To me there is no more depressing sight than a five-year-old staring at a screen, unsmiling, mouse in hand. Besides whatever dreadful things this prolonged exposure to screens is doing to their brains, computer games tend to be solitary affairs, and produce little laughter. Tom Hodgkinson affairbraincomputer share on social
Meetings, clearly, can take place anywhere, and wouldn't it be nice to see your coworkers lounging on the grass with their shoes off? Tom Hodgkinson coworkergrasslounge Change image and share on social
Whether you live in the city or in the country, creating time for a leisurely ramble is an easy thing to do. Tom Hodgkinson citycountrycreate Change image and share on social
When the going gets tough, the tough take a nap. Tom Hodgkinson naptough Change image and share on social
I'm not sure if I could bear to go on an aeroplane again. It's not my concern for the welfare of the planet. It's not even the long check-in times and queuing. No, it's the humiliation of the security process that has finally done it for me. Tom Hodgkinson aeroplanebearcheck share on social
I love the 19th-century idea of the flaneur, the poet wandering through the streets. Tom Hodgkinson 19thcenturyflaneur Change image and share on social
What seems extraordinary is that the richest countries in the world, in terms of economic output, are the ones where we work hardest. Tom Hodgkinson countryeconomicextraordinary Change image and share on social
As the son of a feminist mother, I grew up with the idea that work was a sort of salvation for women as it would give them freedom from the domestic grind. Now it seems work is a form of slavery, undertaken out of apparent compulsion rather than choice. Tom Hodgkinson apparentchoicecompulsion share on social
We no longer sing and dance. We don't know how to. Instead, we watch other people sing and dance on the television screen. Christmas, which was once a festival of active enjoyment, has turned into a binge of purely passive pleasures. Tom Hodgkinson activebingechristmas share on social
Facebook is not ideologically neutral. In fact, it emerges from a very particular world view which we can trace back to Hobbes. I discovered this by examining the profile of Zuckerberg's fellow board members who, unlike him, are a very interesting bunch and, I suspect, the real power behind the poster boy. Tom Hodgkinson backboardboy share on social