Cal Newport, Digital Minimalism: Choosing A Focused Life in a Noisy World (2019)

I've found my identity - I'm a digital minimalist (though perhaps with Luddite inclinations)! Newport wants to navigate a path between rigid Luddism, on the one hand, and equally blind acquiescence, on the other. He urges us to think carefully about what we value in life and then to ask several questions of any given piece of digital technology: does it serve these values? is it the best way to serve those values? how can we configure our use of the technology to minimize the harms and maximize the benefits. Newport's stance on digital technology is very close to my own, but he helped me justify my positions more explicitly. For example, in a fascinating discussion of the Amish, he explains that they don't reject technology per se, but approach it very intentionally, exploring its effects on their values and ways of life. This intentionality, according to Newport, amounts to a kind of autonomy, which the Amish value. I probably don't approach digital technology this deliberately, but I do think I value the autonomy of saying no. Newport suggests that each of us start with a 30-day declutter, in which we abstain from optional digital technology. After this cleansing, we should consciously evaluate with technologies we choose to reincorporate. I am considering doing the same, for example with my cycling through websites each day, a cycling that too often ends with youtube. Newport makes interesting comments about strenuous, "high value" leisure, drawing on Aristotle, Thoreau, and others.