What technology would you be better off without, why?

There are technologies that expand us—tools that help us connect, create, and imagine. And then there are technologies that shrink us, designed not to empower but to exploit. These are the trickster machines: the endless scroll, the manipulative notification ping, the algorithm that feeds on our attention like a hungry ghost. 

Step One: Naming the Exploiters 
Write down the technologies that drain you. Maybe it’s the app that keeps you scrolling past midnight, the ads that whisper you’re never enough, or the game that turns joy into compulsion. Naming them is the first spell of resistance. 

Step Two: Ritual of Refusal 
Light a candle and place your list beside it. Speak aloud: “I am better off without you. You do not define my worth, my creativity, or my community.” Let the flame remind you that attention is sacred, not a commodity. 

Step Three: Communal Reclamation 
Replace the exploiters with rituals of your own making. Instead of the ping of a notification, let music guide your rhythm. Instead of the scroll, let conversation or journaling be your mirror. Share with your community how you reclaimed your time—because freedom multiplies when spoken aloud. 

Closing Reflection 
We are not Luddites; we are magicians. We choose which technologies to invite into our circle, and which to banish. When we refuse the exploiters, we reclaim our cycles of rest, play, and creation. We remind ourselves that we are not products to be consumed—we are beings of ritual, story, and magic.