Post: #1

Guy spent an average of 12 hrs a day online being obsessed with twitter, facebook and other media. Claimed he took a year long break to focus more on his personal life.

Read the post from last year:

http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/30/298879...t-internet

Then a few weeks ago when he came back:

http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/1/4279674...e-internet

Post: #2

Yeah Im not surprised its like kicking weedsmoking or booze and then expect that somehow magically your life will completely turnaround. Truth is nothing much will change at all because youre still the same person. For a while you ride a high because youre proud of yourself for this new change and then everything goes back to normal after a while. Also goals like "I want to find the real me" or "I want to have more meaningfull interactions" are just stupid, wtf is that even supposed to mean?

Post: #3

I just read and watched the whole thing and I must say that I really had high hopes for this. Just like most people, I spend a lot of time on the internet (way too much actually) and since I'm a bit older than most here (36) I remember what it was like growing up without any social media/internet and mobile phones. I was highly disappointed by the outcome of this guys "adventure"

In short:
Out of shape, spoiled, soft, nerdish loser full of self pity goes off the internet for a whole year and accomplishes NOTHING. Like I said, I had such high hopes in seeing this guy turn into a successful, healthy looking, social guy but instead he stayed exactly the same just without internet and with a really special feeling about himself (which he will probably bore people with for the rest of his life). He talks about it like he climbed the mount Everest or something.

He tells about his plans to write a novel (for 5 years!) but a year later he hasn't written a single page and spend most of his time playing (offline) video games. Sorry but you're just a lazy fuck in my opinion. Don't say you're a writer if you're not. You just freed up 12 hours a day and can't write anything? Want to be a writer? Put in the hours like I did.
He didn't do shit about his puffy, out of shape body or his nerdish look. He does nothing to become more social or better with girls. Yet he complains to a fellow loser who is married that he wants a relationship. The guy is actually his role model (?!) a fat nerdish beta pussy.

The whole thing was annoying to watch and read.

The first 3 months of my trip around the world I traveled without a laptop and I didn't have a smartphone till this year. I was on Russian trains all the time and really enjoyed interacting with the people there. If I wanted to use the internet I had to find a internet cafe in the Russian and Kazakhstani city centers, which is hard to do since no one speaks English over there. I felt 10 times more alive than now. Since I had no laptop to do anything with (like watching movies or browsing the net) I had to spend my time differently. I walked around the center, got talking to people all the time and picked up a beautiful Russian girl because of it. I simply had no choice to do anything else than being social.

I didn't have my English blog yet but was blogging on a Dutch travel website. It was damn hard to upload pictures on the old Russian computers in the internet cafes since the computers language is in Cyrillic but I still managed to do it from time to time. When I arrived in Japan and I had to pay 4 dollar an hour for internet in a hostel (yep, I was paying 28 dollar a night for a dorm bed and still had to pay 4 dollar an hour to use an old computer) I decided to buy a laptop in Tokyo. After this my trip changed a lot. In stead of spending an hour on the net from time to time I spend at least 3 or 4 hours a day on my laptop. In a way it fucked up the social abilities I had taught myself (this was all before I discovered pick/gaming).

I can't really travel without a laptop now since I have to keep promoting my site and book and have fanmail to reply to. That fact that my next trip involves lots of trying to get contacts in Hollywood doesn't help. But I really wish I could travel carefree. Perhaps sometime in the future again. I want that independent feel of freedom again. That was the real life changing experience of my trip. I was already 10 times more social through traveling and hanging out with tons of different people and cultures before I learned about game. Pick up/Game just added to that . If I never discovered game then I would still have had sex while traveling. I was on a one girl a month average before discovering game and would have probably kept that average while traveling. That's still better than like 98% of guys worldwide and nothing to be ashamed of.

Using the internet is addictive and adds little value to your real life. It's so easy to just browse the net and not to think of something else. In a way browsing the internet is just downright ESCAPISM from real life and all the responsibilities that come with it. Luckily I don't care much for sports, TV and video games.

Post: #4

"The whole thing was annoying to watch and read."

Yeah, I stopped reading half way because I expected some magical transformation. I'm contemplating taking a long break from the net as well but I am not sure if it will benefit my life.

Post: #5

(05-17-2013 05:48 AM)Every10GivesMeA10 Wrote:  "The whole thing was annoying to watch and read."

Yeah, I stopped reading half way because I expected some magical transformation. I'm contemplating taking a long break from the net as well but I am not sure if it will benefit my life.

I read the story and listened to the video after seeing half of it. I couldn't bare to watch this guys face in close up all the time. They really filmed it as if he was a major victim of something.
He's just a spoiled nerd. Probably 90% of people worldwide are jealous of his cozy lifestyle. Most of them are more concerned of getting one or two meals a day and some clean drinking water.

I would say, try to break with the internet for a while but use that time productively. Set a goal for something and keep daily track of it.

I'm contemplating on using a internet timer or real stopwatch so I don't lose out on basic necessities like finding an address or info or checking my emails. Maybe three hours a day to start with and then 10 minutes less every day until you reach half an hour.

I don't know. Still have to work a system out. Any advice on this would be handy.

Post: #6

The only thing he accomplished, and it is a bit of an accomplishment, is that he now blames himself for his problems instead of other things. He can at least recognise he's the one at fault for his shortcomings rather than most people, as he was before, blaming everything else of whatever was wrong with his life.

Problem is, he's like most people and is a lazy cunt. Now he realises it, and he's not even doing anything about it. So he hasn't accomplished anything except for knowing he's the reason he's a fat, lazy loser.

The internet is like video games, a bit of relief in moderation. 12 hours a day on the internet is unhealthy, even if you're running a business on it. It's also pointless saying he's "connected" with people now that he's back on the internet because if you're not doing anything with them in person, or using things you learn off the internet in your offline life, then it means nothing. You have nothing better to do with your life but gossip, look at memes and entertain yourself.

Post: #7

He should have spent the month prior to giving up the Internet reading this forum. Then he might have been inspired to actually go do something.

Did he travel? Did he go out and meet women? Did he even lift?

Post: #8

If a person truly believes that the internet is preventing them from being productive or robbing them of something that could be more rewarding, by all means, unplug. I don't look at the internet as being evil. I see it as a tool for you to manage. We live in the digital age, so in many ways, the internet can be a tool that can make you MORE productive. It depends on what you do for a living, and how necessary the technology is to what you do. It has also become a major tool for entertainment, which is really where the trap lies. I'm one of those people that grew up in an era without cellphones, video games, dvds etc. I'm one of those people that was outside playing, as opposed to today's youth that spent that time indoors. I get it. Now, more adults are playing video games than kids are. I always have my cellphone with me, but it's not in my hand continually, and I don't check it constantly.

Neil, you don't have to justify why you carry a laptop. I wouldn't think of going somewhere without mine. It's a tool for researching places to go in the city I'm in. It's a tool for communication with friends and/or family back home, or even local folks. If you've got free internet access, it's all the more valuable. At the same time, I'm out and about wherever I am - the laptop is back in the room. I'm only on it when I'm back in the room at night. I'm not spending part of the day shut in, surfing the internet. It's just a tool. If you're a writer, then maybe you need to carry it around with you so you can plug in at a café and write there. You're out among locals, so you can still interact with other people. You're carrying your ability to work with you. The laptop may be more necessary for you to have with you now than it was in the past, because your life is different now than it was some time ago. It's become a necessary tool for you to accomplish a particular goal.

The problem with this guy that you highlighted was he felt the internet and all means of technology were causing him to be unproductive, and that he was lacking in ability to manage technology, and that it was managing and overwhelming HIM. Yet somehow, after eliminating it from his life, he was still unproductive. He went overboard in his avoidance of technology (dodging wifi, etc. Fucking stupid.) - avoiding using it became more of the focus, as opposed to actually accomplishing the things technology was supposedly preventing him from accomplishing. Technology wasn't the problem - HE was. It became some kind of stunt, instead of a way to truly improve his life.

Post: #9

Quote:My plan was to quit my job, move home with my parents, read books, write books, and wallow in my spare time. In one glorious gesture I'd outdo all quarter-life crises to come before me. I'd find the real Paul, far away from all the noise, and become a better me.

That's the problem.

You don't quit being an internet person to do nothing and hope something better pops up. You need to become a new person. You need a goal. You say: I'm going to write a book. All this tweeting and blogging and shit is killing me so it needs to go. I'm cutting the internet out altogether and instead, every day beginning at 7:30 AM I'm going to write.

Otherwise nothing will change.

What he actually did was take a vacation. Which doesn't need to last longer than 2-3 months, tops.

Post: #10

What a joke. The guy thought by doing one thing his life would just magically improve. It's this entitled attitude that is making America fall down the drain.

Post: #11

First World bullshit.