Tech Nudism

Nudists are fascinating folks. Quick side note before we get too far into it: if you’re a nudist, please let me know in the comments. I will have questions.

If you didn’t know any better, you might imagine that people who enjoy being nude are sexual deviants interested in orgies, but the truth is that it’s a pretty punk thing to do. What I mean is that there’s a certain imperative from society telling you that you have to remain clothed around other people, and breaking away from that norm can be both painful and costly.

Costly, yes—but is it worth it? You bet. Leaving behind mental constraints provides an enormous intrinsic reward, and when you realize you don’t really have to do certain things any more that you’ve sort of imagined you had to do? There’s nothing like it in the world.

For nudists, this means remaining naked around other people, or just in everyday situations. The rejection of clothing is about a made-up societal constraint, not about mere comfort—though nudists will certainly tell you they’re much more comfortable not following arbitrary rules. I know that feeling well.

For my time as a punk, it didn’t mean rejecting the specific notion of being clothed all the time—that righteous nonconformity extended to every interaction. Practicing an entirely different way of life outside of social norms made it really easy for me to reject ideas nobody around me even seemed interested in questioning.

I’m getting the feeling that something akin to the nudist or punk experience is happening again for me. It’s something I hinted at in Interrupted:

Being annoyed by a human interrupting me from a conversation with an AI is very, very 2025.

and

“There I was, walking and talking—something becoming more and more normal for me these days.”

Do you remember mid-2000s tech early adopters who used enormous Bluetooth devices surrounding one of their ears? Remember how awkward it was when someone was talking to someone who wasn’t physically there, but not into a phone or explicit hand-held device?

I confess: I judged these people. They seemed like they felt as though they were better than everyone else. There was an air of elitism, of being proud of the tech and gear they owned and understood how to use. I imagined most of them were named Chad.

Fast forward to 2025. Tech has been democratized, and now talking and walking around like a crazy person with earphones on has been democratized. We can all be Chads now.

I can’t help but think about those proto-cyborg Chads. Have I become the boiling frog? I’m certainly off in another world like they were, but this has nothing to do with showing off and everything to do with being somewhere else with my mind. I love being able to explore my own ideas, deeply and easily, pretty much any time I want.

That does mean that people stare at me sometimes. Very minor feelings of judgment aside, I am embracing the norm-shattering concept of walking and talking to my headphones. If people aren’t staring at you from time to time, you’re probably not pushing your personal boundaries enough.

Being an outsider can be tough, but if you’ve come to the conclusion that the societal inhibition is silly or shouldn’t exist, it can be considerably easier to walk the path of justified nonconformity. That justification acted as a virtuous cycle for my nonconformity, amplifying my comfort in defying the status quo.

It also made things pretty lonely for a few years. These days, it’s all about balance for me. I want to live my life the way that makes sense, without the wisdom of the crowd suggesting otherwise. Tech nudism seems to be the sweet spot.