I do strongly agree about the call to caution about conflating distinct forms of addictions. In turn, however, I want to acknowledge the subjectivity that underlies the use of this language. To feel powerless to undesired and negative habitual behavior, it *feels* like addiction
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The lens here should be, imho, cultural psychiatry. What "technology addiction" indicates, is fundamentally a cultural problem because sociocultural factors are instrumentalized to cultivate addiction-like behavior, due to incentives to compete for grip on our attention & action
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As an example for the factor of incentives, take this quote by Netflix, and be reminded at how ubiquitous it is in life. It's not just Netflix. This goal is shared by all competitors in the attention economy, the frantic activity of which impacts our sociocultural ecosystem.pic.twitter.com/3JjATEoUoB
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The key point there is that we should acknowledge the efficacy of the market in terms of their own goals. They're all competing for our attention, and by virtue of that, for an influence on our behavior, such that it benefits their interests. But is it aligned with people's? (No)
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The problem is compounded by the diversity of contexts by which the addiction-like behavior is triggered, perpetuated, and reinforced. While meth and heroin derive their power from a disproportionate affinity with the processes that govern salience, valence, and habituation...
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Technology addiction derives itself from the diversity by which it enacts itself upon the private spheres - in the worse cases, synergetically so. The pathological basis is always experiential and contextual. There are systematic processes that erode autonomy. That's pathology.
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That this process of erosion is constituted by a diversity of contextual processes interacting with each other in the space of human experience and daily life, without the singular penetrating power as with heroin, does not mean it cannot bring forth the same pathological markers
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Anyways, all to say that yes there are distinct forms of addictions, but we shouldn't deny the experiential basis by which the language has spread beyond psychoactive substances, as that affinity or penetration to yield grip on the psyche, can systematically be approximated.
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Therefore the focus should not be semantic games, if one cares about the psychiatric reality of people and culture. Instead it should be about understanding the differences in these processes, and how that can be translated to human well-being.
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Replying to @generativist
Thank you! I'll treat my fingers to some ... Wait what do my fingers like?
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Replying to @neuropoetic
Burritos
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