I don't see proud, smug, or weakness. Nor do I see that "HN readers are on one side": I don't use Facebook, Twitter, a cell phone, an iPod, or a TV, and the on

I don't see proud, smug, or weakness. Nor do I see that "HN readers are on one side": I don't use Facebook, Twitter, a cell phone, an iPod, or a TV, and the only electric things in my kitchen are for heating/cooking. I certainly don't think it's generally true that they "don't think themselves capable of moderation". Obvious counterexample: if she thought that, you wouldn't be carrying a cell phone at all; but she carries a cell phone which she simply never uses. I see it as simply a natural progression: technology was great, when there wasn't much of it -- like sugar and fat, when your diet had almost none of it. Now that we can have all we want, we have to reconsider what we truly want: is more technology (or fat) really our goal? Does TV or Facebook make my life better in any way? I tried, and the answer was clearly "no" for me. I fail to see zealotry in not doing something that doesn't benefit me. Moderation and self-control have nothing to do with it. If there's no point in doing it at all, it doesn't matter how much I do. I don't smoke tobacco, and not because I'm incapable of moderation, but because I see no point in doing it at all.