Comment by quadrifoliate
2 hours ago
This is an incoherent mess of statements. I don't understand the point you are trying trying to make.
> My kids love watching TV...we don't have a physical TV in the house
What do they watch "TV" on? Or do you mean they watch their shows on your laptop? Their tablets? What are the black rectangles that show them the shows? Without this it's hard to understand why you are patting yourself on the back so much about the lack of a TV. If the solution is to give the kids tablets 24/7, then the looming black rectangle with parental control might be preferable. If you're showing them the shows on your laptop and taking it away later; congratulations, you are just "taking technology away".
> there is no looming huge black rectangle in the corner reminding them all their waking time (we adults just watch netflix/whatever on a laptop after bedtime for the kids)...I think this is part of the problem.
What is part of the problem? That there is no looming black rectangle? There is no obvious phrase that corresponds to "part of the problem".
> Get help for your addiction...I do not understand this rejection of hugely beneficial tools and technology that has made our lives so much easier.
You are acknowledging that there is addiction, but then saying you don't understand why people would choose to "get help" for it by avoiding said technology 1/7th of their week (incidentally on a rest day when they get to decide what they do)?
Friend, it is bewildering to me that you've been downvoted. This is one of the few sane comments here that actually sees what is going on. I'll happily join you in getting downvoted for saying so.
I appreciate that not everyone is fluent in English and may not fully follow the fil conducteur as a result: the point is don't blame screens, blame what you actively and consciously chose to put on the screen.
> I appreciate that not everyone is fluent in English and may not fully follow the fil conducteur
Using obscure French words while talking about English comprehension...you really might be overestimating your own fluency and clarity of communication in English.
Just because it's your native language doesn't mean that you're automatically fluent.
Maybe he practices using obscure French words on Sunday instead of using banal English words.
Don't tell me you're one of those "If English was good enough for Jesus, then it's good enough for the rest of American!" people...
Your performative insistence that you're incapable of comprehending his point is a tired and ineffective way to make your own.
Edit:
Yes! That's exactly the fil conducteur: "It's how you use them" and "I control how they're used in my own house" reinforce each other. The latter is a concrete example of the former, not a contradiction.
I strongly agree with mattlondon, and made essentially the same point here:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49583842#49584461
Screens are general-purpose tools. Exercise judgment over how you use them instead of blaming the medium or prescribing abstinence to everyone else.
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