Offline is the new luxury

Not using a phone taught me what a phone is really for. It’s not for communicating with other people, getting directions, reading articles, looking at pictures, shopping for products, or playing games. A phone is a device for muting the anxieties proper to being alive. This is what all its functions and features ultimately achieve: cameras deliver ... See more

It makes sense that constant comparison makes us unhappy. I think back to a study I read a few years ago. When passengers board an airplane and walk through first-class on their way to their seats, passengers are then more likely to engage in acts of air rage and aggression than when they board from the middle of the plane. Subtle reminders of our ... See more

The way of the tourist is to consume; the way of the pilgrim is to be consumed. To the tourist the journey is a means. The pilgrim understands that it is both a means and an end in itself. The tourist and the pilgrim experience time differently. For the former, time is the foe that gives consumption its urgency. For the latter, time is a gift in wh... See more

The pandemic showed us how tech companies profit immensely when we’re isolated and forced to spend more time staring at screens. The entire push to roll out headsets can’t be separated from that reality: they want us to always be looking at screens.

Today, everything is about speed and real time. We are no longer concerned with real space.

I often think of the Noah Smith quote: “Fifteen years ago, the internet was an escape from the real world. Now, the real world is an escape from the internet.”

Thesis: We are not addicted to the internet or smart phones. Rather, our will power is utterly depleted by the persistent cognitive, emotional, and moral demands they make of us.

I think that this whole smartphone scrolling, content consuming, ubiquitous posting, Extremely Online thing is going to go the way of the Fedora, or the Marlboro smoked at cruising altitude in economy class. In the end it is all going to fade. This may not happen for a good number of years, but I truly believe it will happen. I think we’ll look bac... See more

My house plants became healthier and died less often once I stopped tracking their watering, stopped trying to use moisture meters or other tools, and learned to pick up on their vibes instead. Many such cases.