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Don't get me wrong, it's great that you found a way to reduce the work stress in your life! But ... I genuinely cannot tell whether the guy posting on Hacker Ne

Don't get me wrong, it's great that you found a way to reduce the work stress in your life! But ... I genuinely cannot tell whether the guy posting on Hacker News that he "dropped out of society" is being serious or tongue-in-cheek. If paying society's currency for all the solar panels and the batteries and the gas and the generator and the refrigerator and the laptops and the deeded property and all the other stuff that society created is dropping out of society, I wonder what it is like to be a member of society.

MrLeap 8y ago
It's a bit tongue-in-cheek but not totally inaccurate. I'm visiting the big city for now which is why I'm on HN. You all are my people, so I like to check in when I can ;) I consider 'dropping out of society' to partially be a state of mind thing. Currently, when I'm 'in country', I am very disconnected from the world at large. I have to drive for 30 minutes in order to receive text messages or phone calls. In order to get internet, I have to drive an hour to the lake so I can get some LTE. I don't have a TV, and I don't listen to the radio. America could go to war and I could go a month without knowing about it. I grew up in suburbia right outside of the densest city in the state. Until last year I had never put a screw into wood, nor had I ever wired up a light or planted a potato. MrLeap's life this year is 180 degrees different than it was every year prior. I think the contrast in my perspective makes the 'drop out' comment more appropriate, but it's a personal thing. I obliterated most of my savings doing this, and I'm on track this year to make SIGNIFICANTLY less than the poverty line. I think that represents a certain uncoupling from the standard structures of society. I intend to increase that as time goes on, but if I fail, I should still keep on living. I've lived an arduous life, and my re-orienting is in reflection of that. If I really put my soul into it, I could garden hard, raise animals and cut out the last human survival-y thing that takes me into town. I really like cans of mini-ravioli though so I might not take it that far. I could get satellite internet, or maybe a cell phone booster and a tower to obviate my connectivity problems. Maybe I will someday. Right now, I'm focused on building a workshop and blacksmithing. The workshop is hexagonal, which I think is cool. Anybody want a forged spatula? ;D
- ohazi 8y ago
  America is currently at war, yet most of us still living in society don't seem to know about it.
- archagon 8y ago
  That sounds fascinating. Too bad it’s kind of incompatible with blogging about it—would love to follow your story!
coldtea 8y ago
>I genuinely cannot tell whether the guy posting on Hacker News that he "dropped out of society" is being serious or tongue-in-cheek. For reference, 90% of people in subsaharan Africa, whatever the country, have a cellphone (with some kind of internet). And around 40% have internet connection (predicted to be 50% 3G in 2020). In the US many homeless people have internet access and even laptops. "Dropping out of society" in a concrete sense and posting on HN are not contradictory. You can do it from a small mobile home in Alaska, your own log cabin somewhere out in Wyoming, or from some hut in the Amazon, all of which qualify to my book.

MrLeap 8y ago

It's a bit tongue-in-cheek but not totally inaccurate. I'm visiting the big city for now which is why I'm on HN. You all are my people, so I like to check in when I can ;) I consider 'dropping out of society' to partially be a state of mind thing. Currently, when I'm 'in country', I am very disconnected from the world at large. I have to drive for 30 minutes in order to receive text messages or phone calls. In order to get internet, I have to drive an hour to the lake so I can get some LTE. I don't have a TV, and I don't listen to the radio. America could go to war and I could go a month without knowing about it. I grew up in suburbia right outside of the densest city in the state. Until last year I had never put a screw into wood, nor had I ever wired up a light or planted a potato. MrLeap's life this year is 180 degrees different than it was every year prior. I think the contrast in my perspective makes the 'drop out' comment more appropriate, but it's a personal thing. I obliterated most of my savings doing this, and I'm on track this year to make SIGNIFICANTLY less than the poverty line. I think that represents a certain uncoupling from the standard structures of society. I intend to increase that as time goes on, but if I fail, I should still keep on living. I've lived an arduous life, and my re-orienting is in reflection of that. If I really put my soul into it, I could garden hard, raise animals and cut out the last human survival-y thing that takes me into town. I really like cans of mini-ravioli though so I might not take it that far. I could get satellite internet, or maybe a cell phone booster and a tower to obviate my connectivity problems. Maybe I will someday. Right now, I'm focused on building a workshop and blacksmithing. The workshop is hexagonal, which I think is cool. Anybody want a forged spatula? ;D

ohazi 8y ago
America is currently at war, yet most of us still living in society don't seem to know about it.
archagon 8y ago
That sounds fascinating. Too bad it’s kind of incompatible with blogging about it—would love to follow your story!

coldtea 8y ago

>I genuinely cannot tell whether the guy posting on Hacker News that he "dropped out of society" is being serious or tongue-in-cheek. For reference, 90% of people in subsaharan Africa, whatever the country, have a cellphone (with some kind of internet). And around 40% have internet connection (predicted to be 50% 3G in 2020). In the US many homeless people have internet access and even laptops. "Dropping out of society" in a concrete sense and posting on HN are not contradictory. You can do it from a small mobile home in Alaska, your own log cabin somewhere out in Wyoming, or from some hut in the Amazon, all of which qualify to my book.