These articles suggest we embrace technology or we denounce it. But there's a third path that has worked for me.
I'm a software engineer by trade. I play video games. I watch YouTube. I'm part of an online support group. And I can say with full confidence that technology has brought me joy and connection.
These articles suggest we embrace technology or we denounce it. But there's a third path that has worked for me.
I'm a software engineer by trade. I play video games. I watch YouTube. I'm part of an online support group. And I can say with full confidence that technology has brought me joy and connection.
I also read the classics. I play Rachmaninoff. I spend time in nature. I pray. The physical, mental, and spiritual worlds are sources of joy and connection.
My life would be incomplete without either one. I think what made this work was the order of events. I started with the physical - reading Lord of the Rings when I was 12, playing in the backyard with my brothers - and was only slowly introduced to the virtual world. Now I'm able to claim loyalty to both, and fluency with both; I can queue up John Williams on Spotify, close my eyes, and bridge the divide.
Perhaps we make proactive changes. Parents could take more responsibility for the technology their kids use. People could uninstall the Twitter app once in a while. We could read more.
And we shouldn't dismiss the real challenges. New technology is scary. Someone is going to keep building AI, so even if the West showed perfect restraint, the singularity is coming.
But there is a path of temperance through all of this, and it involves examining our lives and developing the old fashioned virtues of discernment and self control.
I can attest that this creates a life worth living.
I very much agree with your take. I joined online world in 1998 and it helped me create a career and to make tons of good friends. I read ancient Greeks , I paint, I dance Latin ballroom and I converse online and occasionally I scroll .
But I have a solid foundation, cuz I grew up in the old world running around unattended, taking risks, making small decisions while being on my own walking to and from school or doing small groceries (at the age of 8), or exploring the surroundings, while under a watch of passers by in the tight community of a small town. And that is what’s absent for my California born kids and more or less all US kids; outside of some Latin barrios.
Our kids are constantly caged into a car/ home/school. I m forced into helicopter parenting. And this environment makes creating a balanced life an uphill battle for us, modern parents. My kids do not have what I had, so it’s tremendously difficult to keep them away from the screens and raise them into balanced, healthy adults.
I personally decided to leave the US for some time in order to give my kids the old world freedom, that I enjoyed as a kid. I hope this will help them to grow into more balanced individuals like you.
That sense of freedom is so crucial for kids. I think it's also healthy to feel bored sometimes, because it forces your imagination to wander. My brothers and I made up the best games and played for hours in the woods, in the snow, on the trampoline. That's probably why I write novels today.
These articles suggest we embrace technology or we denounce it. But there's a third path that has worked for me.
I'm a software engineer by trade. I play video games. I watch YouTube. I'm part of an online support group. And I can say with full confidence that technology has brought me joy and connection.
I also read the classics. I play Rachmaninoff. I spend time in nature. I pray. The physical, mental, and spiritual worlds are sources of joy and connection.
My life would be incomplete without either one. I think what made this work was the order of events. I started with the physical - reading Lord of the Rings when I was 12, playing in the backyard with my brothers - and was only slowly introduced to the virtual world. Now I'm able to claim loyalty to both, and fluency with both; I can queue up John Williams on Spotify, close my eyes, and bridge the divide.
Perhaps we make proactive changes. Parents could take more responsibility for the technology their kids use. People could uninstall the Twitter app once in a while. We could read more.
And we shouldn't dismiss the real challenges. New technology is scary. Someone is going to keep building AI, so even if the West showed perfect restraint, the singularity is coming.
But there is a path of temperance through all of this, and it involves examining our lives and developing the old fashioned virtues of discernment and self control.
I can attest that this creates a life worth living.
I very much agree with your take. I joined online world in 1998 and it helped me create a career and to make tons of good friends. I read ancient Greeks , I paint, I dance Latin ballroom and I converse online and occasionally I scroll .
But I have a solid foundation, cuz I grew up in the old world running around unattended, taking risks, making small decisions while being on my own walking to and from school or doing small groceries (at the age of 8), or exploring the surroundings, while under a watch of passers by in the tight community of a small town. And that is what’s absent for my California born kids and more or less all US kids; outside of some Latin barrios.
Our kids are constantly caged into a car/ home/school. I m forced into helicopter parenting. And this environment makes creating a balanced life an uphill battle for us, modern parents. My kids do not have what I had, so it’s tremendously difficult to keep them away from the screens and raise them into balanced, healthy adults.
I personally decided to leave the US for some time in order to give my kids the old world freedom, that I enjoyed as a kid. I hope this will help them to grow into more balanced individuals like you.
That sense of freedom is so crucial for kids. I think it's also healthy to feel bored sometimes, because it forces your imagination to wander. My brothers and I made up the best games and played for hours in the woods, in the snow, on the trampoline. That's probably why I write novels today.