i think what you're describing is actually the more interesting problem this tool accidentally surfaces. it's not really about comments being good or bad, it's about the gap between what you want to be doing and what you find yourself doing.

most tools in this space treat it as a willpower problem: block the bad thing, problem solved. but the compulsion you're describing is a signal, not a bug. the boredom and loneliness without comments suggests the underlying need is real, it's just being met in a low quality way.

i've been thinking about this a lot in the context of attention generally. the tools that actually help aren't the ones that block things, they're the ones that make you more aware of the pattern so you can consciously choose. realizing you've been reading youtube comments for 20 minutes is fundamentally different from having youtube comments blocked. one builds a skill, the other is a crutch you'll uninstall in a week.

Heh, this reminds me of that study that showed people would rather give themselves painful electric shocks than be alone.

https://www.science.org/content/article/people-would-rather-...

I'm kind of there with you... I will even actively avoid sites that don't have some kind of comments. Though I do wish more of them would load on demand, or even shift to another page for comments vs. loading a lot of JS or remote garbage first.

I had to break myself of that habit, because I too had that compulsion. I paid for it almost every time, though I admit the rare times it wasn't a total shitshow felt like winning the lottery.

HN comments are insightful. And while there is bot farms out there it’s important to know talking points of someone you disagree with to both consider their validity and to enable you to refute them well.