I don't partake in the whole "dopamine addiction" nonsense, but you can literally feel your cognitive performance getting worse the more you use your phone. Not only infinite feeds, also shopping at the tip of your fingers, at all times, the possibility of immediately searching, finding something. Even your interests completely change; suddenly reading is boring and something you have no energy for. Movies and TV Shows are boring. Videogames are not rewarding. Like a switch, I suddenly start reading again, enjoying these things the moment I block all such immediate-hit distractions from my phone.

I think phones are the real issue. Even if you have unlimited access to whatever short form apps, eshopping, information on a computer, it's the ease of being able to immediately get a hit as you lie comfortably in your couch, or while you wait for something, that's the issue. No time to simmer in your thoughts, or to be able to put in some effort to get a reward. We are lazy by nature, smartphones exploit that to make profits, and as a consequence to that, we rewire our brains to prefer the seamlessly of just scrolling down ad infinitum.

> Even your interests completely change; suddenly reading is boring and something you have no energy for. Movies and TV Shows are boring. Videogames are not rewarding. Like a switch, I suddenly start reading again, enjoying these things the moment I block all such immediate-hit distractions from my phone.

What are you doing on your phone if not reading? Are you watching short TikTok/Instagram videos or something?

i quit watching short form videos recently and my attention has come back - like i can actually read books and watch long videos and just let my mind think for much longer. It's incredibly damaging what algorithmic feeds are doing to people's minds.

My phone use is completely different to this. I mainly use it as a reading and text communication device.

A phone is just a computer.