
How a Month Without Computers Changed Me - bhalp1
https://dev.to/iskin/how-a-month-without-computers-changed-me-1ho4
======
amoorthy
Really nice read. Honest, detailed, introspective.

I once did a 10-day silent meditation retreat (Vipassana) that has some
similarities to the author's journey. The lack of communication and
interaction was even more extreme than just cutting off technology. I found
myself bored quite often. But the focused meditation practice helped me find a
new state of mental focus that was remarkable. I don't practice meditation
anymore so I don't see this benefit daily but I at least know what my mind is
capable of.

[http://www.curiousjuice.com/blog-0/bid/141396/Vipassana-10-d...](http://www.curiousjuice.com/blog-0/bid/141396/Vipassana-10-days-
of-solitary-confinement-and-insights-gained-from-it)

~~~
tjoff
As someone who struggles with basic meditation, but believe in it for the long
haul, I'm curious why you stopped meditate after seeing such insight? Do you
have ambition or hope to take it up again? Or do you feel that you don't need
to?

~~~
curun1r
Not the poster that you're replying to, but my story is similar. I did my
first 10-day Vipassana retreat while on an extended vacation.

Every word GP said feels like it describes my first experience. I had some
pretty profound realizations while there and expected that it would be pretty
life altering. However I took no care in how I re-entered life and the
combination of immediately going back to using phone/computer and traveling
around in a third-world country was almost more than I could handle. I felt
like I was going crazy adapting back to a stressful world from one where my
mind was so calm. I did try to continue meditating, but I found I had nowhere
near the concentration I needed to get value from the practice.

But I resolved to try again, so I attended another 10-day retreat trying to
apply lessons learned from my first attempt. The second time, I planned in
advance to slowly re-integrate myself into my normal life. I booked a hotel
room for a few days after the retreat to lock myself away and start adding
back distractions one at a time. This worked better and I was able to keep up
my meditation routine (1hr in the mornings, 1hr in the evenings) for 2 months
after that. But I found that 2hrs/day mediation is pretty qualitatively
different from the kind you get at the retreats (more than 8hrs /day). I still
think daily meditation is valuable, but given its lesser impact and the
distractions and stresses of everyday life, I just sort of fell out of
practice and haven't restarted.

I am hopeful to do more retreats and do better at integrating meditation
practice into my everyday life. But, suffice it to say, my first two attempts
at that didn't succeed in a way that lasted more than the two months following
my second retreat.

~~~
mannanj
Do you have any meditation practice whatsoever? Did you find value in
meditating for shorter periods (less time commitment) like 10-20 minutes a day
and notice any benefit?

There's lots of shorter meditation apps offering similar times and tout a
whole host of benefits.

------
kcorbitt
I spent a week on vacation in Chile without an internet connection earlier
this year (to be clear, there is internet in Chile, I just chose not to
connect). It was a wonderful experience – highly recommended. Biggest personal
benefit was that I could sit alone with my thoughts for long periods without
getting impatient or feeling like I was "wasting" my time.

~~~
derstander
I agree — I spend about a week every quarter with the wife at a rural AirBNB
without access to internet or cell phone. There are a lot of positives (to me,
anyway).

We actually cook pretty much every meal so we’re eating healthier and spending
that time together instead of taking turns cooking while the other works. All
of the time we spend on reading short articles on the internet is shifted to
things like reading full length books. Instead of watching TV, movies, or
playing online games we end up indulging in arts & crafts.

I also get to do a lot more conceptual / big picture thinking whereas normally
I’m just thinking about how to execute my current and upcoming tasks; I keep a
notebook and it’s pretty easy to tell if I was at the AirBNB or not depending
on the types of notes I was taking.

I end up feeling less harried after a week there. And my experience has not
been the same for “normal” vacations (I.e. sight-seeing, visiting
family/friends, etc.). Those types of breaks are important for other reasons,
but they don’t have the same type of clarifying effect for me. Maybe if I were
better at resisting the siren call of the internet.

------
ashrk
Oh boy. I'm the kind of person who very well might push a "permanently un-
invent the Internet" button if you put one in front of me, but electric
toothbrushes are so ZOMGWTF better than the manual kind. Seeing one on the
"can't use" pile made me twitch. I'd pay $500 for one if that's what a base
model cost (it isn't, fortunately). Even if they broke after a couple years
(they don't, mostly). Solidly in the list of stuff I can't believe I haven't
been using my whole life, and that is so good I can't believe they're not
nigh-universal, at least in places with reliable electricity.

~~~
fossuser
This is a pretty big endorsement - is there one in particular you like?

~~~
e_proxus
Not OP, but I got one of these for free from a colleague 5 years ago and it's
still going strong:
[https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002HWS9FW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_...](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002HWS9FW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_SlK2BbDHSGQGX)

Paired with a good charger and an extra set of rechargeable batteries it's a
joy to use. Best health "investment" I've done in recent years.

------
Jedd
I'm sure it was an interesting experience for the author, and it probably
doesn't make much difference that he's describing the month of 2013-11, but
comes with an abundance of false dichotomies along with forced and
uncomfortable parallels to various religions (weirdly no mention of the Amish,
who are perhaps most famous for eschewing all technology all the time).

~~~
dragonwriter
> weirdly no mention of the Amish, who are perhaps most famous for eschewing
> all technology all the time

The Amish do not eschew all technology all the time.

[http://www.discoverlancaster.com/towns-and-heritage/amish-
co...](http://www.discoverlancaster.com/towns-and-heritage/amish-
country/amishandtechnology.asp)

~~~
Jedd
Okay ... neat story, but actually emphasises even more the arbitrary parallels
with TFA, and the idea that some technology, up to some vintage, is kosher.
f.e. the old camera, the soviet era mechanical watch, etc. I understand it's
'a month without computers' rather than 'a month without technology', but
nonetheless the claimed parallels to religious abstinence are pretty dubious.

~~~
village-idiot
The Amish are far from arbitrary with what technology they allow. When new
tech arrives they experiment with it, and then see what affects it causes on
the community based on a few metrics they value highly.

When the car came, they saw that cars made families and communities live
further apart. They didn’t like that, so they went back to horses.

When the phone came they liked the ability to connect and the ability to call
for emergency services, but they didn’t like the gossip factor. So they
installed their phones in separate booths outside their homes, so everyone can
see who is using the phone too much.

~~~
Jedd
Well this has gotten weird.

The various Amish sects use differing oral guidelines based on myriad
interpretations of a dubious collection of contradictory historical anecdotes
in order to come up with the rules for their particular outpost at that
particular time.

This leads to situations where cars are used, but not owned, as distinct from
your 'so they went back to horses' summary. (I'm sure the car thing varies
between sects.)

Similarly, some sects realise phones are important for business and ensuring a
viable lifestyle for their offspring, so they may be installed in some
business locations, but not in homes. Unless that home is where the dairy
farmer lives, and it's deemed important they have quick access to call a
veterinarian. (etc)

Rules around button usage based on gender, day of week, visibility of the
button itself, and village you're in at the time?

There may be post hoc explanations and fascinating (mis)interpretations of
some short stories published around and after the 2nd century, but I think
it's safe to call it arbitrary.

~~~
keiferski
The fact that there are rules which have reasons makes them not arbitrary, by
definition

~~~
Jedd
> The fact that there are rules which have reasons makes them not arbitrary,
> by definition

Well, perhaps.

But two things:

1\. rules with alleged reasons (for someone) doesn't mean they're reasonable
rules for everyone else, and

2\. I initially bemoaned _arbitrary_ parallels with TFA -- _not_ that Amish
made arbitrary rulings -- so, as noted, I'm now in the weird position where
I'm defending something I didn't claim. (Anyway, you may be assuming arbitrary
has a single meaning, that of being a synonym for 'random', which isn't
entirely accurate. No two words are 100% synonyms, after all.)

EDIT: Actually, 3 things. Amish rules are not consistent amongst all amish, as
I noted above -- there's a lot of disparity between different communities,
which suggests that the reasons are not especially objective (otherwise they'd
all reach the same conclusion), which in turn leads to a conclusion there's
some arbitrary (in the personal whim sense) aspects to them.

------
ARothfusz
I really liked _The Thoughts_ section.

Before _The Thoughts_, this paragraph in _The Notepad_ caught my eye:

> Honestly, I don’t consider the bad memory the younger generations have to be
> that big of a problem. True, we have to search for information all over
> again, but it might be a good thing. _Information is so quick to change now.
> What you learned yesterday might have already become all wrong today, while
> bad memory has you find the latest, most accurate data every time._

I think this person _should_ worry a bit about this lack of memory, if it is a
real phenomenon. If you're not updating the knowledge in your head, then how
do you develop instincts about what to trust? There is a certain rate of
change you should learn from experience, which you never notice if you have no
memory. Some things you should expect to be different every day, and some
things should not change very often, and if they do (or don't) change, they
deserve more scrutiny. If you don't know the answer from yesterday or last
week, you're stuck in a kind of neverending present and you're easy to deceive
(a la _Memento_)

------
adetrest
Interesting experiment, however I wonder how strictly the author was able to
stick to not using anything that stores a program. Strictly speaking, this
disqualifies mundane things such as riding an elevator or driving a car that
was made in the last 30 years, or even going up an escalator or riding a
train. Virtually anything runs a program.

------
misterprime
I remember when that guy from the Emgadget podcast took a year off the
internet and basically lost all relevance when he came back.

~~~
Apocryphon
Wasn't he from The Verge?

~~~
misterprime
Sorry for the late reply. Yeah, when AOL bought Huffington Post the guys from
Engadget left to make "This is my next podcast" and then "The Verge".

I miss my Palm Pre, Oreo effect and all.

------
ams6110
I can easily imagine no computers after I retire. After an adult lifetime of
using them 40+ hours a week it sounds nice.

~~~
pdimitar
There is nothing wrong with computers. It's the current commercial internet
landscape that's broken behind repair -- mostly the attention/advertisement
economy.

I've had so much fun with my first Apple IIc about 25 years ago -- and I'm
looking forward to a calmer future when I can tinker with whatever I feel like
again.

------
rdiddly
A month isn't long enough. He barely got to the start of the withdrawal pangs.

~~~
rv-de
Are you speaking from personal experience?

~~~
rdiddly
Just seeing this belatedly. I did have a similar experience, although it was
long enough ago that it's arguably not the same (i.e. not as bad, because the
general level of tech dependence then wasn't as high as now). But I found that
I started to have similar feelings to what this author describes, after a
similar amount of time. But I interpreted those as signs that I hadn't yet
adapted to the new (old) ways yet, and kept going until it basically didn't
matter any more. That's the point at which I finally went back. It was of
course, surprisingly easy to go back.

