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Addicted to Information? 429

Posted by michael from the metafilter dept.
SiMac writes "According to this New York Times article, two Harvard faculty members say that information causes a "dopamine squirt" in humans, a rush similar to that given by narcotics. Just as narcotics are addictive, information is as well. They've given the disorder of information addiction the name 'pseudo-ADD' because it tends to cause somewhat ADD-like symptoms."
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Addicted to Information? More

Addicted to Information?

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  • oh my (Score:2, Funny)

    by k0nsept ( 443329 )
    dopamine squirt. that sounds naughty :)

  • tell me more (Score:5, Funny)

    by frovingslosh ( 582462 ) on Sunday July 06, 2003 @02:37PM (#6378467)
    Damn this is interesting! I must know more about it! More! More! And for some strange reason I want some twinkies.

    • At the local ADDA Meeting... (Score:5, Funny)

      by soloport ( 312487 ) on Sunday July 06, 2003 @02:53PM (#6378591) Homepage
      John: Hi... I'm John.
      ADDA Crowd: Hi, John!
      John: And I'm a Salshdot addict...

      • Re:At the local ADDA Meeting... (Score:5, Funny)

        by frovingslosh ( 582462 ) on Sunday July 06, 2003 @03:07PM (#6378670)
        That strange, at my local ADDA meeting it goes like this:

        John: HI... I'm John.
        ADDA Crowd: Hi, ..... err, whoever you are.

      • Facilitator: Hi, and welcome to the Slashdot addicts group meeting. I see we have someone new in the group today. Would you like to stand up and tell us your name and a little bit about yourself?

        new guy: Hi, my name is Dave. I am a Slashdot addict too. But I just visit because everyone there is obsessed with me.

        Facilitator: What do you mean?

        Dave: Let me show you... [Dave gets up, drops pants, turns around, bends over, and grabs two handfuls]

        [The facilitator vomits while the rest of the group c

    • Re:tell me more (Score:5, Funny)

      by WarpForge ( 683567 ) on Sunday July 06, 2003 @03:48PM (#6378886)
      The next Slashdot story will be ready soon, but subscribers can beat the rush and see it early!
    • Oxygen can give you a high feeling. I think I'm addicted to air...

    • Re:tell me more (Score:5, Funny)

      by PetoskeyGuy ( 648788 ) on Sunday July 06, 2003 @04:37PM (#6379148)
      It started out when I was just a kid. I got hooked on Phonics. Soon I was reading everything I could get my hands on. I came from a poor family and my parents encouraged me. Said it was the only way to get ahead and I needed all the advantages I could get.

      I thought after I read all the books at my local library I would be ok.

      Then a "friend" hooked me up with the internet. I started out slow, 14.4k modems, then 33k, 56k. It wasn't so bad, I heard about people using multiple bonded 56k modems. I could still shut if off whenever I wanted to.

      Then I heard about broadband. I found a dealer in my area and started with ISDN but eventually switched to DSL so my wife wouldn't notice the extra lines. There's nothing like it. Now I'm always ON.

      But it's just not enough. I'm looking at getting a T1 put in or maybe going back to college. I hear they got in room Oc3 or better systems in the DORMS!! Damn - I'm shaking pretty bad now, gotta go.

  • Interesting, but some methodological holes (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Rhovanion ( 687276 ) on Sunday July 06, 2003 @02:38PM (#6378471)
    This article essentially states that 'being connected' is distracting and shortens attention spans, and that it's also pleasurable. So far so good- but putting a new medical label on it seems akin to creating a 'eating cookies is pleasurable disorder' or 'loud sounds and flashing lights harm one's ability to focus disorder'. It's common sense. Medical science nowadays gets excited when they reinvent the wheel.

    • Re:Interesting, but some methodological holes (Score:5, Insightful)

      by be-fan ( 61476 ) on Sunday July 06, 2003 @02:54PM (#6378596)
      The difference between common sense and science is the difference between observation and understanding. Sure it's common sense that loud sounds and flashing lights are distracting. However, it would be a wonderful advance in medical science if we knew exactly what reactions loud sounds and flashing lights cause in our brains that makes them more distracting than the huge amount of sensory information our brain is bombarded with anyway.
      • Yeah, but the parent poster's point is that of science trying to make a disorder out of everything.

        From time-to-time I crave White Castle cheesburgers. At some point, I wouldn't be surprised if they came out with a study that says that certain ingredients in White Castle cheesburgers cause enhanced dopamine levels in the brain (heh. heh.) and that those hit with "The Crave" suffer from a new White Castle Cheesburgers Are Yummy Syndrome.

        I mean its ridiculous. Just because someone craves information it doesn't mean that they have disorder. Maybe, just maybe, they're naturally curious. No, that couldn't be it! They must be sick! We can treat them with Ritalin or something! Yeah!

        Please.

        • Re:Interesting, but some methodological holes (Score:5, Insightful)

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 06, 2003 @04:02PM (#6378970)
          Yeah, but the parent poster's point is that of science trying to make a disorder out of everything.

          From time-to-time I crave White Castle cheesburgers. ...

          If your craving for White Castle burgers was serious enough to disrupt your work, social life, and/or sleep patterns, then arguably it could qualify as a disorder.

          The article seems to try to make the point that in some people the craving for information is serious enough that interferes with their work and social life, that could qualify it as a psychological disorder.

          But yes, on a scale of disorders, it's not in the same league as manic depression, schizophrenia, or anything like that.

        • The only mistake is to refer to it as a "disorder" (Score:5, Informative)

          by LiberalApplication ( 570878 ) on Sunday July 06, 2003 @04:07PM (#6379001)
          ...because it has been a long-standing tradition in the study of anything, all things, in any field, to give every uniquely discernable (and not necessarily even reproducible) set of circumstances a name and a place in an ever-broadening taxonomical heirarchy of "things we gave names to".

          This is simply how we study things. We now know that there are groups of people who react "differently" to certain sets of stimuli, and we have studied the phenomenon enough to have come to a general, but highly contested decision to treat such people with stimulants of various sorts. w00t. What now? Well, while certain researchers delve into the biochemical, genetic, physiological details of this condition, others will subspecialize in particular demographic slices of the group.

          That's what grad school is for, isn't it? "Oh, oh, find something that noone else has really put too much time into and go write up a really long paper and come back in a few years so we can yell at you for a few hours".

          Even outside of academia, the mentality is pervasive. This is why there's an aisle in stores for "cleaners". There are cleaning products for every imaginable material, for variants of materials. For vinyl, acrylic, plastics, laminates, polished surfaces, glass, concrete, stainless steel, silver, marble, stained wood, unstained wood, painted surfaces, etc... if we really didn't think that way, all we'd have is soap and water.

          In any case, I'm glad we do these things. Of course, I am currently being strongly swayed by the prescribed afternoon dose of methylphenidate which is just now (aaah) breaking the blood-brain-barrier. Without people digging frantically into statistical data concerning behavior patterns, I wouldn't have my Ritalin.

        • Re:Internet addiction is no joke (Score:5, Informative)

          by Billly Gates ( 198444 ) on Sunday July 06, 2003 @04:29PM (#6379100) Journal
          I also have serve ADHD so anything that makes my already bad attention span worse sucks.

          I dropped out of school because of it. I would spend 3-4 hours checking slashdot and browsing the web at a time! After I post messages like this I somehow have to check them every few hours.

          I saw a phsycologist who specializes in disabilities because my ADHD was alot worse and I began to show signs of lethargic-ness.( If there is such a word ). Nothing interested me anymore and I could not focus.

          Eventually I unplugged from the net and went through withdrawl symptoms. I got a shitty job since I no longer was in school and the economy went into the crapper. I had trouble at first but my attention span improved.

          You made a reference to white Castle (which has shitty burgers by the way) and food addiction. In some people who are severely depressed it can effect their lives and jobs just like Internet addiction. Some people are move vulnerable then others. But yes they can be serious depending on the individuals genetic makeup to dopamine overload. I come from a family who has a few alcoholics. In my case I am susceptible because of the way my brain is wired from my genes. ...and hear I am posting to slashdot with my new high speed Internet access and doing this when more important things need to be done. Someone get a gun and shoot me!

          • Re:Internet addiction is no joke (Score:5, Interesting)

            by Surak ( 18578 ) * <{moc.skcolbliam} {ta} {karus}> on Sunday July 06, 2003 @05:02PM (#6379251) Homepage Journal
            BTW--the word you're looking for is 'lethargy'. I'm sorry to hear that.

            I fear the I may be mildly ADD (though not ADHD, as anyone who has met me will know, I'm anything but hyper. :) as well. I personally can *see* how my sometimes short attention span can take control and screw me up.

            OTOH, look at my vantage point. Since I'm able to control it, and sometimes even use it to my own benefit (when working, as someone on the ADHD story said, I, too, am able to call upon my 'inner spaz' so to speak to get major productivity benefit). A large percentage of the hacker/geek culture would probably meet the DSM-IV criteria for ADD and/or ADHD. Yet, it seems that most of us are able to function perfectly well in society.

            Does this mean that we ALL have a disorder, or does it mean that this is just another one of the standard personality variations found in differing inviduals.

            At what point is it a 'disorder' vs. a 'personality type'. Do you see what I'm getting at?

        • Disorder (Score:4, Insightful)

          by Bodrius ( 191265 ) on Sunday July 06, 2003 @06:44PM (#6379722) Homepage
          What I find amusing is the obsession of modern medical, particularly psychiatric/psychological, science with the term "disorder".

          I don't know, but when I read about behavior that doesn't seem pathological, the "dis" seems out of place. Maybe they should be talking about "phenomenon", "behavior", or something like that.

          This case in particular seems quite silly. They're saying these people have a disorder because they are multitaskers. I'm sure they'll have a disorder for single-taskers as well. Yet the only reason they seem to have to believe "they have a condition" is that "it's hard to concentrate on one thing". Wow. Now, that's pathological.

          I've had the behavior discussed in the article. I have paid for a lot of college classes, seminars, conferences, etc. only to grow bored out of my mind and engaging into high-tech and low-tech "instant messaging", doodling on notebooks, etc. When I was smart or lucky enough to bring a totally unrelated book, my ADD was suddenly cured because I ended up reading for a couple of hours.

          It's not called ADD. It's called being bored. And if you're constantly being bored by what you do, it usually is because whatever you're doing is boring to you. Just because you don't find your current task enthralling doesn't mean you cannot pay attention at all.

          Go do something else. Switch careers. Get a hobby.

          If they come up with a battery of tests proving these people are completely unable to pay attention more than X seconds/minutes to anything, including human-to-human threads of conversation, I'll start believing there is meat to this. But there is no such thing.

          • Re:Disorder (Score:3, Informative)

            by sbuckhopper ( 12316 ) *
            It's not called ADD. It's called being bored. And if you're constantly being bored by what you do, it usually is because whatever you're doing is boring to you. Just because you don't find your current task enthralling doesn't mean you cannot pay attention at all.

            I realize that you probably don't have a lot of access to information about ADD for two reasons:
            1. You do not think that it is a real problem
            2. You nor anyone you love has been diagnosed with this disorder and therefore you have no reason to
    • I would agree with that statement. The medical community seems to think that everything now days is a disease. Everything must have a cure, or so they say. These doctors cannot even prove that ADD is a real disease caused by some abnormallity in the the body, ovbiously if you give someone Riddlen they are going to concentrate more just look whats in the stuff.

      If somone could prove that ADD is an abnormallity I would believe this, until then I will be a dissenter of the pill pushing community.
      • "If somone could prove that ADD is an abnormallity I would believe this, until then I will be a dissenter of the pill pushing community."

        Probably wise, and certainly cheaper. Then again, watch out for the government / legal system forcing you to be drugged, or forcing your kid to be drugged or they will take them away from you.

        One article:
        http://www.chiro.org/pediatrics/ABSTRACT S/add.shtm l

        More on both sides of the issue: http://www.savvypatients.com/add.htm
      • It's Ritalin. Kinda obvious you've never read anything about it when you can't spell it right.
        Personally I feel that one should be able to anything that makes their lives better. Persuit of happiness and all. Be it Ritalin, Xanax, Prozac, Cannabis, LSD, or Heroin. But I think Big Pharm does push itself rather too hard. Nobody needs to stick their nose into my biochemistry unless I ask them to. If we got the money and the politics out of pharmaceuticals the world would be a much better place.
      • I think its BS. Some people can concentrate better then other people, just like some people are taller then other people, and some people have darker skin, etc.

        Anyone who takes Ritalin is going to be able to concentrate better then they were before, just like anyone who takes melatonix will have darker skin then otherwise and everyone who takes steroids will have bigger muscles then they were before.

        Arbitrarily classifying people into "ADD" and "non-add" is stupid.

        • Yes, it is stupid (Score:3, Insightful)

          by mindstrm ( 20013 )
          Good thing that's not what science is about.

          Although disorders like this have, at least in some cases, definite biochemical causes, we don't just say "Paranoid" "Not paranoid" "Schizophrenic" "Not schizophrenic" "ADD" "NOT ADD"

          All of these are just tools to help us understand. If we show that there is a link between people with attention span problems, and the way their brains react to new information, how is that not science, or not important?

          Some people are taller than others. Some people have dark ski
    • ISTM the emphasis might be a bit backwards: the addiction to information is more a symptom than a cause of ADD. I have ADD and have had since the 50's , when there was only one TV channel. I read voraciously, usually several books at once and could never stay focussed at school. The availability of all these new channels of information only provides new sources of distraction. It is entirely possible that real ADD, the lack of ability to control the focus of attention, might be more prevalent that suspected
    • Do we know why eating chocolate is pleasurable? Probably, since we can do CAT scans on people while they eat chocolate, and probably identify what chemicals get released in the brain when eating it.

      Do we know why being online is pleasurable? The article says it's a dopamine rush, similar to narcotics.

      In one sense, we understand both. In another, we understand neither.

      • Seratonin (Score:3, Interesting)

        by samael ( 12612 )
        Chocolate contains tryptophan, a seratonin precursor.

        Seratonin is connected with depression, boosting it seems to make people happier.
    • There are no holes. I'm ADD to begin with. I also can't spell. When I use a dictionary to look up a word, I have to be very very carfull to not zone out. I especialy love entomologies. I can spend hours with a good dictionary. This goes for any reference work, or math text. I get high learning math. While working on a project, if I have trouble focusing ( ADD remember), I sometimes can use studying as a vehical to hyperfocusing. It does not always work because sometimes I can't find a smooth transistion fro
    • The article goes a bit further than that, and states that our bodies have certain physical responses to 'being connected' That's an indication of where the 'pleasurable' feeling comes from, and also that this can lead to addict-like compulsive behaviour.

      People can stop eating cookies any time they want (well, most of us can). But the article suggests it may be harder than that to get rid of the urge to compulsively reload Slashdot all day. It's the job of medical science to see if there is indeed a p

  • Don't be silly, it's not an addiction (Score:5, Funny)

    by HiKarma ( 531392 ) * on Sunday July 06, 2003 @02:39PM (#6378484)
    I can stop anytime I want.

  • Harvard Geeks (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 06, 2003 @02:40PM (#6378488)
    Hmm . . . you think that the test subjects being harvard geeks may have something to do with it. I bet that the guys at your local tech school do not have the same reaction.

  • really, tell me more .... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by DrSkwid ( 118965 ) on Sunday July 06, 2003 @02:41PM (#6378498) Journal
    At last I have a *medical* excuse for never leaving the computer.

    I can certainly relate for the need for novelty, most web sites get pretty old after one read. S'why stuff like irc and irc are useful because you can your info buzz but it's mostly noise so it doesn't really take away from your concentration.

    It's kind of a synthetic substitute for proper human contact. One satisfies the need for communication while getting on with something more important.

  • Does this mean we can't get fired... (Score:5, Funny)

    by kaltkalt ( 620110 ) on Sunday July 06, 2003 @02:42PM (#6378507)
    for playing online at work? Americans with Disabilities Act protects us, eh? Kickass.

  • so thats why when I visit slashdot (Score:3, Funny)

    by Rooked_One ( 591287 ) on Sunday July 06, 2003 @02:42PM (#6378511) Journal
    I get that orgasmic feeling. I thought it was just for Taco's witty remarks...

  • Ashcroft will love that one (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Eloquence ( 144160 ) on Sunday July 06, 2003 @02:43PM (#6378514)
    Just wait until information is added to the list of forbidden substances, and included in the War on Drugs [drugwarfacts.org].

  • PHB syndrome? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Tablizer ( 95088 ) on Sunday July 06, 2003 @02:45PM (#6378523) Journal
    The pair have their own term for this condition: pseudo-attention deficit disorder. Its sufferers do not have actual A.D.D., but, influenced by technology and the pace of modern life, have developed shorter attention spans. They become frustrated with long-term projects, thrive on the stress of constant fixes of information, and physically crave the bursts of stimulation from checking e-mail or voice mail or answering the phone.

    I wonder if these are the kind of managers who F-up a project just because they like the yelling and screeming associated with emergency efforts to get it back on track. They like the scenes of Trek where the captain is yelling at the engineers to fix something now else they will be vaperized.

  • It all makes sense now (Score:3, Insightful)

    by LinuxInDallas ( 73952 ) on Sunday July 06, 2003 @02:45PM (#6378528)
    So that is why I feel the urge to load Slashdot every 15 minutes! Come on, I KNOW I'm not the only one! ;)

  • Yeah yeah (Score:5, Funny)

    by Dark Lord Seth ( 584963 ) on Sunday July 06, 2003 @02:45PM (#6378531) Journal
    Mr. Lax, a 44-year-old venture capitalist

    Did anyone else read this instead?

    Mr. Lax, a 44-year-old unemployed scammer
  • They are quite possibly the biggest providers of this so-called "information". Just wait till Congress outlaws this. Hope you guys have some good lawyers. I know who I'm suing first.

    BTW I think I do qualify for this diagnosis. As well as an addiction to cookies. Mmmmm

  • Need my fix... (Score:3, Funny)

    by WegianWarrior ( 649800 ) on Sunday July 06, 2003 @02:49PM (#6378553) Journal

    ..if I hadn't been so busy getting my fix of information, cyberpr0n and coffeine, I might even have read more than the first page.

    Luckely, for other addictions there are tests [netaddiction.com] to prove you're in the dangersone =P

  • Like? (Score:3, Funny)

    by pjdepasq ( 214609 ) on Sunday July 06, 2003 @02:49PM (#6378558)
    You mean like checking /. every 5.67 minutes to see if there's some new story posted?

    I mean, c'mon.... I need my fix this weekend, and the new stories have been slow. I'll just keep cliking the refresh button.

  • Come on (Score:3, Funny)

    by GroovBird ( 209391 ) * on Sunday July 06, 2003 @02:49PM (#6378563) Homepage Journal
    And this is the only story you have for me in the last what .. 45 minutes? I need a fix here, people!

    Dave
  • Before the internet I was a library junkie. I'd go to the library three times a week. Then in college I'd go there every day. Then the internet came along, and I obsessively check news sites like slashdot, wired news, msnbc, bottomquark, science news online, skeptic news, etc. It's really a problem. It's either an addiction or an extremely strong habit. There are better things I could do with two hours per day. ;-)

  • But where's the research? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by thinmac ( 98095 ) on Sunday July 06, 2003 @02:51PM (#6378568) Homepage
    The article doesn't say you get a shot of dopamine when you connect, it just quotes some psycologist saying it's *like* a dopamine squirt. Nowhere do they site research backing up that claim.

    The whole article is really just a set of case studies of people who do many things at once all the time, and who find that makes them unhappy for one reason or another. Throw in a few off the cuff, baseless statements by shrinks, and the NYT has made a roll-your-own disorder: pseudo-ADD. It's not even it's own disorder, just a fake version of another hotly debated syndrome.

    When I see real scientific data showing that A) there is an actual neurochemical response to data that can lead to addiction, B) that this addiction can and has happened in real people, and C) that it has caused these people's quality of life to be reduced, I'll believe it's a disorder. Right now, though, all we've got is some unhappy businessmen and a few shrinks looking to make a name for themselves.
  • What are my options for treatment?

    No, seriously...

    Please?
  • Like so many others, I don't want any medicine for my addiction. I don't think there's anything wrong with me! Nothing wrong with craving information...

    At least we finally know why Slashdot is so popular...

  • SLASHDOT!!!!!!

    If I have to go a day without reading Slashdot, I go onto convulsions.

  • A condition otherwise known as... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by chrae ( 159904 ) on Sunday July 06, 2003 @02:53PM (#6378588) Homepage
    Curiosity

  • Everything enjoyable is addictive (Score:3, Insightful)

    by kaltkalt ( 620110 ) on Sunday July 06, 2003 @02:54PM (#6378593)
    That's what it all boils down to. If it gives you pleasure or enjoyment, it is per se addictive. There is a direct correlation between the amount of pleasure X gives and the addictiveness of X. Getting information is enjoyable. Watching TV, eating twinkies, shooting heroin, and sex are all enjoyable, thus addictive. Some things (drugs) have physical means of causing addiction as well as the psychological one based on enjoyment, but the only difference is those things are harder to quit. Addiction is addiction. And there's nothing innately wrong with it, either. Problems only start when you can't get access to the addictor anymore.
    • "Problems only start when you can't get access to the addictor anymore"

      Or to the addicted.

      Good post.

    • Re:Everything enjoyable is addictive - Wrong (Score:5, Informative)

      by securitas ( 411694 ) on Sunday July 06, 2003 @03:57PM (#6378938) Homepage Journal
      Uh, no. Addiction is more complex than what you outline here. Because something is enjoyable or pleasurable, that does not make it addictive, per se or not.

      Here's the definition from the Harvard Medical School Division on Addictions [harvard.edu]:

      Addiction is the compulsive use of a substance or activity resulting in physical, psychological, or social harm to the user; the user continues in this pattern of behavior despite the harms that result. Addiction is differentiated from psychological dependence and physical dependence. Psychological dependence is the feeling that someone has when they think that drugs or activities are necessary to achieve a feeling of well-being. Physical dependence is marked by the development of tolerance to a drug or activity's effects so that increased amounts of a drug or activity are needed to obtain the desired effect. Tolerance also reveals its presence by the development of withdrawal symptoms when the drug or activity is stopped for a sufficient time. These matters are more complex than often thought.

      And here's the definition of addiction from the National Institutes of Health's MedLine [nih.gov].

      Drug dependence (addiction) is compulsive use of a substance despite negative consequences which can be severe; drug abuse is simply excessive use of a drug or use of a drug for purposes for which it was not medically intended. Physical dependence on a substance (needing a drug to function) is not necessary or sufficient to define addiction. There are some substances which don't cause addiction but do cause physical dependence (for example, some blood pressure medications) and substances which cause addiction but not classic physical dependence (cocaine withdrawal, for example, doesn't have symptoms like vomiting and chills; it is mainly characterized by depression).

      What you described is a voluntary lack of self-control. I think that's called gluttony.

  • Disorder? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Bearpaw ( 13080 ) on Sunday July 06, 2003 @02:55PM (#6378600)
    That's not a bug, that's a feature.

    Seriously, though, to whatever extent this can be meaningfully described as an addiction, I think it might be better compared to over-eating disorders (bingeing) than to drug addictions, at least in terms of treatment.

    With drug addictions, the idea is to minimize the dosage, hopefully to zero or at least to some very low "maintenance level". But with over-eating disorders, it's not just a matter of avoiding food, but eating healthy amounts of healthy food, and giving your body time to digest it properly. The analogy to treating a compulsive information disorder seems obvious. (Ob:IANAD.)

    One could also make obvious comparisons to the ubiquity of unhealthy food in much of society and the ubiquity of bad information. Not just incorrect information, but badly prepared information from bad "ingredients", presented in ways that can't be meaningfully "digested".

    Also, I bet there's an information-access disorder analogous to anorexia -- people who avoid as much information as they can.

    • > Also, I bet there's an information-access disorder
      > analogous to anorexia -- people who avoid as much > information as they can.

      Isn't this what mundanes call "being normal"?

  • iADD (Score:3, Funny)

    by More Trouble ( 211162 ) on Sunday July 06, 2003 @03:04PM (#6378655)
    In keeping with other 'Net trends, I propose that "pseudo-ADD" is an inferior name compared to "iADD". Thank you,

    :w

  • Oh for sod's sake (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Julian Morrison ( 5575 ) on Sunday July 06, 2003 @03:06PM (#6378665)
    When will this pseudomedical crud cease? What this oh-so-genius has managed to discover is (1) humans like some stuff (2) humans tend to seek the things they like (3) if life currently sucks, many humans will use pleasurable actvities to prop them up and stave off depression (4) one of the many things that people like is finding out information, and this can be observed neurochemically.

    From this the bozo pulls forth an addiction.

    A pox on all these doctors and their phony diseases. A pox on all the "victims", who find the excuse for their hypocrisy convenient.

    Addiction does not exist. Chemical withdrawal is no more painful than bad flu. Habits can be broken by choice - when you don't break them, it's because, on balance, you'd simply prefer not to.
  • Information wants to be free.

    Is that free as in speech or free as in information? I don't buzz off beer. ;-)

  • temporary relief: RSS feeds (Score:3, Interesting)

    by davids-world.com ( 551216 ) on Sunday July 06, 2003 @03:14PM (#6378709) Homepage
    this explains a few things for me... while i've just come home from spending an hour at the beach reading a book, these occasions of absense from the network of news and friends have become rare for me. i found relief in managing my news addiction in reading news with an RSS newsfeed reader that polls all the news sites automatically. This saves a lot of time -- i have no excuse any more to spend (probably hours each day)/a lots of time checking web sites like the BBC site, slashdot, macslash, versiontracker.... i welcome the productivity boost. let's see how long until my brain has increased the daily news volume...

  • Heh... (Score:2, Funny)

    by Pinguu ( 677142 )
    A while back I couldn't stop reading stuff... I literally had to read something constantly or it would really annoy me... oh well :P
  • It's called obsessive compulsive disorder. All of the people in that article exhibited classic symptoms of it. Constantly checking one's email and constantly checking news are just another manifestation of it.

  • Losing Perceived Face (Score:3, Insightful)

    by pipingguy ( 566974 ) on Sunday July 06, 2003 @03:19PM (#6378741)
    ...little research has been done into why some people are compulsively drawn to multitasking. But he theorizes that the allure has several layers. Multitasking offers a guise of productivity, a "macho" show of accomplishment, and similarities to a quick amphetamine rush.

    I.E., I gotta be firstest (witness the "First Post" phenomenon here) no matter what it takes, otherwise I will lose face.

    Far too much emphasis is placed on hype. In this computer age, speed tends to eclipse wisdom. By the time second thoughts distill, it's too late.
  • I need to know more...I must know more
    .
    .
    .
    seriously though, is this really a bad thing? you could do worse than being addicted to the acquisition of knowledge.

  • Women and Men Are Different (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 06, 2003 @03:28PM (#6378792)
    I watched a program on PBS some months back (NOVA, perhaps) that chronicled a series of scientific studies that demonstrated women exhibited a natural ability to work at multiple things at the same time ("multi-task"?), and men were able to accomplish successfully only one task at a time. The inference was that the natural talents women have for raising children and taking care of families lend themselves to being excellent secretaries (politically incorrect, perhaps, but a valid example of having to do multiple things at the same time).

    In one of the videotaped studies, a man was shown trying to pull off the secretarial equivalent of walking while chewing gum -- he was given a series of tasks which included making sets of photocopies while being subjected to a repeated series of interruptions that included a ringing telephone. To sum up, he didn't perform any of his tasks very well, whereas the woman in the identical situation performed all of them efficiently.

    I don't know what long-term effects of information overload are on men or women, but I do know that while parties are fun, trying to have a real conversation with someone at one is a waste of time. Then again, the same can be said of most parties. The distractions can be fun, but often a waste of time.

  • everything's a disease these days (Score:5, Insightful)

    by autopr0n ( 534291 ) on Sunday July 06, 2003 @03:28PM (#6378793) Homepage Journal
    Man, more and more every personality trait is becoming a 'disease' complete with drugs to get rid of it. People talk about how this is caused by over psychologicalizing everything, but actually I think it has to do with our war on drugs. People think taking drugs for anything other then being sick is "wrong" so they convince themselves that they are "sick" in order to take drugs.

    clearly, this is a disease. recreational pharmophobic syndrome, and should be cured by smoking liberal doses of pot.

    Seriously though, if people want to take drugs to change parts of their psyche that they want changed, I say go for it. But I'd rather not see everything labeled as a 'disease' to be 'treated'

  • Cryptopuritanical Nonsense (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Effugas ( 2378 ) on Sunday July 06, 2003 @03:29PM (#6378796) Homepage
    "It takes the same pathway as our drugs of abuse and pleasure."

    Pleasure is not a disorder.

    Love is not a disorder.

    Feeling joy, experiencing satisfaction, the simplicity of happiness is not a disease to be stamped out, stressed over, or guilt tripped.

    And the talents of others are not to be ridiculed, for all of our talents are ultimately meaningless by some standard.

    Yours Truly,

    Dan Kaminsky
    DoxPara Research
    http;//www.doxpara.com
  • War on information?
    Brought to you by Dick Cheney of the GWB Marionette Co. producing lifelike presidents for nearly four years.

  • oops (Score:3, Funny)

    by Graspee_Leemoor ( 302316 ) on Sunday July 06, 2003 @03:32PM (#6378812) Homepage Journal
    "Both love the game, and it has an added benefit for Dad: he can play with one hand while using the other to talk on the phone or check e-mail."

    An unfortunate turn of phrase considering that slashdot readers were all over the article...

    graspee

  • "When we get the transient facts, we will feel the info high..."

  • an old piece of wisdom (Score:3, Insightful)

    by jonnystiph ( 192687 ) on Sunday July 06, 2003 @03:34PM (#6378827) Homepage
    any excess will soon become a vice. This applies to anything. Sorry I am not terribly impressed with this study. Anything can become a mental addiction.

  • Busted: the real reason I dont watch TV (Score:3, Funny)

    by rufusdufus ( 450462 ) on Sunday July 06, 2003 @03:41PM (#6378859)
    I'm always telling people I dont watch TV as if that was some sort superior quality or something. But the truth is, I dont' watch TV because it's like breathing through a straw. I am completely addicted to information and the TV can't meet my dosage requirements.

    Happily, age and information overload is taking its toll, and am now able to go camping (for example) with no source of information for days and not start sweating about what I'm missing. I think one day I will disconnect and never look back.

    Not today though.
  • There really isn't anything magical about information per se. Anything pleasurable is addictive in theory since the reward circuit in the brain is a positive feedback system. Obviously, there are addictions to substances, but also look at addictions to gambling, to sex, to eating. A "hit" of information likewise probably activates the reward circuit, flooding parts of the brain with dopamine. So, while there isn't any hard data in the article, the idea certainly follows current thinking about addiction

  • Kind of an OT joke (Score:5, Funny)

    by RALE007 ( 445837 ) on Sunday July 06, 2003 @03:51PM (#6378901)
    The articles analogy to "ADD" and many references to it within the slashdot article reminds me of a joke I heard recently I'd like to share.

    Q: How many kids with ADD does it take to change a lightbulb?

    A: Hey! Wanna go ride bikes?!?
  • Interesting. While I can't say I've experienced *that* kind of information addiction, the need for multiple data streams to the noggin, it has been my experience that absorbing pieces of information, and recalling them causes a little "dopamine squirt."

    That's the reason why when people have a word or a name on the tip of their tongue, there is a good chance they might say something like "wait wait! don't tell me!" It is SATISFYING to recall information instead. I know this very well, as I used to be a

  • It's true (Score:2, Interesting)

    by BelugaParty ( 684507 )
    I've noticed this at work. I'll be trying to do fifteen things at once, with at least a dozen windows on my taskbar. Other people just have one or two.
    At home, I don't feel comfortable watching TV or movies. I need to be reading, writing, or playing a game as well.
    I know several friends (all nerds/geeks/dorks) who feel the same way. They are bored by simply "chilling".
    I definitely think this topic should be explored more, especially in the mental health field, since, said friends and myself, are

  • Nostalgia for the pre-wired age (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Go Aptran ( 634129 ) on Sunday July 06, 2003 @04:00PM (#6378958)
    This explains the occasional feelings of nostalgia that I get for life before everyone was always on. I used to read more books and paint... and now there's always an email to respond to, or another web site to check out... or some new game to play.

    I loved to buy a few magazines and sit in a cafe and read them and write in my journal or sketch someone. People talked to people that they didn't know in public places. Now I choose my cafes according to the speed and expense of their WiFi connections and the top floor of my favorite cafe in Seattle resembles a computer lab. I don't often buy magazines as I usually already read the content online.

    The last time I tried to spend an afternoon in a cafe without my laptop and a good book by an author I enjoyed, I found myself quickly getting very bored and cut the afternoon short. You can't go back I guess.

    Slashdot itself is a perfect example of pseudo-attention deficit disorder. As I often post comments to stories late in the life of the story, I rarely think that many people read what I have to write as their focus has already passed on to the newer story. You can see it in how quickly people scramble to post their half-formed thoughts... which often get modded up higher than they deserve by virtue of being there first.

    That's not a dig... just an observation.

  • Misleading summary of the article - another view (Score:3, Informative)

    by securitas ( 411694 ) on Sunday July 06, 2003 @04:08PM (#6379006) Homepage Journal


    The summary presented here is misleading - it seizes upon one small aspect of the article and makes it out to be the focus of the entire thing. It completely ignores the social aspects of the subculture surrounding technology. Here's my capsule summary of the article:

    Always On: Is Multi-tasking Addictive?

    The NY Times has a long and detailed article about multi-tasking in a communications technology-infused lifestyle [nytimes.com]. The fundamental questions it is trying to address is whether or not these technologies are addictive, do they tap into an underlying pathology or personality type, or are they causing shorter attention spans and reduced productivity? Ubiquitous and wireless technology have created an ''Always On'' subculture [nytimes.com] that may have given rise to pseudo-attention deficit disorder or online compulsive disorder, according to doctors and psychchiatrists referenced in the article, but technology executives and some users argue that conclusion is dead wrong. It's a thought-provoking read and it may spur some Slashdotters to examine how reliant you have become on mobile phones, pagers, instant messaging, wireless networks, powerful computing and broadband Internet, or how entrenched these communications technologies are in your own lives.

  • I have a variation of this. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by JayBlalock ( 635935 ) on Sunday July 06, 2003 @05:29PM (#6379388)
    (note: this is NOT a "Funny") A few years ago, I discovered I had been dealing with ADD all my life. It was some Reader's Digest article talking about how to diagnose it in children, and sure enough, every single thing I remember dealing with as a child was listed there. The thing, though, is that multitasking is how I *DEALT* with it. And still do, now that I recognize what I'm doing. It's virtually impossible for me to sit still and do just one thing, and one thing only. (unless I'm meditating - Alpha State is a highly nice thing) So, *as my way of concentrating* I do multiple things at once. At this moment, for example, I am typing this message, listening to the radio, and rocking back and forth in my spinny chair. This post is my primary objective, but the two "distractions" are how I keep my brain occupied enough to focus on it. (and I developed all this instinctively as a kid - discovering I was unable to concentrate on studying unless I had music playing, for example)

    And needless to say, the Internet is a joy for me. I'll have multiple windows open, be chatting with a couple other people, doing various other things, and my attention is *completely* occupied. This isn't a lack of attention span - I'm doing more things simultaneously than anyone with an exclusive focus could dream of pulling off. This isn't a disease - it's a boon.

    I suspect that in all these "information addict" examples, if they were to dig into their childhood and psychology, they'd find these people are naturally ADD. Or, as I prefer to put it, naturally able to multitask. God help them if the psychiatrists ever "cure" their "disease" - they'd lose one of the greatest skills they have.

  • This is important! (Score:3, Funny)

    by Vegan Pagan ( 251984 ) <deanas&earthlink,net> on Sunday July 06, 2003 @06:05PM (#6379531)
    I better turn my threshold down to -1 to read all about it!

  • Know a lot about everything, and expert in nothing (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Peter Cooper ( 660482 ) on Monday July 07, 2003 @06:29AM (#6381944) Homepage Journal
    That pretty much describes me.

    I study 101 different subjects at a time, and remember most of what I learn. However, because I thrive on new subjects and variety I end up knowing lots about lots of subjects, but I'm not really an expert in any of them.

    I can write a compiler, an operating system, a debugger, fix a car, write press releases, illustrate, do all of my own accounts, defend myself in a court of law.. yet I am almost unemployable by normal benchmarks because I can't say.. "OK, I'm the absolute best at doing X."

    But as I've learnt, there are a lot of us 'generalists' about, and we tend to do better being self-employed or as consultants in our various fields.. and I'm doing okay. I am not sure if this is some sort of mental flaw, or just an aspect of my personality. I get bored easily.. and why shouldn't I?

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