Avoiding the Global Lobotomy
I don&#x27;t know where to get started but I wish there was a manifesto for companies to pledge and social pressure for them to conform to design their software to not be distracting&#x2F;addict. To not gameify it with badges, and points, and up votes and downvotes.<p>Most native phone apps seemed designed to distract. Most internet forums including HN seemed designed to distract. There&#x27;s this like score at the top right corner and I&#x27;m aware of anytime it changes. When it does change I feel compelled to go look into why. The same thing happens on Stack Overflow. On both sites I&#x27;ve use Ublock Origin to block all scores. All of them. I&#x27;ve also used it to block the downvote button on HN. But, I honestly believe the world would be a much better place without this gamification and I believe that HN and Stack Overflow and Reddit and all the rest are acting irresponsibly by having these features.<p>IMO they&#x27;re addicting, compelling, and they have other negative consequences like promoting group think.<p>I have no idea how to convince others of this and to get the various companies to give up their skinner box features.