I've never understood the view that computers and technology are some how "outside" what it means to be human and the human condition, that there is some kind of artificialness to the experiences you have when you are using them to communicate (email, blog, chat, which doesn't necessarily mean typing these days) that makes it less than the experience you have "in person" and "outside in the real world".
I guess it's okay to say "no TV" when "going analog" now because television is now digital?
It’s not so much about computers being outside natural lifestyle as it is about taking a break from your usual routine. I work with computers day in and day out, through out the week. Taking a complete break once in a while is a nice aberration.
I think balance is good. As a jewish person, not really religious but raised by a religious mother, I really cherish Yom Kippur. A day where I do literally nothing. You're supposed to just think and be sorry.
A day that is different from routine makes you think about things differently, makes you consider different things.
Should I dare to suggest that mindless routine is bad?
Both this, and kailashbadu's, are good points. But so much of this rings of my mom telling me to "get off the computer and go play outside" (nevermind that my friends and I biked all over the city regularly, ran cross country in high school, was in the Boy Scouts, worked at the city library, worked at day camps, and participated in my community's summer youth programs--so it was more stereotypical mother complaining than legitimate concern) and the view that "computers isolate us because there's less interpersonal interaction", a view I know my parents and grandparents generations have had (and most likely continue to have). And of course, that was back before the Internet, where the majority of time using a computer was largely isolating. Today, not so much. I mean, we're having this conversation right now.
I guess it's okay to say "no TV" when "going analog" now because television is now digital?