Walking Alone: On Digital Minimalism | Hacker News Reader

Walking Alone: On Digital Minimalism

lareviewofbooks.org

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From user alancontreras in the article's comment section: " 'Merton also wrote, in a letter to Czeslaw Milosz, "I have never seen TV, that is never watched it. Once when I did happen to pass in front of a set I saw the commercial that was on: two little figures were dancing around worshipping a roll of toilet paper, chanting a hymn in its honor. I think this is symbolic enough, isn’t it?”'

I've effectively separated myself from social media. Since 2017 I don't have Twitter, Facebook or any "traditional" social media.

The only times I ever think of my smartphone are when I actually need to send a message to someone. I don't always find it instantly, sometimes I forget it in another room, in my backpack. etc.

I have only two digital vices: Youtube and Hacker News.

I don't even know why I watch Youtube, it feels like I've already watched every video worth watching. My favorite channels are Vsauce, 3Blue1Brown, austin mccconnel, exurb1a, live Overflow, Tom Scott but they don't upload as often as I would like (would I?).

As for Hacker news, it feels like part of my identity now. I probably send like 300 HTTP requests a day to this site. I'm kind of obsessed with it.

Same here. Was a heavy user of Instagram until 2017, when I'd finally had enough of the endless product placement, brain-dead memes and half-nudity everywhere.

There was a time when social media was about regular people, but the second they became "sponsored", the content switched to mostly native advertising.

Never used Twitter, as it was obvious from day 1 that it was designed to be broadcast channel for brands and people desperately trying to be their own brand.

I just love that this book on digital minimalism is unavailable for me to purchase in digital format, because I'm Australian.

I bet I can find a torrent for it in 2 minutes, if I can be fucked looking.

Maybe take a walk to your nearest bookshop, buy it with a face to face conversation and read it in a quiet outdoors spot?

So he should engage in somewhat anti-minimalism behavior to read book about digital minimalism?

Actually that would be a very digital-minimalism behavior. Minimal digital, and more analog...

Digital minimalism to me is using the minimum viable digital footprint as part of minimising my meatspace footprint. Which I am admittedly terrible at. But I still think it's a good idea :) I <3 My Kindle tho, I prefer my fiction as audio and non-fiction on ebook. My dead tree library is mostly out-of-print computing / programming texts from the 60s-80s.

Maybe he could replace the other book in his e-reader with this one?

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