Better Off : Flipping the Switch on Technology
by Eric Brende | Biographies & Memoirs | This book has not been rated.
ISBN: 0060570040 Global Overview for this book
ISBN: 0060570040 Global Overview for this book
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
2 journalers for this copy...
Amazon description: What happens when a graduate of MIT, the bastion of technological advancement, and his bride move to a community so primitive in its technology that even Amish groups consider it antiquated?
Eric Brende conceives a real-life experiment: to see if, in fact, all our cell phones, wide-screen TVs, and SUVs have made life easier and better -- or whether life would be preferable without them. By turns, the query narrows down to a single question: What is the least we need to achieve the most? With this in mind, the Brendes ditch their car, electric stove, refrigerator, running water, and everything else motorized or "hooked to the grid" and begin an eighteen-month trial run -- one that dramatically changes the way they live, and proves entertaining and surprising to readers.
Better Off is a smart, often comedic, and always riveting book that also mingles scientific analysis with the human story, demonstrating how a world free of technological excess can shrink stress -- and waistlines -- and expand happiness, health, and leisure. Our notion that technophobes are backward gets turned on its head as the Brendes realize that the crucial technological decisions of their adopted Minimite community are made more soberly and deliberately than in the surrounding culture, and the result is greater -- not lesser -- mastery over the conditions of human existence.
My thoughts: Though not fantastic, this was definitely an interesting read. Eric and his wife obviously learned a great deal about themselves, technology, faith and community through their experiement. His insight is truly fascinating, just not always presented in an easily digested form. I admit, my mind did tend to wander a bit as I read which is unusual for me. It was worth pushing through the slow parts, however. Definitely gives you something to think about...
Postal RABCK (50 States Challenge).
Eric Brende conceives a real-life experiment: to see if, in fact, all our cell phones, wide-screen TVs, and SUVs have made life easier and better -- or whether life would be preferable without them. By turns, the query narrows down to a single question: What is the least we need to achieve the most? With this in mind, the Brendes ditch their car, electric stove, refrigerator, running water, and everything else motorized or "hooked to the grid" and begin an eighteen-month trial run -- one that dramatically changes the way they live, and proves entertaining and surprising to readers.
Better Off is a smart, often comedic, and always riveting book that also mingles scientific analysis with the human story, demonstrating how a world free of technological excess can shrink stress -- and waistlines -- and expand happiness, health, and leisure. Our notion that technophobes are backward gets turned on its head as the Brendes realize that the crucial technological decisions of their adopted Minimite community are made more soberly and deliberately than in the surrounding culture, and the result is greater -- not lesser -- mastery over the conditions of human existence.
My thoughts: Though not fantastic, this was definitely an interesting read. Eric and his wife obviously learned a great deal about themselves, technology, faith and community through their experiement. His insight is truly fascinating, just not always presented in an easily digested form. I admit, my mind did tend to wander a bit as I read which is unusual for me. It was worth pushing through the slow parts, however. Definitely gives you something to think about...
Postal RABCK (50 States Challenge).
Ooooh, I've been wanting to read this since I heard about it. Thank you so much Firegirl! I'll pass this along after I've read it. =)
Journal Entry 3 by havfaith at North Spokane Library in Spokane, Washington USA on Monday, August 13, 2012
Released 11 yrs ago (8/13/2012 UTC) at North Spokane Library in Spokane, Washington USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
Best guess - I know I no longer have this book so it's been released somewhere! =)
