2024-04-26
Sixth wordvomit entry, and my plan from now on is to write one entry per week. Of course, I said that before, but uhh... I mean it this time?
I'm trying gradually now to improve certain aspects of my character, and as a part of that I'm aware that I end up consuming a lot of media online. Specifically, whilst I do not use any other social media such as TikTok (yikes) or Facebook (...) or god-forbid Twitter, I do consume media on Youtube. Is this bad? Or is it potentially useful, or good?
Now, as a first note, of course, watching nothing but gaming Youtube, or MrBeast, or any of those other superficial things, is a waste of time. I think generally that is inarguable. They are specifically there for the pleasure of it: of course, it's not necessarily bad to indulge in things for the pleasure of the moment, but unlike with some other things there are no other benefits. I play video games with a friend of mine for instance, but I do so not really for the games, but to see my friend. Instead, I'm specifically talking about the quote-unquote productive side: podcasts on self-improvement such as Diary of a CEO that I've been watching a lot recently, or the "educational Youtube" that is now it seems always advertising Nebula.
In terms of this so-called productive side: if I had to say whether it's good or bad in some kind of notional way, I would say it is good. It benefits people, largely, or at least, does not detriment too much. The problem is, does it cause problems of its own, and is it something that is really desirable?
One problem I can see is that it turns into simple content consumption. I've seen it in myself even. Back when I was watching Luke Smith, I would watch the same video several times. Of course, I've already seen it and understood it, I know the idea behind it and the message, and I already agree with it. Yet, I would rewatch the same video several times. I think in my mind I was "reinforcing" the message, but really, I just engaging in the media for the "thrill" of it, so to speak.
In this way, it reinforces other issues as well. It seems to play into phone addiction: I'm not sure I really have phone addiction, I certainly am not as bad as some people I see, but I do still end up using the phone a lot. Almost always with Youtube just in the background as I'm doing something else, like working. In fact, as I write this, I have Youtube on in the background, watching Diary of a CEO mentioned above. In my mind, it doubles the amount of "work" I've done at any time. Sometimes I can see it distracting me from what I am actually looking at and then I turn it off and focus on what I'm doing, but I think this all essentially just plays into phone addiction, if I've got it.
Watching... Diary of a CEO, wow it's all I'm watching recently, I've noticed that the vast majority of these people have books. When reading books, it's far slower than engaging in this media: a podcast episode is only maybe two or so hours, but a book will generally take a couple days to read (depends on the book and how much time you dedicate to it, plus reading speed though I'm a painfully slow reader). A book however is far more detailed, and has the ability to present nuance, which a podcast can't really, or not to the same extent. In this way, it is better generally to try to read as opposed to just consuming the content. The difference is that a book requires rapt attention, whereas audiovisual media does not, and I can do other things at the same time. The books are likely better for me in terms of attention span or some other metric.
Additionally, I have to note that I do not discover, e.g. these books without the podcasts. The videos act as an introducer, and in so being introduce me to good ideas, which I could then follow up on if I so choose and want to get more information. If not, I can just get the surface level information which I get from the podcast episode, and hopefully use that to benefit me.
I think, then, that podcasts or these kinds of things aren't necessarily bad. But, they should be limited. I should not be re-watching videos, or doing it instead of doing what I ought to be doing (like sleeping). But, I do not think it is necessarily bad for me to watch it to try to figure out whether the ideas are good and if so how to implement them in my life.
The main thing is that: if the idea is good, I should try to follow up with better media, such as books, which do not seem to have any bad side-effects, like media does. In this way, I can also "burn through" the media which I watch: I watch things to get an idea, and then read the books. I can do this to come to understand what I need to do, but the action is the most important part. I should only really be watching this media, and thinking about it, or even reading about it, if I act on it also.
So, I don't think it's bad. I mean, ice cream is bad, but it has value socially. Alcohol is bad, but it has value to have a drink or two and benefit the social aspect. When I was concerned about ultra-processed food, Chris van Tulleken, when asked whether he lets his children eat UPF, said, he does, as it has another benefit, namely the social benefit from being normal. Nothing is absolutely bad and without merit it seems if it helps in another way. It's a trade-off. In the same way, whilst using the phone is likely bad, or can tend towards bad, and engaging in audiovisual media is likely bad, or at least worse than reading, its speed of delivery has a virtue of its own, which should be appreciated. Yes, it damages my attention span or does god-knows-what-else, but it acts as a very quick introducer to new ideas, which can then benefit me. In that way, used sparingly, it might just be good. But it needs to be proportionate, and not dominate. It (unlike books or whatever else) will naturally try to dominate, and so must be kept under control in that way, if used.
Alright, that's it for today. It's getting a bit easier to write at length now that I've done it a little. I made a few notes before writing this, which I referenced as I was writing. But it is definitely getting easier. As said, I'm going to actually try for one per week. I will need to think up of some new ideas...
Have a good one.