K retweeted
This paper answers why you can't think straight even when you're not touching your phone.
Researchers from UT Austin and UC San Diego published a paper that explains every unfinished task, every reread paragraph, and every afternoon that vanished.
It's called "Brain Drain."
they took 520 people and gave them tests of memory and problem solving.
the only difference was where their phone was.
on the desk, face down. in their pocket or bag. or in another room.
every phone was on silent. no buzzing. no notifications.
And the results are wild.
the people whose phones were in another room did significantly better than the people whose phones sat face down on the desk.
the closer the phone, the worse they scored.
then they ran it again and made half of them turn their phones completely off.
it didn't matter.
off and face down on the desk still drained the brain.
the paper revealed a brutal paradox:
most people said they weren't thinking about their phone at all.
75.9% said its location didn't affect their performance "at all."
they were wrong.
your brain spends energy just to not pick it up. a quiet, constant effort to ignore the most interesting object in the room.
that effort comes from the same tank you use to think.
and the more dependent people were on their phones, the bigger the hit.
you are not distracted because you're weak.
you are distracted because the most powerful attention machine ever built is sitting three inches from your hand.
the fix is almost insultingly simple.
put it in another room.
K retweeted
Cell phone addiction is an absolute thermonuke to the brain and nobody 'takes it seriously' because it is not clear that there is any solution in a world where the revealed preference of everyone across the globe, regardless of income, race, age, any factor whatsoever, would rather be on their phone than do *anything* else. Deciding "I use this too much" and meaningfully altering one's behaviour doesn't seem to have much success for any of the very small minority of people with the sentience or self-reflection to realize how bad it is. Most people seem to think of it as an unproductive habit at most, rather than an addiction. Any attempt to speak seriously about this is met with derision, accusations of pretentiousness. There is no real solution to it. The future of human cognition fifty years down the line is horrifying if you stop and think about it for even a moment.
K retweeted
We've had some comments about the Clever Hans effect and comparing people to horses. Maybe this blog post will help:
facilitatedcommunication.org…
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WEF World Economic Forum Matthew Liao: We can induce 'meat allergy' by using Lone Star Ticks to stop the consumption of meat and “help the planet”
K retweeted
I love @AdamLaneSmith, but this email update from @MarkQueppet is pure fire. The idea of "emotional needs" is a psyop that keeps men miserable and weak. Here's why:
As therapy has become more and more common in this world, so too has this idea of getting your "emotional needs" met.
The argument is not that these things are so essential that you'll literally DIE (as you would if you were deprived of PHYSICAL NEEDS like food, water, etc.)...
But that if you want to have any sort of "life" in your existence, then these things are fundamentally REQUIRED.
Examples of things often cited as emotional needs are security, attention, control, intimacy, status, achievement, etc.
Now I'm not going to argue that these things are somehow bad - in fact, they are wonderful and should ABSOLUTELY be pursued.
But I believe that framing these things as "NEEDS" is pure psychological POISON that turns people into entitled and victimized infants while often putting these things further away.
This idea has been pushed so hard it makes me wonder if this isn't some kind of psyop designed to make people weaker and more controllable.
So why do I think this way?
Because as soon as you call these things "needs" you are adopting a narrative where if you DON'T get these things, then you are somehow deprived on a level where fulfillment and meaning are simply not attainable.
In other words, you are setting yourself up to be a victim of circumstance.
The reality is that getting all the big things you want in life simply ISN'T ALWAYS POSSIBLE due to circumstances outside of your control.
If you believe you always NEED these things to be okay, or are somehow ENTITLED to them, then you'll end up feeling bitter, helpless, and resentful of anyone and anything that is preventing you from having them.
But even worse, I believe this "needs" paradigm is a fundamentally limiting view of the power of the human spirit.
People have found purpose, meaning, and fulfillment even in some of the darkest and most challenging situations you could possibly imagine.
If you want to break out of this disempowering trap of lack and longing, then you need a fundamental frameshift.
Instead of needs, be honest with yourself and simply acknowledge them as DESIRES.
Acknowledge that this world owes you NOTHING, but also acknowledge that you're free to pursue these desires with as much intensity as you can muster in your soul.
You want something?
Great!
GO GET IT!
Any breath wasted on whining, negativity, and entitlement is an act of weakness and cowardice.
UYAP,
Mark Queppet
