<story><title>Flawed data led to a connection between time spent on devices and mental health</title><url>https://theconversation.com/flawed-data-led-to-findings-of-a-connection-between-time-spent-on-devices-and-mental-health-problems-new-research-162585</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>dmje</author><text>I know we love evidence, and rightly so. But I do think there is space here for intuition. Is a life of mindless clicking ever going to be as good as a real one, spent in the company of real people who aren’t endlessly distracted? Is a sunset through a lens ever as satisfying or heart wrenching as a real one? I know for sure that I’m happier, my wife is happier, my two teen kids are happier when we’re in the real world more of the time.</text></comment>
<story><title>Flawed data led to a connection between time spent on devices and mental health</title><url>https://theconversation.com/flawed-data-led-to-findings-of-a-connection-between-time-spent-on-devices-and-mental-health-problems-new-research-162585</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>playpause</author><text>I think these are very different hypotheses:&lt;p&gt;1. A person&amp;#x27;s mental health is likely to improve if they reduce their social media usage.&lt;p&gt;2. A person&amp;#x27;s mental health is likely to improve if they &lt;i&gt;and all&amp;#x2F;most of their friends&lt;/i&gt; reduce their social media usage.&lt;p&gt;Intuitively, I can see why the first one might be false, even if the second one turns out to be true. So much of modern social life is deeply involved with social media, including a lot of the conversation at IRL social events. Unilaterally cutting yourself off from all that doesn&amp;#x27;t seem like an obvious boon to mental health.</text></comment>