Linkspam: classism and "digital detox"; comparative timelines

[firecat]

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/116618/technologys-mindfulness-racket
"the act of unplugging falls somewhere between wearing vintage clothes and consuming artisanal cheese"

http://waitbutwhy.com/2013/08/putting-time-in-perspective.html
"It's hard to picture how a microbe evolved into a fish—the answer is that 3 billion years is a lot of time to work with."

Comments

[marahmarie]

I like the mindfulness article's take on how to solve the problem, or more specifically, what problem there is to solve: Silicon Alley trying to addict you so you can't/won't want to unplug from what it is they offer. Never thought of it that way before. So the appmakers of today are like the tobacco companies of...today. Interesting conclusion to draw.

(I don't know that they try on purpose with any app or offering to make addicts out of any or all of us, though. I'd have to think that one over. For that reason alone, I thank you for the link.)

[firecat]

Having worked in Silicon Alley for many years, my take on it is that they aren't necessarily trying to addict you, they just think what they're making is SO COOL that OF COURSE you are going to want to use it 24/7 and have it meddling in every part of your life.

[marahmarie]

True geeks don't see the possible harm in that, I guess. Fortunately (perhaps) my main online addiction is reading and reading alone; there's no app I need for that so I have no one to blame but myself for how the Internet's my personal form of crack.