Could you live without technology?

United States
February 16, 2010 9:13am CST
I will be doing this myself for 10 months, starting in April of 2010. I will be living like the Amish do, no technology! Technology runs our life. It is all around us everyday running our life. I think people have relied on technology way too much. People don't even leave their houses because they want to sit in front of the t.v. all day, or the computer, or run on the treadmill thats in their house, buying food online and getting it shipped to their house, talking on phones instead of face to face conversations, cooking on stoves but if the power goes out they won't be able to eat, using oil to heat their house but when the world runs out then what? People are getting sick from eating meat and produce because of bacteria getting into their foods. Why not grow our own garden and get some cattle and pigs for our own meat. That way you know it is healthy. Why don't we go back to a barter system? That way their is never money involved, you would give your neighbor something you have multiple of and in return he would give you something he has. This is how it all use to be in our past before technology came along. My question would be.... do you think you could go back in time and be able to survive without technology? No phone, no motors, no electricity, no cook stove, no cars, no t.v., no flushing toilet, nothing that is considered technology. You would have to plant your own garden and crop fields, you would have to use a fireplace for cooking, you would have to use an outhouse for the bathroom, you would use oil burning lamps for your light, you would use horse and buggy to get around to where you needed to go, you would have to get close to your community in case you needed help or different supplies, you could use solar panels for some electricity and use brooks for your water. That is only a little on what you would have to do but I hope you get the idea of what I am trying to put across. Now, do you think you could live this way without technology and survive? Would you even want to try?
3 people like this
18 responses
@phoenix8606 (4942)
16 Feb 10
hi! Yeah, i think i can and not only me, i think we all can live without it, but it just makes our life easier and that's why we think we can't live without it. But is it really so important, that we say, we can not live without it? does our life really depends on it? i think NO, maybe only the technology, which save our life in the hospital are really imporatant and we can't survive without it, but PC, cell phones, cars, TV- these are things, which make our life easier, not possible
1 person likes this
• United States
16 Feb 10
I would have to agree with the hospital, that could save our lives if we really needed it. All the other things do make our life easier but we do not need them we just choose to use they because they are here in our life now.
@anurag3786 (6267)
• India
16 Feb 10
No i don't live without technology.. because now in these days every person are addict of technology.. so there is no life without it.. suppose if every technology are destroy .. then the condition will like very worst .. so it is not possible to love without it.. bbye and take care.. have a nice day..keep mylotting always..
• United States
16 Feb 10
If ever technology disappeared there will be many people who will die because they will never know how to survive without it. Where I live now I don't use technology much, other than my computer. If all the technology disappeared it wouldn't faze me. I think technology should come to a stand still, maybe that will make people get out of there houses more or make them see new sights. It would hopefully make people realized there is more than just technology out in our world. My opinion! Thank you and have a great day yourself....
• Bulgaria
16 Feb 10
hello , do you think your grandma' was sitting on the phone all day , when she was young , or cook on microwave :), it is possible but it's realy easy to be hi-tech. I preffer to be with technology before not to be.Greets
@cybersoft01 (1284)
• India
17 Feb 10
Well, I am sure I and anyone else on this planet can live without technology. Technology only makes your life easier and happy to live. The technology you are talking about has been developed only a couple of decades back and our ancestors have lived their life much happily than we. It's only that we have got used to this technologies and think that we can't live without it.
• India
17 Feb 10
weel, i can't live without musical gadgets like ipods, music players, speakers etc, although we are using laptops, computers, wm, lcd tv, geysers, refrigerator, microwave ovens, and different other daily life products associated with our day to day needs and requirements, basically, we are relied upon that more than its needs, we have to take just help from them, but exactly our whole lifestyle based upon them these technology
@zzyw87 (1254)
• Philippines
17 Feb 10
I am not a tech fanatic. But I also have to admit that I don't think I can live without technology. It has become a vital part of my daily life. I use my car, use a stove, etc. I also have to use the computer at work to make things easier and faster. Because of all the help that technology had brought me, I don't even want to try living without it. Just an honest opinion.
• United States
17 Feb 10
I am happy to hear that you are not fully a tech fanatic. I can tell you that I use all the things that you mentioned too. Somedays though I don't even want to use them. They will sit there for a couple days not being used. I really don't care how much easier technology is going to make things for me. I would rather be active by walking someplace or carry firewood inside to cook on a wood stove. That's just me though! Thank you for your response
• Philippines
17 Feb 10
Yes I want to try the 10 months without technology, I've already tried living without it in my province but not that long but long enough, and here i am still breathing...
• United States
17 Feb 10
I was on a trip one time and I noticed an Amish man with a horse and buggy going down the side of the highway. From that day I wanted to do a little research on what it was like living like the Amish. It amazed me how they lived their lives. I decided I wanted to try living like they do. To me this would half way be easy, I live on a farm right now with 250 acres. Yes we use technology but not as much as some people do. We run a farm with our hard labor, grow a garden in the summer all by hand, and try to up keep our 1700's farm house. So in April I am moving into a small one bedroom house that I built out in one of my parents fields. That is were I will be for the 10 months without technology. I have a place for a garden and a small crop field. There are apple trees, blueberries, and a couple peach trees. I will be canning fruit when they come into season, to preserve them. There is a natural running stream 100 feet away from the house. I have a couple solar panels that will be mounted on the roof so, if need be I could run a lamp ect.... I have built an outhouse but it is connected to the house on the back side, that way I can run heat from the wood stove through a metal pipe. That way I don't have to sit and freeze outside. There is so much more, plus I have to add some more things to make it just right. I'm sure once I start living there I will have to make changes along the way. I just want to do it to see if I really can live fully off of running technology. Thank you for your response and I'm glad you have tried to live without technology, good for you!
• United States
16 Feb 10
I think being able to use solar power for electricity would allow me to live the life I'm living now - I could power an electric stove, heater, cooler, computer, internet, television, water heater, etc. etc. But if I had to back to before gas and electricity, I could do it. It'd actually be pretty nice! I love gardening, I sew, crochet, grew up with horses, sheep, chickens, etc. It was pretty nice! The one thing I'd really miss though is the indoor plumbing - toilets and showers are brilliant and heavenly luxuries! I understand where you're coming from, though - if I didn't have my computer and internet, it sure would make things dull around here. I love to kick back, watch a movie (on the internet) and crochet. Pretty relaxing! I suppose I'd have to get together with some other ladies to chit chat while sewing or crocheting. Oooooh... and then I'd have to hand hem things - that could be a bummer.... lol
• United States
16 Feb 10
I live on a farm myself. I have always been around animals and enjoy it. I do a lot of knitting myself but know how to do almost every craft there is. I live in the country with 250 arces, very quiet out here and sometimes very boring. I would have to agree with you on indoor plumbing, we use to have an outhouse and I hated it. It is nice having some of the technology that we have today. I still like trying to do things that don't use technology though. It keeps me active and healthy. It is also nice to be able to join other people in my community and do things together for each other. We all help each other out with things that we have or things that we make. Thank you for your response and keep doing crafts, it's a great way to relax!
• India
18 Feb 10
It is very difficult for me to live with out all modern technology.For me electricity is very important with out it life is boring.No power means no computer television etc.
@Bloggership (1104)
• Indonesia
17 Feb 10
I believe i still will be survive without these days technologies... It's about how i can getting used to without the technology stuff... But it will be hard if i live in the big city like now... Electricity is the primary needs...
@nijolechu (1842)
• Canada
17 Feb 10
I think I could go without technology too. It would take me a while to adjust to a life without technology. Because I have grown so accustomed to it being in my life. The sad thing is I would go through withdrawal symptoms because I am so needing it in my life and it has become a daily routine. But I will learn to adjust and live without it.
@megamatt (14292)
• United States
16 Feb 10
I will be completely honest. I might be able to last only a few days at most and that would be very grudgingly. I doubt I would be the only one. Technology has driven our society so much in many ways. If technology is taken away, then many people will be unable to function. Myself included but there will be many who be off. I doubt I would even try to do so because there is just so much of my life. There may be a chance that I could adapt, I just do not want to adapt. I am set and stubborn in my ways, what can I say. Once again, I do not doubt that I am the only one like this.
• United States
17 Feb 10
Many people will not be able to live without technology. Which is sad in my eyes. I can say that I have everything I would ever want of technology. I have the new iphone, new computer, new car which is a mercedes benz, all new appliances, ect... but if there ever was a day that I couldn't use them it wouldn't kill me. I some times never use them now in my life. They just don't get used for a couple days to a week. I think I just get irritated by them. I would never want to see the world have a collapes where all our technololgy fails us. Then what would people do? I think people wouldn't know what to do in that situation. Everyone would panic! I would never want to see this happen but you never know in our world, because no one can controll our world (earth). Thank you for your response.
@Ladyslipper (1327)
• Philippines
17 Feb 10
I think I would not be able to live without those things I'm already used to. Even people in the remote area where we had an immersion when I was still in College rely on Technology. Though they don't rely on technology as much as people do in the city technology is still a part of their life. Honestly, I would want to live life easier and do the short- cut, get things and work done faster compared to doing everything manually. That's the reason even if I can live without technology as in living in literal meaning I still prefer to live my life with Technologies. However, too much of something is bad so I also believe that relying too much on technology is not healthy and good.
@bogdan06 (19)
• Romania
17 Feb 10
Technology became indispensable. I couldn't live a pleasant life without it. It would be a very boring life without a PC and a television. It would be very hard to comunicate without cellphones, also. Life without technology sucks.
@artee13 (125)
• Philippines
17 Feb 10
If you really think about it I think that I can live that kind of life. Although at first it will be hard but when I get used to it I can live that way. I agree with the first answer that all of us can live that way because we lived that way once then we surely can live that way again.
@funkykid (441)
• India
12 Nov 10
I've spent some time in some very remote places where the environment was pristine - no roads, no phones, no cars . I enjoyed it immensely and the most "advanced" technology we had was a single light bulb. I'd have to change my habits a lot, but I think I'd be fine. As long as the conveniences are here though, I'll use them. I enjoy gadgets.
@gracie04 (4549)
• Philippines
16 Feb 10
I don't think I could live without the help of technology.. technology's been playing an important role in my life.. it's been making my life a lot easier.. gadgets like laptop, mobile phone, digital camera, television, cooking stove, electric fan and airconditioning are some of my favorites.. I am using them on a daily basis particularly my laptop, mobile phone and cooking stove.. :) technology's continuously evolving and i am pretty sure more high tech gadgets will be out in the market real soon! i can't wait to see and use them!
@kaylachan (56277)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
16 Feb 10
I don't think I could do that. I wouldn't be able to survive long. I need some kind of circulated heating and cooling system, otherwise I could literally die. People like me didn't live very long because of the lack of technological advancment. In the medical world people rely on technology to keep people alive. If i was to go back to what you were saying oxygen tanks wouldn't exist either or at the very least not work very well. "portiable" oxygen wouldn't last very long eaither. Not saying I need it now, but In the summer espically I would need it because of my lungs clogging up if it got to hot. Now I've gone four days without power, and I was able to survive because of the truck and being able to go out when need be. A world without technology is an isolated lony life.
• Indonesia
16 Feb 10
i think i can survive, but if i can choose the situation, i won't let myself into that kind of 'world'. being kinda used to technology, and it will be very difficult for me to let them 'go'.
@basqui (3888)
• Philippines
17 Feb 10
no, i can't live without technology! The web and Mobile phone let's me communicate with my friends and families. Motor vehicles get me to where i wanna go in less time. The fridge keeps my food edible for months. The Tv and radio updates my dailies and gets to know what's happening worldwide. Well, but if you were to give me money and get me to be a hermit in a mountain or island then maybe i could.