DIGITAL MINIMALISM HAS a pre-
scription: a month of abstinence
from all modern technology
except the essentials, like work
email and texts with family.
Then, a slow, selective reintro-
duction of devices and apps, each
one allowed back only if it boosts
productiv it y or gratifies leisure.
But really: What does Cal New-
port, Georgetown professor,
best-selling author, theoretician,
father of three, and aspiring
maker, know about using time
well? —Alexander George
Popular Mechanics: This book
made me think of how much
Icovet new gadgets and apps,
even though most of them don’t enable anything
Ican’t already do. So why do I still want them?
Cal Newport: The way we think about new technol-
ogy, like social media or smartphones, is different
from any other tool. They’re presented as “This might
be of some use, so why not try it?” But if you’re a wood-
worker, you don’t go to the Home Depot and think,
Look at this shiny new thing! I’m not quite sure what
I’m going to do with this, but if I have it, it will help.
Woodworkers care about what they’re trying to pro-
duce, and the tools are subordinated to what they’re
accomplishing. Digital Minimalism is thinking of
what you’re trying to do, personally and profession-
ally, and asking, “What’s the best tool? What’s going
to give me the biggest return?” Once you get into a
sor t of craftsman mindset, you’re going to say, “I don’t
need a new iPad.”
PM: But we, generally, choose the opposite of that.
CN: It makes me think of this commercial. A robot-
icist is using this tablet, dragging his finger across
the screen to create robots. But that’s actually an
incredibly physical job. Roboticists spend years
learning how to build physical actuated things, using
very specific tools and huge workshops. They’re
usually master electrical engineers and structural
engineers. But this tablet enables them to figure out
how to do responsive locomotion? That idea epito-
mizes what’s going on now. It’s this vague sense of
“Just turn on Slack, and your office will improve.”
PM: Besides overselling the utility of new tech, youtalk about how adopting new gadgets or social
media can be harmful.
CN: When the internet is consolidated into big com-
panies like Facebook, those companies think, We
gotta get users at all costs; we’ll figure it out later.
That’s when you get maximalism and engineered
addictiveness. Things like the Apple Watch or Ama-
zon Echo represent this mindset, of not thinking of
what problem the product solves. And that severely
underestimates the value of our time. For example,
I’ve been a skeptic of voice assistants like Alexa. Tap-
ping my weather app wasn’t holding me back from
something important.
PM: There’s a section about solitude, defined as
time when you’re not experiencing ideas from
other minds. What do you gain from turning off
notifications, or leaving your phone at home?
CN: The way our brains work, when you bring in
information, you also have to do a lot of processing.
I have had the privilege to spend time with the very
top theoretical minds in the world, and they spend
tons of time just thinking. This time can help w ith a
professional task, or with self-reflection, to figuring
out your life. But even if you’re in a remote cabin,
if you’re listening to a podcast, you’re not in soli-
tude. You’re reacting. You’re thinking, What does
this person mean? Do I agree with them? Phones
activate expensive parts of your brain. Running
them all the time is exhausting.
PM: You’re a computer scien-
tist. Isn’t talking like this bad
for business?
CN: I see technology through this
lens where there’s this beauti-
ful theory, and computation.
You can use logic and math to
determine what you can and
can’t solve with computing sys-
tems. But then, I look around and
think, I’m at the beginning of a
long pipeline that eventually
leads to big systems. Technolo-
gies have huge impacts, a lot of
them unintentional. That’s why
I write about this stuff. I figure,
it’s probably good to have some-
one who’s deep inside this world
doing some self-reflection.A computer scientist’s advice for dumping
the unnecessary gadgets and apps in your life.A Case for
Less Tech
Other ideas
fromDigital
Minimalism ($26)
that we couldn’t
fit here: the
case for building
physical things,
board games,
and how to be
better at reading
the news.COLUMNS@PopularMechanics _ July/August 2019 27PH
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