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.
6 comments:
It is true that technology will fail but in regards to everyday activities, once something technological breaks we can go buy a new one for a fair price. It is refreshing to get back to basics but for people like me, the costs related to time are more important. It's to easy, and im a sucker for easy living.
I want to connect with the refreshing aspect of getting back to the simpler life - but in the world we live in it is more difficult to be simple than complicated! How backwards is that? It is difficult to remove technology!
I absloutely agree with you guys, it is hard to ignore technology and even harder to live without it. But i guess Eric and MAry are on a mission. And you can buy new technology if it breaks, but the harm may be already done: like loosing all your work if you haven't made back ups and your computer dies on you.
Yeah it sounds nice, but I don't think I would like to be in their shoes. I like the outdoors and all, but I like my T.V. and electricity. I do agree on your comment about forgeting about the little things do to all our technological advances in today's society and if it did fail im sure we retrain ourselves.
You are right that sometimes we forget to do the simple things when we rely on technology. My car has automatic headlights and windshield wipers so when I get in someone elses car or a rental car I can't figure out how to do these simple things!
I do not think that I could go backwards in technology. I think that it is up to you how much technology you want to embrace. In our society there are some technology that can not be avoided.
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