r/DecodingTheGurus • u/KimJongIllyasova • 6d ago
Doomscrolling and phone/internet addiction - has the pod ever discussed this at scale? Your thoughts?
Definitely not a unique issue but it's something I've always struggled with and wondering if the guys have discussed this or talked about it in any episodes. Also curious if y'all have any advice or anything that's helped you out with this, much love thanks - discovered this recently and I am a fan
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u/AnchoriteSpeaks 6d ago
I’d like to hear this discussion too.
There’s both benefits and drawbacks to not being too online. I find people tend to be more reasonable and less entrenched in ideology if they’re less online, but they can also be less informed and so more susceptible to manipulation.
I’m seeing this happen to some friends, it’s perhaps good that they’re not in the culture wars, but that kind of makes them the territory being fought over…
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u/deco19 6d ago
Yeh I know people who really had no reason to be a part of these groups suddenly thrust into the thick of it because of being discontented about whats going on in their lives. We have to remember these groups and people don't just come out of nowhere. All it takes is one reason and they're down a maze of rabbit holes all leading to a bunch of crazy ideas.
They come in going, "I hate covid lock downs", and end up a month or two down the track saying, "Putin good".
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u/FitzCavendish 5d ago
I knew my podcast addiction had become a problem when I started paying a Patreon subscription to hear 2 academics analysing other podcasters.
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u/jasperjohns 6d ago
Try the "one sec" app, its free and it makes it super annoying to open specific apps. Works.
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u/sickfuckinpuppies 6d ago edited 6d ago
I have the same issue sometimes. I try to just put some comedy on in the background and go do something else. Or sometimes just put my phone on charge and walk away. Go have a cigarette or do some stretches or something. Nothing on the internet is that important to our personal lives if we're being honest about it. They could stop every war and culture war tomorrow and it won't make my life any better lol. Sometimes it's a easy as reminding yourself of that and finding something else to do.
I'm binging taskmaster uk (seen them all before but rewatches are still fun) and an old chris morris show called 'the day today' at the moment. The latter is a satire on the news has the added benefit of it making it difficult to take politics too seriously. It's hilarious, can't recommend it highly enough.
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u/tinyspatula 6d ago
I recall some discussion around the negative impacts of social media but I can't remember what episode.
I think Matt has been involved in research around problem gambling so they may have well discussed psychological drivers of this. It might be relevant as social media apps employ similar tactics to the Pokies (video poker machines) that account for a huge amount of gambling loses in Aus.
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u/silentbassline 5d ago
Natasha Dow schull does research on this and is a cultural anthropologist. May be a good guest.
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u/kuhewa 6d ago
When the algo and UI takes ahold and I find that 15 seconds after I become aware I've spent 15 min doomscrolling because I clicked one video, i don't even realise I click another and start it over again.. sometimes I use Forest app https://www.forestapp.cc/ on Android and Block & Focus extension https://www.blockandfocus.com/on Chrome that serve as quick reminders that I am mindlessly doing it again. Pretty effective.
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u/Franz_Poekler 6d ago
If they ever tackle this subject they could use Cal Newport as an example since he is somewhat guru-ish
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u/itisnotstupid 6d ago
Most gurus heavily benefit from it. There are a lot of unknown content creators who make hundreds of anti-woke shorts/reels with catchy titles. A friend of mine got sucked into the culture war like that. I always thought that I know the main culture war gurus on the right but he would spam our 2 group chats from school with super unknown rightwing content creators who make a new video every few days. It's weird because if you watch 1000 videos from 10 different creators it is literally the same few topics, sometimes even the same examples they are using. I swear that I have heard at least 10 times about that dad who was supposedly in jail for mispronouncing her daughter while in reality this wasn't true.
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u/LoonCap 6d ago edited 5d ago
It would be cool for Matt and Chris to discus this but there’s already a great pod that’s covered these things recently—the Studies Show (with Stuart Ritchie, former DtG guest).
Two recent episodes talk about the potential links between phones and mental health, and exactly what addiction is (and whether we can meaningfully talk about addiction in the context of digital media or internet use)
For an excellent book on this topic, with practical and non-alarmist suggestions on how to manage digital media consumption, I can highly recommend:
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u/redditcomplainer22 6d ago
Gotta be honest with y'all, as someone with serious overtime on screens my entire teenage years, it really is not that hard to put the phone in your bag or pocket and take in your surroundings. If you know you have too much screen time or doomscroll too much, when that thought enters your mind you should associate it with putting the phone down and form that habit.
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u/suprise_oklahomas 5d ago
That'd be a fun topic. It's a real problem for me, I need to pretty much cut it out of my life completely. Worked for booze, maybe it'll work for this lol
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u/kevymetal87 5d ago
I try to leave my phone places where I can't get to it as much as possible, and live in the moment, and on occasion I will look around at everyone else on their phones and realize how screwed we are. Restaurants are the best for it. People waiting to get in, on their phones. People leaving are checking their phones while walking out the door. Of course people sitting down and eating are on their phones, especially sad when it appears to be a couple on a date or something.
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u/Fun_Razzmatazz7162 5d ago
It's making people a lot of money and giving a lot of power, it won't be acknowledged properly for a long time.
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u/Dry_Turnover_6068 5d ago
Huberman has a lot to say about this.
I think Russel Brand might also tell you that it's bad and you should be filling your head with knowledge instead but he had some inappropriate relations with some women so...
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u/killrdave 5d ago
I have no doubt we use our phones too much and I think every sane person agrees it is ridiculously dangerous to use them while driving. I dunno about all this talk of "embarrassment" though.
I think some people are convinced we would all lead more productive lives without smartphones as if idleness and distraction are novelties of the modern age. I remember a time before they existed and I can't say things were that different really.
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u/GeorgeOrwells1985 6d ago
90 percent of the people on this app, need a break
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u/Reddit_is_garbage666 6d ago
It's funny seeing the lurking right wingers come out of the woodworks.
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u/Pata4AllaG 6d ago
I feel like if there’s a society in 200 years, they will look back on this era with embarrassment, as full grown adults just simply wasted their lives on their smart phones.
(Posted from my iPhone)