This page was last modified: December 13th, 2023

Consequences #^֎

Back in August, I mentioned^֎ wanting to “touch grass”^֎ more. On the off chance I need to justify that goal for you, reader, consider the following:

• The phrase “terminally online” has its own Wikipedia page^֎.

• People, myself included, have (ironically) taken to calling the Unabomber: “Uncle Ted”^֎ as if, while “eccentric”, he was maybe “onto something” / “looking out for us”^֎.

• Anyone unable to recognize that the digital age^֎ has got life out of whack– well, as my students might say: “they’re an NPC [#1^֎ & #2^֎]”.

In that vein, I’d like to give my two cents on a prevalent sentiment you’re likely to find on your expeditions across cyberspace:

The thought that “true freedom / peace^֎ / happiness^֎ / contentment^֎” can only be found in abandoning the Internet entirely^֎. That anything “less” is a “second rate sacrifice^֎”; or a “cope [#1^֎ & #2^֎]”.

Some 96 Lives #^֎

I don’t remember where I read it, but there’s an idea that’s stuck with me for over a decade now. It’s a sort-of criticism directed at monasticism (or “monkhood”)^֎, the concept of renouncing “worldly” pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual work. You know the trope, visitor: some rando experiencing an existential crisis^֎ drops everything to join some monastery on some isolated mountain to search for some… thing.

Now, I don’t mean to repudiate an entire way of life, but the idea challenges that notion and its prerequisites, like:

• seclusion^֎ from society / modernity

• giving things up, renunciation^֎

• solitude^֎ and silence^֎

It questions whether the people willing to go to such lengths, are, exclusively, the ONLY ones worthy of receiving the fruit it bears. It asks if Joe Nobody^֎, irrespective of what they do, would be undeserving of the same reward. It posits: Which is more difficult? Attaining “spiritual wholeness” in an environment designed for its cultivation? Or attaining it in spite of an “imperfect” situation? That if Mr(s). Nobody can strive towards balance in the midst of their everyday life, with all of its obstacles and struggles, then aren’t they more worthy than the recluse?

Cowardice? #^֎

Isn’t scurrying off to a desolate convent somewhat akin to thinking it’s:

• the world’s fault!
• my country’s fault!
• my city’s fault!
• my employer’s fault!
• my possessions’ fault!
• my friend’s fault!
• my family’s fault!
• the industrial revolution’s fault!
• the Internet’s fault!

Do you lack the courage or will to take responsibility for your own fulfillment? The determination or discipline to face your humanity and its err^֎, your circumstances and its stacked odds… the Internet and its attempts to control you?

Look, there’s many roads to Rome^֎, traveler. I think, on the whole, we’re out of homeostasis; and that you should do whatever you think best to restore your own personal equilibrium. You feel that means “quitting the internet”? Go for it, yo.

Just consider that you may, perhaps, be going from one extreme, to another.

Contributors: Alexander Pope^֎ | Augustus^֎ | Illuminati Pirate^֎ | orchids / glacial_pace^֎ | Osho^֎ | sizeof.cat^֎ | SomaSpice^֎ | suragu^֎ | Ted Kaczynski^֎ | Voicedrew^֎

Syndication^֎: Agora Road [#1^֎ & #2^֎] | basement community^֎ | IndieNews^֎ | Mastodon^֎

This post is part of the basement community 1-Year Anniversary Blog Event [#1^֎ & #2].

This blog post is also part of Agora Road Travelogue - Dec [#1^֎ & #2]. A project attempting to encourage individuals to both write and exercise ownership over their content.

Comments #^֎

Email: hi@foreverliketh.is^֎