11. Burner Phone

So our co-host has cast aside his smartphone, and has bought a £25 Nokia ripoff. No maps, no whatsapp, no social media, no internet. It’s terrible. It’s transgressive. It’s the future.

In this episode, he defends his life choices. This isn’t about the hazards of social media, he claims - this is about the addictiveness of the physical device itself. Being bored is actually great. Daydreaming is great, your mind wandering is great, and this is not something that can happen if you compulsively reach for your phone when there’s nothing much going on. The phone anesthetises you, mutes your thoughts, it’s nice, hours can pass and it’s fine but nothing has changed, nothing has moved forward, and you realise later that you’ve lost two hours of your life.

Imagine being a child and not daydreaming. Not being bored and creating your own fun. Not struggling to create something that reflects your subjective experience. Not having time to reflect on your experiences and integrate them into your personality. Not using language to describe experiences to your friends and what they meant to you.

Imagine being an adult.