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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
informative
slow-paced
hopeful
informative
reflective
fast-paced
First section was good. Second section was so repetitive
informative
inspiring
reflective
informative
medium-paced
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Parts of this book are already outdated, and some were repetitive or dragged a bit, BUT there is some really good advice in here. I think I'm going to follow some of it thanks to my constant dissatisfaction with technology, tied with my reliance on it.
Digital Minimalism - Cal Newport
I finished this book ‘Digital Minimalism’ by Cal Newport this afternoon at lunch. This was indeed a thought provoking read, especially when it coincided with my urge to disconnect from social media and has turn into positive fuel to do so in actionable terms. Just like his previous book, this one too is simplistic in language and to the point in terms of delivery.
The lopsidedness of this battle is a big part of the reason I never messed around with any of these services in the first place. To repeat a line from the New Yorker writer George Packer, “[Twitter] scares me, not because I’m morally superior to it, but because I don’t think I could handle it. I’m afraid I’d end up letting my son go hungry.” If you must use these services, however, and you hope to do so without ceding autonomy over your time and attention, it’s crucial to understand that this is not a casual decision. You’re instead waging a David and Goliath battle against institutions that are both impossibly rich and intent on using this wealth to stop you from winning.
Newport begins by carefully laying foundations before putting forward his arguments and referring to various practices that can be implemented in order to adopt digital minimalism. There are two sides here: the first is you, the user; and the other is the technological interface powered, engineered and driven by the most powerful tech giants and minutely tweaked by sophisticated algorithms. Newport argues that this is a lopsided arms race (see quote above) as one individual has no way of winning against a bulk of largest conglomerates in technology. The author moves on to define digital minimalism and how it is important to carefully select the services you want to consume and to ensure that the services work for you rather than the other way around. Looking at the way we use technology now, leaving aside all the essential and life saving mechanisms, particularly in the form of hand-held devices, it is intriguing how dispensable we have become. Anyone who wants to reach out to you can in fact reach out to you in an instant and get to the most private moments of your lives. Is this necessary? Do we need to be available all the time? Ultimately, the question is: did we sign up for this?
“I want to briefly focus on two forces from this longer treatment that not only seemed particularly relevant to our discussion, but as you’ll soon learn, repeatedly came up in my own research on how tech companies encourage behavioral addiction: intermittent positive reinforcement and the drive for social approval. (Loc.310-312)”
A friend - who could be my best friend or someone who I have barely met - is enjoying a cup of coffee somewhere. Is that information relevant for me now? Do we need to get updated about people’s smallest of moments while living on the other side of the globe? These are the questions I dwell upon when reading the book and at the same time remembering my own usage of social media in my phone few days ago.
Newport discusses few hacks that people have implemented in order to get away from the noise, but also indicates that simply adopting the tips and hacks are not sufficient to reclaim your time. We need to ask a few deep questions such as why do we need a particular services after all? This is one of three principles he advocates: De-clutter, Optimization and Intentionality. Start by de-cluttering your devices, Optimize the apps to suit your need, and use the services with specific intentions. Do not use because it is free, or do not use to satisfy a vague need, such as ‘to stay updated’, ‘to catch up’, or even ‘to entertain yourself’. Be specific, and be precise on why. He adds: “Finding useful new technologies is just the first step to improving your life. The real benefits come once you start experimenting with how best to use them.”
Encouraging to take a 30 days break, Newport argues that “the goal is not to simply give yourself a break from technology, but to instead spark a permanent transformation of your digital life. The detoxing is merely a step that supports this transformation.” He adds: “Your month long break from optional technologies resets your digital life. You can now rebuild it from scratch in a much more intentional and minimalist manner. To do so, apply a three-step technology screen to each optional technology you’re thinking about reintroducing. This process will help you cultivate a digital life in which new technologies serve your deeply held values as opposed to subverting them without your permission. It is in this careful reintroduction that you make the intentional decisions that will define you as a digital minimalist.”
There are mentions of several aspects of our life amidst the digital environment which are highly relatable, and one of those that stroke me was ‘solitude’. Humans need solitude and time for reflection. We need to step outside to clearly see things inside. I felt that the omnipresent connectivity has stripped away our solitude. That is why, probably, we feel different in the mountains, because we are disconnected from the world and can reflect on ourselves.
Another aspect I liked is the mention of walking, as a therapeutic activity. Not sure if this is relatable to others but I truly relate to the sense of elation I get during / after the activity of walking.
I suggest you to read the book, which is a pretty short one at that, and see how it connects with your life. There are certain sections where I was skeptic, but all in all, I liked this friendly reminder of a book, which encouraged me to go ahead with this experiment. It’s been just a few days being away from social media and I already feel much better. I would have probably checked my feed five times while writing this review, but not today. Not today.
Find the full review with my own experience of digital minimalism in my Substack
I finished this book ‘Digital Minimalism’ by Cal Newport this afternoon at lunch. This was indeed a thought provoking read, especially when it coincided with my urge to disconnect from social media and has turn into positive fuel to do so in actionable terms. Just like his previous book, this one too is simplistic in language and to the point in terms of delivery.
The lopsidedness of this battle is a big part of the reason I never messed around with any of these services in the first place. To repeat a line from the New Yorker writer George Packer, “[Twitter] scares me, not because I’m morally superior to it, but because I don’t think I could handle it. I’m afraid I’d end up letting my son go hungry.” If you must use these services, however, and you hope to do so without ceding autonomy over your time and attention, it’s crucial to understand that this is not a casual decision. You’re instead waging a David and Goliath battle against institutions that are both impossibly rich and intent on using this wealth to stop you from winning.
Newport begins by carefully laying foundations before putting forward his arguments and referring to various practices that can be implemented in order to adopt digital minimalism. There are two sides here: the first is you, the user; and the other is the technological interface powered, engineered and driven by the most powerful tech giants and minutely tweaked by sophisticated algorithms. Newport argues that this is a lopsided arms race (see quote above) as one individual has no way of winning against a bulk of largest conglomerates in technology. The author moves on to define digital minimalism and how it is important to carefully select the services you want to consume and to ensure that the services work for you rather than the other way around. Looking at the way we use technology now, leaving aside all the essential and life saving mechanisms, particularly in the form of hand-held devices, it is intriguing how dispensable we have become. Anyone who wants to reach out to you can in fact reach out to you in an instant and get to the most private moments of your lives. Is this necessary? Do we need to be available all the time? Ultimately, the question is: did we sign up for this?
“I want to briefly focus on two forces from this longer treatment that not only seemed particularly relevant to our discussion, but as you’ll soon learn, repeatedly came up in my own research on how tech companies encourage behavioral addiction: intermittent positive reinforcement and the drive for social approval. (Loc.310-312)”
A friend - who could be my best friend or someone who I have barely met - is enjoying a cup of coffee somewhere. Is that information relevant for me now? Do we need to get updated about people’s smallest of moments while living on the other side of the globe? These are the questions I dwell upon when reading the book and at the same time remembering my own usage of social media in my phone few days ago.
Newport discusses few hacks that people have implemented in order to get away from the noise, but also indicates that simply adopting the tips and hacks are not sufficient to reclaim your time. We need to ask a few deep questions such as why do we need a particular services after all? This is one of three principles he advocates: De-clutter, Optimization and Intentionality. Start by de-cluttering your devices, Optimize the apps to suit your need, and use the services with specific intentions. Do not use because it is free, or do not use to satisfy a vague need, such as ‘to stay updated’, ‘to catch up’, or even ‘to entertain yourself’. Be specific, and be precise on why. He adds: “Finding useful new technologies is just the first step to improving your life. The real benefits come once you start experimenting with how best to use them.”
Encouraging to take a 30 days break, Newport argues that “the goal is not to simply give yourself a break from technology, but to instead spark a permanent transformation of your digital life. The detoxing is merely a step that supports this transformation.” He adds: “Your month long break from optional technologies resets your digital life. You can now rebuild it from scratch in a much more intentional and minimalist manner. To do so, apply a three-step technology screen to each optional technology you’re thinking about reintroducing. This process will help you cultivate a digital life in which new technologies serve your deeply held values as opposed to subverting them without your permission. It is in this careful reintroduction that you make the intentional decisions that will define you as a digital minimalist.”
There are mentions of several aspects of our life amidst the digital environment which are highly relatable, and one of those that stroke me was ‘solitude’. Humans need solitude and time for reflection. We need to step outside to clearly see things inside. I felt that the omnipresent connectivity has stripped away our solitude. That is why, probably, we feel different in the mountains, because we are disconnected from the world and can reflect on ourselves.
Another aspect I liked is the mention of walking, as a therapeutic activity. Not sure if this is relatable to others but I truly relate to the sense of elation I get during / after the activity of walking.
I suggest you to read the book, which is a pretty short one at that, and see how it connects with your life. There are certain sections where I was skeptic, but all in all, I liked this friendly reminder of a book, which encouraged me to go ahead with this experiment. It’s been just a few days being away from social media and I already feel much better. I would have probably checked my feed five times while writing this review, but not today. Not today.
Find the full review with my own experience of digital minimalism in my Substack
Look, I have to admit that the author annoyed me part way through the book so a lot of my critique is a bit petty. Overall I think I agree with a lot of his high level points. But he did things like talked about the study around social media use and mental health as being causation, when it could just as easily be correlation or opposite direction causation. He also did things like identify the big company, captilisim drivers, and then suggest individual fixes for those problems. But then threw in a catchy French phrase to make that seem like something more than it was. Then there was the moment he used an anecdote from a past era which wrote off reading as a passive (low value) activity, but a few pages later he's recommending reading. The whole high value and low value way of describing things really didn't appeal either, it felt like playing into the optimisation mindset which I think is not great. Some people will get a lot from this book I'm sure, but it was not for me.
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
informative
reflective
medium-paced