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Haha — like you I can sit down and think up a million reasons why the internet is “needed” in this or that way. It’s sorta like the drug addict thinking up all the ways their life will be horrible without using.
I have a aunt who is 64 — she retired recently but has never had a smartphone, internet or cable TV. I have another aunt that’s 92 and she’s never had any of it. My dad is 74 and he’s never been online but we did have cable tv since the 80s.
In a way these people are refreshing to me because they don’t speak ONE word about what’s online…or did you see this or that…and they are NEVER distracted by anything online. Not a peep about Facebook. I love it.
So I do know it’s possible to make it without ever being online. Of course other people may think you’re in some way backwards for not worshipping at the throne of technology.
25 years. I’ve now spent over 25 years on the internet. Day and night. I probably averaged 10 hours a day. For an introverted kid like me it was a Godsend. I was a hedonist with learning new information and knowing more about stuff than anyone I knew in real life. But in many ways I think it set me back in life….and I think the ways it set me back are now filtering through society as a whole (way we treat others, lack of close relationships, depression, etc).
Lately I’ve thought the internet could be like a lot of things that get too popular — after a while it’s not as good. Everybody is on the internet now…everybody has opinions…everybody knows the lingo…the memes…the newest funny thing. We all know there’s a counter argument and a person to make it for any and every organic thought we have. The internet has been fully monetized and looking to make a buck in every way possible. There’s always people trying to shock us to get our attention. Beautiful…talented…smart people are all over. Everybody we know wants to tell us what fascinating thing they saw on the internet. Every kid we know is dying for their fix — a cellphone — by age 6-7.
When I “log off” (we can never really do that now with smart phones), I can almost still hear the voices of millions rumbling around in my brain.
Is it crazy to contemplate “retiring” from the internet?
It sounds a little crazy to me, but possibly an avenue to new more vibrant world. I know it would require a complete rewiring of my brain and having to absorb information at a much slower pace. I wouldn’t feel plugged in to everything anymore. It would probably also take me a while to find joy and happiness from the simple things in life that don’t involve the internet.
I’ve been through getting over drug addiction before (it’s bad) and I feel like quitting the internet would be just as hard as quitting any drug.
No doubt the internet is a new addiction.
“The giving it all up” was done before - even in pre- internet times: people left the society and went to retreats, monasteries or simply isolated in the woods.
A lot of valuable scientific research was done in those quiet periods.
Haha — like you I can sit down and think up a million reasons why the internet is “needed” in this or that way. It’s sorta like the drug addict thinking up all the ways their life will be horrible without using.
The internet has done a lot of good in my life. From helping my online business thrive to keeping in contact easily with friends and family. Hard to believe any drug addict who can say that using drugs benefited them in a similar way.
The Internet is a valuable tool. Without it, my job and my separate writing career would not exist. I could not use my shared calendar or access my files in the cloud. I could not attend meetings with my clients.
I think you must mean social media and forums. Those should be easy enough to avoid.
Yeah, I think it's best to use the internet mostly as a tool and not let it use you. By that I mean, don't spend much time browsing/surfing around what algorithms will show you. And don't keep using social media if/when it makes you miserable.
The internet ends up showing a generic, hackneyed world where everyone sees the same stuff. Best to find niches in the real world and feel free not to film and post your every moment online. Hopefully this will be a growing mentality for future generations. At some point mankind will thirst for authenticity again.
I've "retired" from watching TV. Sitting, watching it, one-way street, no interaction.
But I would never end being online. There's a lot of good and useful here. Just look how we can discuss and engage with each other. That's worth it alone.
I'm not sure I follow the all-or-nothing approach. Why not just cut back, or limit the time online to an hour or so?
Last edited by Thoreau424; 07-18-2022 at 12:42 PM..
Electronic addiction? There is a lot of info out there on this. I am putting a link to WikiHow, yeah, that can leave a lot to be desired, but it seemed to have some good suggestions:
Luckily, we didn't even have a TV in our house until I was 5 years old in 1959, so I know how to entertain myself without electronics. My husband, however, watched TV with his mother for hours everyday, and now it is either the TV or the internet/phone, which will soon be his only companions!
One misses so much by being attached to electronic devices, and when it comes to addiction, "I can quit any time I want to." or "I am not addicted."
I don't even have a Smartphone, but I am addicted to the Internet for C-D, research, and checking emails. That is all, but I am compulsive about checking C-D and emails at least once every two hours during my waking hours.
When I look back at my life — I think I was actually happier overall prior to the internet. It seemed like life had a certain mystery to it and my brain seemed to interpret the passage of time differently.
In addition...and hear me out here...you were also A CHILD.
When I “log off” (we can never really do that now with smart phones), I can almost still hear the voices of millions rumbling around in my brain.
Same. But it fades with time. Usually a couple weeks of downtime and detox time does the trick. Some of those voices still linger months or years later. They are less impactful and less relevant as each day passes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GoAmericaGo
Is it crazy to contemplate “retiring” from the internet?
Depends on how you mean it.
I will always rely on the internet for information. Whether it's navigation, email, school, or finding stats for my favorite players or teams, that is something I will always be engaged.
As far as unplugging from social media goes, I've done it. I'm down to this forum, LinkedIn (which I seldom use outside of job searching), and one hockey-centric forum. No Reddit, no Facebook, no Insta, no Snapchat, no TikTok. I couldn't be happier with that choice.
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