My “last” Tweet was over two years ago. Since then, I have deleted ALL social media apps on my phone. I gave up TV in 2014. Along with marrying Mrs C, they are among the best decisions I made.
I free relaxed, happy, cleansed. There’s nothing on my phone worth my attention. So I let all phone calls go to voice mail unless it’s from a handful of people.
It gave me the mental space to do something I didn’t realise I enjoyed learning and making stuff. The focus of the learning is self-directed curiosity. Understanding is the goal, not certifications or exam scores. The sole purpose of exams/tests of any kind is to verify understanding/abilities. Then get feedback on how I can improve — it gets me out of bed before dawn to practice coding. I’ve read a shocking number of books. There’s even time to exercise regularly.
The focus on learning and reading has had interesting after-effects. I’ve lost interest in passive visual entertainment (films/Netflix). I’m willing to sit through it occasionally out of social obligation or because Mrs C wanted to. Thankfully she’s happier in a book than I am. It’s better than spending a futile hour trying to find something worth watching than giving up.
I know what I’ve written comes across as signalling some elevated intellect. Self-learning is a constant, often brutal reminder of the vastness of my ignorance and incompetence. It swiftly deflates any pompousness of any recently acquired achievement.
Giving up social media and TV didn’t make me smarter. It made me happier. A better gift than I could have hoped.
Cerno 