(This issue is so important to Stephenson that he went on to explore its implications — positive and negative — in his 2008 science fiction epic, Ana… - Cal Newport

Face-to-face conversation is the most human — and humanizing — thing we do.24 Fully present to one another, we learn to listen. It’s where we develop the capacity for empathy. It’s where we experience the joy of being heard, of being understood.

Working right trumps finding the right work. He didn’t need to have a perfect job to find occupational happiness — he needed instead a better approach to the work already available to him. I

Serve something you deeply value (offering some benefit is not enough). Be the best way to use technology to serve this value (if it’s not, replace it with something better). Have a role in your life that is constrained with a standard operating procedure that specifies when and how you use it.