I found this post, The Technium: Why Technology Can’t Fulfill, fascinating. I wanted to highlight a couple of the points I found particularly interesting. The whole article is definitely worth reading.

First, the simple life is a life a of community. There are some people who go off and live entirely on their own, but these are an exception. It seems to me often that these loners are deceiving themselves regarding their independence from the rest of mankind. I remember reading a discussion of Walden that asked “Where did Thoreau get his axe?” The gist of the discussion was that even something as simple as an axe presupposes an entire community of others behind it. If you’re going to live the simple life, it is almost essential to have a whole community to live it with you.

The second big point is that a simple life really restricts the choices people have. If you find farming and handicrafts fulfilling, then maybe the simple life is for you. More options means more complexity. I am willing to deal with the complexity of modern society because I am not particularly good at farming or handicrafts. “What we are seeking is the minimum amount of technology that will generate the maximum number of options for all.”

I didn’t find that this post addressed the question brought up by its title “Why Technology Can’t Fulfill” but it is definitely worth reading for a solid perspective on the simple life.