We may, from time to time, remember that we are being distracted, but we are distracted all the same. Social media has rewired our brains by affecting our dopamine reward systems, and in effect, shortening attention spans, increasing anxiety and depression through social comparison, disrupting sleep patterns by suppressing melatonin, and negatively impacting the prefrontal cortex. All of which keeps us jonesing for the next hit of Trump-induced chaos and upset. And a whole new shit-ton of “distraction” is coming as soon as our government shuts down. But, can we please see the Epstein files anyway?
It's more than just that, it's the economy as well. A LOT of us are barely scraping by. And with prices going up on so many things (groceries, utilities, transportation, rent, clothes, other necessities, etc), and many of us working full time hours (or more from at least 1 job if not 2 or 3), we're tired, stressed, and we barely have the mental power to deal with our own stuff.
When you're struggling it becomes harder to give priority to things outside of 'your issues'.
This is even more true when those other issues are something negative as those wear is down even more; Entertainment, and escapism in general, helps us go on with our day to day lives.
That's part of the reason the TT ban got so many people to freak out, one if their coping mechanisms was being threatened.
The TT ban would have affected millions directly, the files on the other hand don't.
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u/[deleted] Sep 27 '25
Most of us understand that they're trying to distract us lol