It is infusion day, so I am sitting at the hospital with a needle in my hand and a drip dropping away some random crap into my blood stream. It doesn't take too long for the treatment now, but the recovery is still going to take a week for me to get back to my new normal self - which isn't a lot of fun either getting there, or being there - but better than the alternatives.
I was talking to some friends this morning about the current time it takes to manage everything in life and crypto and how while I enjoy all the things I do, the time it takes to do it is the issue. at some point, I am going to have to consolidate my personal resources across all "asset classes" to be able to satay abreast of it all. Currently, I feel like I barely get anything done though I am constantly doing. Still, I prefer it this way, than not having enough to do.
Some people don't have enough to do.
This morning, a friend asked why he has the urge to fact check and teardown all kinds of things he reads on Twitter, similar or people say these days, even if it is meant to be humorous. I asked him if he seriously wanted an answer first and as he was adamant he did, I replied with something along the lines of:
Twitter and similar are part of the problem. It is about point scoring and Google'd intelligence. No one needs to actually know anything, they just have to be able to find an article that supports their current argument or, an article/info that cuts down that of the other.
Because it is mostly done online and there is a lack of accountability, there is no need for an individual to actually be consistent, as they can move from one frame to another, focusing on the immediate moment - reinforcing and cutting-down as they need, scoring some points, and move on to the next isolated topic. It is all divided, compartmentalized and independently considered for point scoring, not improvement.
As I see it, most people are no longer creative, they are consumptive and are relay networks for injected narrative. They feel that they are "doing something" because they are googling answers for responses, and are funny based on the memes they spread. It is the same as how making a cake from a packet mix, doesn't make you a baker.
And because of the lack of need for consistency, nuance is dead. People can be extreme in the moment in ways that they wouldn't be in real life through the filter of face-to-face discussions. This is perfect for the media, as it is sensationalizing and polarizing, creating drama and argument. It is all designed to feed the pay-per-click revenue models that the vast majority of the internet relies on for revenue - Something like 95% for Facebook, 85% for Google.
So, the "urge" you get to poke holes in the arguments of others, even when they are not arguing, is essentially because you have been primed through culture and habit of the internet to do so. The less time you spend with real people practicing real human interaction, the worse it gets. And because most people are doing this now in some way and often heavily, they are consuming more, sharing more narrative, creating less for themselves and the problem escalates.
Many people are scared to create these days too, because people are primed to pick holes in it and take the worst possible view of it, rather than realize that we are all on a spectrum of right and wrong, and a continual path of learning. The problem I see is, we are no longer learning through trial and error, we are relying on being told what is correct by the very same organizations that are driving for and are incentivized by the conditions that separate us.
While in conversation, this was a stream of thoughts, it is because of these kinds of things that I spend far more time creating than consuming, something that many people fear, because of the judgement. It is only natural, because like my friend, we spend so much time tearing down others, that we fear putting anything of ourselves out there, which means what we perpetuate are the words of others. This is us self-censoring and turning into mouthpieces for other people's ambitions.
People want to be right in the moment, without necessarily being right in general, so they rely on the "accepted" view that supports the argument of the moment. You know those people who compete hard and "win" all the time, but never have what they want? I think this is part of that mechanism, where experience is gamified to give us the sense of accomplishment, even if we are not accomplishing anything that improves us or our world. The feeling of knowing, even if it doesn't lead us to practical change that makes our lives better.
We spend so much time on the driven narrative, that we no longer have time for ourselves and when we do, we bury our face into more narrative consumption, more entertainment, more avoidance - rather than spend time creating for ourselves to discover who we are and what we really need to be our best, feel our best, live our best.
It gets to the point that "looking after ourselves" is too time consuming and difficult, as it gets in the way of consuming the content of others, taking part in the argumentation of the narratives that have no bearing on our immediate lives, but make us feel like we matter. Yet, we don't matter enough to ourselves to do what we need to practically do to feel valuable. We are Google bots, distributing the words of others in an attempt to be relevant in a world where ironically, the only way to be relevant is to do something that adds practical value.
Practical takes work though and, there are no guarantees of success and along the path, means accepting that it is a process of trial and error, meaning we are going to be wrong a lot.
No one has the time to be wrong, so we just keep repeating what others say is right.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
How did your friend take that? That’s what I’m looking to hear lol.
I hear you on being so focused on other shit and being consumptious of media. It’s hard to balance some days because we try to stay abreast of what’s going on but at the same time need to keep grounded in our own lives. I think having young children really helps in that regard. Instead of spending more time making a different dinner, last night I made something quick and spent time coloring in a book with our son, something I haven’t done in months. It felt great to just sit there and connect with him instead of constantly looking at one thing or the other on our phones and stuff. It’s great to take a step back with someone so innocent and genuine as they are and appreciate what we are supposed to be doing instead of the busy work we have in our lives.
They were receptive and the conversation continued. There were a couple of us involved and people added their own insecurities and the desire to feel "safe", so they dismantle others. It was interesting.
I believe this makes a huge difference in our and their lives. My daughter loves the weekends when we can all be together, doing anything. I reckon that in the future, it will be these moments that add the most value to our relationships.
hope you are doing well and you will be back to your best very soon! 💗
Thanks! Won't be too long I hope :)
thats why I am rare guest on twitter recently.
regarding creative people being afraid of sharing stuff: as an exercise they should share something terrible, so people start throwing sh*t at them, tearing them down.
and then there is magic: what happened to me? NOTHING. They can say whatever they want, it didnt affect me long term.
A lot of people would get so upset at the criticism, that they will feel like victims - which is exactly what creates so much of the drama. It is a funny system we subscribe to.
I have a friend who is mobile game developer and he made two or three games on his own (in his spare time) - really good small games. but he has this mental block - he hasn't published them. I believe it is because then the cat is out of the box: people may not like the games or the games may not be a success.
So the social pressure can take different forms.
Get him to integrate them with a Hive token economy and he might make it into a business :)
this is the thing - right now I have seen only 1 play-to-earn game which could compete with medium quality regular games.
there is big revolution coming. BIG BIG revolution.
I can’t get my mind off how you’d be feeling for the next one week. I’m so not used to needles. They scare me a lot. Omg! Hope you feel fine real quick
I hate the needles - 30 years of them for various reasons and still - they suck!
The worst bit about this is that it gives me a terrible headache and makes me very tired for 4 days or so and then, it takes time to recover from that.
We gain experience through practical work that's still the best form of gaining experience. We learn through trial and error and sometimes through mistakes of others
Have you learned something interesting lately?
Yes for that matter, you want to hear something interesting?
Always!
My friend and i had an interview in a company but his day was set up before mine. According to him, in the interview he was asked what he does in his free time and he mentioned trading on crypto and they gave him a red flag for that saying he was not suppose to mention that because it doesn't look responsible for the company standards so that gave me an insights to adjust myself for my turn. But honestly i don't know why people still hate crypto in this current age because it's the leading currency and one can basically make a living out of it
"We spend so much time on the driven narrative, that we no longer have time for ourselves and when we do, we bury our face into more narrative consumption, more entertainment, more avoidance - rather than spend time creating for ourselves to discover who we are and what we really need to be our best, feel our best, live our best."
I've been reflecting on this a lot as a parent. I see my kids fight others online. This gives me a lot of clarity. Thank you and wishing you well.
I am not sure what I will do with my daughter in this regard - for now though, she has no unsupervised screen time at all and even that is very limited. At some point though - she will have to start getting more technical and learn how to manage.
...something that many people fear, because of the judgement.
I don't like this. We are brought up with the concern of what others say about us. As though, we should live as to others. Thus, we get accustomed to tear down others.
I don't know whether it is the same in other countries.
It is the same everywhere I assume and, definitely on the internet which plays such a role in so many lives, that it all spills over. We are already in the Metaverse :D
This will continue in Metaverse, too :)
Nice write up.
We don't live in a value added system anymore. There use to be a time when working forty hours a week brought you the prospects of those little pink houses for you and me as John Cougar Mellencamp sings. Now people are lucky after working sixty hours a week they have a house to come home to, if they do they have to worry if they have enough food, if they can pay the utility bills. That's just starting at the basic foundations laid for the reason you seek value added work. Work itself comes with a whole host of other problems, it isn't just the lack of pay. The system now is even worse than when I was working full time, it's all geared toward the benefit of a few.
It is part of the great crushing and we are also to blame for it, as what we demand tends to support the economy as it is now, not what it was before. The most valuable businesses need the least amount of people and where we put most of our income, isn't into the jobs that require a lot of people to work. It is a spiral down loop.
Please get better soon, Taraz! :( I appreciate your post very much, and I believe the change starts with us. I've used social media as a personal mission for many years to bring positive change just by reaching out to others. Everyone is busy writing their own opinions, but no one is taking time to LISTEN to those in need. After years of doing this in various social media circles, friends encouraged me to post my own opinion so I'm trying my hand at that with as much positivity as I can give! :)
We have to throw our hearts out to the world and not question how the world will return them. :) I guess that's the "romantic" in me.... give away your heart and it will come back to you much stronger and more loved than ever. ;) It doesn't always work that way, but I tend to find that as long as I don't measure it daily but over the lifetime, my heart has grown in leaps and bounds just by giving others my love and attention, especially to strangers... :)
Thank you for always writing wonderful posts and please get well soon. :( I'm so sorry to hear you're not at 100%, but I can tell nothing stops you for long!! ;) Blessings to you! :)
Listening is a huge issue. It is all about shouting into the void for stars and hearts, not about building real conversation or relationships.
Nothing wrong with being a romantic! Though, a pragmatic romantic might be a better path than idealist alone!
Thanks for the well wishes too =)
Hope you would be having fast recovery in your health. Those lines are very much true and relevent . people nowadays look busy either offline or online,Hardly find little time to feel themselves.They get up early in the morning and get busy to sustain their economy and balance sheet till go to bed and in between these time they never had any interation with self to detact the problems or needs whether are they happy or not with present lifestyle.
It is a process of avoidance.
It is easier to be busy in distraction, than critical in reflection.
It all kind of boils down to that semi old saying altered somewhat for today Those that can do, those that can't Rant and criticize So more and more are afraid to put themselves out there, but this is when they should be because so few are out there creating anything.
It is like exercise and practice - many don't like the way they feel physically, but getting off the couch is hard.
This is a kind of mentality that I do advice alot of people to have...