Should You Give Up Gadgets for a Day?

Clearly, some of us make bad decisions with our gadgets. But even without having to live down a mobile phone-fueled tirade of Gibsonian proportions, many of us have sought forgiveness for our gadget-enabled sins through a ritual purge.

That’s the idea behind Offlining, Inc., which proposes that we all participate in a one-day digital fast. Initially, the call was for a collective fast on September 18, Yom Kippur — the Jewish day of atonement, which calls for total rest (including prohibiting use of any electronic devices) and abstaining from food and drink. Now, the team appears to be targeting Thanksgiving instead.

It’s an unusual exercise — an advertising campaign for nothing in particular (besides signing up to “pledge” to participate in a no-device day) that can’t quite decide whether it’s holy or secular, just as it can’t decide whether life online does terrible things to you or that a one-day holiday from them would be kind of nice. The site includes a bullet-pointed “Ugly Facts About Life Online” that would make me retreat to the mountains if I took it seriously.

Read the completea rticle at reuters.com

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