"This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Tiffany Ng, a 24-year-old tech and culture writer based in New York City who runs the newsletter Cyber Celibate. This story has been edited for length and clarity. I found myself, as most people are, attached to my phone. So I started a project called Cyber Celibate, where I took a "vow of digital chastity" and started experimenting with being a " neo-Luddite." The idea was: What technology can I quit for set periods of time, what can I learn from it, and how can that help me find more intentional relationships with technology?"
"I thought if I chained my phone to my wall, and it makes the experience of scrolling on my phone incredibly uncomfortable, then I could condition myself almost physically to stop using it as much. So that's what I did for a full week. I used an old belt to chain my phone to the wall. I put a bench in front of it that was not comfortable at all, so sitting on it was not great. I kept the phone settings exactly the same, but I wanted to mimic the idea of minutes, or the idea of scarcity, through a singular charge, so I charged my phone at the start of the week and not again."
A 24-year-old tech and culture writer in New York launched a project called Cyber Celibate to test a "vow of digital chastity" and experiment with neo-Luddite practices. The experiment explored which technologies could be quit for set periods to foster more intentional relationships with devices. The writer physically chained an iPhone to a wall for a week, used an uncomfortable bench, and limited charging to a single full charge to create scarcity. The week was initially difficult due to habitual scrolling, but ultimately led to feeling more present and routinely leaving the phone in other rooms.
Read at Business Insider
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