Comment by keiferski
7 years ago
> The practical difference between this ideal and our own lives is so minute that the entire idea of shunning modern technology past an arbitrary date still doesn't end up making any sense.
First off, I don't think it's minute at all. Look outside - 95% of people are staring at a screen in their hands. Cell phones in general and social media in particular have completely taken over the social sphere. Casual conversation on the street or in the checkout line has been replaced with pull out your device and scroll. Online dating is rapidly becoming the default dating method. The examples are endless.
Secondly, the Amish don't shun any technology past an arbitrary date. They decide as a community whether or not to introduce a certain technology, depending on its perceived benefits or costs. This strikes me as a rather wise and mature approach, one that the general public would do well to adopt.
And finally, statistically, the Amish have far more robust families and birth rates as compared to the general population. So it seems pretty easy to make the argument that their system results in a greater focus on family, even if adopting similar behaviors (without becoming Amish) is theoretically possible.
I edited my comment away because I didn't think it was useful. Sorry about that.
Your contention was that their lives are not fundamentally different than the average person. I gave a few examples to illustrate that it is indeed quite different. I think you just proved my point.
As to whether online dating/less social interaction in public/lower birthrates/etc. are ultimately better or worse - that's a different discussion.
I am not Amish, have no intention of becoming Amish, and indeed don't know a single person in the Amish community. Yet I applaud them for taking control of the technology in their community - even if I personally disagree with some of their views - unlike the rest of society, which by and large blindly adopts whatever is trendy, pleasurable, or pushed by monied corporate interests.