We regularly turned off the wifi when we had kids. And we still it off when not using it. It worked beautifully with the kids! But I when I suugest this idea to clients they never do it. One said, "What, you can do that? How do you do that?"
In the tension between apparently opposing forces, we can find an appropriate equilibrium point. It varies dynamically in response to our ever changing situation. A moving stillness. Inner peace found in living a contradiction.
The answer to the human riddle is that there is no answer.
I remember the times when I had to go to one specific room to be online, connect to the internet (which took ages) and told people 'brb' when I went away and got myself a snack. Somehow the internet was one small part of life, now we live here, always.
Great reflections. We don't know, but that family's evening might have come after a difficult situation that everyone needed a break from. No excuse intended here, but appearances can be deceiving. In any case, your points are well made and we looking at a big problem. The term. "digital detox" comes to mind in this context.
We already limit our kids to max 1 hour of screen/tablet time after school (and never while eating together), but it was nice to experience a more extreme version this summer during our week in Italy. We were in a family hotel close to Ravenna, and my wife's sister was there with her husband and kids. We agreed to have a tablet-free week, and it worked wonderfully. The kids enjoyed the beach, the pool, the hotel activities, and each other.
Couldn't agree more that striking a middle ground is important. You can't leave the modern world behind, but you can choose to participate on your own, semi-unplugged terms.
The fact is that reality is boring, and that's why we're looking at our phones all the time. I think people take internet breaks in order to remember what being bored felt like. Reading Plato, as well as many other authors on Gioia's list, is also usually pretty boring. I think that any problems created by the internet will also eventually be solved by the internet.
Do you really consider everything offline boring? I surely don't. What about hanging out with friends? Playing any team sport. Watching movies or series. Doing new things. Traveling. Reading novels. Playing video games. Sex. Idk there are quite a lot of fun things!!
Watching movies/TV and playing video games happen through the internet for most people these days, so those count as part of the internet experience. So does reading novels and other books, as we mostly read those online or download them. Of course, you want to hang out with your friends sometimes, go to the gym, go out on a day-trip. But I don't see any harm if you check your phone a few times while you're doing these things. I don't see why people want to be free of the internet, as though it were some terrible threat to us. The fact is that reality is mostly pretty boring, and we should be thankful to the internet for saving us from this boredom.
If your argument is that we shouldn't spend every single moment of our waking lives online, I agree, and I don't think there's anyone who would disagree. You're kind of attacking a straw man. Also, I just posted this note: https://substack.com/profile/257218238-ian-jobling/note/c-65542971
In case it doesn't show up, you say in the article, "Everything online is fake." Since you posted this article online, do you not sense any irony in that statement?
Thank you for this stranger 🌟🦋
We regularly turned off the wifi when we had kids. And we still it off when not using it. It worked beautifully with the kids! But I when I suugest this idea to clients they never do it. One said, "What, you can do that? How do you do that?"
That's actually a very simple way to create some friction not to leave but to go online! Awesome idea. Had never thought of that.
Even better: a friend hides the wifi code. Kids discover it when they are done with their chores😉. Drawback: change daily the wifi code...
"If you’re still unconvinced, let me remind you that everything online is fake."
That's a really useful perspective. Experiencing the world via a screen can never be truly real, even if it tries to be authentic.
Balance.
In the tension between apparently opposing forces, we can find an appropriate equilibrium point. It varies dynamically in response to our ever changing situation. A moving stillness. Inner peace found in living a contradiction.
The answer to the human riddle is that there is no answer.
I remember the times when I had to go to one specific room to be online, connect to the internet (which took ages) and told people 'brb' when I went away and got myself a snack. Somehow the internet was one small part of life, now we live here, always.
Great reflections. We don't know, but that family's evening might have come after a difficult situation that everyone needed a break from. No excuse intended here, but appearances can be deceiving. In any case, your points are well made and we looking at a big problem. The term. "digital detox" comes to mind in this context.
We already limit our kids to max 1 hour of screen/tablet time after school (and never while eating together), but it was nice to experience a more extreme version this summer during our week in Italy. We were in a family hotel close to Ravenna, and my wife's sister was there with her husband and kids. We agreed to have a tablet-free week, and it worked wonderfully. The kids enjoyed the beach, the pool, the hotel activities, and each other.
Couldn't agree more that striking a middle ground is important. You can't leave the modern world behind, but you can choose to participate on your own, semi-unplugged terms.
100% that's an amazing approach to this. More families should do that and if I ever have kids I will try to implement something similar.
Did not realize you live in Spain. I am in Valencia and totally enjoy refreshing my mind every so often. Spain is a great place to be.
It's awesome really. Haven't been to a better place to live!
The fact is that reality is boring, and that's why we're looking at our phones all the time. I think people take internet breaks in order to remember what being bored felt like. Reading Plato, as well as many other authors on Gioia's list, is also usually pretty boring. I think that any problems created by the internet will also eventually be solved by the internet.
Do you really consider everything offline boring? I surely don't. What about hanging out with friends? Playing any team sport. Watching movies or series. Doing new things. Traveling. Reading novels. Playing video games. Sex. Idk there are quite a lot of fun things!!
Watching movies/TV and playing video games happen through the internet for most people these days, so those count as part of the internet experience. So does reading novels and other books, as we mostly read those online or download them. Of course, you want to hang out with your friends sometimes, go to the gym, go out on a day-trip. But I don't see any harm if you check your phone a few times while you're doing these things. I don't see why people want to be free of the internet, as though it were some terrible threat to us. The fact is that reality is mostly pretty boring, and we should be thankful to the internet for saving us from this boredom.
I agree. Never said get rid of the internet. I've gotten a lot from it. I disagree that no internet = boredom
If your argument is that we shouldn't spend every single moment of our waking lives online, I agree, and I don't think there's anyone who would disagree. You're kind of attacking a straw man. Also, I just posted this note: https://substack.com/profile/257218238-ian-jobling/note/c-65542971
In case it doesn't show up, you say in the article, "Everything online is fake." Since you posted this article online, do you not sense any irony in that statement?
Did you read it until the end? Literally everything you said is explained in the article haha
Yes I read it to the end, and you never address the question of whether your own online content is fake.
I don't agree on your last statement: we should embrace boredom more often. It is not something that should be avoided constantly.