SOCIAL MEDIA & SOCIETY 
I liked your blog post and your more positive outlook on social media. I have often said that I wish I could have just googled or looked something up on you-tube when I was younger instead of just shrugging it off and saying, “I don’t know how.” I haven’t really gotten into podcasts much, but I think they can be a great tool in listening to other points of view and learning new ways of thinking. I feel that your mention of the girl and father in the restaurant is a grim reminder of who we are affecting. That children only mimic what they see and what we do and that we could be teaching poor lessons that could have a negative effect. I think it is up to us to find the joy in social media. Like anything else, when we feel it is taking over our lives we need to take responsibility and maybe take a step back from it or use it in a different way. There are so many educational resources on social media. Like you said, you can learn a new skill or how to do something like plumbing by yourself. I think ultimately it is up to us to regulate our usage and control how we use social media.
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