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Ask HN: Why Is the Internet Boring?

by cbluth on 2/25/23, 6:18 AM with 6 comments

Im on a slow downhill trajectory concerning things on the 'net to read, learn, and/or entertain me.

I mainly browse HN and one or two news sites. Sometimes I feel hungry for something new, but feel unimpressed when i venture outside my usual places.

Anyone else having similar issues? What do you do?

For me, I've been trying to do something "worth while", like learning a new skill or language, often i find myself mindlessly clicking down a wikipedia rabbit hole... And then these activities bore me after a while.

Am i the only one?

  • by xupybd on 2/25/23, 6:29 AM

    It sounds like you want to learn and get a deep understanding of topics. I find books are much better than online articles.

    The incentives are different. Click based revenues tend to drive towards interesting things to click on that are easy to digest. Book sales are different, people often buy books based on other people's opinions. So the books need to be of better quality.

  • by surprisetalk on 2/25/23, 11:20 AM

    I've been feeling a similar phenomenon.

    First thing I've been doing is connecting more to people via comments (like right here). Easiest way to do so is through a secret HN link.

    [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/asknew

    Second thing is subscribing to small newsletters.

    [2] https://ooh.directory

    Outside of "The Internet", I've been reading a ton of books! I've been particularly trying to plow through books considered "the greatest".

    [3] https://taylor.town/books

    [4] https://taylor.town/eschew-the-new

    But most of all, I've been making things! Your brain might be trying to signal to that you don't need consumption or information right now -- you need to synthesize what you know into something new :)

  • by burna_aws_acct on 2/25/23, 7:46 AM

    Hmm... What if there was a better way of indexing across multiple media types? Then we could have a "down the audio-visual rabbit hole" experience via info clusters in a format such as an RSS feed. We could have AI glasses that use eye-tracking and haptic gloves to select AV content. And this would allow us to be anywhere while taking in info, instead of glued to a physical computer monitor.

    For me, there's the part of learning that is interpersonal. Shared excitement about learning a topic with and from others within reasonably close physical proximity does have benefits. I guess holograms and VR are supposed to supplement this, though I'm unsure a cartoonized avatar is a sufficient replacement.

  • by GianFabien on 2/25/23, 11:35 AM

    I am a HN addict, so my suggestion might be unreliable.

    I learn best and sustain my motivation by working on specific projects. So far I've created several LED light installations using both Arduino and ESP8266 controllers. Implemented smart home functions using Rasperry Pi and various hacked WiFi IoT devices. Built several bits of furniture and trying to grow vegetables.

    All of these required focused research, experimentation and then more research as my knowledge grew incrementally. Before Google/StackOverflow etc, I used to buy lots of computer books. Now I have a thousand times more information at my finger tips.

  • by jacknobody on 2/25/23, 11:59 PM

    The Internet is boring because it is enormously distant from, and really quite distinct from, love, and happiness. These are the things that make life worth living