I have an longstanding interest in what could be called alternative modes of living. Examples: Hermits Tiny houses Permaculture food forests In fact, I participated in an alternative mode of living by growing up in a radically fundamentalist Christian church that practiced separation from the world through strict rules for living. (When Rachel and I married we had neither wedding rings nor a television!) Having lived through experiences of what can only be called religious abuse, I believe I possess some clarity about the dangers of these exercises.

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Dave Danielson @ddanielson has a good post on the choices presented by a lot of writing about smartphone use: The choice of device is not an all or nothing proposition, but is often presented that way. We can choose our own level of engagement with a device, and govern our behavior to use a device as we choose. This is also useful to think about in the context of the NYT article on Luddite teens shared by Patrick Rhone.

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Wendell Berry, “Word and Flesh” in What Are People For?: The question that must be addressed, therefore, is not how to care for the planet, but how to care for each of the planet’s millions of human and natural neighborhoods, each of its millions of small pieces and parcels of land, each one of which is in some precious way different from all the others. Our understandable wish to preserve the planet must somehow be reduced to the scale of our competence—that is, to the wish to preserve all of its humble households and neighborhoods.

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