From The Verge

Could you live a year without the Internet?

Paul Miller, a blogger for the tech site The Verge, asked himself that question…

Then gave it a try.

From May 1, 2012, to the first of this month, Miller completely unplugged himself; no Twitter, no Facebook, no e-mail. He filled his days the old-fashioned way, reading books made of paper instead of pixels and using real facial expressions instead of emoticons.

According to Miller, the first few months were everything he thought they could be, and more. 

My life was full of serendipitous events: real life meetings, frisbee, bike rides, and Greek literature… I lost 15 pounds without really trying. I bought some new clothes. People kept telling me how good I looked, how happy I seemed. As my head uncluttered, my attention span expanded.

But then, as time went on, he began to settle into a whole different rut. 

By late 2012, I’d learned how to make a new style of wrong choices off the Internet. I abandoned my positive offline habits, and discovered new offline vices. Instead of taking boredom and lack of stimulation and turning them into learning and creativity, I turned toward passive consumption and social retreat.

Miller goes on to detail how he began to lose touch with the world around him, failing to answer letters and voicemails and just generally being left behind by our fast-paced digital society today.

Paul Miller’s experiment was by no means a scientific one, and as a blogger by trade his experience sans-World Wide Web likely differs vastly from Joe Schmo’s.

But, it does raise an interesting question about our society as a whole. Do we spend too much time on the Internet? Is there such a thing as too connected?

There are arguments to be made on both sides. Advocates for unplugging argue that hours upon hours of productivity are lost sitting in front of a screen looking at pictures of  animals in peoples’ clothing or giving their friends electronic thumbs-ups.

The electronic wunderkinds, on the other hand, claim that the Internet makes tasks so easy that people can afford to waste that time.

If we can learn anything from Miller’s experiment, it’s that a change in one’s daily routine is almost always for the better.

Do you spend too much time online? Are you in a rut? Let us know how you feel in the comments below!