"I have heard that some people are tired of the tech conversation. I say the tech conversation hasn’t even begun"
The interview with Yossie Strickman made this past week’s Mishpacha a hit. You see, this topic is something that means a lot to me. I can’t stand — and it really hurts me — seeing people who have so much potential, so much talent and brains, literally throwing their lives out the window through technology.
Yossie was quoted as saying, “It means appreciating the effects they can have, not only on one’s religious observance, but on one’s ability to interact with society and maintain healthy and durable relationships.” It’s sad how true that is. So many people are “underliving,” thanks to a connection to technology that brings them to the point where they’re weird, they missed the boat, no one’s home.
Your magazine was the start but it has to be something that everyone knows from a younger age: Smartphones aren’t an “outside” problem. Meaning, smartphone use is not an action that you do and move on from; it’s something that changes you. Internet isn’t something you just shouldn’t use; it’s a virus that infects your entire internal hardware.
In the secular world there are a minor few who realize this and don’t have smartphones, just for their mental health. There’s gotta be an awareness that it’s not a frum thing not to have a smartphone, it’s the best life. It’s a life of so much more yishuv hadaas. It’s freedom. And freedom does not mean doing whatever you want, being free means being in control of yourself and living your own life as your own self.
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