Edit cell-phone-experiment blog post
After a full night's rest, I re-read my blog post and made some changes: - Fix grammatical errors - Clarify unclear passages
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		|  | @ -80,7 +80,8 @@ morning alarms probably disrupt the quality of my sleep. If I'm tired, shouldn't | |||
| I keep sleeping? | ||||
| 
 | ||||
| As the month progressed and my 24 hour day morphed into a 25 hour day, I learned | ||||
| that I would prefer waking up at the set time every day. | ||||
| that I would prefer waking up at a set time every day and synchronize my | ||||
| schedule with the rest of my timezone. | ||||
| 
 | ||||
| I am still unsure if alarm clocks are helpful in the long-term. I would have | ||||
| slept with the curtains drawn to allow the morning sun to wake me | ||||
|  | @ -97,34 +98,34 @@ Time restores my sanity. | |||
| 
 | ||||
| Using timers motivates me to do a bunch of short tasks like cleaning my flat for | ||||
| fifteen minutes, stretching, or reading before bed. Thankfully, I already owned | ||||
| a physical timer that I keep in my kitchen. This replaced my phone's timer | ||||
| application with minimal disruption. | ||||
| a physical timer that I keep in my kitchen. This replaced the timer on my phone | ||||
| without disrupting my routine. | ||||
| 
 | ||||
| #### Maps | ||||
| 
 | ||||
| Speaking of lacking orientation, what about living without maps software?  On | ||||
| the few occasions where I traveled somewhere that was unfamiliar to me, I had to | ||||
| Speaking of being disoriented, what about living without maps software?  On the | ||||
| few occasions where I traveled somewhere that was unfamiliar to me, I had to | ||||
| memorize the directions from my computer before I departed. | ||||
| 
 | ||||
| At least I didn't need to visit gas stations or museums to buy trifold tourist | ||||
| maps... | ||||
| 
 | ||||
| I once left my office -- mistakenly assuming that I would download the | ||||
| directions to my destination while commuting. As I awaited the office elevator, | ||||
| I realized that I had no clue where I was heading. | ||||
| I once left my office mistakenly assuming that I would download the directions | ||||
| to my destination while commuting. As I awaited the office elevator, I realized | ||||
| that I had no clue where I was heading. | ||||
| 
 | ||||
| Thankfully I wasn't far from the safety, comfort, and familiarity of my desktop | ||||
| computer -- with its fatty WiFi connection. In no time I was studying Google | ||||
| Maps in my web browser and memorizing the directions. | ||||
| 
 | ||||
| Overall this was also hardly an inconvenience, and I think I even enjoyed | ||||
| Overall this was hardly an inconvenience, and I think I even enjoyed | ||||
| stress-testing my memory: a job that I so often outsource to hardware. | ||||
| 
 | ||||
| #### Rendezvouses | ||||
| 
 | ||||
| A couple of times I met friends in various parts of the city. Organizing these | ||||
| particular rendezvouses was a novel (read: anachronistic) experience. For all | ||||
| you young whippersnappers reading, take out your stone tables and chisels. I'm | ||||
| you young whippersnappers reading, take out your stone tablets and chisels. I'm | ||||
| going to explain how this works: | ||||
| 
 | ||||
| First I would tell my friends where are when to meet me. I emphasized that I | ||||
|  | @ -134,35 +135,37 @@ commuting, which made the commitments unusually more binding. | |||
| On one occasion my friend -- who is characteristically prompt, and even chides | ||||
| me for when I'm late -- was twenty minutes late for our engagement. My friend is | ||||
| German, so I figured I should do my civic duty of alerting the German embassy | ||||
| that my friend has broken German code, is obscenely late, and should therefore | ||||
| that my friend had broken German code, is obscenely late, and should therefore | ||||
| hand-in his passport and renounce his citizenship. After awhile my conscience | ||||
| advised me to reconsider. | ||||
| 
 | ||||
| It was fortunate for both of us that I did not fully understand how late he was; | ||||
| I didn't know what time it was. | ||||
| It was fortunate for both of us that I did not fully understand how late he was. | ||||
| Remember: I didn't know what time it was. | ||||
| 
 | ||||
| I decided this would be a useful opportunity to test my patience, so I loitered | ||||
| for twenty minutes outside of our meeting point. He couldn't text me to tell me | ||||
| that he was late. I couldn't listen to music, call family or friends to pass the | ||||
| that he was late. I couldn't listen to music, call family or friends, or partake | ||||
| in any of the other rituals that modern-day loiterers observe to pass the | ||||
| time. In the end he showed up, and it was scarcely a big deal. | ||||
| 
 | ||||
| This experience made me wonder what the policy for abandoning plans is when | ||||
| someone is running late. Before smart phones, how long did people wait?  Long | ||||
| enough to absolve themselves of flaking on their friend in the unlikely event | ||||
| that their friend showed shortly after they left. | ||||
| someone is running late. Before smart phones, how long did people wait? Maybe | ||||
| the proper etiquette is to wait long enough for you to absolve yourself of the | ||||
| guilt of flaking in the unlikely event that your friend arrives shortly after | ||||
| you leave. | ||||
| 
 | ||||
| So... thirty minutes? I'll call my grandma tomorrow and ask her. | ||||
| 
 | ||||
| #### Boredom | ||||
| 
 | ||||
| My phone couldn't entertain me while I waited in line at the grocery store. Same | ||||
| too when commuted. | ||||
| My phone couldn't entertain me while I queued at the grocery store. Same too | ||||
| when I commuted. | ||||
| 
 | ||||
| I also found myself listening to less music than I usually do. I decided to read | ||||
| to occupy the void when I could; this helped me progress towards completing my | ||||
| [GoodReads annual reading challenge][gr-annual]. | ||||
| to occupy the void when I could; this helped me progress towards completing this | ||||
| year's [GoodReads challenge][gr-annual]. | ||||
| 
 | ||||
| #### Cheating | ||||
| ### Cheating | ||||
| 
 | ||||
| I used my phone twice during March. | ||||
| 
 | ||||
|  | @ -179,9 +182,9 @@ are useful reminders that habits don't distinguish between helpful and hurtful; | |||
| they just exist. | ||||
| 
 | ||||
| In total I would estimate that I spent somewhere around fifteen minutes using | ||||
| my phone in March. | ||||
| my phone in March. While not perfect: | ||||
| 
 | ||||
| I consider this a success. | ||||
| > Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without (Confucius) | ||||
| 
 | ||||
| ### Substitution = Dilution | ||||
| 
 | ||||
|  | @ -189,9 +192,9 @@ While the explicit goal of this challenge was to avoid using my cell phone for a | |||
| month, the implicit goal was to disengage from many of the | ||||
| [nonessential][essentialism] activities that compete for my attention. | ||||
| 
 | ||||
| There were some things that I didn't miss about not having a cell phone. This | ||||
| wasn't because I don't value these things, but rather because I can adequately | ||||
| replace them with alternatives. | ||||
| There were some activities that I didn't miss while living without a cell | ||||
| phone. This wasn't because I don't value these activities, but rather because I | ||||
| can adequately replace them with alternatives. | ||||
| 
 | ||||
| For texting and making phone calls, I used [Telegram][wtf-telegram]. Telegram | ||||
| helped me sustain a healthy relationship with my girlfriend while still honoring | ||||
|  | @ -209,15 +212,18 @@ habitually avoid boredom and seek entertainment. On its face this may not sound | |||
| like a harmful practice. My generation drills the aphorism "you only live once", | ||||
| suggesting that we may want to embrace a Hedonistic lifestyle. | ||||
| 
 | ||||
| A life spent indulging may or may not be a wise way to play the game of Life, | ||||
| but living a life where I am often stimulated but equally distracted appeals | ||||
| increasingly less to me as time progresses. | ||||
| Hedonism may or may not be a wise way to play the game of Life. All I know is | ||||
| that living a life in which I am often stimulated but proportionately distracted | ||||
| appeals increasingly less to me as time progresses. | ||||
| 
 | ||||
| During March I noticed that once I freed my attention from sending/receiving | ||||
| texts, my brain quickly reassigned my attention to maintaining a vigil over | ||||
| texts, my brain quickly reassigned my attention to maintaining a vigil over the | ||||
| other social media outposts that I maintain. | ||||
| 
 | ||||
| For example, once I discovered that I could use Instagram in a web browser | ||||
| I should also admit that I habitually checked Telegram now that it served as my | ||||
| new cell phone. Didn't see that coming... | ||||
| 
 | ||||
| In another case, once I discovered that I could use Instagram in a web browser | ||||
| instead of on my phone, I filled my newfound time and attention on | ||||
| [Instagram.com][ig] (don't click!): displacing the time that I spent on an app | ||||
| on my phone to time that I spent on a website in a web browser. | ||||
|  | @ -236,9 +242,11 @@ friendships that you easily form can just as easily be destroyed. | |||
| Habits invert this creation/destruction relationship. In my experience "easy | ||||
| come" implies "difficult to go". | ||||
| 
 | ||||
| For example, you might be able to easily form the habit of eating chocolate | ||||
| around 15:00 at work. Compare this to the difficulty people experience | ||||
| habituating a meditation practice. | ||||
| For example, I could to easily form the habit of eating chocolate around 15:00 | ||||
| at work; curbing this habit would require more effort. When I compare this to | ||||
| the difficulty I experienced habituating a meditation practice, and how easily | ||||
| I can dislodge my meditation practice, it seems to me that the laws of habits | ||||
| dictate "easy come, difficult go; difficult come, easy go". | ||||
| 
 | ||||
| I suspect that while my cravings for using a cell phone have temporarily ceased, | ||||
| they will return shortly after I start using my cell phone. And as if nothing | ||||
|  | @ -251,9 +259,10 @@ to live a mostly normal life: one where I am not unnecessarily straining the | |||
| relationships of my friends and my family. After all these are the people who | ||||
| matter most to me and those who drive me to explore new ways to improve. | ||||
| 
 | ||||
| I recognize that the "self" in self-experimentation is a misnomer. My decisions | ||||
| impact the people in my life, and I want to thank everyone who tolerates my | ||||
| eccentric and oftentimes annoying experimentation. | ||||
| I recognize that the "self" in self-experimentation is a misnomer. Can you truly | ||||
| conduct an [N of 1 trial][nof1]? My decisions impact the people in my life, and | ||||
| I want to thank everyone who tolerates my eccentric and oftentimes annoying | ||||
| experimentation. | ||||
| 
 | ||||
| Thank you for reading. | ||||
| 
 | ||||
|  | @ -268,3 +277,4 @@ Thank you for reading. | |||
| [wtf-availability]: https://landing.google.com/sre/sre-book/chapters/availability-table | ||||
| [essentialism]: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18077875-essentialism | ||||
| [ig]: https://instagram.com | ||||
| [nof1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N_of_1_trial | ||||
|  |  | |||
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