Here's my cure: no X, no FB, no Instagram, no Whatsapp, no Snapchat, no TIKTOK. TMI, and my eyes cannot take it. Try to pray 2 hours a day. Mothers generally have to pray on the hoof, I am no exception. (Prayer can be meditative or contemplative, or recite the "oldies but goodies".) I do not watch TV, except old VHS tapes with the sound turned off on rare occasion. Why? To help me doze off on the couch (72 almost, I take naps). I watch youtube, often for know how (know how to quilt, know how to sew, know how to fix your own car, know how to make a souffle, know..., you get it). So what do I do instead? I do read online, but I keep it to a minimum: Drudge, Breit, RC Politics, Zerohedge, The Liberty Daily, The Gateway Pundit, Hotair, Townhall. Takes about 30 minutes (read the headlines, you get 90%). Generally, I make myself do leg lifts while reading online or pump iron in a seated position (3 lbs, lots of reps) OR I am eating (quickly, but not so quickly to be unhealthy).
Here is my trick: I keep a running log of my day on paper. Yes, I mark down hour by hour what I've done: what I've eaten, what activity I did, and I start the day out with a list every single day of things I should do. Anything not done in any given day is carried forward to the next day.
I'm not giving up my substacks, though. So keep on writing, Steve.
Here's a youtube channel idea for you, which I've suggested before and you might say: no way, but I think it would have an audience of old ladies and men like me or people who commute a lot as a driver. Summarize the best of X on any given day. "Well, why not read it yourself?" Because my eyes are shot and it's too much information and I am a luddite in some major respects and get frustrated with all these apps and websites, and I'm the driver. So do your "best of" summary, and it can be very limited and eclectic. There may be copyright issues--so you may have to paraphrase your contributors, or get their permission. Could be a deal-breaker. I have to drive a lot and I would listen to that, as I do other "thinker" podcasts (you know, the usual people like Rogan, other thinkers on Spotify). I think it would be a hit. A lot of people are trapped in their cars all day (on many days, I am on a LONG drive, because I travel to help various people and run chores).
If you don’t watch garbage 24/7-the algorithm can’t bother you. If we don’t eat shit food 24/7, we all won’t be so fat. It just takes a little discipline and the bad man will go away.
I don't understand this comment. It completely misses the point of how it works.
If I like a post about autism or ADHD, ten more show up in my feed. If I like something political, suddenly half my feed is politics. In the aggregate, over time, these things add up to create an echo chamber you didn't mean to create, a feedback loop that, because it hijacks existing interests, extracts more participation from you (because people are talking about stuff you already agree with, and you're inclined to hit like or reply or repost).
But it's become so aggressive it's like being sealed shut inside that weird echo chamber, and then you start to notice that everyone within the chamber is also aggressively trying to get you to engage with their content, even if by unethical means. So you may agree with the, but they're outright pandering, or using manipulative or exaggerated language, or whatever, because they need the engagement to get paid.
Multiply this times literally everything that has an algorithm behind it -- which is a lot of modern life -- and it becomes very noticeable.
Here's my cure: no X, no FB, no Instagram, no Whatsapp, no Snapchat, no TIKTOK. TMI, and my eyes cannot take it. Try to pray 2 hours a day. Mothers generally have to pray on the hoof, I am no exception. (Prayer can be meditative or contemplative, or recite the "oldies but goodies".) I do not watch TV, except old VHS tapes with the sound turned off on rare occasion. Why? To help me doze off on the couch (72 almost, I take naps). I watch youtube, often for know how (know how to quilt, know how to sew, know how to fix your own car, know how to make a souffle, know..., you get it). So what do I do instead? I do read online, but I keep it to a minimum: Drudge, Breit, RC Politics, Zerohedge, The Liberty Daily, The Gateway Pundit, Hotair, Townhall. Takes about 30 minutes (read the headlines, you get 90%). Generally, I make myself do leg lifts while reading online or pump iron in a seated position (3 lbs, lots of reps) OR I am eating (quickly, but not so quickly to be unhealthy).
Here is my trick: I keep a running log of my day on paper. Yes, I mark down hour by hour what I've done: what I've eaten, what activity I did, and I start the day out with a list every single day of things I should do. Anything not done in any given day is carried forward to the next day.
I'm not giving up my substacks, though. So keep on writing, Steve.
Here's a youtube channel idea for you, which I've suggested before and you might say: no way, but I think it would have an audience of old ladies and men like me or people who commute a lot as a driver. Summarize the best of X on any given day. "Well, why not read it yourself?" Because my eyes are shot and it's too much information and I am a luddite in some major respects and get frustrated with all these apps and websites, and I'm the driver. So do your "best of" summary, and it can be very limited and eclectic. There may be copyright issues--so you may have to paraphrase your contributors, or get their permission. Could be a deal-breaker. I have to drive a lot and I would listen to that, as I do other "thinker" podcasts (you know, the usual people like Rogan, other thinkers on Spotify). I think it would be a hit. A lot of people are trapped in their cars all day (on many days, I am on a LONG drive, because I travel to help various people and run chores).
If you don’t watch garbage 24/7-the algorithm can’t bother you. If we don’t eat shit food 24/7, we all won’t be so fat. It just takes a little discipline and the bad man will go away.
I don't understand this comment. It completely misses the point of how it works.
If I like a post about autism or ADHD, ten more show up in my feed. If I like something political, suddenly half my feed is politics. In the aggregate, over time, these things add up to create an echo chamber you didn't mean to create, a feedback loop that, because it hijacks existing interests, extracts more participation from you (because people are talking about stuff you already agree with, and you're inclined to hit like or reply or repost).
But it's become so aggressive it's like being sealed shut inside that weird echo chamber, and then you start to notice that everyone within the chamber is also aggressively trying to get you to engage with their content, even if by unethical means. So you may agree with the, but they're outright pandering, or using manipulative or exaggerated language, or whatever, because they need the engagement to get paid.
Multiply this times literally everything that has an algorithm behind it -- which is a lot of modern life -- and it becomes very noticeable.