Sure I'd miss all my Excellent Fellow Fapstronauts here but I think I could manage it and I'm thinking about doing it... - selling all my computers and going RETRO. Porn is like having a bottle of alcohol sitting there the whole time tempting me. Blockers have never worked for me, I need a more radical solution. There was life before the internet and it was mostly OK. I am thinking about all the stuff I would bring back. Real Books Radio Games Console ( with no internet connection ). Real Newspapers DVDs and even CDs Could you ever consider doing this? - I'm not certain I could handle it but I want to at least discuss the possibility.
It would make things less superficial, that's for sure! More real connection with people, more time!..Yep. Good old days.. when people were... real. But I for one I am kinda tied to the internet as in the fact that its how I earn my money.
Yes I thought that would come up - that could be a major problem! Amazing how the internet has sunk it's tentacles into every corner of our lives. But like you said - when people were 'real' - I really miss that.
Take into account that, as of today, none of those who live in developed countries can shun the Internet completely. In my country, invoices are often sent via email and certain professionals are required to obtain a certified email address to do business. You could probably live without the Internet if you were self-employed, but it would make things more complicated than you think. On a more general note, the solution to quitting porn is not throwing out the baby with the bathwater. The Internet is an incredible source of information and help to those who know how to use it. It can potentially save a lot of time...or waste it. It's up to you to make good use of this wonderful tool. I
I agree I would still need to go online now and again, but I could do that away from home and could therefore still sell my computers which for me is the biggest step. It's not just porn... it's Twitter, Facebook and lots of other stuff. Some people have made wonderful connections with the internet but I've never been able to. Most people would agree with you that it's not worth 'throwing out the baby with the bathwater' and I do too sort of... in a way that would mean porn has 'won'. Though at the very least I would like to try it for a couple of months to see how it goes : )
The idea is amazing and I'd surely want to try it. But sadly, you'll need to live in another place that'd be more suitable with that kind of life.
I'm not one of those "INTERNET IS EVIL!" Types of people, because as a medium, the Internet can be used as a source for good. Nevertheless, moderation is key, as is the case for everything else. If you find you get too triggered on the Internet, or you're on it too much, then you may benefit from a sort of media fast, but as long as one has their priorities straight and their actions in check, the Internet isn't a boogeyman.
I couldn't, as there's developing courses I use, look up stuff I need or checking emails and such. I also use it to play coop Ps4 games with my partner, but mainly I like the ability and freedom to look up info I need or curious about. I admit I have a problem of spending too much time on it though.
@Sarah Walker my sister plays Destiny with her husband from time to time. I personally could not live without the internet... It might actually be a bad thing.
I'm not a social person so not going out and being extroverted is fine with me, which had led to me doing more online. I don't think it's a problem unless it affects what you do daily or have issues with it.
I kind of do that already (but not really). Pretty much the only way I access the net these days is on my iPhone or iPad. My computer is literally collecting dust. I used to spend hours on my computer when I was running my own websites. I got burned out after a few years & pulled the plug on all of my online projects. Now my internet consumption is down to a fraction of what it used to be. Pretty much when I’m on here, I’m on my phone & it’s in between doing stuff throughout the day (for example: as I type this I’m sitting on a park bench at the dog park while my dog is playing).
The internet allows me to do something I love: Reach millions of people through video on YouTube, and help improve their lives in some small way. This is also how I earn my living. So, no, I couldn't live without the internet. I think, for all its problems, the internet is still a step forward for us. We are allowed to become more skilled and more intelligent than our predecessors - since 100 years ago even someone who went to every library in the world would not have a fraction of the knowledge that is immediately accessible to you within moments of typing a few keys into your address bar. Now any skill, any book, any idea - is all accessible to us, with no delay. We are connected with other cultures. The food that fuels bigotry and hatred is usually a lack of experience outside one's own close-knit community. We all fear the unknown, and for many people around the world throughout time, the unknown has been everywhere but their home town or home state. This is why things like racism and prejudice exist. No-one is born racist, but people with no exposure to other cultures and exposure only to a sheltered close-minded community, quickly develop distrust of anyone they perceive to be "outsiders". We're a long way to go, but the internet is slowly chipping away at that. Even the most isolated of people can now connect with those from across the world, from every country, every gender, every skin colour, every sexuality. People can meet and greet one another without even getting up from their chairs. It's a very gradual process, but more and more people are starting to become more open-minded, and learning to live with each other better as a result. We have a platform in which to share our voices. Anyone can start a blog, open a YouTube channel, or start a Facebook group, and quickly draw in an audience of hundreds, then thousands, then hundreds of thousands and even millions - who all care about what you have to say. We have niche communities. NoFap is the perfect example. Can you imagine something like NoFap trying to spread its message without the internet? "Uhh yeah we're a club of people who don't touch ourselves, we meet at the community centre on Mondays." - yeah because that totally doesn't sound completely sketchy or anything. The internet allows us privacy. While yes, a poorly secured connection and computer can have quite the opposite result, allowing you to be snooped on in unimaginable ways, the internet is still the safe haven for ultimate privacy when used correctly. We can send all our messages with encryption. We can conduct business with whoever, wherever we want, without anyone else knowing. We can make anonymous transactions that only we know about with cryptocurrency. When governments, the media, or manipulative people try to control access to information, the internet is a way for real uncensored information to come in and out. In countries where access to information is heavily restricted, citizens can use the likes of TOR to connect to hidden networks and communicate with those outside of the regime. You can always have too much of a good thing. Spend too long at the computer, and you're doing something very similar to what porn does to you: down-regulating your dopamine receptors. However, the internet is not the enemy. The internet is a step forward - but we're still early adopters who are too excited by its presence and so get sucked into over-indulging in it. Moderation, like in all areas of life, is key.
Online isn't as "evil" as you make it out to be, there's bad stuff outside and bad stuff on the internet. Depends what you're doing on it or looking for.
Thanks for a detailed and well-written post. You seem to look at the positive side which is a wise thing to do. However, To all of these pros there is an obvious flip-side that I can't really ignore. For example... -Connection to other cultures - People are connecting to others far away... but a lot of people don't even talk to their neighbours anymore because they socialise on the internet. Is that really progress? -NoFap- You are right that NoFap could not exist without the internet - but NoFap only appeared because of an internet problem - porn. -Privacy- Facebook and Google harvest vast amounts of information on us, Snowden revealed that governments even spy through our webcams. I agree that if you are highly skilled you can avoid these problems but that is just not fair on the 99% of which i include myself. -TOR- I agree that this is useful for various people with legitimate reasons to use it. But TOR is also known to be full of criminal activity and illegal pornography - I accept others are different but I would never use it for that simple reason. I still believe that the internet is a marvellous tool, and going offline permanently would take a lot of planning and cause me some hassle... but I'm missing something in real life that I need to find again. : )
While I don't see myself cutting it out completely, I do intend to move toward drastically cutting back. I've already lived enough in the internet and virtual spaces.
With every technological innovation revolution, there are the 'reactionaries'. There were the Amish and the Luddites for example, rejecting cars and modern machinery. The fact is, the internet is with us like the car. What is comes down to is your capacity to restrain your use and exposure to it. Look at all the fatties in America for example, who can not walk to the shops, but must drive there over-sized bodies in an over-sized car to an over-sized carpark in order to waddle into a shop and buy an over-sized hamburger.
Too much of my life requires internet and phone. Is the internet addicting? Yes. But it's the wave of the future. Jobs, education, socializing, travel...these are all accessed through the world wide web.
One example of how the Internet is indispensable for modern life: finding a qualified job. How do you send your cover letter and rèsumès? Via email. Most companies don't accept paper mail anymore; that's also because HR managers use software for a first screening of the candidate profiles to find the ones that match the open position. How do you obtain information about the company itself? Via the Internet. Sure, you could call customer service for info on the product and business lines and check the stock quotations on specialized newspapers. You could. Now repeat 50 times, for 50 different firms. Going back to your specific case, disable the notifications for all of your social media websites. Fix a time and a duration for your visits, eg. "once a day, at 10 pm, for 20 minutes".
