You are reading this off a computer or mobile screen. You probably spend at least an hour a day staring at screens, if you work then you stare at work, if you are out of work it turns out you also spend a lot of time staring at a screen, not moving, eating, getting unhealthy, but most of all, addicted.
If I check my daily diet of screen it involves these things :
- Browsing Ebay for fun things to have (vintage watches)
- Browsing X, I don’t use Facebook, but same difference
- Browsing Youtube for fun videos, no Tiktok
- Checking out insane designs on Pinterest, a great source for eyecandy
- Playing online chess
- Checking financial markets
- Checking on jobs, freelance
- Writing this blog that nobody reads
- Checking on a dating site
- Checking on [adult content]
- Sending and reading What’s app messages
- Reading some emails
- I don’t game
- Coding, trying new libraries in Python, AI, LLMs
All this takes a loot of time. It can consume a day easily. Only the last item is remotely usefull. I really waste my day by entertaining myself with bulk content (except the chess). Inpersonaly automatically served virtual reality, imagery that satisfies my brain. I am an internet addict.
Lets call screen addiction “ScreenCapture“
The addiction is evident if the behavior to use internet is so automatic it happens. Then there’s this ‘just one more’ behavior, it locks me into my habit because it isolates me from the world.
I do get out to cycle and play basket ball, practice guitar. The basketbal is probably the most different from watching a screen. But I talk to nobody, I only chat online, make telephone calls to arrange things perhaps, I don’t talk when I buy stuff. I am screen captured. I am addicted. I need a garden or some workshop to build stuff.
I think I need to make options for what I do online, so that it is one of these things :
- Learn something relevant for my base knowledge (AI ML Coding)
- Chat with real people
- Organize real experiences
- Write in depth content for my own pleasure
Other than that my life will have to become more real. I don’t work, because I don’t believe any job today is good for the future of mankind. Even ‘green jobs’ are bad. I can’t understand how people waste their lives in harmfull jobs.
What is the best way to free more people from their screen? How are you faring in terms of percentage of time spend looking at a screen?