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Comment by sebzim4500 | Hacker News Reader

> And being offline, lets say stuck in traffic and the phone battery is empty, is a welcome relief.

Then sell your phone?

Sorry to be dismissive, but you are locked in a prison of your own making.

Is the correct response to someone who hates their job, who happens to take a hike and enjoy nature once in a while, "why don't you go live in the woods then?"?

Is it the wrong response? If they hate a job there's actual value in assessing whether they need it, especially if they could live life in a different environment they would enjoy with things made by their own hands.

There is value, yes. However, things are rarely so black and white as the commenter above you sees it wherein one could simply disconnect entirely. The reality of it is within our current zeitgeist the digital world is unavoidable - be it in the workplace, the condensation of our activities (incl. unavoidable ones- banking, etc) into apps on our phones.

Of course this is barring the idea of withdrawing all ones savings and moving onto a farm and living off the land :D.

> Sorry to be dismissive

Then don't be dismissive?

Seriously, isn't this answer the exact application of your own philosophy?

I think this is true to an extent and it’s good to take a step back and remind yourself that thing you think is making you miserable is ultimately a small square of metal and glass. But the actual situation is more complicated. Clearly phones have utility beyond being skinner boxes, the ability to contact your loved ones, navigate roads and transit systems, translate languages, retrieve information from the web, etc are all extremely useful and their absence would decrease your quality of life. But since that’s all bundled together with the stuff people find harmful you’re left in a constant struggle to only your device in a beneficial way. You can lock down your phone but that’s just a band-aid. If someone can figure out a “smart-ish” phone that does the things I listed above but not the harmful things I think there would be a real market for it.

I don’t want to miss any slack notifications while I’m walking my dog

Why?

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