As per the request of at least two people here, im going to make an effort-post of my recent digital minimalist experiment.
Beginning
I was online too much and fairly aware of it. A lot of my time when not working was spent either on social media, news, YouTube, or gaming (mostly merge games). And really it was beginning to be a concern that I was spending enough time doing those things that the screen time on my iPad was somewhere near 4-6 hours a day. That didn’t leave much time for other things really.
Somewhere in my binging, I came across a lot of people reenacting historical eras. I think someone here put me on the one about pioneer cooking. But it was all very appealing in the sense that in all of them, the people reenacting being British in the 1940s, the medieval dancers, the renaissance dressmakers hand sewing a dress, whatever other rabbit holes you’d find in that genre of video is that there are several things missing from modern society: personal connections to other people, doing things in the real world, and organic culture. None of the kinds of things that people did as part of normal human behavior in the eras before the cell phones happened organically anymore. I don’t know any folk songs or dances, I didn’t have any real nonconsumptive hobbies, and while I have friends, hanging out was much more of a planned thing than just walking around and meeting people or having people just hang out. The one thing that the kept coming back to me was a quote from the Vintage Dollhouse vlog “We don’t do anything anymore.” It’s actually true, at least compared to eras where cooking required an oven and chicken and vegetables you chopped yourself, cleaning means you have to push the vacuum cleaner yourself, etc. Even shopping was different in 1940 as you not only didn’t have Amazon, but you didn’t have Walmart either so shopping means going to several shops, and often means accidentally bumping into someone you know there or at least the guy/girl behind a counter. It’s also true about things like exercise — in general you’d get a bit of exercise by playing or dancing with other people, or walking around town rather than lifting weights at home. And socializing was doing things with people you know in the same room. Card games, maybe listening to baseball or soccer or whatever sport, working on a hobby together as opposed to modern online gaming or social media or texting where everyone is in their home on their couch alone and only communicating through a screen or headset.
I decided that obviously this was not a healthy way to spend my time, and furthermore that it needed to change. So after reading a fair bit about digital detox plans and finding none that seemed sensible, I came up with something that was more of a personal challenge than anything else. Inspired by the 1940s Brits I’d been watching, the rules I came up with were fairly simple. For the next month, I would not use any entertainment technology that was unavailable in 1946. I did allow radio, streaming music and podcasts, but no screens (I don’t have an analog radio). I also limited my news consumption to 5 minutes of NPR News as a podcast in the morning.
Difficulties
I didn’t find it too hard to get used to the new lifestyle really. The biggest issue I had was that when I had downtime, I’d want to reach for a device to play a game or scroll or whatever else. Having something else at hand helps quite a lot actually. For me it’s often a book of puzzles or a book to read near my chair. Rainy days or winter days were less fun, though I don’t think it was much worse than being a it bored until my brain came up with a solution. But again having something analog available whenever the itch of boredom strikes and having activities or chores or something that you do when boredom strikes will solve the problem as long as you stay committed.
General Observations
First of all, it’s kind of amazing how quickly your world reorients itself away from the kind of culture war stuff that people like to yell about on social media and events happening far away. I was only vaguely aware of Gaza and Ukraine going on. I stopped worrying about trans and woke stuff. Trump is less of a mythic figure for good or ill, and more of a guy who says annoying things online and occasionally does something really dramatic. And most of it (other than the gas prices) has little effect on my life. On the other hand, I took much more of an interest in local news, my own neighborhood, people I work with, and so on. It’s a reversal of how most people seem to think about the news — most people are focused on culture wars like trans, IVF, Trump, MAGA, and international wars. And even when those issues came up, they were not outrage bait. It was just “okay, we just bombed Iran.” It was unexpected, sure, but it was just a thing that happened, it wasn’t something I felt the need to be excited or angry about (except that it sucks that gas prices have nearly doubled). I want it over, but I can also put it down. It’s part of my world, but it’s not something to get excited about.
Second, it’s weird how it’s seems to have slowed down the world to something more manageable. I don’t need to be in a big hurry, I don’t need to decide right now, and I’m not trying to absorb exobytes of unrelated data in the attempt to make sense of the world. If something happens that I want to make up my mind about, I can think about it for hours or days before I decide what I think. If I want to do something, I can do it when it suits me. And I don’t have to worry about missing something important. Going back to the first point, most of it isn’t important, and if it is, it will still be there a few days or a week later. I find the effect relaxing. I don’t feel stressed by the rush of a world that goes at the speed of a computer because I don’t have to match that pace.
Third, I find it much easier to just be in the moment. I like to go walking on nice days and I find it a bit easier to notice the environment. Squirrels fighting over their favorite trees, birds flying around, flowers and trees budding or blooming. I can watch clouds overhead and notice the shapes and the types. I stop to say hi to neighbors I see when I walk by. When I’m reading or doing a puzzle, I can just be doing a puzzle or reading a book. I can give it my full attention for an hour or two. Whatever I happen to be doing, I can just be doing that thing, without feeling distracted by thoughts about things happening elsewhere.
Current approach to technology
I still mostly stay as analog as possible. I do allow myself to watch TV with other people— for example if we all decided we want to get together to watch football, baseball, or basketball it’s fine. Other than that, and coming here on occasion, I mostly stay offline except for radio, music or podcasts (I stay away from politics podcasts).
The evaluation frame I’ve been using to decide what to allow in is pretty simple.
1). Is this technology useful? Do I even need it? Can I do this easily another way? I’m personally of the opinion that if you don’t actually need the technology, it’s best to be somewhat skeptical, especially since it appears that the economic model of most entertainment apps is keeping users on as long as possible.
2). What kinds of things would this technology keep me from doing? If it’s going to keep me inside doing nothing useful, it’s not good. It’s also not good if it takes over a task or skill that I value.
3). What does this technology do to my community? Is it bringing people into real relationships, is it sowing division? Is it radicalizing people, or creating mental health problems for people? If it’s destroying your community, to me it seems like after you know it causes those problems, to keep using the technology is in some sense not only being okay with it, but participating in those harms.
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Notes -
Very interesting and thank you for sharing. I've been thinking of doing something similar and your post's lit a fire under me.
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Very interesting. I'd be happy to get back to just 1986, without the constant drumbeat of nuclear annihilation of course. We had broadcast networks but phones were on a long cord and if you were lucky you had one in your room.
I mean I think everyone should find their own way. The year (provided it’s not too modern) is just there to serve as a sort of anchor, which I think gives a much better foundation for making decisions on what your technology should look like. If you took 1980 as the norm, then you’d start with things like antenna TV channels, using the phone only in one room in your house, etc. I chose 1946 because it was early enough to make me have to rethink the ways I was using technology.
I generally dislike other methods of detox because they tend to not give any sort of baseline of what “normal and necessary” technology looks like. Cal Newport allows the individual to use any “necessary” technology. Problem being that if the technology is something you can get psychologically hooked on, you’re going to be looking for an excuse to deem it necessary during the process. It seems like letting a problem drinker “drink when they find it necessary.” It won’t work because the person is not in enough control of their use of technology to be deciding whether or not they need a given technology. The other objection is that you can use some things with rules — which fails because the creators of those platforms only make money by keeping people on them as long as possible.
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Well, it was possible to be marinated in current events before internets and before CNN.
You only had to be gentleman of leisure living in big city, and be subscribed to papers, proper respectable "all day" newspapers with morning, day and evening editions.
You woke up, found morning papers at your doorstep, and when you read them, news boy will bring you day papers, and once you finished these, evening papers would be there. You could be monitoring the situation full time in 1926 (or in 1876).
And if you were poor bum, you could have the full internet experience in your local coffee house. Here you could sit all day, read about current habbenings in papers and magazines from all over the world, and debate them with your fellow coffee house bums.
I mean okay, it would still be a bit harder than just hopping online, as first of all you have to buy all those papers or physically go to a coffee shop to get them. And as such, someone doing that would incur a cost in time and money, and if you’re discussing those stories in a coffee shop, you’re at least talking to other people in your area who you actually know. Coffee shops are not like Reddit or even Motte. In a coffee shop, the other person is someone you know and someone you’d be looking at and know that you’ll see him again in other contexts. Even here, I don’t worry about not offending anyone here simply because while I recognize your name and writing style, I don’t know you like I know my neighbor or friends.
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