That is, humans aren't adapted at their current level to be able to handle it.
Think of it like a Turkey that has s*x with a Turkey head on a stick. For the Turkey that is a high IQ technology it could never create on its own and doesn't have any immunity to being able to handle. It would likely take dozens of generations of Turkeys dying specifically to having too much s*x with a Turkey head on a stick for an adaption to emerge where the Turkey's could handle that level of technology without dying out.
The modern day internet is something similar to that. A technology that seeps away every waking minute of your time if you allow it and only active withdrawal and avoidance of the technology keeps you safe.
That is, the internet has become a 120 IQ technology given to a 100 IQ people. The technology is smarter than the people at getting them addicted harder than people are capable of avoiding it.
Most people think humans will be fine and the internet will not mess them up, but here is the thing, the internet isn't just an entertainment system you can just walk away from, but instead the internet is technology literally built upon tapping into human instincts to keep paying attention and remain focused on the screen at hand. The internet is technology literally designed to take advantage of bugs in our system, to take a feature that was once useful, and to then psyop it to make you simply keep watching the screen forever while everything around you dies.
It is the kind of mental influence and manipulation that takes generations for an innate defense mechanism to evolve. Which means that the only way to survive the internet is to either as an individual look for ways to actively avoid and control it, or to join a culture where one would be looked down upon for using the internet like an addict and would suffer actively for doing so in ways that make the dopamine chase of the internet an actively negative experience.
For the majority of humans, that is not the case. We aren't trained to hate addicting technologies or foods. Those of us who manage to find out exactly how deep the manipulation of our instincts goes are at best only able to save ourselves and never any group larger than that, because to get people to do something about the internet or over processed high addiction low satiety foods, one would not just need to have an answer that makes sense, but also a position of leadership or authority that makes people be willing to listen to you. For the majority of people who escape the matrix that is not the case.
We are surrounded by addictions that scale up in reeling us in faster than humans can adapt to them. These technologies are only becoming more advanced and personalized to be even more addicting over time, and while they have uses and potential, that is often overshadowed by the techniques used by such technologies to keep you constantly hooked 24/7. It is in this manner that humanity is dying, and set to keep dying for generations to come, until adaptations for the bugs in the human code that allow the internet and fast food to hack up can naturally emerge among the survivors.
In conclusion:
We are generations away from a population that would be capable of handling fast food or the internet. In the meantime, the best choice that you can make is to try your best to avoid it every waking moment, and to only go to it when you have no other option available, and to leave it as soon as possible, because there is a higher than 50% chance that you are biologically not designed to be able to adapt to and survive that addictiveness of the internet or highly processed food for that matter.
Use unhelpful site blocking software and keep blocking all sites that eat up your time without providing anything useful in turn until all you are left with is the useful internet. That is your best chance of being able to survive a useful technology with killer addictive designs.
Good luck.
Helpful article link:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/xEHy9oivifjgFbnvc/slack-matters-more-than-any-outcome
Edit:
I am trying to help you all. Please do not use this post as an opportunity to bully me.
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I largely agree with you that we are not really hardwired to handle this extremely addictive technology, but the thing is that the technology to control that addictive technology already exists. It's existed for well over a decade now, which I know because that's how long I've been using it.
It's called an app blocker. I use AppBlock on my Android phone and Android tablet, and Cold Turkey on my laptop. It's why I spend most of my nights reading books and comics rather than doomscrolling.
If you're frustrated because you spend most nights doomscrolling until 1am because you can't put the phone down, download an appblocker and set it so that your web browser apps, reddit app, facebook app, etc, are blocked from 10pm until the morning If you find yourself wasting time on the internet in the morning, set it so that you can't use the until 10am, say, well after you get to work.
You're still the one making the choice to stop internetting at 10pm, you're just making the choice at a time when you're more alert, not tired and have more self control. You can set a block schedule that lasts hours, days, weeks, or even months. You can still use all the apps that are essential but that don't waste your time, banking apps, email apps, etc.
Yes, it is a pain in the arse sometimes, when you realise you can't look up some stupid actress you just saw in that tv show, because you're web browser's blocked for the night, but it beats losing sleep or wasting night after night to dumb shit like doomscrolling.
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I suggested blocking unhelpful sites near the end of my post.
I agree but an ever growing subset of the population won't even have the will to add an appblocker as the internet keeps redesigning itself to be ever more addictive. Which is why I stand by the statement that only individuals with the required will power can save themselves for the most part. With the rest dying out and adapting by becoming immune to screen time exposure.
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Your exact words were 'Use you ad blocked until all you are left with is the useful internet' which I thought was just a tiny bit completely incoherent, hence my book-length reply.
I'm not writing off the 90% of people who have become addicted to the various entertainment heroins modern society offers up, but haven't figured out how to manage that addiction, just yet. And one of the few areas where I think market interference is not just acceptable but important, is when it comes to addictive technologies (actual heroin being the most obvious example of one such addictive technology). If smartphones hack the human brain and are addictive, then legislate that they should have mandatory appblocking built in. Sure, a small amount of people will be too addicted to stop, but I think most people will at least experiment with limiting their smartphone time if the controls are literally built in.
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Fixed. Thanks for letting me know.
I find it unlikely as technology evolves faster than the means to block it out. Except for perhaps in the EU but the world considers the EU to be over regulated.
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This is your lamest reply yet, longpostbot.
keep yourself safe.
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