I’ve just returned from a wonderful holiday in Transylvania without my laptop. We heard cuckoos all day, gazed at the wild flowers, found bear footprints in the woods and learned a little about Romania’s rich and troubled history and culture.

At the end of the week, I realised that I had not been exposed to a single advertisement. And this freedom from advertising made me think about the effect of advertising on my day to day consciousness.

How much am I allowing myself space for my own thoughts? Advertising is pervasive. There is television, radio, billboards and now The Internet – all impinging on my space to think freely.

Would The Internet be more Godly without ads? I don’t know. I argue in my essay on The Internet is God site that most religions see God as fully involved in the day to day world. This has to include seeing the market place as a place of worship too and a place where honesty and integrity should be practised all the more.

Nevertheless, it’s nice to retreat sometimes from commerce too. And may be I should try to restrict my exposure to persuasion to some extent. I could make a start by unsubscribing from newsletters that do not offer me value and only try to sell to me.  And I should perhaps escape from my computer or mobile phone more often even though God, if he or she exists, will be on the web and on the phone too.