I Want No One Else to Succeed – Kottke
This explains the psychology behind so much of what is happening in our country (and, frankly, worldwide) right now.
...
by Patrick Rhone, Master Generalist
I Want No One Else to Succeed – Kottke
This explains the psychology behind so much of what is happening in our country (and, frankly, worldwide) right now.
My truck looking sweet at dusk.
Something I’ve been thinking about for a while yet I’ve not found a “long form essay” way to spell it out so I’ll put my brief and disjointed thoughts here as a place holder and to spur further discussion…
We often like to believe that an action or a law comes as a result of a societal change. That somehow passing a law makes everything suddenly better. When, in fact, the law is simply a step that is generally near the start of the journey. A road that will take many generations to walk. Also, that road is not a straight line. That journey is a wave. It is often two steps forward and one step back or worse — the converse of that.
Racism didn’t end with Civil Rights Act of 1964. We are now 3-4 generations past that time and still fighting many of the same fights with things often seemingly getting worse, not better.
Segregation did not end when Ruby Bridges crossed the threshold of that school. Even with laws in place, we largely in American culture and society still segregate ourselves willingly despite it.
All culture change is performative… It is all “fake it until you make it”. I would make the argument that most laws and policies are in place to force the faking.
So, it should be no surprise when a company that was doing DEI way before it was cool can suddenly turn on a dime and decades of DEI policies and practices suddenly disappear or go in reverse. They were faking it all along and, you know what? That’s…
Well… How it works. That’s how culture change happens. It happens by faking it until it just becomes the thing we do and it has been so long that people have largely forgotten that it wasn’t always this way or look at the way it was as completely abhorrent to who we are as a society and culture now.
Like I said, many of these thoughts are still forming into a more logical “Rhone Unified Theory of Culture Change and Societal Progression” but I’ll leave these here for now and welcome any feedback or further discussion.
Update:
I received a wonderful and important comment on these ideas from someone who wishes to remain anonymous but has allowed me to include it here:.
imo the missing idea here is that people create social change. It does not happen simply because a law was passed, or even that some people decided to fake it for a while. Social change is about the dominant culture changing, and culture only changes because people help other people change their beliefs or actions (or they are replaced in the culture by others). It’s people changing others that creates the change:
There are two types of activists: One who believes their side is right, and therefore banishes anyone who doesn’t yet agree. And one who believes their side is right, and therefore tries to convince anyone who doesn’t yet agree. I’ve lived in both camps. The latter is tougher, but it’s the one that fosters social change.
Of course, it’s never all of the culture that changes. Just the dominant part, the right now part, which is why that can shift over time. You can pass laws or change policies but not complete the necessary social change, and—bam—things can revert in a hurry in response. Faking it isn’t enough; if you’re not changing others (or keeping them changed), then the “other side” can do the work of changing others, and unwind the change they want.
Things Jesus taught – annie’s blog
As I witness the rise of Christianese in our political culture — specifically, as I witness the use of Christian terminology to defend illegal, inhumane, and immoral behaviors — I feel that we all need a mini-refresher course on the actual teachings of Jesus.
I come from a family of preachers. I have read and studied the bible deeply. This includes many of the non-canonical gospels, early christian writings, and scholarship of historical accounts of Jesus written by those in or near his lifetime…
This is an important reminder
Trust. Reputation. Relationships. The real drivers of success and sustainability for any company or organization (or individual) won’t appear on a balance sheet. Ignoring any of these will have a direct and decisive impact on your profit and loss. Intangibles are the real expenses and receivables.
Prediction: Soon, there will be schools from elementary to college whose selling point will be not using computers, let alone AI, in the curriculum.
They will have long waiting lists.
Straight from the bottle.
Surrendering to the surface — Robin Sloan
No big deal … except that this video is a presentation, an incantation, that wants to celebrate deep taste and deep skill. It wants also to celebrate San Francisco — the city’s extraordinary qualities! But the terrible coffee gives it away.
Love this.
Support your local dive bar.
AI: How/Why I Use It | Mike Doughty on Patreon
We can do something with AI right now that we won’t be able to do in 10 years—or rather we can get something from AI: the truly uncanny.
As AI develops, that hair-raising freakishness will get refined out. And it’ll just be boring.
Another way to think about AI as an artist. Pairs well with some of Robin Sloan’s thinking in his last zine.
I really am not trying to be a Yay for AI Bro here. I just believe the thinking needs to beyond the binary.
It’s a tool. It’s here. It’s not going away… Now what?
(via Garrick)