to not rely on technology so much

[RNotteLovesOwls]

when you’re not scrolling through social media all the freaking time, it helps you learn to slow down and appreciate the outside more and more. you start to realize that not everyone is as chronically-online as you would assume from a 2-hour reddit binge

but it’s not enough. that phone is still in your pocket and your credit card in your wallet... you still have to carry some tech, because you’re reliant on it, right?

this year, i’ve been looking at ways to not rely on technology so much. and by “technology” i’m mostly referring to the computer and the phone. i’ve been getting into things that don’t require much tech. reading more books, playing more tabletop games, drawing and writing with a physical pencil and paper, paying in cash, using real cameras instead of phone cameras. why, i’ve even considered getting oil lamps so i have a light source that doesn’t require electricity (i haven’t gotten one yet, for the record). and finally, i’ve been highly considering closing my credit card and switching to debit and cash-only

i don’t know. i just think spending my whole life, from work to play, in front of a screen, is bad for me. bad for everyone, really. what about you? do you also think we shouldn’t rely on technology so much?

[dreddurius]

I don’t really have much of a choice, since most of my clients used to reach out to me through those channels.

But I’ve actually been unemployed for about six months now, so I barely go online except to check emails and job boards. I don’t really use the internet for much else anymore (aside from this site, which I only just discovered yesterday).

Outside of that, I’ve been trying to stay productive offline where I can. I’ve picked up studying and upskilling locally, so most of that happens offline anyway. I also dusted off my old Kindle and finally worked through a backlog of books I’d been putting off for a while.

On the creative side, I was also able to finally finish some music tracks I’d left hanging.

[Bairuzg]

In my country it's kind of hard to live without tech. I stopped using social media because I wanted to gain my focus, and it kinda worked. Now I feel happier, and as a consequence of stopping using social media, I also ended up using my laptop less. Now I watch TV and read books, but at the same time I really like to surf on the internet and get lost in Wikipedia subjects or things like that because of the situation in my country, I can't easily go outside.  

[Licheus]

For me personally, I’ve always drawn hard limits which works well for me, and then I just never cross those. But it’s not about discipline because I have none. ^^ It’s just that it’s more intuitive to me to do things that way, than to get a smartphone because that’s the zeitgeist for instance. I don’t have social media (unless you count reddit, which I barely use), and I’ve never owned a smartphone. For the smartphone, I just thought the technology was bad and undesirable, and that never changed. It may help to be solitary by nature, though, because most technology is more about being where others are rather than being about the properties of the platform or the device.

While these hard-limits do help me a lot, I agree with you RNotte that the best thing to do is to actively decide on less screen time and go do real-life activities.

I’m a fan of appropriate technology: gravitating to the simplest form of technology appropriate to perform the task in question comfortably. Traditionally, the term has more to do with technology in a broader sense outside of the digital you wanted to discuss. A classic example may be to use an earth cellar (root cellar in Americano) instead of a refrigerator (which requires electricity and is more complex) for long-term refrigeration.

But I think appropriate technology can be extended to the digital realm as well: designing to the simplest components with low resource use and actively avoiding persuasive technology. Obviously, this is not something done by modern companies for the vast majority of websites users spend their time on, because these companies have deplorable agendas. Users can, to some extent, shape their experiences by using addons in combination with being very intentional in with where they go.

But in practice it’s a losing battle because every modern site uses a variety of persuasive designs for us to become mindless sleepwalkers. So ultimately your conclusion of doing more concrete offline things is the best approach. I recommend everyone to search out things you like doing offline and give yourselves the best odds at doing these things. The best way I’ve found is to arranging my immediate surroundings to maximally enable these hobbies. If you like to draw, put the pens and papers in a prime position easy for you to see, where you can also start fast without having to declutter your working space and getting the papers out of a box first. If you find yourself doing revenge bedtime procrastination every night, what helped me was to put a stack of my favourite physical comic books close to the computer. It’s less of bar to clear for the brain to go to a comic book than directly to bed or to a pictureless book.

But yeah, I agree with you: the mind tricks itself into thinking short-time dopamine is worth it, but none of it ever gives any value in hindsight, it even have negative effects. In contrast, when I’m doing a real-life hobby and after, I always thought it was more fulfilling than spending time with the brain shut off at the computer. I was gardening today and that’s really fulfilling to me. You can even arrange bookmarks and stuff at your computer to lead you into your analogue hobbies and activities. I bought seed packages online and when they arrived I had a clear path to gardening. So highlighting nurseries and seed companies in some way would work in my case. Although better examples would not go through a purchase.

So to summarise: a conscious decision of minimising screen time is definitely smart. The way I’ve found it to be practically realised easier is to arrange your living space for your real-life hobbies to be easily picked up.

[hyena_the_nonhuman]

FIRST EVER POST



I have lived without electricity or running water for

hmmmmmm

1.5 years and 1 winter. It isn't too super hard, but it is a major adjustment. Overall my life is of a higher quality since I began this new existence.  You are going to have way more money if you aren't spending so much resources on electricity and water. Your time is going to be spent doing things irl that matter ---> YOU WILL LIVE REAL ADVENTURES INSTEAD OF SEDATING YOURSELF WITH FICTIONAL ADVENTURE. I can't stress that enough. So much of many peoples lives is staring at a screen. You are so absolutley incredibly right.

  NO ELECTRICITY!!!!
You can still charge ur phone and other devices outside in outside places. I like cafes because I can sit around there without spending money. If you are nocturnal or brave, then you can charge your devices with outlets on the side of buildings. Even in broad daylight nobody is likley to bother you any more than maybe asking you to leave. In practice this achieves 2 things. You can only charge ur devices once every few days. I find myself turning my phone off for most of the day and turning it on a few times to check for messeges on signal or texts.  Secondly, it forces you to put yourself outside of your home where you will be surrounded by people who you might even be tempted to socialize with. At the cafe I'm currently typing this at, I am getting interrupted in the best possible way by my friend who I met here. Besides charging my phone and using my laptop at the cafe, I've not found any use for electricity at all.

COOKING WITHOUT ELECTRICITY OR RUNNING WATER

I have a propane stove, which I cook all of my meals on. I also have a charcoal grill. Personally, I am vegan so I don't really have much use for the charcoal grill but its there.  Afterwards (or before, when I haven't been fullfilling my obligations to myself) I will do the dishes. I achieve this by pouring gallon jugs of water into a plastic container and putting soap on them. I then let them soak in a second container with water in it to pre rinse. When all the dishes are done I pour small amounts of water on the dishes to re rinse them. This whole process should only require maybe a gallon of water or less. Refrigeration really isn't necessary. Just eat your food quicker and don't stockpile anything except for grains and other things which never need refrigerated at all. Especially for vegan ingredients, most food items last way longer outside of a fridge than modern society has conditioned us to believe. 

NO RUNNING WATER

In the building I live in, I have several buckets which collect rain water on the roof. These can't really be used for anything except for cleaning, but its still a valuable resource. I have gallon jugs which I fill secretly using faucets and also sometimes my friends let me fill the jugs. I personally keep a stock of 10 gallon jugs which I refill once every week or so. Sometimes I replace the jugs to hopefully avoid poisoning myself with microplastic. Since I'm basically homeless I haven't been able to get alternate containers. I've been fine and its no big deal IMO.  Bathing is a bit harder. I clean myself with wet wipes and take a shower once every 2 or so weeks. There are certain places in cities (such as gyms and homeless shelters) where you can use the shower. Please never ever ever ever live in a shelter if you are homeless. I never will and as previously stated I survived the winter without subjecting myself to that control and torture.

  NO HEAT IN THE WINTER 

This is the only part which I wouldn't recomend if you are trying to live with as little technology as possible. It's do-able. I did it, but it is actually dangerous. Either put a tent on top of ur mattress or put ur mattress in a tent if its really big. Nail cardboard and thick blankets over all the windows, and put curtains or blankets nailed on the tops of doorways (so you can still walk through). Move your bed to whatever room you notice stays the most warm. Get a sleeping bag, ideally a low temperature sleeping bag and sleep with it in addition to ur blankets. Get a propane heater and leave it on until you feel too hot, then turn it off until you get very cold. Do not put this in ur tent. It will start a fire. Point it at ur tent but leave the flap open. During winter if you stay at home too much then you will spend nearly as much on propane tanks as you would electricity. Don't do that. Spend as much time in businesses and anywhere but where you sleep as possible. If you do that then you won't have to spend a huge amount of money.

[RNotteLovesOwls]

you all make great points here. and some good tips as well

i was thinking back to this topic ever since i started taking a days-long break from work, and i realized... i feel like i've spent the last 3 years of my life in front of an iPad screen. animating, editing, messaging clients... it's gotten to the point that i can no longer remember what my life was like before. and not being tech-reliant is a lot harder than it seems