Comfortably Ahead Of The Game

in LeoFinance3 years ago

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Pink Floyd has a song called Comfortably Numb (released first on the classic album The Wall). I want you to think now at the exact opposite of that meaning. It doesn’t event matter if you know the song, its lyrics or whatever, I want you to contrast in your mind “numb” with “ahead of the game”.

Because I have this hunch (backed by a lot of anecdotical observation) that people prefer numbness instead of alertness. We’re creatures of comfort – or, to be more precise – we became creatures of comfort. Being alert is perceived as more costly than just being numb. We lean towards entertainment more so than we embrace action.

And that’s a dangerous path.

Not because comfort is inherently bad. Or entertainment something wrong. No, not even remotely.

But because the more we do a certain thing, the more we’re inclined to do that. Call it habit, call it inertia, or call it “karma”. But everything we repeatedly do, we become. So, entertainment breeds more search for entertainment, and comfort breeds more thirst for comfort.

Staying Ahead Of The Game

Being constantly prepared requires a certain degree of discomfort. It requires maintaining a number of potential short term scenarios, and being prepared to always switch, should the current one leads to a dead end. That space, that temporal enclave in which you are positioning yourself, doesn’t actually exist, it’s a projection.

Staying in that temporal enclave means you’re somehow disconnected from your current environment, or at least not as attached to it as to become too fond of its pleasures.

I know this all sounds very abstract and theoretical, so why not bringing in some real world examples?

In the 90s, there was this thing called “the Internet”. In a world dominated by big media players and centralized news, imagining a future in which “everybody will have a voice”, in which you could possibly broadcast yourself to the world, required quite a bit of detachment. But some people started to “bet” on the Internet, even before its effects came into play. They trusted a certain evolution of things, in which they could do things differently. They were literally ahead of the game.

In about a decade, it became clear that “the Internet” was here to stay, and that it disrupted not only news, but also shopping, travel and many other verticals.

As of now, the Internet is the new normal. If you want to stay ahead of the game, you need to project yourself a little bit forward, to detach from what you can do today, and start understanding what will work in 5-10 years.

It may be artificial intelligence, it may be cryptocurrencies, it may be genetics, it may be a lot of things. What you choose should be up to you. Of course, you can be wrong, that’s why you need that flexiblity.

But at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter so much if you’re actually right, it doesn’t matter if you predicted the evolution of things correctly, but if you maintained that kind of healthy disconnection, that type of inexistent temporal enclave, from which you can switch fast in any direction.

Try building some comfort in that space.

Instead of staying comfortably numb, try staying comfortably ahead of the game.

Photo by D.S. Chapman on Unsplash

Initially published on my blog.

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Hive ia definitely ahead of the game.

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And comfortably so, I'd add...

Absolutely, I definitely agree as well! :)

It does seem a lot of people want to numb themselves with drugs (alcohol or others) and comforting entertainment that requires little thought. Now we have social media that can give you baby and cat videos 24/7. They need to wake up to the experiences you can have away from a screen and with your senses working at full capacity. That can include paying attention to the terrible things happening in the world. Those can be depressing, but ignoring them does not help. I am sure many politicians are happy if the voters pay less attention and lose faith in the democratic system.

We only get one life and so we should try to make the most of it.

!PIZZA

That is a path for the hopelessly disconnected rather than the ones who really want to feel a numb comfort and very depressing at the same time as you have rightfully pointed out. HIVE on the other hand is the contrary: a very productive digital media outlet full of rewards and potential for the future! :)

Hive does create a different attitude to other social media, and it's not always positive. It can be stressful. Adding money to the mix changes things, but I think it can be largely beneficial.

Indeed, you are right, I couldn't agree more! :)

It's almost like you read my mind...

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LOL! Well you inspired some thoughts for me. Cheers

@dragosroua! I sent you a slice of $PIZZA on behalf of @steevc.

Did you know PIZZA has a very active community Discord? (4/10)

What is Comfortably numb??? I think i heard it before.... I might have to google it..
100% Joking, its actually my favorite song.... !LUV pink floyd.

Peace,
@pinkfloyd878

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@dragosroua, you've been given LUV from @pinkfloyd878.

Check the LUV in your H-E wallet. LUV changes soon. (2/3)

It's always a very good idea to plan ahead of the future and that's exactly what I have been trying to do relatively recently and currently, although at a rather minor level to date. Either way, we are going to witness even more technological development in the next 4 years worldwide, which is both a good and bad thing, depending on the perspective to look at things in motion...

Comfortable ahead of the game in the mean of internet, it will be be definitely cryptocurrency or any social media which allows you to invest or earn money. I think anything else, cryptocurrency is best in internet.

I read an old post one time where a prominent engineer said the possibility of being in class and having virtual lectures was a fallacy, nonsense talk. But look at us now.

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That is virtually speaking the way students study now at any university (primarily because of COVID-19) but one should also note Coursera (most notably) among the online teaching platforms which has been in use since 2010 if I'm not mistaken and is very useful to this day for many, y compris moi! :)

That’s true...you can’t bet against technology, the internet has proven that to us times without numbers. Anyone betting against blockchain and its derivatives now is just delusional

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You're very right indeed, well said! :)

Habit becomes second nature, as they say. Anyway, well written article and very truthful at the same time. Nice cheetah as well! :)

@dragosroua,
Now we feel comfortable, because HIVE seems like stabling at 0.7-0.8 price range!

Cheers~