No

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[morange]

Maybe ILF could support this thought. We could have an ILF Sabbatical Thread, where members post their intent to abstain from the internet for a week or month or whatever, and then post about it when they come back (if they come back). Sort of like Rumspringa. You know what, we should call the thread (or this thread?) ILF Rumspringa.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumspringa

[fungalattack]

I really need to try this. I feel I would be more productive without the distraction of the net. Yet there is good things to come from it.

[coldbrightsunlight]

Yeah I would be so much more productive without the internet, although I'd have to allow myself some basic use of it because it's absolutely necessary for some of my work, so no recreational internet would probably make me a productive guy. I guess I'd read, write music, maybe exercise more.

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[dubkitty]

i've been using the Net a lot less in recent weeks because my laptop died and i don't particularly have a good desktop setup (a Mac Mini wedged into Doug's computer room close to the litter box). it's been interesting, but the big thing for me is that i need to watch less TV. especially when i'm not feeling well, i'll dither away hours of time curled up in bed watching the telly. in my own environment i've always avoided the TV-by-the-bed thing for just this reason, but since i'm in someone else's house it's right there staring at me with its big googly green eye.

[hollowhero]

I've always believed that boredom leads to insane creativity. Some of the best music I've ever written has come from those times when I've had absolutely NOTHING to do

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[01010111]

I might try this on for size. It'll be a bit difficult because of my iphone, but I really like disconnecting from technology once in a while (it's the main reason I like to go on a yearly backpacking trek into the mountains for a week or so). It's important to be bored occasionally, when we're bored it feels like we're forced to confront ourselves.

I completely relate to that dubkitty. I watch between 4 and 5 hours of tv a day, a lot of days I'll watch in the neighborhood of 7 or 8 hours

[IEatCats]

I've been feeling like the net has been killing my creativity recently. I think that some of the coolest stuff I wrote was from before I had websites to destroy my "free time" or when I was between places and had no net. I've also been using the internet to fill free time while i sit here and think "I really want to be reading a book instead of this".

I want to find a way to force myself to do things other than sitting on the net all day.

[Mike]

I wouldn't want to do without the Internet, and online obligations mean I have to use it every day, but...

I'm a freak. I don't have a cell phone. I can afford one, and have had them in the past, but I choose not to have one. Neither does my wife.

We sometimes feel like we are part of a small club of people who get to experience some of the small joys in life that cellphone users often seem to miss-- eating a meal without interruption, engaging in conversations where both parties actually participate, listening to the birds chirp and the bugs buzz.

It works out just fine for us.

Mike

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[jrmy]

But... I need the internet to get the new The Boys Themselves album when it finally drops!

Seriously, though, I hear ya. When I went back to school ages ago (night classes, but full time), I had to make myself a sign to put over the TV that read "Television is not your friend. It does not care about you." because I would get into jags where I would just sit and watch TV until I'd find myself watching Oprah and The View, and trying to figure out why.

I try to keep an eye on my internet consumption, for sure. So far, it hasn't hindered my musical output... although one always wonders what it would be like to be free of all obligations. But with house, wife, kid, dog and car, that can be tough. Still controlling the external things that we CAN control is always important.

[coldbrightsunlight]

I totally agree with all you guys, I'm pretty sure the most creative times in my life, even if I don't particularly like what I created then anymore, were times when I wasn't on the internet nearly as much as I am now. I'm really hoping I can start to ration myself a bit more once I've finished uni, because while I'm at uni I spend a lot of time on the computer working, except when I'm 'working' I spend most of the time browsing the internet. But I really do need to use my computer to work so... Only a few more months! Then I'll try to have a life again.

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