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Similar observation here. I can't change jack-shit about my habits if I don't engineer my environment to make it happen. I suspect that's basically the norm for most people, and the author's observation that kids transparently work this way is spot-on—but so do most adults.
The biggest impediment these days is ubiquitous, always-on Internet. In some ways I miss when it was a place you had to go (a physical desktop sitting somewhere) and something you had to decide to turn on (with some delay, so you wouldn't do it on a whim), as in the dial-up days.
Quite so. If you spend some time to improve your environment when you are on your "A-game" so to speak, it will not tempt you to do dumb shit when C-game time arrives. Everyone has ups and downs due to being tired or stressed, but how much they affect your life can definitely be improved.
This generalises human behaviour too far. Not everyone does this.
I actually prefer delayed gratification, and will eat my least favourite items on my dinner plate first, so that I might savour the best at the end.
I do this with fridge contents as well, and sometimes save things I love until they spoil, ultimately denying myself the satisfaction entirely.
> Say you have before you a kitchen cabinet with three shelves. On the top shelf you have your most delicious snacks and delicacies. Chocolate chip cookies, crispy cheetos, and frozen pistachio gelato...
> The only problem is, I'm all out of chores.
The author could try cleaning up the melted gelato that's all over the pretzels on the middle shelf and the almonds on the lower shelf. Who puts gelato in a cabinet?
A little more seriously though, I find it hard to relate to an author who puts working and playing video games on the same shelf, and who also puts chores and interacting with people on the same shelf. As far as I can tell, the ranking of things into "shelves" mostly has to do with how digital they are (assuming "work" here is done on a computer). Is that a common sentiment? For me, even as a relatively introverted person, I would rather be outside, spending time with family, or reading a book then working (even as much as I do enjoy my relatively cushy work as a software engineer).
I’ve noticed similar recently - I used to play Overwatch as a form of “snacking” (rounds are ~10 minutes, so it’s easy to use it to fill up any odd quiet moments); decided to take a break due to the Activision drama… and now suddenly I seem to have an extra 3-4 hours of productivity per day, which I spend working on open source projects. The latter is less of an immediate dopamine injection, but I feel better over all.
I noticed similarly, with a game that only takes about 10 minutes - "snacking" is a great way to put it. If I remove the game, I notice that I do have a ton of extra free time, but unfortunately it doesn't seem to really motivate me towards other tasks.
Consider finding something else to "snack" on, digitally speaking. My wife and I are learning Italian (online lessons with a native speaker, presently) in order to be able to speak the language for a trip next year (hopefully, who knows with this chaotic world when it will actually happen, it's been postponed for two years already). Instead of games, I spend my digital snack time on Italian practice (some recommended videos from the teacher, flashcards, etc.).
Somewhat a side-topic in this article, but I found this sentence striking:
> When I'm losing, it's pain coupled with RAGE, depending on how bad the loss is, or how futile I feel playing.
This doesn't sound very healthy, and is kind of scary. What is this enraged person capable of in this state?
A feeling of RAGE (in all caps!) caused by a video game might be revealing some serious anger issues that (in my opinion) should not be left unaddressed.
In my experience, some people are more competitive than others and/or have stronger emotional responses to winning and losing.
It doesn't have to be a mental illness, just a matter of different wiring.
Recognizing how oneself is wired, and taking steps to mitigate the negative or unhelpful results of that wiring, seems like an what a well adjusted person would do.
As someone who can get quite competitive, I’ve had losses in certain games make me enraged internally. Externally if you asked someone they’d probably tell you I seemed grumpy. If it’s a game that consistently makes me feel that way I generally just stop playing it/participating. Generally because there are games of skill in real life I’ll keep going back to because you get better with practice. And depending on the circumstances, sometimes it’s a game of fun, sometimes it’s a competition. Looking at you golf…
Part of being an adult is learning to control how you react to the way you feel.
Yes, the horror that someone might have a competitive streak inside of them. I'm sure the world cowers in fear of Tom Brady when he's enraged on the sidelines after an interception. Who knows what else he's capable of!
The author is capable of identifying their emotional state and adjusting their behavior accordingly.
> A feeling of RAGE (in all caps!) caused by a video game might be revealing some serious anger issues that (in my opinion) should not be left unaddressed.
The only anger issue is the belief that it validates wrong behavior. Otherwise experiencing, recognizing, and doing right behavior is completely healthy.
I felt rage in games but only when there was a sudden change in difficulty that would destroy all my efforts. Felt like the code had a turbo mode to eradicate normal players.
> And you will not feel ripped off for eating them. You will derive more or less equal satisfaction from them as you would any historical top-shelf item.
This is where the author loses me. Just because I dont have BBQ ribs and pizza in the immediate vicinity doesn't mean I cant compare what I have to what I want...
Yes, it does alter behavior through convenience (having an item on hand vs having to go get it). But that doesn't make me more satisfied with cauliflower... It just makes me be less satisfied through laziness.
Or have no shelf and be required to walk in the forest to grab blackberries. Zero cost solution.
How about learning a little self control? You can train yourself you know...
Oh and do disable all notifications. Even if they don't trigger a newsfeed addiction, they're interruptions. You don't want those.
This is about as useful as saying "How about you just eat less?" to someone who is struggling with their weight — that is, not useful at all. There's a reason only 15% of overweight people manage to make any progress towards weight loss, never mind any meaningful progress [0]: changing habits is hard, and as a society we haven't found a good way to systematically address the problem. Condescending quips do little to help in that regard.
Isn't "How about you just eat less?" just a particular case of exercising self control?
> changing habits is hard, and as a society we haven't found a good way to systematically address the problem
Don't think there is one. Just case by case solutions. But they all boil down to finding the motivation to control a harmful behaviour.
Come to think of it, the person in TFA managed to exercise enough self control to turn off their notifications :)
Not being able to understand why what you're saying is impractical (and just plain rude) is itself indicative of a mental fault.
Are you on the spectrum? If you are, why don't you just stop being on the spectrum? :)
What is it that you're struggling with? Then we can have someone that doesn't struggle with that issue tell you that you just have to do this or that. Afterwards your struggles will be a thing of the past!
You know how to beat Usain Bolt in a race? Just run faster!
> How about learning a little self control? You can train yourself you know...
Yes, but you only have so much time and effort for training. So if you can fix some things without expending will power, that's a win.
This is the nastiest comment I’ve read on HN in a while.
It might be helpful to compare your comment to the comment by pnut[1].
I think the two of you have similar experiences, but a very different reaction to this article.