I was on a similar situation until last month or so. I read this book called The Shallows by Nicholas Carr which references a lot of research that consuming lots of internet modifies your neural paths and makes you more distractable and harder to do deeper thinking (such as reading books, etc). I’ve since removed hn from my browser favorites and get a curated list of articles each friday from [1]. I just came here today to skim some articles as i’ve worked all day in a house project and my body hurts so I have no energy for other things.
This house project, some other mini-projects that i’ve done and the 2/3 books I read since last month is something i can now do because now I avoid HN (and the whole internet) by default..
I feel that's exactly what's happened to my brain pathways. Is this reversible? I'd love to get into the habit of deep thinking again. Thanks for the hakernewsletter link, I'll check that out and hopefully will make it a once a week habit.
Accordingly to the book (and research), yes! Just stop consuming so much of the typical short content on the internet, dwelve back into books or what else makes you think more deeply (house projects, hobbies, writing, whatever), and the same brain plasticity that molded your brain for short content will eventually mold your brain for deep topics..
This house project, some other mini-projects that i’ve done and the 2/3 books I read since last month is something i can now do because now I avoid HN (and the whole internet) by default..
[1] https://hackernewsletter.com/