Posts Tagged ‘connection’

Monday, January 21st, 2013

I Had a Dream

I HAD A DREAM…

And then I woke up…

Saw the news…

Terrorism; hatred; violence…

So called “militants” who are really just criminals; so called “militants” who are really just terrorists; so called freedom fighters who don’t really believe in freedom; rights advocates who believe only in their own rights; God being used by many as the reason to kill the other; hatred limiting progress and worse regressing life and horrific acts becoming so commonplace that stupid human drama becomes top of mind; discussion and search….

Yet…

We live in a world where anything is possible. The tools we have at our disposal are being used to cure disease; increase crop yield; better predict dangerous weather; provide clean water and medical aid to all; educate the masses and level the global playing field making everything good more exponentially possible.

Today in the United States we commemorate the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King – he would have been 84 years old had he not been cut down by an assassin’s bullet – 84 and my bet is that he would have been active; digitally savvy and harnessing the best we have to make the world better.

His Dream would have been empowered and in turn would have empowered…even as it does today – but more so….

I encourage you – wherever you are and whatever you believe to spend a few minutes learning about Dr. King and a few more minutes meditating on his words. As I reviewed them this weekend I was struck by how relevant his message is not just spiritually but as a guide to living in today’s hyper-connected and ever fragmenting digital world…

I will end with a thought of his that speaks volumes to those of us who Tweet; Facebook; Instagram; Blog; Whatsapp; etc…

Listen:

“We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever effects one directly, affects all indirectly.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr – Letter from a Birmingham Jail

Does this not ring true in our digitally networked always-on world? Is this not what every single new endeavor out there today is saying and selling as they try to monetize our human behavior? And is this not the promise of all that we can do and achieve today? More meaningful than “do no evil”…if there was ever a single credo for our world today…a goal for us to work towards this is it.

What’s your dream?

What do you think?

 

Posted by David on 01/21 at 02:43 PM
  • Your quote resonates so deeply. Now more than ever, \We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality\. Gated communities, attempting to keep people safe, divide people into haves and have nots, and soon need bigger walls to hold back the armies of resentment. I dream of a tapestry so beautiful, useful, and flexible that the body embraces the many folds.
    Read more >
    Posted by Amanda on 2013-01-21 18:52:07
Monday, April 9th, 2012

Love 2.0

Algorithms do not love make….

Yes, yes – we all know the advertised stories of all the happy couples brought together by digital dating services through the magic of advanced algorithms.

But hear out Eli Finkel, a professor of social psychology at Northwestern University. As quoted by The New York Times on Easter Sunday, Professor Finkel had this to say:

“Technology is not the way to figure out who is compatible and who will never be.  At the end of the day, the human algorithm – neural tissue in our cranium called a brain – has evolved over a long period of time to size up people efficiently. On a blind date, a person arrives and in that instant can say, ‘I’m glad I did this or I regret it.’”

It also reminded me of a joke often told by Rodney Dangerfield, the well-known American comedian:

“My wife and I were happy for twenty years. Then we met.”

And there you have it….

As I contemplated both the professor and Rodney and the sentiment they shared, I was reminded of a piece I had seen in TIME Magazine regarding the technological aspects of the various revolutions and movements of the past year or so:

“Technology mattered, but this was not a technological revolution. Social networks did not cause these movements, but they kept them alive and connected. Technology allowed us to watch, and it spread the virus of protest, but this was not a wired revolution; it was a human one, of hearts and minds, the oldest technology of all.”

Bottom line – algorithms help us make order out of chaos – but they have no soul.

Imagine a world where we could make peace by algorithm….

So it seems to me that as we contemplate what algorithms can and cannot do – as we understand them for the tools they are and not the tools they might make us – I thought the following might spark a thought or two….

Listen:

“If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe.”
Carl Sagan

So if you are looking for the love of your life or you have the urge to bring about world peace – by all means begin with Bing or Google – but remember that creating the universe takes a lot more thought….

What do you think?

Posted by David on 04/09 at 05:11 PM
Monday, March 14th, 2011

Who hasn’t?

Who hasn’t had the community discussion with a client or a friend?

You know which one I mean – “let’s build a community.”

A community of users…of whatever…

A community of deodorant rejecters…

A community of activists…of just about anything…

A community of people who are community members….

No s—t, I have heard all of the above. And more.

Let’s be clear – there are serious community aggregations out there. And they can be powerful. From Egypt, to stopping human trafficking, to ending hunger, to providing support for those devastated in the way-too-many tragedies – naturally and otherwise occurring – that fill our news and senses every day. Groups of people coalesce around an issue – recruit others, solicit help and often funding, and strive to make a difference in the world.

But ask yourself – in the quiet of this reading – is the accumulation of brown-sugar- water drinkers who like to post pictures of themselves drinking or doing funny things with the empty bottles a community? Fill in any other like group that comes to mind and repeat.

When you sit in a restaurant, go to a movie, sit on a crowded plane or an overcrowded bus – do you feel that you are in a community?

Versus when you go to your church, mosque or synagogue, or any other faith-based gathering – if you are so inclined. Or to a family event or a friend’s reunion, or even to work…in the best of places.

I began obsessing on this notion a while ago – and see it linked to the sadly skewed notion of what friends are that I am happy to say is beginning to change. As I always ask when I speak at conferences after I query who in the room has 500 or more friends on Facebook – “And how many of them will pick you up at the airport?”  The nervous laughter always answers the question and makes the point.

It was also driven home to me as I sat down to write this morning (rather early – we just turned the clock ahead) and check Google Trends, curious to see what the world was searching, and was once again saddened to see that most of the world is paying little attention to Japan, even when it was Top of Search on Friday.  It’s already being supplanted by the latest pop news and such – except for Nuclear Meltdown as some see it as one big live Disaster Movie.

So what is a community? Try this – listen:

“Without a sense of caring, there can be no sense of community.”

Anthony J. D’Angelo

So what do you really care about?

What really makes for a community?

What communities do you really belong to?

And maybe – just maybe – we can come up with a better term to define those less- than-community gatherings – and leave the term for when it really matters.

What do you think?

Posted by David on 03/14 at 02:41 PM