[jere]

Wow, I had a very similar thought when I first read about infovegan - that it was a poor term for what he was trying to describe. I posted this comment on the "Why Infovegan" page a few months ago:

>I wish the term gave more clues as to its meaning. Dozens of diets are about intentionally restricting foods for health reasons. Veganism doesn't have a monopoly on dietary restriction. Nor does it imply avoiding processed foods or additives. In fact, several other diets have those guidelines baked right into their core philosophies (e.g. raw diets). You're probably too invested at this point, but I think "infoforager" would be more indicative of the meaning here (carrying a lot less baggage too, but perhaps that is a disadvantage for you).

http://www.informationdiet.com/blog/read/why-infovegan

>Once that basic idea — that in the timeline of human history and pre-history we simply haven’t had time to adapt to our new circumstances — took root in my brain it seemed natural to apply it to other domains besides food.

Indeed, it's an incredibly powerful and flexible idea (exhibit A: http://www.paulgraham.com/addiction.html)! Unfortunately, many circles (e.g. skeptical community) will dismiss it out of hand because it smells like the naturalistic fallacy... also because skeptics tend to treat anything other than unquestioning embrace of new technologies as anti-science.

[dcotter]

You should check out Jaron Lanier's book You Are Not A Gadget. Very thoughtful philosophical treatment of digital technology and its limitations.

Personally, in the last year I've drastically cut back on my time online and upped the time spent in the real world, whether visiting with friends & family, playing pool at the pub down the street, biking in the city, whatever. It's a much more immediate, and in many ways richer, source of information than Twitter, Facebook, etc. Oh, and I've gone back to a feature phone from a smartphone after realizing it was basically a shiny tracking device in my pocket with an expensive monthly upkeep ;-)

[jstogdill]

I've read it and found myself nodding a lot while I dug through it. However, I felt like his points were scattered and, what am I trying to say here, a bit instinctual. I found myself instinctively agreeing but thought that his points were mostly assertions without basis.