Demonizing the tool(s) is scapegoating
Using technology intentionally
Hi there,
This journey of mine, to rediscover the pleasures of the offline world, feels futile at times. Hasn’t life— our relationships, work, free time— moved entirely online? What is left of the offline world anymore? Am I just nostalgic for a thing that no longer exists?
Five things to share:
Demonizing the tool(s) is scapegoating. The problem isn’t our digital tools as much as it is the bigger cultural and societal shifts that have taken place when the world went digital. The offline world sounds romantic but what is even left of the offline anymore? What are the alternatives available to us, alternatives to the likes, comments, and Netflix binges that characterize our connections and time spent in the digital world? It is delusional to claim that if only we got rid of our smartphones, deleted social media, and quit the internet that we would be freed from our addiction.
I’m rethinking my *ahem* obsession with the self-help, self-improvement, self… self…self… genre. Can I perhaps learn more from other genres? Currently reading The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin containing two essays: My Dungeon Shook: Letter to my Nephew on the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Emancipation and Down at the Cross: Letter from a Region of My Mind. I want stories that make me feel; not inspired, but feel.
Grounded in Realness is a short video on paying attention to, and enjoying, the simple things around us. We don’t need to live life at breakneck speed. There is so much joy and wonder surrounding us in our daily lives: We just need to stop and take time to notice it. It is then that we realize that beauty truly is everywhere.
A quote I want to share with you:
I firmly believe that it’s the little things we do that eventually add up to a happy life. I am not asking you to change everything about the way you live, but perhaps to reconsider a few details of your daily routine.
— Robert ArborHow can we find tiny moments of delight in our day to day? Perhaps by paying more attention to the small details all around us.
Eliminating the constant distractions of digital life only opens up another void. Stare into it long enough and there’s no guarantee you’ll like whatever stares back. In Digital Minimalism Review: Gazing Into the Abyss.
That’s all for this week!
Thank you for reading, and please share with anyone you think may benefit.
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Until next time,
Mehret
https://tokutheologian.substack.com/p/disordered-longings-and-the-abyss I've been thinking about your writing here lately, inspired me to write this.
I'm with you on this. I think we would all benefit from "dumber" phones, from being on social media less (or not at all), but these things at their face value are not inherently good. Rather, as James K.A. Smith says time and time again, "You are what you love." And if our absence from these sites doesn't deal with the core issues, if they make us into proud and boisterous people, then what are we gaining in the end?