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Every week, my family goes offline for the Sabbath. Not just 24 hours of doing nothing, but 25 hours of no technology. If it's on, it's on. If it's off, it's of
by voicedYoda 4y ago
Every week, my family goes offline for the Sabbath. Not just 24 hours of doing nothing, but 25 hours of no technology. If it's on, it's on. If it's off, it's off. We've been successfully doing this for 20 years. It was a hard transition initially, as neither my partner nor I grew up in that type of religious home. However we opted into this level of observancy because it helped us feel free, gain control of some aspects of our life, and not be bound to the 24/7 cycle.
It's not always easy, and when there are holidays overlapping the Sabbath, making it 49 hours, that can sometimes be grating.
That said, we find fulfillment in long walks, community meals, board games, books, sitting around and lazing about, etc.
During these times, i do have amazing conversations (and arguments) with my family. And the space created for us is so rare these days. I can't imagine life with out our weekly ritual.
- silisili 4y agoReally like the idea. In fact, I hope there's more of a widespread movement to forgo technology, either for a period of time or more permanently. That said, can you explain this line - > If it's on, it's on. If it's off, it's off
- groot2581 4y agoNot the parent, but this article might be instructive https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shabbat_elevator https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shabbat_elevator
- voicedYoda 4y agoEr, kind of? People like to say the public transit system can be considered a horizonal elevator if you want to take the concept far enough. But even so, the idea is still there.
- karaterobot 4y agoNot the commenter, but it may well be because even turning off an operational device counts as work. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/39_Melakhot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/39_Melakhot
- voicedYoda 4y agoCorrect
- jjraden 4y agoIf they’re talking about the Jewish observance of the sabbath, it’s my understanding that they’re not allowed to turn on an electronic (or mechanical?) device nor turn one off during the sabbath itself. Obvious exceptions are made for such things as life-saving situations, the practice of medicine, etc.
- voicedYoda 4y agoYup
- joelfried 4y agoNot OP, but grew up observant. What's meant there is that you choose to not change the state of the electronics. An light that's already on stays on the entire time - you don't turn it off. You end up with an extra set of intentionality - you have to decide during the week if you want lights during the evening in the winter on Friday nights (and if you do, how late should they be on as you're probably setting up a timer on a smart plug).
- voicedYoda 4y agoExactly
- aeternum 4y agoYou simply make sure you leave all the TVs throughout the house on different channels so you can watch what you want while not violating the rule upon some technicality.
- voicedYoda 4y agoSigh
- m463 4y agoI wonder if you can start a speaker phone call that lasts 25 hours and one minute :)
- voicedYoda 4y agoIf it's an autonomous system, we usually don't have to mess around with it, ie furnace follows nests schedule, hot water heater cycles itself, timers that run all week for living room lights will keep doing their thing. For lights, we leave bathroom lights on, but turn off lights and leave it that way. We go so far as to either have switch covers or tape to prevent accidental state changes.
- AnonC 4y agoThis is not intended to be snarky, but I’m curious to understand the boundaries of “no technology”. Does it mean not using devices with screens and/or Internet connectivity or does it include avoiding things like refrigerators, washing machines, blenders, dishwashers, ovens, stoves, electric lights, doorbells, electric kettles, water heaters, fans, air conditioning, automobiles, and many more that are built with technology?
- bramblerose 4y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_on_Shabbat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_on_Shabbat
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- voicedYoda 4y agoGreat question! For the most part, we don't turn anything on or off. It stays in it's state. The water heater or furnace have their own systems they abide by, and given they aren't alive, they aren't required to abide by the rules of the Sabbath. This goes for any autonomous system: timers for lights, crock pots, utilities, servers, answering machines, faxes, etc. We don't cook food, so either everything has to be prepared in advance, or we eat cold stuff. We also follow more strict rules that are beyond tech. Technology is just one thing we avoid (long story short is we are prohibited from making a fire, sparks generated but turning something on is conceivably a distant, but related spark, thus we avoid turning on things). We don't write (no pen/paper) and as adults we don't usually play with chalk, but our children are less contained by this nuance. We don't chop wood. We try to even avoid making plans for after the Sabbath during the Sabbath. We don't drive cars, do normal work, run errands, do chores (sweeping, cleaning up, etc are fine, but some people hold that even doing dishes may violate their Sabbath, but to each their own).
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- steve1977 4y ago
- teolandon 4y agoVery different from OP's "Do Nothing". Rule 1 already makes it a completely different experience than just "no technology".
- jjulius 4y ago... so? Edit: I guess I just don't understand this approach. GP is clearly in a different life situation (has a family) than the person who wrote the article. As this sort of task clearly isn't doable for everyone, why not discuss ways you can still achieve, or try to achieve, the same or similar goals based on your own situation? Does HN not foster constructive conversation, even if it's tangential to the original point?
- teolandon 4y agoYou're right, I was too dismissive. I think GP's experience is valuable, just not what I was looking for in the comments at the time, and I made a brash comment about it.
- jjulius 4y agoI get it, I can totally do the same thing, and I think I only replied because I recognized myself in the response. :p Enjoy the rest of your day!
- voicedYoda 4y agoIn some sense, your are correct, it's not a 1:1, but I also take from the article the main point is to try and force yourself into a mode of seclusion that helps your process a new way of thinking. Front yourself from the trappings of routine, so to speak. I'm not able, not interested, in doing nothing, but I'm interested in ways that help me look at the world differently, and in the case of the blog 's intent, i feel my approach has validity, albeit in a different way.
- teolandon 4y agoWhat I gathered from the post was that it was more of a challenge to see how OP would do without any sort of stimulation. I think that's the fundamental difference here, OP's experiment is an extreme, where you go to no stimulation at all, while the Sabbath is more of a shift in sources of stimulation. Still valuable, and a lot to gain from it, of course.