Chapter 2

The adventure begins in the second chapter and our protagonists get a taste of life without all the technology. I found it funny how Eric got so paranoid about what they were about to experience, only to be welcomed to a comfortable living arrangement and people willing to offer their knowledge and helping them adapt to the new environment. I can see how the community’s closeness with nature and the now more physical, but not too strenuous, type of work that needs to be done in absence of electricity can be refreshing. The health benefits of being outdoors, enjoying the beautiful scenery and getting some exercise while doing daily chores are both physical and mental.

The author learns that life without modern technology doesn’t necessarily entail “brawn alone”, as human wits can save us from a lot of strenuous and unnecessary work. There is also a sense of achievement and satisfaction that comes with successfully adapting the means to match the goals precisely. What he realizes, and I also think it’s true, is how we take the uses of modern technology as given. We have forgotten how to do the simple things and rely on technology to do them for us, but what happens when technology fails? We have to retrain ourselves to do those things.

So far it looks like Eric and Mary are really enjoying their adventure in this community, which seems mostly rural-agrarian. For Mary, I would imagine it being a nice change from her monotonous job, while the author’s frustration and discontent with technology turned into an appreciation for a simpler life. I am curious to see what experiences lie ahead and if their positive attitude will change.

Chapter 1

The first chapter caught my interest and I am curious to see what happens next. I liked the way the author set the stage by explaining how his childhood fascination with technology quickly became frustration and discontent. I agree with the negative ways that technology has affected our society, and think it’s quite sad when children would rather watch TV or play video games than play outside. This not only affects their physical health, turning them into a more sedentary generation, but also hinders the development of their social and interpersonal skills, as there is less face-to-face interaction. From this point of view I am very interested to see if the author will be able to find a happy medium of just the right amount of technology.

As people become more and more dependent on technology, it’s hard to imagine life without the use of all the appliances that make it easier (just as Professor Keniston would not want to move heavy rocks without the help of a backhoe). That is why the author’s quest seems more of an informational one, since technology is a part of evolution, which would be hard to stop, let alone reverse it. It will be interesting to see how the author and his wife, now used to the convenience of technology, will be able to adapt to the Amish lifestyle. They will probably have to re-learn to do the basic things such as clothes washing and food preparation on their own, and these would take longer to do than in a technological environment. I know I would not want to imagine my life without the appliances that I am so accustomed to. To me the very point of it is to gain efficiency and more time to focus on the more important things in life.