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

1 files changed, 48 insertions, 38 deletions

diff --git a/website/blog/content/english/cell-phone-experiment.md b/website/blog/content/english/cell-phone-experiment.md
index e98b0d4fd088..c94bbe0128a7 100644
--- a/website/blog/content/english/cell-phone-experiment.md
+++ b/website/blog/content/english/cell-phone-experiment.md
@@ -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