Business & Money

I’ve noticed that it’s much harder for people to be mean/rude face-to-face, versus over the phone or email. I imagine that is because there’s less humanity when you can’t see the other person. Putting a snarky comment in an email or yelling at someone over the phone doesn’t take much courage. But to look someone in the eyes (especially if you have respect for that person) and say really mean things is hard to do.

The reason I put this in the business & money section is because the idea recently made itself apparent in a business setting. I was on a Zoom call, and the other person was being extremely rude and confrontational for seemingly no reason. Now I don’t want to make assumptions about what might be going on in that person’s life (perhaps a recently lost loved one, rocky marriage, etc), but that still wouldn’t justify speaking to someone the way that I was being spoken to.

So I thought, I’ll turn on my webcam so the person can see my face. So I turned it on, smiled, and reiterated my previous question and the reason as to why I was asking. The other person’s tone and demeanor changed almost immediately.

Fascinating!

Human Progress

The control of information flow has taken on a drastically different appearance of late.

At one time, things were fairly straightforward. A handful of broadcast networks and media companies had a firm grip on the megaphone and popular opinion. If you could control the printing press and the teleprompter, then you basically had a monopoly on information.

And if you wanted to censor or control that flow, simply go to the choke point and apply pressure.

But things look different these days. We still have a few powerful companies controlling the flow of information, both those companies don’t produce any of the content found on their platforms. Instead, they claim to be open and agnostic to all information sources, allowing them to abdicate all responsibility for whatever rises to the top.

And, as a result, censorship has taken on a far more complex form. It shows up as coordinated campaigns of misinformation fueled by content farms and Macedonian teenagers. And due to human nature and our love for all things scandalous, misinformation gets more attention than valid and true information sources. It’s a huge problem when it’s difficult to determine the veracity of information due to the fact that all information sources get the same treatment. If we want a knowledgeable and informed public, it seems obvious that the organizations that control the flow of information should go to great lengths to provide simple and workable tools to distinguish falsehood from truth.

A simple guise of free speech is not enough. Yes, people should be able to say and write whatever they want to say and write, but that is not an end, in and of itself. Instead, free speech is merely a means to other more important ends. Free speech is about encouraging open, honest, and rational debate. It’s about holding people and organizations accountable for their actions. It’s about preserving civil liberties and affording citizens freedom of expression. To protect free speech for its own sake is to not understand what is intended to bring about.

Philosophy

Elevator etiquette is so strange to me. If I had to write the manual based on my observations of other people, it would contain things like:

1. Do not make eye contact (staring at a phone is highly recommended).

2. Greetings and salutations are not permitted (exceptions for when a dog or baby is present).

3. Always press the “door close” button when you get on (despite the fact the door will close on its own within a couple seconds).

And what’s funny is that these rules are the same whether you’re at a hotel or at your apartment building where you see many of the same people every day.

I like to make eye contact and say “hello” when I get on elevators. When others get off, I say “good evening” or “have a nice day.” After I get on, I don’t press the “door close” button. I’m not important enough to the point that a second or two has a large impact on my day.

Why do so many of us let concentrated urban dwelling strip of us our humanity and decency?

My Latest Discovery

Bill and Melinda Gates recently released their annual letter. This year they chose to focus on answering 10 hard questions they’ve received on their website. I think number 5 was my favorite:“Does saving kids’ lives lead to overpopulation?” The answer is so counterintuitive.

“When more children live past the age of 5, and when mothers can decide if and when to have children, population sizes don’t go up. They go down. Parents have fewer children when they’re confident those children will survive into adulthood. Big families are in some ways an insurance policy against the tragic likelihood of losing a son or a daughter.”