While the forms which many of our modern technologies take are new, the basic actions we do with them are not. It follows that wisdom handed down for hundreds of years can be helpful in discerning good/proper uses for these things, though it may take some work to "translate" specific statements of old to the applications in the present day.

How would you describe many of the tools of today to someone from hundreds of years ago? Most of the actions we do on a computer are just variations on things that people as a collective have known for a long time.

A computer (laptop, desktop, smartphone) smashes together many tools into a new form—at once, it can be a writing station, drawing board, and library. As such, it can also be the means by which we request (or provide) numerous services—the same standard for what services we should and shouldn't request still stand. As one should not wander the "red light district" of a city, so too we shouldn't do this online. Idle talking and negligence in work can be practiced on computers just as they can be in face to face interactions. Simularly, empty speculation, gossip (in the sense of relaying stuff you've heard but don't know), and straight up lying can be practiced. In recent times, there is a lot of talk about "cyber security" and protecting against scams and attacks and stuff—there is a way in which people need to of course be prudent themselves and not get tricked/duped, but this doesn't mean that we should naïvely trust governments and/or big corporations to be arbiters of truth for us, telling us what is and isn't of the world. Sending letters isn't bad, but people can send letters with truth and love or with guile and deception.

Modern Technology Challenges

Evidently, many people do not enjoy working with the computer interface as much as they do using "traditional" tools like pen and paper. Yet most of us find ourselves in a time/place where we are surrounded by these things whether we want to be or not—chances are that the readership of this very blog post are looking at this from a web brorwser of some sort.

I think that the main way computers can be dangerous are distraction (and related, suggestion). While you can align your body to focus on a very concrete/physical task, like working on laying bricks in front of you, setting up a computing environment to be useful is a bit trickier. You won't find yourself laying bricks with a host of distractions in front of you as readily as a computer interface presents these things—here I'm thinking of how social media, games, and other things we might do on a computer can present themselves right in front of you as you try to complete some task. It is like... trying to lay some bricks, and then having all of these marketer/lobbyist types circling around you offering you free samples so that you will engage with them instead of doing your work at hand.

The mind also easily wanders without "natural" stimuli. Most of us cannot read for hours on end—it takes concentration and discipline to read for a little while, and then we need to rest and do something else. We typically do not read for hours and hours each day. Advertising often stalks our appetites; it is a predator and we are its prey.

In Internet slang, we have some interesting terms. First instance, people might speak of "food porn" or even "fear porn" (doom and gloom news stories to stimulate you in feelings of fear/anxiety, eager to "learn" more from the edge of your seat). Years ago, I'd probably laugh at these terms and not realize the association between various stimulating content in these not overtly sexual ways and the other bad stuff you shouldn't look at. Yet much internet "content", including the aforementioned genera operate by the same mechanism—they appeal to the passions such as:

• mindlessness, idleness, idiocy (e.g. silly, pointless videos, using YouTube as distraction/noise)
• coarseness, loquacity, spurious knowledge (e.g. being rude, arrogant, useless on some Internet forum; acquiring "expertise" in something that is beneficial to nobody and talking excessively about your fruitless endeavors) ¹
• soft living, listlessness, overeating (e.g. loitering around eating snacks and/or drinking on the computer while "doing nothing")
• love of popularity, attraction to what is fleeting, frivolity, mindless friendship (easy things to do on social media sites)
• all the stuff associated with "actual" porn in its many forms (can include "fashion", animations/games, and more)—includes efforts put forth to acquire it, distribute it, profit from it, etc.

I list the things above confessing I have personal experience wasting many hours with all of these activities. While none of these activities may appear to be a really "big crime" like mugging someone in the street, cheating on your spouse, or using occult magic to sell your soul for fame and riches, they are (seemingly) small steps in that same direction of non-repentance and soul staining badness. If you are a spineless blob in front of your PC saying "at least I didn't kill anyone", you are wrong—you're killing yourself slowly, wasting what you've been given (especially time/attention), and likely facilitating many others in the same path.

Using tech correctly

By articulating some of the ways tech can be used in a self-destructive and how "work" at the computer can turn to vice at the literal click of a button, I aim to learn to correct my own behavior.

Considering how we spend our time—not just "overt/outward" behavior, but looking at the things we access with our senses and think about—is something that is difficult to do. Better to recognize the errors in our ways now and steer towards doing right now while we have the chance rather than distracting ourselves and being filled with regret later.