No Internet: What Can You Do?

[Death]

I was speaking with a friend who is leaving the Internet yesterday, sold his things (PC, Xbox, etc.) and he use a old phone instead.

 

And I was thinking, if you're ready one day to leave the Internet, what can you do to spend time?

 

Edited August 13, 2018 by MyNameHere

[Rhoda]

There's reams of material to help you lead a busy life. It's hard to imagine because being online is almost constant now with data plans and broadband signals that never sleep. I'd argue that you could grow to be a more productive person if you didn't rely on the internet, but it's always easier on paper than it is in practice. One thing you could do is learn to cook. There are hundreds and thousands of recipe books out there which cover a range of techniques, from baking to frying, crafting to icing, stirring to whisking. Prowl second hand book stores for the best ones, the dustier ones. These are what you want. Finding resources is a crap shoot but you're almost guaranteed to find at least one book you can follow to the letter. You don't need to go online to find these ingredients. Even specialist equipment can be found in supermarkets now. 

 

You're not limited to cooking either. From books, you could learn hundreds of skills that you didn't have the motivation to pick up prior to suckling the electronic teat. Playing the piano, carpentry, gardening, automobile repair, throat singing, tropical fish care, there are almost no limits providing you have the time and money. The former should be easy, because now you're not watching Vine compilations. The latter isn't too much of an issue either, because like most good hobbies you don't need a triple digit monthly income to start. I won't argue because it is infinitely easier to follow a YouTube tutorial providing your host isn't too obnoxious.

 

The social side is trickier, but also manageable. You might even find it enjoyable because people aren't hiding behind an internet alias. These are living, breathing people you can touch and read. You can hear timbre changes in their voice, you can tell if they're sincere, you can engage in conversation without having to wait for your opponent to swig from a lukewarm can of Red Bull before bringing your mum into things. Community groups still thrive, they're just masked by a wall of LCD screens and fibre optics. If you look on telephone poles or community news boards you might be lucky enough to see a group meeting locally. These can be orientated around pretty much anything, from cycling to hiking. Fresh air with likeminded people, and it's free! What a time to be alive that we can distract ourselves in such a pleasant fashion that it almost doesn't feel like a chore.

 

You'll notice I've tarted this up a bit. I'm not so up my own arse than I'm going to start cutting people's phone lines and setting their laptops on fire. I'm completely hooked online most days, but I always make a point to close the lid and read a book, or go for a walk, talk to people without having to read lines on a screen like you're doing now. It's a great question because it goes to show just how much we rely on these services to get through life sometimes. People on here have jobs that wouldn't exist without the advent of an internet connection. People's livelihoods depend on it, but it's important to know when to draw the line and set time aside for when you're not online.

 

Challenge yourself - cut your time down and you'll be amazed what you can take away from it.

[Sanches]

I'll grab a can of canned pork, learn how to make a campfire and will try to cook it.
Probably without internet i'll just hang around a campfire.

[M.K.N.]

I'll end up driving myself insane. No lie.

 

Not being able to contact the outside world, especially if internet is strongly required for work. And no, social interaction outside of PC doesn't work; my RL friends had stopped caring about me because they're too busy with work, raising kids or simply stopped caring altogether. I'd resort in using my phone for mobile tethering, but connection speed is virtually nonexistent and using my phone alone to keep in constant touch racks up data usage without WiFi.

 

Hell, going outside just feels pointless because what's there to do if my RL friends can't be bothered to hang out with me, especially if they have their own problems to deal with?

 

And yes, this is how I would feel if I have no internet at all (in which I've dealt with this type of sh*t since the hurricane from last September, which lasted to early December):

 

Edited August 14, 2018 by M.K.N.

[Guest]

7 hours ago, ∴ said:

There's reams of material to help you lead a busy life. It's hard to imagine because being online is almost constant now with data plans and broadband signals that never sleep. I'd argue that you could grow to be a more productive person if you didn't rely on the internet, but it's always easier on paper than it is in practice. One thing you could do is learn to cook. There are hundreds and thousands of recipe books out there which cover a range of techniques, from baking to frying, crafting to icing, stirring to whisking. Prowl second hand book stores for the best ones, the dustier ones. These are what you want. Finding resources is a crap shoot but you're almost guaranteed to find at least one book you can follow to the letter. You don't need to go online to find these ingredients. Even specialist equipment can be found in supermarkets now. 

 

You're not limited to cooking either. From books, you could learn hundreds of skills that you didn't have the motivation to pick up prior to suckling the electronic teat. Playing the piano, carpentry, gardening, automobile repair, throat singing, tropical fish care, there are almost no limits providing you have the time and money. The former should be easy, because now you're not watching Vine compilations. The latter isn't too much of an issue either, because like most good hobbies you don't need a triple digit monthly income to start. I won't argue because it is infinitely easier to follow a YouTube tutorial providing your host isn't too obnoxious.

 

The social side is trickier, but also manageable. You might even find it enjoyable because people aren't hiding behind an internet alias. These are living, breathing people you can touch and read. You can hear timbre changes in their voice, you can tell if they're sincere, you can engage in conversation without having to wait for your opponent to swig from a lukewarm can of Red Bull before bringing your mum into things. Community groups still thrive, they're just masked by a wall of LCD screens and fibre optics. If you look on telephone poles or community news boards you might be lucky enough to see a group meeting locally. These can be orientated around pretty much anything, from cycling to hiking. Fresh air with likeminded people, and it's free! What a time to be alive that we can distract ourselves in such a pleasant fashion that it almost doesn't feel like a chore.

 

You'll notice I've tarted this up a bit. I'm not so up my own arse than I'm going to start cutting people's phone lines and setting their laptops on fire. I'm completely hooked online most days, but I always make a point to close the lid and read a book, or go for a walk, talk to people without having to read lines on a screen like you're doing now. It's a great question because it goes to show just how much we rely on these services to get through life sometimes. People on here have jobs that wouldn't exist without the advent of an internet connection. People's livelihoods depend on it, but it's important to know when to draw the line and set time aside for when you're not online.

 

Challenge yourself - cut your time down and you'll be amazed what you can take away from it.

basically this but to summarize it; if you cant find something to do to occupy yourself outside of the internet you must be one bland individual

[Guest Billy Russo]

There's plenty to do outside of the internet. Cooking, learning new skills, going out with friends, socialising etc. It's just having the motivation to do those things & the confidence for me. Suffering from Social Anxiety, suddenly trying to do things with other people would be quite a task for me. Still, there's plenty of enjoyable things you can do on your own like going for a hike (which I actually do on occasion).

 

Although, I do think the Internet is pretty necessary these days, even in a small scale. We are in a very technologically mad world, and it will only continue to grow & become even more of the norm. Even for just checking little things, or like say you're job hunting and need to update your CV or look for jobs. That sort of thing.

[M.K.N.]

38 minutes ago, Breaking Bad said:

There's plenty to do outside of the internet. Cooking, learning new skills, going out with friends, socialising etc. It's just having the motivation to do those things & the confidence for me. Suffering from Social Anxiety, suddenly trying to do things with other people would be quite a task for me. Still, there's plenty of enjoyable things you can do on your own like going for a hike (which I actually do on occasion).

 

Although, I do think the Internet is pretty necessary these days, even in a small scale. We are in a very technologically mad world, and it will only continue to grow & become even more of the norm. Even for just checking little things, or like say you're job hunting and need to update your CV or look for jobs. That sort of thing.

 

Internet is still a necessity, especially if it's related to work. And as I mentioned, my real-life friends had stopped caring about me because they'd rather deal with real-life issues than hanging out, and socializing others is pretty much devoid since other people, even younger ones, do not share the same interests as I have (except Killer Whale, who lives the same place as I am, just farther away). I guess IRL is just as bad than on the internet IMO.

Edited August 13, 2018 by M.K.N.

[Doctor Holliday]

There's no such thing as "leaving" the internet unless you move to an island without electricity. Or kill yourself 

 

It's virtually everywhere and used for everything. You can sell your electronic devices and buy a brick phone but you're still connected to the Internet of Things; the economy is global and online - which requires the internet - and there's almost nothing you can do in modern society to avoid engaging with it. You can find myriad ways to cut down on your internet engagement, but if you're a human and you're alive in the 21st century, you're kinda stuck with it otherwise.

[Sinner!]

12 hours ago, MyNameHere said:

I was speaking with a friend who is leaving the Internet yesterday, sold his things (PC, Xbox, etc.) and he use a old phone instead.

 

And I was thinking, if you're ready one day to leave the Internet, what can you do to spend time?

 

Why though? if you're going to sell your tech stuff you might as well go the full hog and move to Pennsylvania & milk a goat with the rest of the Amish community.  simply using a Nokia Cityman 1320  doesn't cut it for me.

[qOjOp]

... a very very very scary thought...

Even just thinking about it makes me woozy...

... no internet = my world have ended ...

 

[Benjiex]

Drinking beer! Cheers!

Just now, qOjOp said:

... a very very very scary thought...

Even just thinking about it makes me woozy...

... no internet = my world have ended ...

 

I feel you Batman......

[Mister Pink]

Can't add much to what's already been said above. 

 

I have plenty of offline hobbies to keep me busy such as photography, filmmaking, music, I love singleplayer games, and I'm trying to read a bit more these days. Walking is great and also swimming in the sea, even it's really cold. Actually, since I've been off Facebook and social media (aside from GTAF which I took a break of a few months anyway as I'm studying) my life has been much better.

 

DVD's are also like €2 new now, and you can get a boxed set for next to nothing in the charity shop. 

[GTA-Biker]

If I stopped using internet,I'd just do more of the stuff I already do,such as watching TV and movies, playing video games that don't require internet, riding my motorcycle, hanging out with my friends...From stuff I don't do often,maybe I'd read some books (I read Jurassic Park novels back in 2003,I was thinking about reading it again) or travel somewhere.

[Rhoda]

I don't know why abandoning the internet is akin to dropping technology altogether. It isn't like you'd be expected to read porno by candlelight. Just buy a GameCube for £50 and a six pack of Red Stripe.

[Hmmm nice bike]

My internet went out for about an hour yesterday. It sucked, but I took the time to read a book I've had and never got a chance to get through much of in a while. And besides reading, there's still hard copies of movies (which I still swear by if I really like a movie, I'd rather own it on DVD or Blu Ray than rely on some streaming service that could end up losing the rights to it and then it's gone), TV, and non-online video games.

[Bloodytears1666]

I can make life harder, like if need some information I'll have to walk to book shops and libraries for a short paragraph of text. If need music, especially which have no production anymore, I'll become millionaire to by collector's albums. If need a specific place, I'll have to travel around the world till find it, because unfortunately usual map shows only buildings and their numbers. If need to learn language, I'll better give up.

[trip]

I was in my late 20's when the WWW and the first "browsers" showed up.

 

Having grown up before the internet I guess I would go outside and chase a hoop down the street with a stick.

 

 

[Benjiex]

12 hours ago, GTA-Biker said:

If I stopped using internet,I'd just do more of the stuff I already do,such as watching TV and movies, playing video games that don't require internet, riding my motorcycle, hanging out with my friends...From stuff I don't do often,maybe I'd read some books (I read Jurassic Park novels back in 2003,I was thinking about reading it again) or travel somewhere.

I'm a normal person so I will also what normal people will do if there is no internet like watching movies, sleeping or reading a book.

[Death]

13 hours ago, ∴ said:

snip

 

For sure, is not complicated to leave something if you find the way to do it without regrets, I mean, I have years not playing a game and I'm here.

 

But, some people because are rich... is more easy to do a life outside, but I know average class too can do it.

I have friends from the upper class and most of them are living a life outside, but there are rich people too worried to share to the world all the greed they have in their hands.

 

Is a very complicated question, because people can do stuff like you said without sharing around the web, but others are worried to "what they think" (example: instagram).

 

I remember back in the old days and I think still people use chat to meet "girls" with strange people.  I have a friend can't live with that, meeting girls online pushing itself with a screen instead of real life.

 

Is a question I like too much to do long time ago with many answers and points of view. Thanks everybody to share their opinions.

Edited August 15, 2018 by MyNameHere

[SeanAlgerian]

I would get a Fortnite or PUBG developer job and get money and continue gaming, Never leave Gaming and Internet bruh.

[GTA_CAT]

Actually there's a way to briefly explain what can you do without internet: live your life. We are tied to internet. I would like to buy sh*t like before, just going to the different stores and leaving the house, or meet with friends in real life rather than creating a huge fake world on social media. Internet has improved things in a certain way but now we rely on it too much.

[Creed Bratton]

I was hoping that this was a joke.

 

There's plenty of stuff you can do. You can exercise more, read books, learn a new skill like painting or playing a musical instrument, or learn a new language. Or you can just go out more and observe your surroundings and take it all in. Sometimes I imagine what it would be like to have an open world game set in my own town. So when I'm walking around I'm trying to collect as many details from the environment as my brain can take in. It's remarkable how many details we can miss because we take things for granted.

 

Anyway, your possibilities are endless.

[Mister Kay]

I don't think an absence of internet is required to consider doing other things. Internet is a great tool that can vastly help with the other activites discussed here.

 

The epidemic of social media is a different discussion altogether.

 

It all boils down to whether you are a user or an abuser.

[zeko]

There's a lot stuff to do without internet, but the most thing what I will do without internet is:

 

- Play football with my friends

- Running around the village I live and listen techno music

- Read books

- Watch rain

- Cook, eat

- Listen to old 80's on my DVD

- Study history (WW2, machinery and other stuff)

- Getting a job

 

There's a lot more to do without internet, so I picked up one of these.

[Bratva Assassin]

These are among just some of my favorite things to do without the internet:

Read a good book

Study history (mostly WW2 and b4)

Etc, etc, etc

 

[Sinner!]

I can finally make use of the three Czech Adult magazines I purchased whilst in the Czech Republic.

 

 

[rtie]

Destabilise the middle east  

[Eutyphro]

Invade Poland.

[Tyler]

Pick up a compass, a map of some woodland in your area, and an orienteering book. Step out and work on your skills. Bring a rucksack--learn how to pack it with the maximum amount of utility in a minimal amount of weight. Pitch a tent. Learn how to read tracks. Identify edible flora. Learn how to engineer rudimentary traps. Identify the parts of a semiautomatic rifle. Cover your own tracks. Be able to identify human droppings. Work on your cardiovascular health. Learn how to take a few hits from a panicked survivor. Cooking meat in the wild isn't too hard. Figure out small group tactics. Recruit others. Create coherent manifestos. Use unconventional warfare tactics. Set up and execute ambushes. Sabotage food supplies. Instill your message. Improvise. Survive. Win the war.

[SkyGTA_User]

Maybe, watch TV?

Or draw! (i really love to draw, since that is my talent ;))