jaxadam
Well-Known Member
Yeah but Ripley’s Believe It or Not in St Augustine doesn’t count!
If that’s your closing argument then the defense rests.
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Do phones take up too much of our lives?
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Yeah but Ripley’s Believe It or Not in St Augustine doesn’t count!
If that’s your closing argument then the defense rests.
This site may earn a commission from merchant links like Ebay, Amazon, and others.
KentBrockman
Bite back with Kent Brockman!
Not sure that the issue is just about phones, but social media in general. Towards the end of 2021, I deleted Facebook and Twitter. I realized that I didn’t care what anyone was posting anyway and I already have personal conversations via text or WhatsApp with the people I can’t see in person because they live overseas.
I still have a phone to talk to people abroad via WhatsApp and use the GPS functions. I also use it to browse this site and browse CL for guitars, but that’s about it. Sometimes, I take a picture of something interesting.
I still have a phone to talk to people abroad via WhatsApp and use the GPS functions. I also use it to browse this site and browse CL for guitars, but that’s about it. Sometimes, I take a picture of something interesting.
Social media is no longer social media anyway. I took a serious look at my Facebook feed and 90% of it is made up ads, shit posted on your groups, and other shit related to your interests. But practically NOTHING about what your friends post. Same with other platforms, they just want you to endlessly scroll and see shit you can buy.
Since Facebook is the only social media I still use (mainly because most of my friends fall into that target demographic and are too old for, TikTok, etc), my usage kinda transfered to this board and other interests. So far, so good.
I still use my phone a goddamn lot, but there's no way around it since it's a critical part of my job anyway.
Since Facebook is the only social media I still use (mainly because most of my friends fall into that target demographic and are too old for, TikTok, etc), my usage kinda transfered to this board and other interests. So far, so good.
I still use my phone a goddamn lot, but there's no way around it since it's a critical part of my job anyway.
CanserDYI
Yeah, No, Definitely.
Oh yeah I got rid of Facebook, IG, never used Twitter or TikTok, but this is my social media. SSO and YouTube. My life is measurably more happy and less anxious and nervous since quitting social media. Things like Instagram and FB heavily hurt me falling into the "everyone's having so much fun but me" trap, badly.
AwakenTheSkies
Life is like a box of chocolates
Even after what I've said, as a young person it's hard not to have social media. Pretty much all your friends use it, so if you don't have social media you sort of shut yourself out in some aspects. If you meet a girl and you have no social media it might be seen as weird or suspicious. If you make music then how are you going to share what you do nowadays without social media? And even then it's set up in a terrible to show your music.
It's such shit too recently, I don't know why everyone doesn't just abandon it. Like Instagram and Facebook you would have this timeline where you would see what your friends post, or a group that you follow. Now it's like 3 or 4 new posts and the rest is all advertising and "suggestions". And once you've seen your friends posts they will be taken away! It is such fucking shit.
And then all the other mental health aspects that people here mention as well, just awful.
It's such shit too recently, I don't know why everyone doesn't just abandon it. Like Instagram and Facebook you would have this timeline where you would see what your friends post, or a group that you follow. Now it's like 3 or 4 new posts and the rest is all advertising and "suggestions". And once you've seen your friends posts they will be taken away! It is such fucking shit.
And then all the other mental health aspects that people here mention as well, just awful.
tedtan
Well-Known Member
Well, the Nordic model is still based on a capitalist economy, so I wouldn’t expect it to change anything in that regard. My point was (and is) that it is a good interim model for the US until something better is possible, specifically because:
1. It has proven to work better for most people than our existing system; and
2. It is not so drastically different than our existing system so as to be impossible to implement; and
3. Americans, except the wealthiest, would be better off; and
4. Whatever negatives you bring up are no worse than those we have now under our current system.
Those first two points are important as it is difficult to implement a radical change, even if it looks better on appear, and even more so to do over a short period of time without a major motivating event (e.g., war, climate change or similar forcing our hand).
StevenC
Needs a hobby
The US spends more on healthcare than any other country and life expectancy is decreasing.
Shit, dystopic infrastructure.
TedEH
Cromulent
I tried to read that article posted above and got as far as a claim that health care is becoming affordable, and I laughed so hard in Canadian.
nightflameauto
Well-Known Member
Healthcare becoming affordable:
A bunch of rich fucks that pull money from all our pockets so that they can deny any and every claim you attempt to make to get money back from them got it signed into law that you either pay them directly, or the government will fine your stupid ass into oblivion if you have a health issue and didn't pay the robber barons in charge of the insurance industry. "Affordable."
narad
Progressive metal and politics
Lifestyle still probably has a lot to do with it. I'm sure the society of people in Wall-E spends a lot on healthcare, too.
Jonathan20022
Engineer
The phone itself isn't the problem, it's the amount of productive time you get out of a session.
It's genuinely the easiest it's ever been to learn, how effectively one does that is the questionable part. When your first choice is to go to youtube and search up a 5 step how to video rife with ads, and a script geared more towards being entertainment than educational you've already lost the plot. As cliche of a thing as it is to say, the moment you leave a device and learn what you want through direct instruction or some other kind of reading material you at least feel like you're absorbing more.
It is way too easy to distract yourself, and very few people choose the less entertaining content regardless if it is more informative.
The 2nd vid has 6x the amount of views of the first, and while I enjoy both content creators I feel like the takeaway for a Joshua vid is to tune in next week to see what fun spin he'll put on a popular dish. Vs the takeaway of one of Ethan's videos ending and feeling all around like I got a substantial amount of information from it.
It's genuinely the easiest it's ever been to learn, how effectively one does that is the questionable part. When your first choice is to go to youtube and search up a 5 step how to video rife with ads, and a script geared more towards being entertainment than educational you've already lost the plot. As cliche of a thing as it is to say, the moment you leave a device and learn what you want through direct instruction or some other kind of reading material you at least feel like you're absorbing more.
It is way too easy to distract yourself, and very few people choose the less entertaining content regardless if it is more informative.
The 2nd vid has 6x the amount of views of the first, and while I enjoy both content creators I feel like the takeaway for a Joshua vid is to tune in next week to see what fun spin he'll put on a popular dish. Vs the takeaway of one of Ethan's videos ending and feeling all around like I got a substantial amount of information from it.
zappatton2
Well-Known Member
I've been perhaps the last hold-out on owning a cell phone, but I am starting to notice that it's getting harder to do anything without someone asking for an APP or a text or something to that effect.
I waited too long, and in recent years, only held out because of how crazy my friends would go if they happened to leave their phone at home, and from the outside, it looked like an extreme addiction. I never missed having one, having not had one in the first place.
But at some point, I'm gonna have to join the parade, I'm very aware of it. It sucks that I held out this long, so now when I do have one in my hands, I'm kinda useless. Like, I used a loaner while I was moving and waiting for internet and the landline, and it took me like 20 minutes to send a two word text. But I really think at this point, it might be better late than never, as basic things these days kind of demand them. And as much as I loath wiping around on a screen, I don't think I'll descend into full addict mode just from having one, that was always my concern, but it's not like I'm not on my laptop a bunch when I'm at home.
I waited too long, and in recent years, only held out because of how crazy my friends would go if they happened to leave their phone at home, and from the outside, it looked like an extreme addiction. I never missed having one, having not had one in the first place.
But at some point, I'm gonna have to join the parade, I'm very aware of it. It sucks that I held out this long, so now when I do have one in my hands, I'm kinda useless. Like, I used a loaner while I was moving and waiting for internet and the landline, and it took me like 20 minutes to send a two word text. But I really think at this point, it might be better late than never, as basic things these days kind of demand them. And as much as I loath wiping around on a screen, I don't think I'll descend into full addict mode just from having one, that was always my concern, but it's not like I'm not on my laptop a bunch when I'm at home.
CanserDYI
Yeah, No, Definitely.
Wait, you've waited until 2023 to have a cell phone? Jeeeez props man, props. That's amazing.
AwakenTheSkies
Life is like a box of chocolates
Well cellphones were a different thing than smartphones now. You could basically call, send SMS (which cost money), listen to music on it and play some game that came with the phone, like Snake 
It was nowhere near as involved in your life as smartphones are now. The smartphone basically knows everything about you...
It was nowhere near as involved in your life as smartphones are now. The smartphone basically knows everything about you...
zappatton2
Well-Known Member
Oh, I still don't have one, just strongly considering it. Although I kinda wish I could start with a flip phone and work my way up, I've missed a roughly quarter century learning curve, I feel like buttons would be adequate training wheels before I start wiping screens around.
Moderately amusing story; I was at my friend's for a weekend a couple years back, and borrowed his phone to check in at home. He got a good laugh because he had never seen someone more awkwardly wiping away at a device trying to dial a phone number. He was less amused when I accidentally changed all his settings on him. I'm like the guy who gets his first PC ever, and ends up with a screen full of "New Folder" icons.
CanserDYI
Yeah, No, Definitely.
You're like a walking time capsule, man.
Drew
Forum MVP
Probably because we don't spend enough time on our smartphones, and continue to go out and do stuff, which has a much higher chance of death than sitting quietly at home and doom-scrolling.
Smartphones aren't the problem, they're the opportunity!
zappatton2
Well-Known Member
Hey, I'm state of the art! My Walkman has Dolby noise reduction!
StevenC
Needs a hobby
Looks like my new phone is arriving earlier than expected and I am very excited
AwakenTheSkies
Life is like a box of chocolates
If you want to buy a phone nowadays, I'd recommend a smartphone. I think it would be easier for you to use, they are made to be accessible so anyone can use them. For example typing a message with an old school phone is a pain in the ass and takes a really long time, because you have to cycle every button until you have the character you want to type. With a smartphone you just have a keyboard like you would on a computer. Just with a touch screen. And many other stuff, Internet access, you could browse & post SSO wherever you want, video calls with your friends and family, etc etc
It's crazy that you don't have a phone, even banks and other services now require you to have a phone so you can do two-factor authentication when logging in or making a purchase...
