Education division. Propaganda as a tool. Ignore email? Sunk cost everywhere. Perfect heroes are a myth. Meditation changes you. Wisdom is both black and white.
“If years were letters, the average human lifespan would not be longer than this sentence.”
– Gurwinder
1. “America’s intense ‘diploma divide'”
Scapegoating the Algorithm – Dan Williams – (Asterisk)
It’s trendy to “blame the algorithm”. I do it myself. And yet social media, while perhaps exacerbating a problem, or making a problem significantly more visible, might not be a significant cause.
Perhaps the most consequential trend concerns America’s intense “diploma divide,” a fundamental realignment of American politics along educational lines. In recent decades, the Democratic Party’s voter base has shifted towards highly educated, urban professionals who dominate the knowledge economy and prestigious institutions. In contrast, the Republican Party has become the political home for white Americans who lack four-year college degrees.
I find that troubling for so many reasons. I worry that it fits, and perhaps even supports, a stereotype. And yet, in many ways the characterization seems to fit. Agree or disagree, it’s something to ponder instead of dismissing outright.
Do this: Take care when placing blame.
#polarization #social-media #education
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2. “It is far more efficient to control populations through propaganda than through force”
Propaganda Doesn’t Have to Be a Dirty Word – Kristen French – (Nautilus)
The concept that really got my attention is that propaganda is “a value-neutral set of techniques for mass persuasion.” I suspect many of us would balk at the phrase “value neutral”, mostly because we see propaganda used primarily to influence in directions we disagree with. Perhaps a different perspective — that propaganda is a tool that can also be used for good — might help.
Propaganda is also more organic, and less orchestrated, than we tend to believe. We’re all part of it.
Every time a user reposts a news article or editorial on social media to “share widely” some important idea, they are functioning as a vehicle for the dissemination of propaganda.
Note that this is irrespective of whether or not the item is factually correct.
I found it a fascinating perspective.
Do this: Learn to recognise propaganda. It’s everywhere.
#propaganda #influence #persuasion
3. “Why not just ignore email entirely?”
Every Message Is a Gift – Chris Guillebeau – (A Year of Mental Health)
As the title implies, the essay discusses treating email as a gifting opportunity. Of course it’s more general than that: “Every time you communicate, you have the chance to give someone a gift.”
But the thought that caught my attention was actually buried in a footnote.
… ultimately email is just a mode of communication that exists between real people. So if you turn it off or ignore it completely, you are turning off communication between real people.
Given who I am and what I do, I try to as flexible as possible when it comes to modes of communication. Email is perhaps my favorite, while picking up the phone ranks near the bottom (especially when it involves strangers). Regardless, though, by choosing not to use someone’s preferred communication mechanism, you’re choosing not to communicate with them, or at least not communicate with them as well or as often. That seems a shame.
Do this: Communicate
4. “Don’t confuse shared history with shared direction”
Sunk cost fallacy exists in your friendships, too – Stepfanie Tyler – (Wild Bare Thoughts)
I love stumbling on to cases where a concept or idea from one realm is applied to another. The “sunk cost fallacy” is a great example. We do it in so many situations besides the traditional business or entrepreneurial ones.
Take relationships, for example.
… the tendency to continue investing in something simply because we’ve already invested so much, even when it’s no longer serving us.
Think about how often that phrase could apply. To relationships, to hobbies, to jobs, to … just about anything with which we have history.
Do this: Don’t let sunk cost carry so much weight.
5. “Take the best parts and ignore the rest?”
Selective Admiration: Why You Don’t Need Perfect Heroes – Anne-Laure Le Cunff – (Ness Labs)
This is something I struggle with myself. You find or follow someone because of something that appeals to you. Then you discover that they have other aspects that are antithetical to your core beliefs. The result? Cancel culture.
I’m not saying it’s wrong, but I am saying it’s complicated.
Stop waiting for perfect moral exemplars and start learning from imperfect humans.
Even here, curating 7 Takeaways, I struggle. There’s at least one writer I follow and quote from time to time that I learned is frighteningly far at the opposite end of the political spectrum from me. And yet the writing remains a) valuable, and b) unrelated to those politics. Do I throw the baby out with the bath water and (literally) cancel? Or do take the good and leave the bad?
’tis a conundrum.
Do this: Understand that no one is perfect.
6. “It’s never too late to change your life.”
Why Should We Bother To Meditate In Old Age? – Gary Buzzard – (Enjoy the Moment)
A simple discussion of six changes the author has seen as a result of beginning to meditate at age 75. My take is that these kinds of benefits aren’t age-related at all. They can happen regardless of when you start to meditate.
One that I think we can all particularly benefit from these days:
Your concentration muscle will start to grow, and you’ll notice it when you’re writing, programming, reading, cooking a meal, listening to someone, or (yes) watching TV.
I’ve been meditating for years, and can confirm what Buzzard has to say.
Do this: Look into meditation.
7. “Wisdom is the co-existence of contradictory truths.”
The Inner Compass: Cultivating the Courage to Trust Yourself – Lawrence Yeo – (ebook)
I just find that an insightful observation. What comes to mind more often, of course, is “cognitive dissonance“, where people unknowingly hold two contradictory ideas.
Wisdom is our ability to understand that life is more than black and white, and that sometimes both black and white can be true in part, resulting in our shades of gray existence. Clinging to one truth and only one truth … well, just look around at the political landscape and you can see the results.
Do this: Examine your black-and-white thoughts.
Random links
- How Social Media Shortens Your Life
- I Co-Hosted a Retreat With Richard Branson—Here’s What I Learned
- Resist the Snark and Be Happy
What I’m reading now
- Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World – Anne-Laure Le Cunff
- The Inner Compass: Cultivating the Courage to Trust Yourself – Lawrence Yeo
- Creative Intellegence – Greg Storey
- Flame and Fortune – Jana DeLeon
- The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams (Audio)
My Reading List – everything I’ve read since 2021.
My Sources Page – the common sources I scan/read regularly.
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