How would you know if someone successfully hid their smoking? While indoors chain smoking is hard to hide, a stick of gum and a hand wash goes a long way for the casual smoker.
Not to a non-smoker who doesn't live or work with smokers, it doesn't.
Your lungs will still smell, even with the gum. Also, are you going to shampoo your hair? Send your clothes out to be cleaned?
BTW I would suggest YOU take a break from your internet addiction...You seem to be responding to almost every post made. Or maybe you can accept the fact that you are addicted, but who cares except YOU?
I'm just having some fun while fixing code for a friend during my week off. He took on a job that he ended up having to give up on, and I'm helping him out by redoing it from scratch, so why not troll slashdot from another computer at the same time:-)
I could have told him that I have better things to do on my week off, but he's a friend, and if it means being glued to a computer for a few days, so what? I still find time to go out, go to a party or two, visit people, walk the dogs, etc. If I can help him out at the same time, I should. It's hnot like I don't have a few more weeks off owed to me, so I can afford to be generous.
I too was once chubby, and I was made fun of all my life, until 1 day. I stopped eating as much. I ate once a day, and eventually I lost a lot of weight. Did this stop people from making fun of me? No, 'omg I can see your cheekbones! you're so frail' etc. etc. Eventually I realized I don't care what I weigh, people will either accept you, or they won't. Then I gained all my weight back. Now I have hit a point where I gained too much and have gone back to eating once a day (nice way to save money if you ask me), but by choice (because I really am not hungry all the time anyways, for some reason eating a big lunch makes me full all day, and I never really ate breakfast all that much). I haven't lost any weight, I may have actually gained some. But... for some reason... I don't care, the ones who truly love you should still accept you regardless. One way to tell if a person cares about their weight? Check to see if they have a scale, I haven't owned one for about 2 years+ now.
I don't make fun of my friends who are overweight (well, not much, we all make fun of each other because we ARE friends, and we all know that, push ocmes to shove, nothing will change that:-) You might want to shift that one meal a day to breakfast - it turns out that, consuming the same amount of calories at the start of the day, you put on less fat. The absolute worst time to eat - right before bed.
A waist is a terrible thing to mind. We all know that. Our sedentary lifestyle doesn't help. The processed crap that runs through the aisles is hard to avoid. The HFCS that disrupts metabolisms seems to be everywhere. It's not fair. However, ignoring the health issues isn't going to help. The average North American is fat, and needs to lose weight. A LOT of weight. Not so that others will like them better, but so that they will live longer, and have a better quality of life.
One thing that people are surprised at is that, like your tactic of skipping breakfast, eating healthy is also cheaper. It can be a LOT cheaper. Sure, you don't get the sugar high from the junk, but you also don't get the crash afterwards, and after a while, the "incredible munchies" disappear. However, without a big public push similar to the one that was done against smokinng, we're not going to see much change.
I just don't buy into the "addiction" bit - especially for "internet addiction."
I think we can agree that the registry is 100% Microsofts' fault:-)
It was one of those design decisions that "sort of" seemed to make sense (if you were drunk enough), but that in retrospect was just plain wrong.
That said, a diff of the entire filesystem between a virgin install and any particular program could be useful, especially when tracking down files modified bye spyware or malware installs.
How many people do we know ho complain every day about their LACK OF A SOCIAL LIFE, but DO NOTHING ABOUT IT? You suggest they go volunteer at verious places, and they go "that won't owrk!" You tell them to stop spending their free time at home on the stupid internet, but they say "that's all I have." You invite them to a party, and they say "I don't want to go" or "I'm too busy" - doing what? Sitting at home doing sweet-fra- all
True, but when you go volunteer or go to a party and you get there and feel completely out of place and have nothing to talk about you end up feeling worst then you did before you go there. This happens to me EVERY TIME. I feel out of place and alone because I dont go out socially much and I dont go out socially much because I feel out of place and alone when I do.
It goes back to "I need experience to get a job but to get experience I need to have had a job."
It's just a fucking feedback loop that I have not been able to escape ever since I realized I was stuck in it 6 years ago and frankly I dont see an escape EVER.
Have a seat, grasshopper. I've beed discussing this at work with someone in the identical situation.
First, those feelings of being "out of place" are normal, and they CAN change.
Socializing, like any other skill, can be learned. However, it takes time - a LOT of time. Realize that and make an open-ended commitment to learning how to get along in groups. This way, you avoid the first pitfall, which is thinking that "it isn't happening fast enough, so I'm failing."
To be interesting to others, you need to be able not just to listen, but to relate to what they're talking about. The 5 big talk items are sex, politics, religion, money, and family. You can cover all 5 of those by being observant, and by keeping up on the news. People like a good listener, so even atheists should remember the old saw "God gave you 2 ears and only one mouth for a reason."
Expect to get the brush-off frequently, knowing that each refusal brings you one step closer to success. As one saleman said "I make one sale for every 10 visits. When a potential customer says NO, I think to myself 'great - one down, 9 more to go and I'm good!' Each refusal is just one more NO in my quota towards that YES".
Related to the above, don't try too hard. People pick up on that "flop sweat" smell of desperation. If you approach each situation with a "whether it works out or not, I'm good!" attitude, people will pick up on that as well. Say it often enough, in enough negative situations, and you'll find that at some point it becomes true... and then you end up with fewer negative situations.
Don't try to overcome things by being loud, but don't be too quiet either. If you have a suggestion that might help, offer it. Ditto with encouragement, if it's genuine and not sucking up.
Get a dog. Seriously, get a dog. Even if it's only temporarily fostering a dog (in which case, the pound will probably cover the food and any vet bills). A dog not only forces you to go out, but you'd be surprised at how many people who don't own dogs will talk to you. This will get you in the habit of being at ease talking to total strangers, so that when you're in a group of strangers, you're not nervous joining a group of 4 or 5, introducing yourself, and taking part in the conversation.
As you said, you need experience in groups of strangers to be at ease in groups of strangers, so that you can become friends. Dogs work. They give you that experience, on a twice-daily basis. Plus, it's good exercise. And it gives you something to talk about.
Look for opportunities. Hallowe'en parties are great for that. Nobody knows you, who you are, what you look like - and nobudy gives a crap. Just get a good costume, circulate, compliment people on their get-up, ask them what they think about so-and-so's outfit (point to any random party-goer) and you're good.
An individual's attributional style or explanatory style was the key to understanding why people responded differently to adverse events (Peterson & Seligman, 1984). Although a group of people may experience the same or similar negative events, how each person privately interprets or explains the event will affect the likelihood of acquiring learned helplessness and subsequent depression (Abraham, Seligman & Teasdale, 1978).
The pessimistic explanatory style--which sees negative events as permanent ("it will never change"), personal ("it's my fault"), and pervasive ("I can't do anything correctly")--are most likely to suffer from learned helplessness and depression (Peterson, Maier, & Seligman 1993). Cognitive behavioral therapy, heavily endorsed by Seligman, can help people to learn more realistic explanatory styles, and can help ease depression.
In other words, if you want to keep hiding behind the "gee, I can't do anything about it - I'm addicted", you'll keep stuffing your pie-hole with junk, keep smoking your lungs out, keep gambling your money away, etc. When you decide "I've had enough of this shit!" and MEAN it, you'll change things.
A "disease model" isn't called for. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy - for example, holding people's feet to the fire over the choices they've made and continue to make, and forcing them to think through the sequence of events, and where they CAN change things but REFUSE to, works. You don't even need to see a shrink. For example, with the fatties (since people seem to think I have some sort of hatred for fat people because I think there's no excuse for being so fat you can't even wipe your own ass) - some of the choices they make that they can change:
Before shopping, make a list. Review it. For each item, ask yourself "What are the consequences of buying this? Is it going to make me fatter? Is it junk that I shouldn't even feed to a dog?"
When shopping, don't just pick things up to replace what you bought in the past. Look at each item, and ask yourself - "Do I REALLY REALLY want this? If I buy this, what will happen when I eat it? Will it contrbute to my health, or just keep me fat?"
When at the checkout - review your list and, for each item that you "cheated on" - that wasn't on your list, but that you picked up anyway - acknowledge that you ARE cheating, and say to yourself "I *do* have a choice - I can buy this, or I can put it back. Waht's it going to be?"
When going out, don't just head for the all-you-can-eat. If going in a group, discuss the choice with everyone else. Tell them "We need to lose weight. We can either start going somewhere else, have a good meal, and not regret it, or we can pig out like usual, and see the same fat slobs in the mirror a year from now."
When serving, say to yourself 'I can choose to put a small or a large portion on the plate. It's my choice, and I'm the one who will face the consequences. Do I *really* want to keep eating larger portions, or do I take a stand here, and try to get by on less?"
When eating, remind yourself that you can actually CHEW your food instead of shoveling it in. "I can eat slowly, and actually enjoy this meal, and my stomach will have time to signal "hey, there's food in here now", or I can eat like a hog getting slopped, barely taste my food, and not realize I have enough calories to last until the next meal until my stomach is STUFFED. Which is it going to be?"
In all the above - it is up to the individual to realize that they actually have control of what they do, and have a choice to make. Not just for one meal or one day, but forever. They can either empower themselves, or go "I'm addicted." The choice is theirs. The good news is that, once they start acting on the realization that there are a lot of different "pinch points" that they can leverage to change their behavior, it gets easier. They "learn" to take control of their lives.
In this case, there is no "excluded middle". They exercise their free choice when they fill their shopping cards with crap instead of spending less for a smaller amount of healthy food. They're not automata. Ditto for the smoker who goes and buys yet another pack of cigarettes. This takes a conscious decision. They're not on autopilot. Just like they could decide NOT to buy them. They don't because they CHOOSE not to have to face the symptoms of withdrawal. They won't face their fears.
We need to stop lying to ourselves and trying to justify people smoking, or being fat, or "hooked on the net.' What next - people "addicted" to spousal abuse? We know bullies "get off" mentally when they beat up on other people, so we can make the same "disease model" fet, and "justify" wife-beating, paedophilia, and serial killers. Frak that! Bad lifestyle choices are not "diseases" to be "cured",
Again, I never said it was easy. The fact is, people DO decide to quit their self-destructive behaviors, and they DO succeed. But until they make that decision, they're just lying to themselves.
This applies to the obese, the smoker, the gambler, the crack addict, etc.
They have to WANT to quit more than they want the feedback from indulging their habit. When you don't want to quit, quiting is impossible, When you DO want to quit, it suddenly becomes possible. Funny how you choose to ignore that - which makes you, not me, the idiot.
Got the flu? Why, just get rid of those viruses! Got a broken leg? Just make the bone heal! Everyone else's bones are fine, too, so why can't yours be!
Comparing bad lifestyle choices to autism or a broken leg is a sign of desperation. People are fat because they eat too much - they want the sugar rush more than they want a healthy body. People smoke because they want the immediate "hit" from nicotine more than they want the long-term reduced risk of cancer. People gamble because they want the "thrill' of losing more than they want the money to pay their bills.
When they get to the point that they want a healthy body more than they want to stuff their faces or smoke out their lunds, they'll change. When they want to have a real life more than they want a virtual one, they'll get up from the ocmputer.
Permit me to remind you that, unlike all those other things whose status as addictions you mock, eating is something which you cannot simply quit "cold turkey".
You've obviously never done a hunger strike. I did one for 10 days back in my "protest years", so, yes, yu can simply quit cold turkey.
The ONLY sure way to lose weight is to STOP PUTTING FOOD IN YOUR FRAKKING MOUTH!
Exercise won't do it. The number of calories that go in has to be fewer than the number of calories that go out.
I see so many people who are 50 to 100 pounds overweight - they say they want to lose weight, but every weekend, they hit the all-you-can-eat brunch. At home, they have seconds. And thirds. And desserts - plural. And when their clothes don't fit, instead of taking that as a sign that they should eat less, they just buy bigger clothes, until Omar the Tent Maker is their tailor of choice. Of course, by then, it's "oh well, it's too late to change now."
Obesity is a prime example of a natural activity gone amok. Cut out the high fructose soda pop? God forbid!!! Stop buying Pizza Pockets and eating at McDonalds? That's unreasonable!!!
I had a friend in grade school who was always chubby. Finally, in the first year of high school, he decided that he would stop eating more than one meal a day - and he lost the weight. It started with a choice - to DO something different.
Have a banana or an apple instead of a bag of ships. Water instead of a "sports drink". A salad instead of spaghetti. Smaller portions. Fewer portions. No seconds. Desserts only a couple of times a week, instead of at every meal. A hot breakfast instead of that crap they call "breakfast cereal", massive does of carbs that still leave you hungry an hour later.
But people choose not to change their eating habits. They CHOOSE to buy a bag of Fritos instead of a head of lettuce. And they feed the same crap to their kids, so that they'll have more time to watch TV.
At some rational level the person "knows" they ought not do x, yet there is this other voice of, "Aww, who gives a crap anyway" and they go on with their behavior.
If they don't give a crap, then why should I, or anyone else? Their life is their responsibility. If they want to shirk their responsibility, then they have only themselves to blame for the consequences.
If someone says "I really need to get a job", and does nothing about it for years on end except make excuses for why today is not a good time to start looking, eventually, you'll conclude that person doesn't REALLY want a job. So why can't the same reasoning be applied to the obese who, at some level, "want" to lose weight, but aren't willing to do the hard work that goes with actually making it happen? Ditto for smokers, gamblers, and internet addicts. They don't want it badly enough to actually make the changes they know they need to make. They're still in their "comfot zone."
It's not moralizing. Your stance fails the logic test.
You yourself say:
You've still completely missed the point. Yes, personal responsibility is a must.
Personal responsibility means not giving in to the urge to pig out to the point of bursting | gamble your rent money and kids' food | watch TV or the Internet to the exclusion of all else | smoke until you cough up a lung or two | whatever.
Nobody said you have to do it by yourself... but I've seen so many people who say they WANT to change their behaviour, but that's all it is 0 a "want." They don't actually want to change badly enough, or they would at least make a frakking effort. They keep saying "I want to", but they don't change their daily routine one iota, and wonder why, a year or a decade later, they're still whining about "wanting to change" and "how hard it is."
Hint - when you want something badly enough, you'll actually DO something about it. If you WANT to lose weight, you'll buy healthier foods instead of crap, you'll think twice before getting a second portion - and then say "I don't want it... my stomache might, but *I* don't". You'll stop going to the all-you-can-eat buffets.
Ditto for "InnerToobs Addiction." If you want your life back badly enough, you'll fill the hours that you wasted online with other activities, like walking the dog, playing with your kids, chatting up your spouse, having friends over for a game of Risk or Pictionary *(oh, silly me - if you're an internet addict, you don't HAVE any 3-D friends any more).
The fact is, a lot of people are lazy shits. They don't want to change their routines, because that is too much like "work." Easier to sit around stuffing their faces with "comfort food", surf the net until their bladder is ready to burst, feed coins to the one-armed bandits while shitting themselves (they wear Depends so they won't lose "their" machine, or they get a second coin cup and piss in it), but ask them to change their routine, go and volunteer to walk dogs at the local pound, or help out at the hospital, or even take a trip to the library and read a frakking book... that would require a decision to change their habits.
If you're not ready to substitute a good habit for a bad one, then don't be surprised if your bad habits run your life. There's a name for someone who does the same thing over and over again, but expects that "this time it will be different."
and far from being blase about it they are actually quite unhappy about it
Not unhappy enough to actually change their habits. Too much like "work." The case you cite - smokers - is a good example. Look at the justifications of people who refuse to quit - "It's the only pleasure I have left - cough cough retch hack hack" - They didn't get to that situation in one day. Plenty of warning signs that they CHOSE to ignore.
Anyone who says they weren't warned is a liar. Let them take the first step, by admitting they they have been lying to themselves. Until then, it's a waste of time.
... but when the craving hit you, it's amazing how obvious it suddenly seems that you don't actually need or want to stop,
No, what's obvious is that you decide to satisfy your craving. That's a conscious decision, just like buying tons of junk food, or cigarettes, or dope. You choose the immediate satisfaction over long-term satisfaction. Your choice. The fat person who loads up their shopping cart with junk is making choices with every item they pick up off the shelf. A second choice when they get to the check-out, to actually KEEP it instead of saying to themselves "I don't need this sh*t."
There's nothing preventing someone who thinks they have "internet addiction" to hook their computer up to a timer - when the hour is up, the power gets shut off. Or, with a laptop, to put the recharger in another room, away from where they use the laptop - when the batteries go dead, so does their addiction.
There are ALWAYS alternatives. Just as with your oil example, people CAN do things to reduce their gas consumption. They CHOOSE not to. They CHOOSE not to move closer to work, drive a smaller car, carpool, take the bus, walk to the corner store, etc. Nobody forced them to buy a hummer, or a mustang,a 4x4, an SUV, or any other gas guzzler.
Just like nobody forces the fatties to go to an all-you-can-eat. It's a CHOICE they make, well before they walk into the restaurant and hoover up a weeks' worth of calories. When you're so fat that you can't even reach around to wipe your ass, that should tell you something...
Instead of just making a copy after each install, make your copy after you install a program, then copy the original "clean" image back to the drive. Otherwise, you'll never know if a second program would have installed some files that the first program already installed.
Free will is a ridiculous piece of philosophical bullshit that has absolutely no relevance to the argument.
Did you ever stop to think that maybe being addicted *means* that you don't want to change? (ephasis added)
Free will is entirely relevant. People act on their "wants". They want that crack rock. They want that extra 3 helpings of fries. They want that next smoke. They want to be on the net all day. They want to sit on their asses watching TV from suppertime to bedtime. If they didn't want it, they'd be doing something else instead.
Nobody is forcing "internet addicts" to go against their wishes - quite the contrary - it's what they want to do. The problem isn't the phoney addiction - it's the low level of self-actualization and the refusal to accept responsibility for their own decisions. Same as the stupid bail-outs for greedy people who bought too much house because they... got greedy, and checked both their brains and their moral compass at the door.
The fatty who decides to drink that extra gallon of pop has chosen instant gratification as opposed to the pain of self-denial. It's a choice. They took the easy way out, then cray that they're "addicted to food." Give it up. Ditto for "internet addicts." When they finally get pissed off at how much of their life they've wasted, they'll either make the hard choice - or they'll decide "wtf, it's too late now, the damage is done" and keep feeding their "addiction of choice", whether it's the internet, food, smoking, porn, gambling, or sex with furries.
Or someone who was addicted to morphine when they had a debilitating injury?
That's not something you can 'just stop'
Yes, I would. Been there, done that. Took me 6 months before I could even sit for 5 minutes and write one lousy paragraph of code, and another 6 months before I could walk properly, but after 6 weeks on a morphine pump and a week on dilaudid, I decided I valued lucidity over feeling good.
It was clearly an unnaturally high "high" - so much so that the warning bells went off immediately. Unsustainable, and as such, dangerous. I know the limitations of my wetware...
I'll stick with the occasional rum and coke, thank you:-)
We don't excuse drunk drivers because they decided to have one to many, we should do the same for other "lifestyle addictions."
We don't excuse drunk driving because it can lead to physical harm or death of another person. Being addicted to food or the internet currently only harms yourself. Your point is a logical fallacy.
What's amusing is how harshly you condemn people with problems and yet it seems as though you have stress management issues. I guess that means no mercy for those people that can't manage stress...
You need to re-read what I wrote. As far as I'm concerned, until the individual takes some responsibility for their own actions, there's NOTHING that we should bother doing for them - we just become enablers. For example, lying to the morbidly obese instead of telling them point-blank "No second helping for you" isn't helping them. At the same time, not having a second helping in front of them is a gesture that they can appreciate, rather than just beating on them.
The key point is that everyone is looking for a bail-out from responsibility for their own actions and decisions. Just look at GM - for decades, making the wrong kind of cars, and they now want a bailout, instead of letting them go broke and rewarding more responsible manufacturers with a slice of their market. Or the Wall Street bailout, which did nothing to help people whose mortgages are under water. Or the people who let greed and stupidity get the better of their judgment, and committed fraud by taking out "liar loans". If you lied on your mortgage application "because everyone else is doing it" you should go to jail, just like any other crook. No bailout for YOU!
We're punishing the responsible people by making them pay to bail out every irresponsible individual. When you reward irresponsibility and punish responsibility, as was the situation in the US since the beginning of the decade, don't be surprised when a large portion of your country engages in fraud. And don't be surprised when there's push-back wrt moral hazards.
Plesae... I never said it was "easy" to quit anything. However, there is an element of personal responsibility. For example, after major surgery and more than a month on a morphine drip, a few days after I was discharged, as soon as I realized I was looking forward to my 4x-a-day dilaudid, I stopped taking it. Immediately. By the next day, all the drugs that had accumulated in my body simultaneously released - while I was driving to the pharmacy for other supplies.
I felt AWESOME. No pain. No common sense, either. But for a couple of hours, I could WALK! It would be months before I could say that again. I *NEVER* want to feel that good again. Feeling *that good* scared the crap out of me.
I could have just "gone with the flow", rationalized it, excused it... but I *CHOSE* not to. Better crippling pain for a month or two more. My body might have wanted it, but *I* didn't.
Look, we ALL make bad choices. No exceptions. And we pay for them. That's part of learning. Same as this whole "internet addiction" thing. Anything that interferes with your life to the point that it takes over your life better be worth it. Playing games online isn't. Living vicariously in second life isn't. But for many people, obviously, only hard-won experience is the answer.
Smokers and overeaters would fix themselves up if they hadn't choked to death on your sanctimony first.
Great. Problem solved.
And no, it's not being sanctimonious - it's being realistic. You can't change someone - they have to want it badly enough themselves. We can do our part by occasionally reminding obese smokers that they're smelly, gross, fat, disgusting tubs of lard. (okay, that covers a lot of sysadmins and slashdotters, so I'm getting my asbestos undies:-)
What would you propose? Glorifying the ultra-fat, same as we used to glorify the anorexic in fashion magazines, or smoking on TV and in the movies? Frak that! If you weigh 500 pounds, you're obese. I'd say "get over yourself", but that would be a physical impossibility.
So you should agree with what the Chinese government is doing then. They are simply providing a voluntarily way for people to get away from the internet so they can help themselves.
What - RTFA? Are you crazy?
Seriously, instead of calling them "boot camps", they could have at least called them "reboot camps".
As to whether I agree with what China is doing or not- that's immaterial to at least one of my points, which is that personal responsibility has to enter into it before the person is "so far gone". It's a "lifestyle disease", same as smoking, same as over-eating, same as TV, same as pr0n.
As far as I'm concerned, if free will exists, then there are no psychological addictions, just people who refuse to take responsibility for bad choices. If, on the other hand, free will doesn't exist, then the question is pointless, since we're all just automata, and both our comments are predestined, and so are our opinions.
I'll opt for the existence of free will, since that is the only context under which any exchange of opinion makes sense. It's not hard to figure out - people do things because they get something out of it. In addictive behaviour, the "something" is an immediate fix, and damn the long-term consequences.
We've seen this everywhere, including with the people who went out and took isane mortgages so they could get their "piece of the American dream right now", and who gives a frak about the terms of the loan... there's no "housing addiction." But there are a LOT of greedy, short-sighted people - and they don't want to face the consequences of their bad decisions.
Same with "internet addiction." Same with "TV addiction". Same with any other addiction with a social or psychological component.
You can't help an addict until *THEY* WANT TO CHANGE. It's their decision. By deciding not to do anything to change their lives at this point, they have exercised their free will.
Hey, way to completely miss the point on what addiction means.
Hey, way to completely miss the point on what personal responsibility means.
A prime example is all the fat people who I see at the supermarket with shopping carts overflowing with junk. Are you going to argue that the boxes of crap just jumped magically off the shelves? Or that they had no choice in their purchases? Do we add "Junk fod shopping addiction" to the "pigging out addiction"? I don't think so. There is NOTHING stopping them from asking for or paying someone to help them - either by doing their shopping for them (they even sell fridges with a lock and an alarm, you know...), or just abandoning the shopping cart before they get to the cash. Oh, right - we have to add "compulsive pay-for-inedible-crap addiction" to the list. There are plenty of points in the cycle where it can be broken - but they CHOOSE not to, just as others CHOOSE to.
Same with "internet addiction." If you've been sitting at the computer so long that your rectum has prolapsed (and ys, there are people who have done that), your ASSHOLE is telling you something - TURN IT THE FRAK OFF!
Same as people who wear Depends so they don't lose "their" slot machine - they made a conscious decision BEFORE they entered the casino.
The simple fact is that sometimes people have to hit rock bottom before they can accept that they need help, and they they'll also have to be a part of the solution, instead of just looking for excuses.
Same thing with smokers. They go from "I can quit any time" to "I can't stop."
Smoke 20 a day for six months. Then try to stop. Maybe you'll be able to, but you won't think it's easy anymore.
Never said it would be easy for someone - just that there is NO excuse, and that it is up to the individual to stop, not hide behind the "I'm addicted" excuse as a "justification" to DO NOTHING ABOUT IT.
How many people do we know ho complain every day about their MARRIAGE, but DO NOTHING ABOUT IT? They stay in a loveless relationship, rather than either trying to improve it, or leaving.
How many people do we know ho complain every day about their JOB, but DO NOTHING ABOUT IT? They don't look for another job, they don't send out resumes, they don't try to improve their current job by making the work environment better... just bitch bitch bitch and it's always everyone else's fault.
How many people do we know ho complain every day about their LACK OF A SOCIAL LIFE, but DO NOTHING ABOUT IT? You suggest they go volunteer at verious places, and they go "that won't owrk!" You tell them to stop spending their free time at home on the stupid internet, but they say "that's all I have." You invite them to a party, and they say "I don't want to go" or "I'm too busy" - doing what? Sitting at home doing sweet-fra- all
How many people do we know ho complain every day about their DEBTS SPIRALLING OUT OF CONTOL, but DO NOTHING ABOUT IT? They get a loan consolidation, then end up a few years later with twice as many debts...
How many people do we know ho complain every day about their WEIGHT, but DO NOTHING ABOUT IT? They just keep shoveling it in like its' their last meal. To paraphrase Woodstock -
"It's 1, 2, 3, helpings, then ask for more.
I'm fat and I don't give a damn,
next up - 10 fish in a pan;
and it's 5, 6, 7, open up the pearly gates,
I'm just a fat slob and we know why
I'm gonna just up and die!"
It's a question of what people want. Do they want a better life bad enough to change their behaviour:? No? They don't want to make the sacrifice, do the dieting, go through withdrawal, whatever... then they're just getting what, deep down, they really want. Whether it's internet addiction over a normal social life, or oral gratification instead of a healthier body, these are choices they make with every mouse click, every potato chip, every cigarette. If they don't care about themselves, why should anyone else?
It's always "I'll change... maybe tomorrow. Next week. New Years." Never "It starts NOW!" Always one more cigarette, one more bag of Cheetos, one more hour on the web. Deep down, they know there's no reason, just excuses.
"Internet addiction" is no more or less real than "Television addiction." Both have the same cure - TURN THE DAMN THING OFF!
Ditto for "XBox addiction", "Playstation addiction", "Wii addiction", "Gamers addiction", "SMS addiction". Turn it off. Can't turn it off? No problem - it's currently a self-correcting situation, since you'll end up not being able to afford your habit.
It's like people who weigh 600 pounds and say "I can't help it - it's glandular." No, it's not. It's from shoveling food into your face regardless of the consequences. Same thing with smokers. They go from "I can quit any time" to "I can't stop." We don't excuse drunk drivers because they decided to have one to many, we should do the same for other "lifestyle addictions."
I'm all for helping people who help themselves, not those who want to hide behind the "addiction" label as an excuse to do nothing. Look at how many lardos say they need gastric bypass surgery to lose weight... while scoffing down their 3rd box of Twinkies and washing it down with their 4th gallon of soda pop. Here's a thought - make it illegal for anyone who's obese to buy or possess junk food. Ditto for the enablers - you know, the parents who also weigh 500 pounds and insist on shoveling sh*t down their kids' throats.
As for the "internet addicts", who gives a frak? They're antisocial slobs anyways. In times past, they would have been hooked on TV, or crack, to fill their hollow lives.
Sounds mean? Well, you know something - life can be mean. If you want to spend all your life glued to the internet, don't be surprised if nobody wants to hang around you in real life. You made your choice to be ultra-booooring. Just don't as me to help subsidize it.
six or more hours a day online and exhibit at least one of the following symptoms: difficulty sleeping or concentrating, yearning to be online, irritation, and mental or physical distress.
I guess they'd be irritated and in physical distress after 6 or more hours on the internet, unless they were surfing with their laptop in the washroom...
As for "work-related injury" - no problem. You get fired, lose your internet access, problem solved.
Slashdot Mirror
Not to a non-smoker who doesn't live or work with smokers, it doesn't.
Your lungs will still smell, even with the gum. Also, are you going to shampoo your hair? Send your clothes out to be cleaned?
I'm just having some fun while fixing code for a friend during my week off. He took on a job that he ended up having to give up on, and I'm helping him out by redoing it from scratch, so why not troll slashdot from another computer at the same time :-)
I could have told him that I have better things to do on my week off, but he's a friend, and if it means being glued to a computer for a few days, so what? I still find time to go out, go to a party or two, visit people, walk the dogs, etc. If I can help him out at the same time, I should. It's hnot like I don't have a few more weeks off owed to me, so I can afford to be generous.
I don't make fun of my friends who are overweight (well, not much, we all make fun of each other because we ARE friends, and we all know that, push ocmes to shove, nothing will change that :-) You might want to shift that one meal a day to breakfast - it turns out that, consuming the same amount of calories at the start of the day, you put on less fat. The absolute worst time to eat - right before bed.
A waist is a terrible thing to mind. We all know that. Our sedentary lifestyle doesn't help. The processed crap that runs through the aisles is hard to avoid. The HFCS that disrupts metabolisms seems to be everywhere. It's not fair. However, ignoring the health issues isn't going to help. The average North American is fat, and needs to lose weight. A LOT of weight. Not so that others will like them better, but so that they will live longer, and have a better quality of life.
One thing that people are surprised at is that, like your tactic of skipping breakfast, eating healthy is also cheaper. It can be a LOT cheaper. Sure, you don't get the sugar high from the junk, but you also don't get the crash afterwards, and after a while, the "incredible munchies" disappear. However, without a big public push similar to the one that was done against smokinng, we're not going to see much change.
I just don't buy into the "addiction" bit - especially for "internet addiction."
I think we can agree that the registry is 100% Microsofts' fault :-)
It was one of those design decisions that "sort of" seemed to make sense (if you were drunk enough), but that in retrospect was just plain wrong.
That said, a diff of the entire filesystem between a virgin install and any particular program could be useful, especially when tracking down files modified bye spyware or malware installs.
Have a seat, grasshopper. I've beed discussing this at work with someone in the identical situation.
First, those feelings of being "out of place" are normal, and they CAN change.
Socializing, like any other skill, can be learned. However, it takes time - a LOT of time. Realize that and make an open-ended commitment to learning how to get along in groups. This way, you avoid the first pitfall, which is thinking that "it isn't happening fast enough, so I'm failing."
To be interesting to others, you need to be able not just to listen, but to relate to what they're talking about. The 5 big talk items are sex, politics, religion, money, and family. You can cover all 5 of those by being observant, and by keeping up on the news. People like a good listener, so even atheists should remember the old saw "God gave you 2 ears and only one mouth for a reason."
Expect to get the brush-off frequently, knowing that each refusal brings you one step closer to success. As one saleman said "I make one sale for every 10 visits. When a potential customer says NO, I think to myself 'great - one down, 9 more to go and I'm good!' Each refusal is just one more NO in my quota towards that YES".
Related to the above, don't try too hard. People pick up on that "flop sweat" smell of desperation. If you approach each situation with a "whether it works out or not, I'm good!" attitude, people will pick up on that as well. Say it often enough, in enough negative situations, and you'll find that at some point it becomes true ... and then you end up with fewer negative situations.
Don't try to overcome things by being loud, but don't be too quiet either. If you have a suggestion that might help, offer it. Ditto with encouragement, if it's genuine and not sucking up.
Get a dog. Seriously, get a dog. Even if it's only temporarily fostering a dog (in which case, the pound will probably cover the food and any vet bills). A dog not only forces you to go out, but you'd be surprised at how many people who don't own dogs will talk to you. This will get you in the habit of being at ease talking to total strangers, so that when you're in a group of strangers, you're not nervous joining a group of 4 or 5, introducing yourself, and taking part in the conversation.
As you said, you need experience in groups of strangers to be at ease in groups of strangers, so that you can become friends. Dogs work. They give you that experience, on a twice-daily basis. Plus, it's good exercise. And it gives you something to talk about.
Look for opportunities. Hallowe'en parties are great for that. Nobody knows you, who you are, what you look like - and nobudy gives a crap. Just get a good costume, circulate, compliment people on their get-up, ask them what they think about so-and-so's outfit (point to any random party-goer) and you're good.
You got that right!
In other words, if you want to keep hiding behind the "gee, I can't do anything about it - I'm addicted", you'll keep stuffing your pie-hole with junk, keep smoking your lungs out, keep gambling your money away, etc. When you decide "I've had enough of this shit!" and MEAN it, you'll change things.
A "disease model" isn't called for. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy - for example, holding people's feet to the fire over the choices they've made and continue to make, and forcing them to think through the sequence of events, and where they CAN change things but REFUSE to, works. You don't even need to see a shrink. For example, with the fatties (since people seem to think I have some sort of hatred for fat people because I think there's no excuse for being so fat you can't even wipe your own ass) - some of the choices they make that they can change:
In all the above - it is up to the individual to realize that they actually have control of what they do, and have a choice to make. Not just for one meal or one day, but forever. They can either empower themselves, or go "I'm addicted." The choice is theirs. The good news is that, once they start acting on the realization that there are a lot of different "pinch points" that they can leverage to change their behavior, it gets easier. They "learn" to take control of their lives.
In this case, there is no "excluded middle". They exercise their free choice when they fill their shopping cards with crap instead of spending less for a smaller amount of healthy food. They're not automata. Ditto for the smoker who goes and buys yet another pack of cigarettes. This takes a conscious decision. They're not on autopilot. Just like they could decide NOT to buy them. They don't because they CHOOSE not to have to face the symptoms of withdrawal. They won't face their fears.
We need to stop lying to ourselves and trying to justify people smoking, or being fat, or "hooked on the net.' What next - people "addicted" to spousal abuse? We know bullies "get off" mentally when they beat up on other people, so we can make the same "disease model" fet, and "justify" wife-beating, paedophilia, and serial killers. Frak that! Bad lifestyle choices are not "diseases" to be "cured",
Again, I never said it was easy. The fact is, people DO decide to quit their self-destructive behaviors, and they DO succeed. But until they make that decision, they're just lying to themselves.
This applies to the obese, the smoker, the gambler, the crack addict, etc.
They have to WANT to quit more than they want the feedback from indulging their habit. When you don't want to quit, quiting is impossible, When you DO want to quit, it suddenly becomes possible. Funny how you choose to ignore that - which makes you, not me, the idiot.
Comparing bad lifestyle choices to autism or a broken leg is a sign of desperation. People are fat because they eat too much - they want the sugar rush more than they want a healthy body. People smoke because they want the immediate "hit" from nicotine more than they want the long-term reduced risk of cancer. People gamble because they want the "thrill' of losing more than they want the money to pay their bills.
When they get to the point that they want a healthy body more than they want to stuff their faces or smoke out their lunds, they'll change. When they want to have a real life more than they want a virtual one, they'll get up from the ocmputer.
More bullshit, I see ...
You've obviously never done a hunger strike. I did one for 10 days back in my "protest years", so, yes, yu can simply quit cold turkey.
The ONLY sure way to lose weight is to STOP PUTTING FOOD IN YOUR FRAKKING MOUTH!
Exercise won't do it. The number of calories that go in has to be fewer than the number of calories that go out.
I see so many people who are 50 to 100 pounds overweight - they say they want to lose weight, but every weekend, they hit the all-you-can-eat brunch. At home, they have seconds. And thirds. And desserts - plural. And when their clothes don't fit, instead of taking that as a sign that they should eat less, they just buy bigger clothes, until Omar the Tent Maker is their tailor of choice. Of course, by then, it's "oh well, it's too late to change now."
Obesity is a prime example of a natural activity gone amok. Cut out the high fructose soda pop? God forbid!!! Stop buying Pizza Pockets and eating at McDonalds? That's unreasonable!!!
I had a friend in grade school who was always chubby. Finally, in the first year of high school, he decided that he would stop eating more than one meal a day - and he lost the weight. It started with a choice - to DO something different.
Have a banana or an apple instead of a bag of ships. Water instead of a "sports drink". A salad instead of spaghetti. Smaller portions. Fewer portions. No seconds. Desserts only a couple of times a week, instead of at every meal. A hot breakfast instead of that crap they call "breakfast cereal", massive does of carbs that still leave you hungry an hour later.
But people choose not to change their eating habits. They CHOOSE to buy a bag of Fritos instead of a head of lettuce. And they feed the same crap to their kids, so that they'll have more time to watch TV.
If they don't give a crap, then why should I, or anyone else? Their life is their responsibility. If they want to shirk their responsibility, then they have only themselves to blame for the consequences.
If someone says "I really need to get a job", and does nothing about it for years on end except make excuses for why today is not a good time to start looking, eventually, you'll conclude that person doesn't REALLY want a job. So why can't the same reasoning be applied to the obese who, at some level, "want" to lose weight, but aren't willing to do the hard work that goes with actually making it happen? Ditto for smokers, gamblers, and internet addicts. They don't want it badly enough to actually make the changes they know they need to make. They're still in their "comfot zone."
It's not moralizing. Your stance fails the logic test.
You yourself say:
Personal responsibility means not giving in to the urge to pig out to the point of bursting | gamble your rent money and kids' food | watch TV or the Internet to the exclusion of all else | smoke until you cough up a lung or two | whatever.
Nobody said you have to do it by yourself ... but I've seen so many people who say they WANT to change their behaviour, but that's all it is 0 a "want." They don't actually want to change badly enough, or they would at least make a frakking effort. They keep saying "I want to", but they don't change their daily routine one iota, and wonder why, a year or a decade later, they're still whining about "wanting to change" and "how hard it is."
Hint - when you want something badly enough, you'll actually DO something about it. If you WANT to lose weight, you'll buy healthier foods instead of crap, you'll think twice before getting a second portion - and then say "I don't want it ... my stomache might, but *I* don't". You'll stop going to the all-you-can-eat buffets.
Ditto for "InnerToobs Addiction." If you want your life back badly enough, you'll fill the hours that you wasted online with other activities, like walking the dog, playing with your kids, chatting up your spouse, having friends over for a game of Risk or Pictionary *(oh, silly me - if you're an internet addict, you don't HAVE any 3-D friends any more).
The fact is, a lot of people are lazy shits. They don't want to change their routines, because that is too much like "work." Easier to sit around stuffing their faces with "comfort food", surf the net until their bladder is ready to burst, feed coins to the one-armed bandits while shitting themselves (they wear Depends so they won't lose "their" machine, or they get a second coin cup and piss in it), but ask them to change their routine, go and volunteer to walk dogs at the local pound, or help out at the hospital, or even take a trip to the library and read a frakking book ... that would require a decision to change their habits.
If you're not ready to substitute a good habit for a bad one, then don't be surprised if your bad habits run your life. There's a name for someone who does the same thing over and over again, but expects that "this time it will be different."
Not unhappy enough to actually change their habits. Too much like "work." The case you cite - smokers - is a good example. Look at the justifications of people who refuse to quit - "It's the only pleasure I have left - cough cough retch hack hack" - They didn't get to that situation in one day. Plenty of warning signs that they CHOSE to ignore.
Anyone who says they weren't warned is a liar. Let them take the first step, by admitting they they have been lying to themselves. Until then, it's a waste of time.
No, what's obvious is that you decide to satisfy your craving. That's a conscious decision, just like buying tons of junk food, or cigarettes, or dope. You choose the immediate satisfaction over long-term satisfaction. Your choice. The fat person who loads up their shopping cart with junk is making choices with every item they pick up off the shelf. A second choice when they get to the check-out, to actually KEEP it instead of saying to themselves "I don't need this sh*t."
There's nothing preventing someone who thinks they have "internet addiction" to hook their computer up to a timer - when the hour is up, the power gets shut off. Or, with a laptop, to put the recharger in another room, away from where they use the laptop - when the batteries go dead, so does their addiction.
There are ALWAYS alternatives. Just as with your oil example, people CAN do things to reduce their gas consumption. They CHOOSE not to. They CHOOSE not to move closer to work, drive a smaller car, carpool, take the bus, walk to the corner store, etc. Nobody forced them to buy a hummer, or a mustang,a 4x4, an SUV, or any other gas guzzler.
Just like nobody forces the fatties to go to an all-you-can-eat. It's a CHOICE they make, well before they walk into the restaurant and hoover up a weeks' worth of calories. When you're so fat that you can't even reach around to wipe your ass, that should tell you something ...
Instead of just making a copy after each install, make your copy after you install a program, then copy the original "clean" image back to the drive. Otherwise, you'll never know if a second program would have installed some files that the first program already installed.
Free will is entirely relevant. People act on their "wants". They want that crack rock. They want that extra 3 helpings of fries. They want that next smoke. They want to be on the net all day. They want to sit on their asses watching TV from suppertime to bedtime. If they didn't want it, they'd be doing something else instead.
Nobody is forcing "internet addicts" to go against their wishes - quite the contrary - it's what they want to do. The problem isn't the phoney addiction - it's the low level of self-actualization and the refusal to accept responsibility for their own decisions. Same as the stupid bail-outs for greedy people who bought too much house because they ... got greedy, and checked both their brains and their moral compass at the door.
The fatty who decides to drink that extra gallon of pop has chosen instant gratification as opposed to the pain of self-denial. It's a choice. They took the easy way out, then cray that they're "addicted to food." Give it up. Ditto for "internet addicts." When they finally get pissed off at how much of their life they've wasted, they'll either make the hard choice - or they'll decide "wtf, it's too late now, the damage is done" and keep feeding their "addiction of choice", whether it's the internet, food, smoking, porn, gambling, or sex with furries.
Yes, I would. Been there, done that. Took me 6 months before I could even sit for 5 minutes and write one lousy paragraph of code, and another 6 months before I could walk properly, but after 6 weeks on a morphine pump and a week on dilaudid, I decided I valued lucidity over feeling good.
It was clearly an unnaturally high "high" - so much so that the warning bells went off immediately. Unsustainable, and as such, dangerous. I know the limitations of my wetware ...
I'll stick with the occasional rum and coke, thank you :-)
Bullshit. Overweight people contribute to global warming and higher food prices
That does affect me, and the whole planet.
You need to re-read what I wrote. As far as I'm concerned, until the individual takes some responsibility for their own actions, there's NOTHING that we should bother doing for them - we just become enablers. For example, lying to the morbidly obese instead of telling them point-blank "No second helping for you" isn't helping them. At the same time, not having a second helping in front of them is a gesture that they can appreciate, rather than just beating on them.
The key point is that everyone is looking for a bail-out from responsibility for their own actions and decisions. Just look at GM - for decades, making the wrong kind of cars, and they now want a bailout, instead of letting them go broke and rewarding more responsible manufacturers with a slice of their market. Or the Wall Street bailout, which did nothing to help people whose mortgages are under water. Or the people who let greed and stupidity get the better of their judgment, and committed fraud by taking out "liar loans". If you lied on your mortgage application "because everyone else is doing it" you should go to jail, just like any other crook. No bailout for YOU!
We're punishing the responsible people by making them pay to bail out every irresponsible individual. When you reward irresponsibility and punish responsibility, as was the situation in the US since the beginning of the decade, don't be surprised when a large portion of your country engages in fraud. And don't be surprised when there's push-back wrt moral hazards.
Internet addiction? Grow the frak up.
Plesae ... I never said it was "easy" to quit anything. However, there is an element of personal responsibility. For example, after major surgery and more than a month on a morphine drip, a few days after I was discharged, as soon as I realized I was looking forward to my 4x-a-day dilaudid, I stopped taking it. Immediately. By the next day, all the drugs that had accumulated in my body simultaneously released - while I was driving to the pharmacy for other supplies.
I felt AWESOME. No pain. No common sense, either. But for a couple of hours, I could WALK! It would be months before I could say that again. I *NEVER* want to feel that good again. Feeling *that good* scared the crap out of me.
I could have just "gone with the flow", rationalized it, excused it ... but I *CHOSE* not to. Better crippling pain for a month or two more. My body might have wanted it, but *I* didn't.
Look, we ALL make bad choices. No exceptions. And we pay for them. That's part of learning. Same as this whole "internet addiction" thing. Anything that interferes with your life to the point that it takes over your life better be worth it. Playing games online isn't. Living vicariously in second life isn't. But for many people, obviously, only hard-won experience is the answer.
Great. Problem solved.
And no, it's not being sanctimonious - it's being realistic. You can't change someone - they have to want it badly enough themselves. We can do our part by occasionally reminding obese smokers that they're smelly, gross, fat, disgusting tubs of lard. (okay, that covers a lot of sysadmins and slashdotters, so I'm getting my asbestos undies :-)
What would you propose? Glorifying the ultra-fat, same as we used to glorify the anorexic in fashion magazines, or smoking on TV and in the movies? Frak that! If you weigh 500 pounds, you're obese. I'd say "get over yourself", but that would be a physical impossibility.
What - RTFA? Are you crazy?
Seriously, instead of calling them "boot camps", they could have at least called them "reboot camps".
As to whether I agree with what China is doing or not- that's immaterial to at least one of my points, which is that personal responsibility has to enter into it before the person is "so far gone". It's a "lifestyle disease", same as smoking, same as over-eating, same as TV, same as pr0n.
As far as I'm concerned, if free will exists, then there are no psychological addictions, just people who refuse to take responsibility for bad choices. If, on the other hand, free will doesn't exist, then the question is pointless, since we're all just automata, and both our comments are predestined, and so are our opinions.
I'll opt for the existence of free will, since that is the only context under which any exchange of opinion makes sense. It's not hard to figure out - people do things because they get something out of it. In addictive behaviour, the "something" is an immediate fix, and damn the long-term consequences.
We've seen this everywhere, including with the people who went out and took isane mortgages so they could get their "piece of the American dream right now", and who gives a frak about the terms of the loan ... there's no "housing addiction." But there are a LOT of greedy, short-sighted people - and they don't want to face the consequences of their bad decisions.
Same with "internet addiction." Same with "TV addiction". Same with any other addiction with a social or psychological component.
You can't help an addict until *THEY* WANT TO CHANGE. It's their decision. By deciding not to do anything to change their lives at this point, they have exercised their free will.
Hey, way to completely miss the point on what personal responsibility means.
A prime example is all the fat people who I see at the supermarket with shopping carts overflowing with junk. Are you going to argue that the boxes of crap just jumped magically off the shelves? Or that they had no choice in their purchases? Do we add "Junk fod shopping addiction" to the "pigging out addiction"? I don't think so. There is NOTHING stopping them from asking for or paying someone to help them - either by doing their shopping for them (they even sell fridges with a lock and an alarm, you know ...), or just abandoning the shopping cart before they get to the cash. Oh, right - we have to add "compulsive pay-for-inedible-crap addiction" to the list. There are plenty of points in the cycle where it can be broken - but they CHOOSE not to, just as others CHOOSE to.
Same with "internet addiction." If you've been sitting at the computer so long that your rectum has prolapsed (and ys, there are people who have done that), your ASSHOLE is telling you something - TURN IT THE FRAK OFF!
Same as people who wear Depends so they don't lose "their" slot machine - they made a conscious decision BEFORE they entered the casino.
The simple fact is that sometimes people have to hit rock bottom before they can accept that they need help, and they they'll also have to be a part of the solution, instead of just looking for excuses.
Never said it would be easy for someone - just that there is NO excuse, and that it is up to the individual to stop, not hide behind the "I'm addicted" excuse as a "justification" to DO NOTHING ABOUT IT.
How many people do we know ho complain every day about their MARRIAGE, but DO NOTHING ABOUT IT? They stay in a loveless relationship, rather than either trying to improve it, or leaving.
How many people do we know ho complain every day about their JOB, but DO NOTHING ABOUT IT? They don't look for another job, they don't send out resumes, they don't try to improve their current job by making the work environment better ... just bitch bitch bitch and it's always everyone else's fault.
How many people do we know ho complain every day about their LACK OF A SOCIAL LIFE, but DO NOTHING ABOUT IT? You suggest they go volunteer at verious places, and they go "that won't owrk!" You tell them to stop spending their free time at home on the stupid internet, but they say "that's all I have." You invite them to a party, and they say "I don't want to go" or "I'm too busy" - doing what? Sitting at home doing sweet-fra- all
How many people do we know ho complain every day about their DEBTS SPIRALLING OUT OF CONTOL, but DO NOTHING ABOUT IT? They get a loan consolidation, then end up a few years later with twice as many debts ...
How many people do we know ho complain every day about their WEIGHT, but DO NOTHING ABOUT IT? They just keep shoveling it in like its' their last meal. To paraphrase Woodstock -
"It's 1, 2, 3, helpings, then ask for more.
I'm fat and I don't give a damn,
next up - 10 fish in a pan;
and it's 5, 6, 7, open up the pearly gates,
I'm just a fat slob and we know why
I'm gonna just up and die!"
It's a question of what people want. Do they want a better life bad enough to change their behaviour:? No? They don't want to make the sacrifice, do the dieting, go through withdrawal, whatever ... then they're just getting what, deep down, they really want. Whether it's internet addiction over a normal social life, or oral gratification instead of a healthier body, these are choices they make with every mouse click, every potato chip, every cigarette. If they don't care about themselves, why should anyone else?
It's always "I'll change ... maybe tomorrow. Next week. New Years." Never "It starts NOW!" Always one more cigarette, one more bag of Cheetos, one more hour on the web. Deep down, they know there's no reason, just excuses.
"Internet addiction" is no more or less real than "Television addiction." Both have the same cure - TURN THE DAMN THING OFF!
Ditto for "XBox addiction", "Playstation addiction", "Wii addiction", "Gamers addiction", "SMS addiction". Turn it off. Can't turn it off? No problem - it's currently a self-correcting situation, since you'll end up not being able to afford your habit.
It's like people who weigh 600 pounds and say "I can't help it - it's glandular." No, it's not. It's from shoveling food into your face regardless of the consequences. Same thing with smokers. They go from "I can quit any time" to "I can't stop." We don't excuse drunk drivers because they decided to have one to many, we should do the same for other "lifestyle addictions."
I'm all for helping people who help themselves, not those who want to hide behind the "addiction" label as an excuse to do nothing. Look at how many lardos say they need gastric bypass surgery to lose weight ... while scoffing down their 3rd box of Twinkies and washing it down with their 4th gallon of soda pop. Here's a thought - make it illegal for anyone who's obese to buy or possess junk food. Ditto for the enablers - you know, the parents who also weigh 500 pounds and insist on shoveling sh*t down their kids' throats.
As for the "internet addicts", who gives a frak? They're antisocial slobs anyways. In times past, they would have been hooked on TV, or crack, to fill their hollow lives.
Sounds mean? Well, you know something - life can be mean. If you want to spend all your life glued to the internet, don't be surprised if nobody wants to hang around you in real life. You made your choice to be ultra-booooring. Just don't as me to help subsidize it.
I guess they'd be irritated and in physical distress after 6 or more hours on the internet, unless they were surfing with their laptop in the washroom ...
As for "work-related injury" - no problem. You get fired, lose your internet access, problem solved.
What? You need a MOUSE to use a friggin' Operating System?
Get a REAL operating system, boy.
There, fixed it for ya :-)