Are you [classically] conditioning yourself to surf 2p2?
 

I think, for the guys with tons of posts [myself included], that yeah, we are classically conditioning ourselves to surf 2p2.

A lot of times I fire up my computer to do some work, go online and do some research, and one of the first other inclinations I have is to go check out whats new in my favorite forums.

This seems to me to be a response similar to that which a rat may have in a research conditioning environment. An example may be that a rat hears a noise and gets shocked ("negative reinforcement"). This happens ten times. On the eleventh time, the rat hears the noise and expects the shock; he has been conditioned to associate the noise with the shock and his heart rate jumps up, he freezes in position [defense response like playing dead], etc.

Granted I have no increased heart rate or anything like that, but that was just to show that the conditioning does occur in rats because the only way we can judge them is through behavior; nobody knows what its like to think like a rat.

So maybe every time I go to 2p2 I read, respond, etc. and get some kind of positive reinforcement and this makes it so that whenever I am online I am inclined to pull up 2p2.

A few questions:

a) does this seem plausible? Likely? Stupid? Why?

b) if it is likely or plausible, are you worried about it?

c) if not, should you be?

Note: every time I write a post like this, someone bolds, quotes,etc. my questions and just replies to them, and then everyone else does the same. That is NOT the kind of form I want to see and I don't want responses to be restricted to just answering those questions. Write as much and in depth about this subject in general as you can, especially where you may disagree with me.

Re: Are you [classically] conditioning yourself to surf 2p2?
 

i suppose its more a force of habit than anything else. i dont think its anything as deep as the experiment u refer to though.

Re: Are you [classically] conditioning yourself to surf 2p2?
 

Yeah, def. becomes a habit like checking e-mail.

Re: Are you [classically] conditioning yourself to surf 2p2?
 

2p2 is like a drug. It has certainly made my poker game much stronger, but when it gets in the way of doing online work it is really frustrating.

Re: Are you [classically] conditioning yourself to surf 2p2?
 

I'm gradually expanding the forums I search- HSNL, MSNL, BBV, then MTTc, now ElDF- [censored]. I'm both scared and excited at the same time.

In other words, the addiction is getting worse.

Re: Are you [classically] conditioning yourself to surf 2p2?
 

Not classically but conditioned, yes

Re: Are you [classically] conditioning yourself to surf 2p2?
 

i automatically sign on to 2+2 after checking my email, without thinking about it.

Re: Are you [classically] conditioning yourself to surf 2p2?
 

www.t w/o thinking

Re: Are you [classically] conditioning yourself to surf 2p2?
 

Also I know/assume there are tons of sports forums out there in cyberspace but anytime I feel like posting or reading posts about sports I go to 2p2 sports forum.

Re: Are you [classically] conditioning yourself to surf 2p2?
 

Anybody go >10 days without visiting 2p2? I can't say that I have, as far as I know my record is like 4-5 days at most.

Re: Are you [classically] conditioning yourself to surf 2p2?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Anybody go >10 days without visiting 2p2? I can't say that I have, as far as I know my record is like 4-5 days at most.

[/ QUOTE ]

I found 2+2 right after it went live. I took a long break right before the software switch, which is the reason my join date is not 02. I have taken numerous breaks when I have gotten interested in other hobbies. I keep coming back to 2+2 because of the depth of the community, and because I am still hoping to learn enough about poker to someday post in the finaincially successful thread. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Re: Are you [classically] conditioning yourself to surf 2p2?
 

Every time I open Fire Fox I middle-click on my e-mail, 2p2 and a few other sites.

I do it even when I am just getting directions or something, which is really annoying.

Fascinating thought.

Conditioned Stimulus = Opening Fire Fox
Conditioned Response = Opening 2p2

Re: Are you [classically] conditioning yourself to surf 2p2?
 

all i know is that when i go on vacation i dont post for week and when i log on again i think what a waste of time this is, and then a week later i am back to opening "My gf says my penis is shaped funny" in oot.

Re: Are you [classically] conditioning yourself to surf 2p2?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Anybody go >10 days without visiting 2p2? I can't say that I have, as far as I know my record is like 4-5 days at most.

[/ QUOTE ]

only when I was in Morocco for 2 weeks. Besides that I go the whole week when I'm back east visiting the folks, even though I've got computer access and check my email.

Re: Are you [classically] conditioning yourself to surf 2p2?
 

I try to get on every night at 2:00AM(Central) even though I know its going to be down, I don't learn to fast

Re: Are you [classically] conditioning yourself to surf 2p2?
 

I have 2+2 as my homepage and habitually click on the little house icon whenever I feel bored at the computer. It's almost a reflex - "I feel bored -> Click on house icon, rightclick open new tabs for MSNL, BBV, NVG, and EDF". I often catch myself and think wtf, I dont even feel like reading about poker, so I go bookmarks -> misc -> myspace... then wonder wtf is wrong with me and go do something else.

Re: Are you [classically] conditioning yourself to surf 2p2?
 

[ QUOTE ]
www.t w/o thinking

[/ QUOTE ]
Get Firefox and experience the beauty of only typing 't' [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Re: Are you [classically] conditioning yourself to surf 2p2?
 

http://img158.imageshack.us/img158/5074/toolbarwo2.jpg
1st thing in my bookmark toolbar, 1st place I go, before email

Re: Are you [classically] conditioning yourself to surf 2p2?
 

[ QUOTE ]
http://img158.imageshack.us/img158/5074/toolbarwo2.jpg
1st thing in my bookmark toolbar, 1st place I go, before email

[/ QUOTE ]

use tabs mixed plus and you don't even have to click - it just comes up automatically by restoring your previous session.

Re: Are you [classically] conditioning yourself to surf 2p2?
 

[ QUOTE ]
all i know is that when i go on vacation i dont post for week and when i log on again i think what a waste of time this is, and then a week later i am back to opening "My gf says my penis is shaped funny" in oot.

[/ QUOTE ]

you took the words out of my mouth idiot

Re: Are you [classically] conditioning yourself to surf 2p2?
 

I took a survey a few years back about internet addiction. Although the survey was clearly biased in favor of finding addiction, it sparked a family joke about asking one another if we're addicted to the internet. Mrs. T has wondered, with reason, about my obsession with 2p2.

I was actually tempted to fire off an email to the IT firewall gurus at my company, asking them to clear 2p2 past the antigambling firewall. But that move is sufficiently -EV from a career perspective that rationality prevailed.

But yes, I think I'm addicted to 2p2. Part of it is that it attracts sympatico people from all over: I find the jabs and humor (sup bro, JA/PA obsession, gogogogo!, dramabombs, do you see why?, beedogs, and Dids' life tilt) and a hundred other traditions to be amusing in a random but often perceptive way. Plus, it's a great resource for collecting random bits of knowledge and generating ideas.

That's all just a rationalization, of course. I'm deeply, tragically addicted.

Re: Are you [classically] conditioning yourself to surf 2p2?
 

[ QUOTE ]
2p2 is like a drug. It has certainly made my poker game much stronger, but when it gets in the way of doing online work it is really frustrating.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, 2p2 has been a blessing and a curse. I never would have been able to make a living playing poker if I hadnt found this place thats definitely for sure. I feel really lucky that I was fortunate enough to have been able to do that and im grateful to 2p2. But Im long since past the point where I even attempt to get better at poker (I only just now really started playing poker again after a long break) and I spend more time here now than I did back in the day when I was hungry to improve my game. Now I just waste tons of hours on really pointless [censored] and meaningless posts. I don't even mean to either. Ill sit down in this chair to do real work and I open 2p2 without even thinking and the next thing I know a couple hours have gone by, and on some occasions I cant even remember what the reason was I sat down for in the first place. Looking back over my years here when I take it all in I can't decide if the whole thing has been positive or negative. Im sure tho that if I wasnt wasting time here id just be wasting it somewhere else. Hooked on WoW or reality television or something. I've always had been like that. So I guess at least this addiction paid well, but I still feel sad when thinking about the thousands of hours I could have been doing something thats much more productive. But then I guess thats like lamenting the fact Im not smarter or better looking or more athletic because it would have meant a much better life. I am who I am I suppose.

Re: Are you [classically] conditioning yourself to surf 2p2?
 

alobar - this is a very nice post...which feels weird to say considering that the topic is pretty much 'the pointlessness of posts'.
I agree with all that stuff except for WoW and Realty TV.
Yuck.
Otherwise, obviously I'm in a fairly similar boat regarding this pretty stupid addiction.

Re: Are you [classically] conditioning yourself to surf 2p2?
 

I now spend more time reading 2+2 than I do playing poker. This is since I can read 2+2 at work (despite moving to an open-plan office, I'm still doing it - with pictures disabled, the screen minimised, and Outlook in the background so it's harder to recognise for people walking past) while of course I can't play poker, and currently I don't have a PC at home either. So 2+2 all day, and poker just when I can get to an Internet cafe.

Re: Are you [classically] conditioning yourself to surf 2p2?
 

Its definitely conditioning. I'm having trouble getting up to get a shower right now.

OT: On a completely separate note, I'd like to say how much I like this forum. I was going to post this in its own string and then realized that crappy posts like that aren't allowed. The topics and commentary here >>>>>> any other 'general discussion' type forum on 2+2. Kudos to El Diablo and the rest of you.

Re: Are you [classically] conditioning yourself to surf 2p2?
 

havent read the responses but i completely get what u mean. it slik crack; im alway 5 mins late whereever i go, im always like just one more forum, just one more thread