[jusq2]

I am with you. The attention economy has all kinds of unintended side effects that don't seem to have any great solutions.

And its not just advertising most entertainment/propaganda/marketing is designed to just get an instant reaction. No contemplation necessary. Kind of like porn.

And if we have to be honest hacker news is very similar. Nobody needs this much news.

[cyberferret]

You hit the nail on the head. The ads I saw didn't seem to elicit any thought or feedback or discussion. It was more like "Here - go do/watch this. I'll be back shortly to tell you again soon!". Almost like training a dog. Rote repetition and ever increasing sense of urgency and the fear of missing out.

A clear case of over promising and under delivering - and yet my friends seemed to be content with lapping that up rather than questioning it or making moves to reject it. It really is like those dystopian stories where humans are enslaved by the messages emanating from their TVs. Honestly, I felt like taking a shower after each TV watching session...

I've been home a month now, and not missing having a TV one iota!