Cera is 35 and must be one of the few millennials not to own a smartphone. I fire questions at him about how he survives. Google Maps? “That’s the thing everybody always asks. I just figure it out ahead of time.”
I swear it’s great for your brain. It’s called planning. You visualize things in advance, and then when those things show up in your life, you’re prepared. It’s amazing.
On the other hand, people addicted to their smartphones have 4 or 5 simultaneous GPS in their cars with maps and they still don’t know in which lane they should be or when to turn, so.
Sometimes he draws a map.
Visualization, hello! I don’t draw maps, but I’ll write a few lines of 3rd Ave, turn left on Olympic type of stuff on a Post-it. I am never late or lost. I only have random Post-its in my car.
Social media? He doesn’t do it.
I sure did! And I’m not anymore and it is great. Facebook once a month for extended family. Text, email and eye contact for the rest.
Endless photos? He bought himself a camera while his wife was pregnant and taught himself how to use it, “and now I love that as a hobby”.
What about when he has a spare 30 seconds and desperately needs to save himself from agonizing boredom? “I don’t know. Sometimes I’ll just be bored.” He laughs, as if it’s no big deal. It gives him space to process things, he says.
It is vital. Oh my god, the fact that people can’t stand being with their own thoughts at all anymore is a massive red flag about where we’re headed.
Checking email? He has a computer at home for that,
That is so real. I have email on my phone and it’s kinda useless? I read it in advance, I guess. I’ll answer at home with a nice, full keyboard and a glass of something or a snack. Delightful.
“and I waste a lot of time playing chess. It’s completely got its tentacles in my brain, but at least I leave it at home.”
I wanted to do that with Go, but I immediately stopped because Go was all I could think about. Not good for productivity and stuff like living.
Anyway. This man is all right.