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csmcgyesterday at 7:16 PM1 replyview on HN

the mechanisms by which that information is being conveyed have been shown to be addictive as well, no?


Replies

Gormotoday at 3:23 AM

No, addiction involves physical substances interacting with a person's biochemistry. Attempting to extend the concept of addiction to include positive emotions brought on by sensory experiences or behavior is a disingenuous rhetorical tactic.

It's simply not legitimate to redefine "addiction" as anything that people might have an emotional or psychological motivation to participate in.

People trying to use the same terminology to describe social media as is used to describe tobacco or alcohol are trying to sneakily attach the negative associations of those substances to something unrelated entirely to them.

This is a form of deception, and a silly one, since social media has lots of negative aspects that can be argued against in their own right, without needing to engage in manipulative dialog.