Let me first state that I am not a Christian. I do not wish to speak ill of any religion or denomination. Henry David Thoreau’s main idea is try to find beauty in nature, and simplify, simplify, simplify. We did a social experiment in our English class, to test whether or not Thoreau’s philosophy would make our lives easier, or just make them harder. Our teacher said we had an opportunity to get some extra credit by giving him our cell phones for one week. I gladly forfeited my cell phone, and had no problem without it.

In fact, it made my life easier. I did not have to keep in constant contact with my parents, or have to worry about people constantly calling me and wanting to talk. Other kids in my class did not do so well. They thought that they were being clever by using their parent’s cell phone, when in fact, they were just proving that they could not handle being without it. Only about half of everyone in our class finished the experiment without cheating. My final thoughts: society today can only handle so much, try to simplify your life, you might become a happier person.