"To challenge and to cope with this paradoxical state of things, we need a paradoxical way of thinking; since the world drifts into delirium, we must adopt a delirious point of view. We must no longer assume any principle of truth, of causality, or any discursive norm."
Great idea, Baudrillard. Reality has become confusing, therefore, let's act like retards.
I don't really have a problem with the article. It's a reasonable reduction, although I think paleolithic/low-carb diets are unrealistic if you stick to "mostly plants". Plant-based diets typically rely on grains -- when you remove this, it's very difficult to replace them without introducing more meat.
However, I think the more pressing issue is, even if we knew the perfect diet, it doesn't mean people want to eat it. Even if someone wants to eat a healthy diet, it doesn't mean they can make themselves eat it.
Self-control is a limited resource, and when overly prevalent junk food decimates that resource, most of us lose. If you want people to eat a healthy diet, you can't allow it to be easier to eat an unhealthy one. It's very noble to treat humans like gods with perfect free will, but in reality we're closer to animals. If we are to thrive, we need to adjust our environment so that it tends towards thriving.
"For me, depression is caused by a lack of productivity".
It is beyond me that such a statement can be expressed seriously. I strongly suggest the author look beyond "I'm not working hard enough" as the key reason for his mental illness.
As someone that can sympathize with the author on a number of levels, this is a tremendously insensitive comment - I wouldn't expect to see such glibness with regard to someone's mental health posted on this site of all places.
First, note that he said "for me" - you don't and can't know what makes him tick better than he does, full stop.
Second, I can tell you with complete certainty that realizing that you're not getting shit done is a legitimate initiator (both to me, and apparently the author) of a spiraling cascade of negative thoughts that lead to feeling useless and terrible - and once that mood has been achieved, pulling yourself out of it takes either massive amounts of willpower (a limited thing) or a mental reset of some kind (sleep, chemicals, really deep meditation).
It sucks. It really, really, sucks. Please think more carefully before remarking in this way in the future.
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All that said. I kind of had an idea like this a while ago[1], but never thought to mate it with a system that actually pings friends for help! Quite clever, and more importantly, it appears to work.
With respect, I think we should take the patient point of view more seriously than our own (us not having examined the patient or more damningly, not having any training in psychiatry). Lack of productivity can on occasion lead to a feeling of worthlessness which can exacerbate depression.
It's true, I'm not a psychiatrist and don't know him. It's also obvious that achieving things helps us feel better. I'm trying to suggest that, instead of focusing on productivity as the final solution and trying to hack it into his life, perhaps look at the factors causing his difficulties. For example, the fact that he works alone, or does a sedentary job -- both of which are massive risk factors for depression.
We're stuck with his articulation, but I can see how that would seem to be the case. Personally, I see lack of productivity as a symptom of depression, but it's not for no reason that there's a saying, "the devil makes work for idle hands."
They might mean to say that it's worsened when they're not busy with something. Actively working on a task that one finds rewarding can definitely help with depression.
Sure, but from reading the article it seems that social isolation as a matter of lifestyle is the elephant in the room. If he has to be held accountable through an app, it would suggest that there's no people present throughout the day to hold him accountable.
Perhaps I'm wrong, but it's less absurd than assuming we just need a whip when we're down. This isn't an unemployed person feeling like they're not contributing. It's more like: "If I can just never be unproductive, I'll be happy"...
It's not about having people around to hold you accountable. I have dealt with severe depression for about 30 years. You get to be very good at 'hiding' your emotional state from people. What a lot of people here seem to be missing is that lack of productivity is a warning signal for him to share with his support network.
His app doesn't increase or help with his productivity, it tracks it.
I could use his app directly as is. I have a very supportive network, who really help me when I am in the bottom of a cycle. This app could really help me as I only reach out when it gets bad enough that I feel my life is in danger.
And I am surrounded by people all the time. At work (I teach) and at home (I have 2 small kids & a perfect partner). Now my partner is starting to learn the warning signs.
Other people won't hold you accountable unless you let them, which the author touches upon. It sounds like most of the value of the app for him is that the results are communicated to a support network.
My first thought after reading that he's a freelance web developer was "get an office job". I know from experience that working alone for an extended period of time can get you down easily.
I worked various full time office jobs for two years and now I work part time remotely and the amount of social interaction during the work day is pretty much the same (which is to say almost zero).
There's just no way I can do my job writing software with constant interruptions; it takes too much focus.
I believe you misread or failed to read the rest of the paragraph. The author makes it clear this isn't just work.
I feel similar to the author's statement. Coding is my thing. In general, I really like most of my work. When I have writer's (coder's) block, it really, really, sucks. Right now, for instance, I'm sitting on some dynamite info and just need to polish up a proof of concept to show of some fun stuff. I even have clients 100% ready to pay for things if I can show POC. Yet several of these things have sitting around, somewhat planned or partially started, for months. That feeds back to itself and makes me feel worse.
And again, this doesn't mean just work.. Some of these things are things I'd do for no compensation at all, but purely for the fun of them. Being burned out and not wanting to do the stuff I want to do, thinking the one passion I'm competent at is slipping away - that's depressing and scary. And some of the stuff I want to do, like family related things, they suffer too, and those aren't even software-related, let alone work.
Your Web App sounds interesting. Though I wonder if it is just helping to manage the symptons rather than addressing the source of the depression. Procrastination may be a sympton and not the cause of depression.
Unfortunately, for many people mental illness and depression is a result of very real chemical imbalances in the brain. Also, for other people letting go of a toxic relationship or unhappy marriage miraculously cures depression.
Scientific research quite strongly links excessive screen time to psychological problems in children. You can be spared from science, if you'd like, but it does no good to ignore real problems just because you want to stick your head in the sand.
Edit: And for the bogeyman's sake, if you'd like the "proof", that's what Google is for. This isn't some fringe view. It's about the same as asking me for proof that smoking is damaging.
The problem is that virtually all of the screen time studies don't apply to tablet usage as they were studying the effects of passive screen time such as watching tv. People have a tendency to group the two together as "screen time" but actively playing educational apps on a tablet is very different than passively watching tv. In time we should have a better idea what the effects are but right now tablets are still too new for any comprehensive studies to have been completed.
I've looked at Google and PubMed and was not impressed by what I found. Most "screen time" studies are primarily or exclusively TV-watching studies, and in many cases are in turn using that as a proxy for sedentary behavior in general rather than actually examining media consumption patterns. In short, they don't demonstrate that all screen time is equivalent, they just define the variable that way. That can be entirely justifiable from a study design standpoint, but also limits what the results can tell us.
The main source for recommending limitations on overall screen time for young children seems to be a set of recommendations published by the American Academy of Pediatrics [1], but they don't actually cite any research (or their citations are too well-hidden for me). The AAP recently published a release stating that new recommendations are coming soon and suggesting that the old guidelines are unnecessarily rigid and unrealistic, even to the point of explicitly stating that "The public needs to know that the Academy’s advice is science-driven, not based merely on the precautionary principle.". The top bullet point is "media is just another environment". This newer document generally advocates a nuanced approach that takes the nature of the content or activity as well as the social context of media consumption (e.g. whether parents are actively watching with the child) into account [2].
Correlation != causation. Is screen time per se that would create some issues with kids, or is it the lack of real communication between parent and kid?
I love to sit down and actively watch (i.e. point, name, discuss) a show with my 3 y/o son. When not excessive, I feel this is good for both of us.
> When not excessive, I feel this is good for both of us.
While I also agree that it doesn't feel wrong to experience something on a screen as a family, we should always be wary of "it feels good/right" as a reason for believing that something isn't bad for you in the long run. That's a slippery slope that has led to plenty of negative trends recently. It's far too easy for people to latch onto things that are good in moderation and let those things slip into over-saturation.
Unfortunately, screen time for young kids is more addictive for parents than cigarettes have ever been to anyone, and look how hard it was (is) to get people to cut that out.
It's the medium, not the message. I would suggest that it's excessively stimulating and this causes maladaptive neurochemical changes. The same applies to computers.
Of course, no one seems to understand the precautionary principle. If something is potentially implicated in health issues, the rational reaction is to exercise caution. Instead, it's full-steam-ahead, and before we know better it's too late.
It's a very novel way to look at it, but I think you're right. Constructed reality by its very design replaces the use of actual reality. We've seen this trend with the internet and I can only imagine it will continue.
People are driving less, interacting less, working from home more, and using screens more. I'm fairly confident this isn't going to change when you make staying at home even more convenient and pleasurable. It should naturally accelerate.
In reality, most people will seek out disgusting treats all day, then have a bit of healthy stuff out of guilt. That's happening already. The money is in the sugar. When it comes to supernormal stimuli, pleasure usually takes over -- not rationality.
Most of us discussing this are already living a Matrix-like reality. 80%+ of life in front of a screen, with that last bit of time at the gym (with screens), cafe/bar (with screens), or maybe an inner-city park (with cellphone screen out). A diet primarily consisting of processed grain, factory meat and barren vegetation. Blaming our inevitable neuroticism on a chemical imbalance or moral failure, not the alienated zoo life we live -- or worse, distracting ourselves so thoroughly we don't notice it. Of course this kind of person is going to think we can fit billions more on the planet.
Our wellbeing probably does rely on technology like VR and automation, but with so many mentally ill, I would say our current situation is already unacceptable (and has been for thousands of years). Adding billions more to the equation isn't going to help.
Great idea, Baudrillard. Reality has become confusing, therefore, let's act like retards.