Reducing computer and Internet use support thread - Yeah yeah we all know it's ironic discussing this here but don't be a faggot

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WTBOnlineFather

WTBOnlineFather

"You're twisting images"
True & Honest Fan
kiwifarms.net
Joined
Jan 5, 2023
Are you trying, kiwibro? And are you winning?
This is a thread dedicated to discussion and support for beating overall tech addiction, gaming, doomscrolling, obsessively checking inboxes etc. It's not meant for more specific shit like porn addiction, there's already a thread for that.

Resources for you
  • EasyPeasyMethod: A short and free book on how to break addiction. Mainly used by coomers but it's applicable to pretty much anything. (https://read.easypeasymethod.org/)
  • HideCommentsEverywhere: Browser addon which hides comments sections. You won't miss them. (https://grantwinney.com/hide-comments-everywhere/)
  • Unhook Youtube: Browser addon which hides portions of the YouTube UI and various distracting features like recommendations, the front page etc. Highly configurable and easy to use, a lifesaver when you need YouTube for school, work etc. but waste time on it easily. (https://unhook.app/)

I'd be lying if I said I don't gravitate towards browsing da webz as my default activity when I have nothing else to do and I probably spend way too much time doing it. It's been like this for a long time and I've never been successful in trying to stop. Yeah sure you just press the power button, but eventually you always press it again and the cycle starts over. The difficulty spikes up at least 3x when it's rainy outside or whatever and you have excuses not to physically leave the immediate vicinity of your computer. Or when you do, you still bring your phone. Hell maybe you even work a 9-5 job on a computer.

I'm curious to hear of other people's experiences.
 
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The only thing I do is check twitter, youtube, and KF these days but yeah, hard relate to doomscrolling that being a default activity if nothing else is going on.
I find it really difficult to not have something playing in the background, be it a podcast, youtube video or whatever. When that isn't an option, it's doomscrolling.
Going into the beginning of this year I'm going to at least cut back because it's gotten out of hand.

First step I'm going to do is just take note of when I'm about to open my phone and noting the time/why. Hoping to maybe get some insights into why I'm doing it so often and see if I can address any root causes.
 
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Oh Darn said:
hard relate to doomscrolling that being a default activity if nothing else is going on.
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I don't even doomscroll, I've learned long ago to filter out shit that pisses me off or makes me feel bad. Now I just get generally positive shit related to my interests. But that doesn't help. In a way it makes it worse because there is no more inherent disgust that makes you stop and put it away.
MrTroll said:
You want to use computers less??? Are you the Unabomber??
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I'll mail you a copy of my ID, PM me your address
 
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The existence of this thread is contradictory to the main goal, you've just created another thing to compulsively check on a daily basis.

Try this on for size, it was linked on KF when a bronyfag wanted to quit his porn addiction. It's based on a book about quitting smoking, but I think its contents are universal in understanding addiction as a whole.
 
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Well, here is a little project to do: Make your PC work 100% offline! This made me see the computer more as a "tool" to just use.
So my perspective is that the computer is a "hub" station for my cameras, recording/mixing gear and a writing machine with a built-in calculator.

The main problem with computers usage is that it's no longer used for your benefit, most shit on the internet is not for you to access tools to use, it's mostly useless gimmicks and to distract you. Tech today is designed for you to consume shit and not to create. Not to blackpill/doompost but I think anons farmers should relfect on this: How much have you accomplished during the time you had access to great tools to create something? For most people it's depressingly low. It's easy to blame the computers (since you need it to use the Internet), but it's delusional to think you can 100% become "computer free" and still get stuff done efficiently, computers are really cool tools! So my strategy was to make my desktop and laptop run 100% offline, to a point I even have all installers for the software I use also being 100% offline. So if I have a new PC, I just transfer all the installers and run them and I'm then in my workflow again. The only time I would need access to Internet would be for drivers, but that's it. The only time I use the Internet is for shitposting (technically a waste of time), dowloading updates (not really necessary, most shit works good enough already) and finding new media (books and videos) with occasionally uploading my own stuff too. The Internet is a marketplace, great to find stuff and share your own things, but it's not a good thing to "hang out in the shopping mall" 24/7 so to speak.

A great thing with this project is that you really reflect what is worth "saving" since it's on your harddrive (since it costs money), so you will quickly filter out useless shit (subversive movies and +100GB goyslop games where quickly deleted and that's a good thing!).
 
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Rembrandt said:
The existence of this thread is contradictory to the main goal, you've just created another thing to compulsively check on a daily basis.
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I don't see myself quitting the Internet cold turkey right now after more than 20 years so I think creating a thread to talk about this isn't so bad. More importantly this thread isn't supposed to be about me. I'm 100% certain there are other kiwis who might benefit from reading this.

Easypeasy is a good book and broadly applicable like you said.

@9th year in hell this is some good fucking advice and exactly why I made the thread
 
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When I feel like I’m wasting too much time on my devices I listen to the “Digital Minimalism” audiobook by Cal Newport. It offers a lot of good advice for care in how you use your electronics.

It basically boils down to two things:

1: Needing something productive to fill the time spent with mindless internet activities.

2: Going cold turkey for a period of time then as you add things back in, taking an approach of consciously asking yourself “is this digital activity adding value to my life?” If the answer is no, don’t add it back in.

Here’s a link to the book. It’s good but I don’t like his reverence for the Amish. They were pretty based for coming out for trump in the last election but they are a pretty miserable cult.

Digital Minimalism
 
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Keep a journal and write your thoughts in it. The important bit is also reading books you enjoy and noting down quotes that you found interesting/wise. I usually use black ink for my thoughts, red for quotes and blue for later chiming in to call myself retarded. This has helped me to almost finish the entire Bible (I'm currently in the Maccabeean revolt).
 
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WTBOnlineFather said:
@9th year in hell this is some good fucking advice and exactly why I made the thread
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Yeah yeah we all know it's ironic discussing this here but don't be a faggot
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I have seen similar thread on /g/ and on the "normie" net, they all do the "muh consooom" meme, "dumb" phones, paper calendars and other delusional shit that will make them crawl back within a month. So no, I really get the need for such a thread on this site, since other sites are coming with retarded memes and dumb ideas to approach this topic. Having real physical books and real paper notes and a graphing calculator is something you should have, but when it comes to doing bigger projects... nothing beats a huge fucking desktop PC to wrap up the logistics up in the end. Graphs, nice printable documentation and the ability to correct multiple errors fast is the main reason why computers, when used productively are unbeatable. The boring and cliché answer is unironically: Find a balance between primal tech and modern tech.

I would recommend a workflow that is "primal" at first, only pen and paper and do some rough estimates with a graphing calculator before using the computer. I think it's important to learn "what tool for what" now when "AI" is being integrated and you got no idea what it is doing for you. Tech today is already malicious as it is and now with everything already heading towards cloud computing with "black box algorithms", the healthiest thing to do is to just go offline but keeping the computer.

"Healthy workflow" (Your brain knows what is up from the start)
Paper --> Calculator --> Desktop/Laptop Computer --> Server / Cloud computing

"Bad workflow" (Huge risk of being psyope'd)
Desktop/Laptop Computer --> Server / Cloud computing

You don't need a server for your groceries shopping list, the computer can't "think" for you. You don't know if the algorithm has your best interests in mind, it's probably the opposite, the algorithms are built to exploit you (how do you think the server farms pays their electrcity bills?). With an offline computer you are limiting its "power against you" and it is isolated. I know it sounds dumb, but that's how I think about this topic. The PC is an extension, not your main "go to" tool.
 
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BIONICLE 10127 1 said:
Just take up a hobby or find something else to do with your spare time. It's not that hard.
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  • Pick up photography/video: Film development is expensive and toxic --> digital is cheaper and healthier (now on a computer)
  • Pick playing an instrument --> Recording and mixing the music (now on a computer)
  • Want any structure for any hobby --> spreadsheet (now on a computer)
I get the "touch grass" meme and it's good advice, but in the end it's really not that simple. A very disingenuous comment and not a very helpful one. A real Toa would not spew retardation like that when a Matoran is in need of help.
 
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i've already uploaded my brain to a Linksys WRT54G broadband router
 
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