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Comment by sampl | Hacker News Reader

Totally agree with this.

Good thing I compulsively refresh HN 100x/day, otherwise I might have missed this article.

This reminds me a bit of self-help culture. Some people are addicted to it, and never actually apply what they learn, instead just reading more and self-criticizing, when most of it is about breaking those precise patterns of thought.

Wanting to do something and doing it are just totally different. Ask any alcoholic.

HN is really just another feed, that while more interesting comes with the same gamified posting system. Hell it'll even make you feel inadequate, not for social reasons like Facebook, but because you haven't picked up X tech yet.

That's very true. Especially the karma system makes you want to check HN obsessively. However, HN could very well be one of the best feeds available. The Information/Junk ratio is very good. The comments are insightful.

HN also helps meto forget about my surroundings and make the time fly away. For example I usually don't recall anything about my commute, when I'm on HN. I can shut everything off if I want to.

All the crowds make me extremely stressed to the point where my hands shake. HN really helps me to get through the day. Without distractions I don't think I would be able to stay somewhat functioning.

True. After reading—and identifying with—the article, I had an irresistible urge to go post it on Twitter. Thirty seconds later I realized I was scrolling through my feed and hadn't even done what I had gone there to do! sigh

Not sure if it will help, but I've heard from a lot of folks that my Hacker Newsletter (http://hackernewsletter.com) has helped. If you end of subscribing, would love to hear what you think!

:-) was about to respond in a similar way, and I probably won't be telling anyone something they don't know by reiterating the cliche of "it's a matter of balance". There is nothing wrong with feeds, just as there is nothing wrong with ice cream. Addiction is the problem to address...

Moderation is hard. It's personal, vague, variable and difficult to grasp without experience.

Extremes are easy. Easy to define, visualize, and apply. As such, they feel more rewarding and beneficial.

While taking extreme measures over superficial things might help, I think it's more important to recognize and address the underlying issues.

If you're addicted to ice cream you should first stay away from the ice cream store and remove ice cream from your house.

I use hckrnews.com and have it set to Top 10. Then I run out of content quickly.

Why not just RSS?

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