Adrian Hon and Naomi Alderman talking about the idea of a secular sabbath. Naomi is from a jewish background, and in the world of the Orthodox jews what can be done on the Sabbath is quite restricted. This includes turning electrical devices on or off during the period - so a water reboiler tends to be used to cope with the need for a cup of tea, and timer switches are used for lighting.The list of things that can be done, as seen in the slide above, are all rather pleasant sounding. One of the key points was that "behavioural changes don't need to be sacrificial" but that the concept of a day of rest has pretty much vanished - you can go shopping, read emails, work, etc pretty much 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. So, how about every now and again having an off-line day - no internet, no mobile phone, no landline phone - spend the day with friends, eating good food, enjoying good conversation? Give the car a rest, and walk around - slow down, de-stress. Sounds like a pleasant change to me, I might just have to book one in. comments powered by Disqus
