I wouldn't call it serious or mocking, rather I'd call it whimsical speculation designed to generate conversation. I find your attempt to suppress my whimsical speculation designed to generate conversation to be pretty uncalled for.
I didn't read it as whimsical; I was originally going to write something like "You're quitting smoking? Are you going to quit coffee, too?" It struck me as pretty harsh.
I do think there's legitimate value to the idea-- I'd bet most people would be a lot happier without electricity or indoor plumbing than we'd imagine.
But I think if somebody decided to try it for a year, a guy saying "No electricity, huh? Are you gonna stop cooking your food, or are you just doing like a halfway thing?" would sound like an asshole.
Also, what gives with calling my good-faith request for clarification an "attempt to suppress" you? I could have just downvoted you and moved on if that's what I wanted.
> I do think there's legitimate value to the idea-- I'd bet most people would be a lot happier without electricity or indoor plumbing than we'd imagine.
I think only someone who has grown up with both of those advances would be able to make this comment with a straight face.
Ask anyone who has nearly frozen to death in the winter because they couldn't afford their electricity bill what they think of that statement.
Or anyone who nearly died from cholera because of drinking from the nearest river due to no water utilities what they think of that statement.
I'm not writing this to be hostile. It is simply a statement that the "good ol' days" were not really so good afterall.
You're not talking about going without electricity or indoor plumbing. You're talking about being poor. Of course there's a great deal of overlap, but don't mistake the two.
I haven't done it myself, but I have a good friend who spent a couple winters in a cabin in rural Vermont. It's not that bad. You buy enough firewood to last, and get water from the well. It gets cold at night, but you've got a roof and a fire and a sleeping bag, you're not going to die. You can walk and hitchhike to the hospital in the nearest town, if you get sick. Really, the biggest issue is loneliness.
Sure, you give up a lot of comforts which I wouldn't want to, but people lived that way in good spirits for thousands of years. Empirical evidence suggests we have more or less the same capacity for unhappiness regardless of circumstance.
The biggest issue is you spend a great deal of time just doing the things that automation can do in a fraction of the time. If you have a family, "laundry day" is literally a whole day and it is brutal, backbreaking labor. That is already 1/7 of your live devoted to something that is a solved problem.
I dabble in a blog featuring $1 meals. I get snide quips from people criticizing "oh, but are you taking costs of running a gas/electric stove into account? betcha haven't taken THAT into account!" So...several meals posted (or coming soon) are indeed cooked over an open fire of random deadwood.
So lighten up. The query is a half-serious challenge to go a step further. Those of us who HAVE lived without Internet for significant periods know it's not that big a deal (though not trying to trivialize it either) and think a good comparable exercise IS to shut off the main breaker, shred the credit cards, and shift into a lower gear for a while. Sounds harsh to some, sounds like a delightful challenge to others.
"Lighten up"? Come on, man. I thought you were mocking the guy, but I could see how you might not mean it that way, so rather than run off and accuse you, or drive-by downvote, I asked what you meant. Which I guess you took as a slight against your honor?
Clearly I need to stop taking everything so serious.
