Thread: would you prefer a simpler life without so much technology

Technology has undoubtedly made our lives more enjoyable, and has enhanced quality of life pretty much everywhere in the world.

Social interaction has definitely changed though, and until we invent more advanced methods of telecommunication, we are somewhat socially diminished. Personally, I think this is a question of advancing the technology further, rather than discarding it. The advent of virtual reality might play a big part in solving these issues, allowing people to meet each other virtually in the flesh, so to speak. The digital flesh.

wow yes that would be strange and interesting and it has made peoples lives better and easier and of course we wouldnt be talking on here now, and of course people can always choose amount of time to use comp etc i dunno sometimes i just feel like hey lets all sit on the field and chat if you know what i mean like when my teenagers on comp talking to there friends i say why dont you go out with friends. but of course for people who are isolated its good for them to network i think when i was younger at home and my kiddies were babies it would have been a god send actually. I just get fed up sometimes knowing what the guy from down the road ate for his dinner on the social sites

I would just sit about like a useless cunt in my mud hut or thatched cottage or cave and be a miserable shit very little would change

in short, no

hahaha yes maybe i just need a holiday just a little break from it. i would love to live in countryside [ or at least try it to see if i loved it] surrounded by fields and trees maybe a little stream near a forest. maybe have a little farm and grow my own fruit and veggies but i also really love the sea so would have to be near the sea too oh to dream i mite try and dream of this tonight.

I want more technology, a heck of a lot more. Maybe once I am an immortal robot I will consider less technology, until then we can still improve things greatly.

yes i do like technology or i wouldnt be writing this now hehe but i do also like to escape sometimes

I sort of wish that cities continued to advance toward greater technology, but that there was less of them and the rest of the world remained mostly untouched, or at least profoundly less developed than it is now. A beautiful world, in my opinion, would have LA, San Fransisco, Sacramento, Portland and Seattle connected via train and nothing but wilderness with a handful of rural communities in between.

I really like nature, and I wish there was a lot more of it. Granted it's nice to come back from nature and transcribe my writing onto my computer, so it can be saved in multiple places and shared with friends in different countries instantly. Technology is awesome in moderation.

A simpler life for me means: i dont have to waste two hours of my life driving so I can waste 8 hours of my life working so I can pay over bloated bills!

I don't blame technology, I blame poor city planning and over bloated houses. But anyways, in about two weeks i'll be drastically simplifying my life, looking forward to it

No, I remember the days before everyone had a computer and it was boring. I'm an introvert so I'm happy with less real-life socialization. It's weird to see how things are changing due to technology over the years though.

yes things have changed a lot you could go out once and none could contact you they had to wait till you got home or they saw you :] I occasionally turn off my mobile whilst out and i feel like a bit of a rebel but i also feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders it feels freeing somehow.

I don't think it should be one or the other. Why is it that wanting it to be legal to camp somewhere without paying means I'm against the internet?

yes you should be allowed to camp were you want and use or not use technology when you choose i am overdue a holiday , i have never tried camping i will have to add that to my to do list

Technology doesn't make life complicated, social/business related drama does.

I don't mind technology, I just think people take it for granted and abuse it. I see way too many people spending way too much time with their faces glued to a smartphone. If they have to sit still for more than two minutes people just play angry birds or tweet or some shit. Just because it's easier or more stimulating than sitting and quietly thinking to yourself doesn't make it better. It's almost like people are scared to be left alone with their own minds.

You are asking this question to an audience of people who use the internet to research interests (lucid dreaming/community discussion). Are you aware of how biased your answers will be?

That being said, bring on the Singularity. After the singularity, any nature-hippies can live wherever, whatever style they want. Probably have their own planets without even a smidge of technology, except for the interstellar ferries that bring them to their new homeland.

yes i use internet a lot too but i wondered if people sometimes feel like i often do that somehow somethings been lost and i would like to regain it i like your ideas nature hippy planet here i come :]

My family and I tend to vacation in the summer at one of the Great Lakes, and the first time we went there I hated it because my iPhone has almost no connectivity to the Internet, and the closest WiFi is at a McDonalds about twenty minute drive away. The second time I thawed to it a bit, but it is still not my favorite cup of tea: if the children did not love it as much as they do, I would not want to go there for my own enjoyment. I am a city girl, and really appreciate Internet connectivity.

No, I want some technology in my life. On the other hand, I'm not obsessed with having the newest iPhone or shit like that. I don't watch tv much or listen to the radio. I'm a slave to the internet instead. Thing is, if my social life was better I wouldn't have a need for the internet...

yes me too i dont get all the newest latest phones etc as long as it can make and recieve calls that will do me

Originally Posted by Original Poster

I sort of wish that cities continued to advance toward greater technology, but that there was less of them and the rest of the world remained mostly untouched, or at least profoundly less developed than it is now. A beautiful world, in my opinion, would have LA, San Fransisco, Sacramento, Portland and Seattle connected via train and nothing but wilderness with a handful of rural communities in between.

I really like nature, and I wish there was a lot more of it. Granted it's nice to come back from nature and transcribe my writing onto my computer, so it can be saved in multiple places and shared with friends in different countries instantly. Technology is awesome in moderation.

I have a dream of something similar. I would love to see a highly technologically advanced society, but one that was still blended with and in tune with nature. There would be population of a couple million on the planet. The homes would be woven into the natural geography of the region - built into naturally occurring rock formations, inside hills with trees growing from the roof. Within the dwellings would still be modernized, like sci-fi hobbit holes. May was well throw in some free energy UFO-type craft for transportation while I'm dreaming

YES.

I am addicted to it. I want to stop but I can't.

I think if we didn't have any industries, computers, technology, or any of that stuff, we would be better off.
The world was a lot better before we came around.

In some ways, yes. In others, no way. Access to technology and the internet has allowed me to grow so much as a person. I've been subject to views that I would never have seen outside of my own social circle. It also allows access to endless amounts of information and a lot of what I am interested in and know about is from self-study which would be a lot more difficult when you are sifting through books. On the other hand, I'd really like to have more actual communication among myself and my friends rather than talking to them on Facebook all the time. We used to hang out quite a lot outside of school but now we don't really because it's easier to talk in a group chat on Facebook.

If I could re-live any decade of my life I would choose the 80's.. and there wasn't much tech back then compared to now. No mobile phones or even proper PCs. And it was always sunny, IIRC Seriously though, I love tech but the way people interacted with each other without mobile phones and social media was a lot more real and genuine and life was a whole lot less frantic.

Tech is great and I'm never without my phone or tablet but I have sneaky suspicion I'd be happier if they didn't exist.

I have been having disturbing dreams lately, and today I realized that a common them of them is about my addiction to electronics and unwillingness to part with them, and thus my mind creates scenarios where my Wii and iPad get stolen by burglars, or my husband forbids me from using the IPhone because he needs all our data plan. I felt very deprived, ridiculously so, when in these dreams I had lost those electronics or their use. I am a tech addict, help.