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Exact-Permission5319 t1_iypb6l7 wrote

It's saying that users' emotional processing is impacted. Probably something similar to compassion fatigue, where being shown a serious news story, followed by a silly story, followed by a serious story, etc etc over and over in cycles reduces our ability to actually care about things.

Bit by bit, our agency is being taken away, and we aren't really even aware of it.

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insaneintheblain t1_iyq7s59 wrote

>Bit by bit, our agency is being taken away, and we aren't really even aware of it

>“Until they become conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious.” - George Orwell, 1984

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RamsesThePigeon t1_iyrmv80 wrote

Google “the Ennui Engine.”

In short, the trouble isn’t just the whiplash; it’s the fact that we’re starving ourselves while filling up on junk.

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methyltheobromine_ t1_iyrx3kt wrote

I like the idea, but I think society is re-discovering the same few problems again and again. The hedonic treadmill seems relevant here.

That we pay smaller prices, i.e. invest ourselves less in things, is a valuable observation though. Worse working memory, half-assing engagement, laziness, nihilism and the destruction of value, these all seem related.

The other factors have already been answered. If we consider where were are as 0, and where we want to go as 100, then we're always behind. Worse still is to consider the place we want to go as 0, because then we're in minus. In reality, what we have already is valuable.

Enjoy the process towards a goal and you'll have fun, enjoy only the goal and you'll suffer.

Another problem is literally getting used to things. This is solved in "The book of Est". Also partly by mindfulness, which observes rather than categorize every sensory impression into old models, so that everything is merely parsed (recognized as a hashed value), preventing change and novelty. The biggest sign that a thing has been reduced to a symbol and parsed is that you cannot reverse it. You can recognize a word when you hear it, but can you remember it if without hearing it? If not, that's a one-way association.

For the sake of efficiency, the brain might reduce all of live into a stream of familiar symbols, and discard anything which doesn't fit as "wrong". And you end up with a nihilistic person who is unable to change his mind or see value in things.

50% my own thoughts, so I don't have any more sources for you

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Crazocrates t1_iypngyt wrote

Could this also not be a good thing for people who care to much?

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Exact-Permission5319 t1_iypo8dp wrote

A "good" thing is relative ... caring too much about others is not necessarily detrimental to society. It might be detrimental to the individual, but not to society at large. A lack of empathy, and generally not caring about anything to the point of nihilism could be incredibly destructive to society.

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insaneintheblain t1_iyq7zg3 wrote

We live in a period of unprecedented peace - because those who would otherwise be following this or that faction into war for whatever idea seemed like a good idea at the time - are busy arguing on the internet instead.

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