Life Without Technology

“Why should we live with such hurry and waste of life? We are determined to be starved before we are hungry” (Thoreau).  I strongly agree with this quote. I think Thoreau makes an excellent point. I think we become starving for many things such as technology, bad foods, and bad life styles. Americans become starved before they become hungry. We don’t just think we want something, but we think things like Facebook and cell phones are a necessity. We couldn’t live without it. We get to the point where if we haven’t checked our cell phones or the internet in twenty minutes, we go through withdrawal. It’s sad. I don’t believe technology is more important than my friends or family. I don’t think technology should be such a “craving” for people as much as it is. I think people should be more focused on the important things in life. I think people need to be isolated from what they think makes them “starving” such as the cell phones, TV, computer, etc. During this process I think people will begin to understand life in a different way. Being away from those types of things could allow a person to find who they really are and get connected to the important things in life rather than being connected so much with technology.

If I had to live in a cabin in the woods like Thoreau did, I think I would enjoy it. I think it would be fun to try and come up with ways to have a good time without music or other technology. I would have to admit, it would be difficult because I do have a habit of always texting somebody, listening to my iPod, or going online, but it would be different and exciting. For one year, I could get use to living “normally” and away from all the noise. I could really get to know who I am and figure out what I would do with myself if I really didn’t have the things I use such as electronics and other technologies.  I would really enjoy it if I could be with my family and friends while I was in the cabin, because I can openly admit that I couldn’t live without them. The other things, I could give up in a heartbeat, but not the most important people in my life. With them, I think spending a year in a cabin would be easy. When I say easy, I mean that the “craving” for the things Americas think are important wouldn’t exist.

Americans have the wrong idea if they think getting wrapped up in video games, internet, and other things is the way of life. Sometimes we need to just step back and look at what we think are our most worldly possessions. Is it going to be the things that shouldn’t matter or the things that do? I think for a lot of people, reality would choose the things that shouldn’t matter and it’s wrong. Going hiking, playing board games, enjoying nature might sound boring, but if more people tried it maybe they’d like it. The thing is, I think people are so use to their electronics and other technologies, they don’t even know what other fun they could have. The family in the beginning of the Lasn text went on a camping trip and they all hated it. I don’t think they even gave it a shot. They just thought about the things they didn’t have with them or thought about doing the things they wanted to be doing such as talking on the phone or getting online. They had each other and I think that’s enough to have a good time. The characters in the Anderson text were so wrapped up in the feed that they didn’t know how to live without it. We depend so much on technology today. So much that we forget how to live without it. Sometimes we need to just give life without technology a try.