When I read philosophy, it nearly always gets me thinking about technology. Not because I am obsessed with it, or that it occupies all of my thoughts, but because I don’t really have any other vices to solve. I mean, I probably do, but my usage of technology is one of the only things I seek a solution for. Which usually means I moan about it on my blog, or I shut myself off from it. Which is completely the wrong approach.

Show us these things, so we can see that you truly have learned from the philosophers ~ Epictetus, Discourses 3.21.5-6

When Epictetus writes ‘show us these things,’ he means the rest of your life. He refers to eating, drinking, suffering abuse, having children, all of the things that you expect to fill your life with. Only amongst all of these ‘normal’ things will you really show your true values and morals. You, and those around you, will be able to judge if your values are true only with, and against, action.

It is easy to be a virtuous man if you shut yourself off from the world. Never having temptation nor the opportunity to test yourself. The Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, came from the riches of royal parents and was content with nothing. Jesus walked with sinners, thieves, and prostitutes, yet knew himself. The list of people that became great whilst living in the world is endless, yet the temptation to shut out everything is a powerful one. The problem becomes when your outlook on the world is never tested, they are never hardened or broken by the world.

How does this relate to technology, you might be wondering? Well, this all boils down to my constant desire to remove it from my life. I don’t want a smartphone, yet I need one. I don’t want to use social media much, yet it brings me much needed interaction. I am still walking the path to self-discovery and, as I have written about before, the knee-jerk reaction is to remove all of the things that I use, get a smaller phone, or a dumb phone and wait for the changes to happen.

Yet they never do. Because the fix is not removing the desire; it is ensuring you no longer desire it. I can happily sit in a pub surrounded by drunk people, and a drop will not pass my lips - because the desire has been removed from my life. I could take an entire busload of people to McDonald’s and not order a thing, but take me to a shop selling technology and my cup may very well overflow. When I can sit and watch an Apple keynote and not order a thing, that will be peace, my friends.