The opposite of civilization is human nature. And occasionally, regrettably, human nature finds a way to break through the behavioral, cultural, social, and even religious boundaries constructed assiduously around it. We define this “breaking through,” as conflict, violence, and—at the nation-state level—war. The purpose of civilization is to hold back Read more…
Two things are happening simultaneously in our organizational cultures, our markets, and our personal lives. We have established non-curiosity (“I don’t care how it works, I just want it to work”) as the new standard for engaging with the work, the ideas that interest us (or not) and the world Read more…
There is a story (probably apocryphal) that the comedian Louis C.K., burns his jokes, his stand-up material, and his writing after successfully delivering it at the end of each year. This story reads like a corollary to the idea (popularized through the constant repeating of the alleged actions of the Read more…
The disconnect between what people know about how the Internet (and by extension social media) “works” (choices, behaviors, options, etc.) and what people use the Internet (and social media) to accomplish (tasks) is underrated and massive. Part of the disconnect comes from a lack of interest and caring about how Read more…
It’s hard to place a dollar value on human-to-human interactions in the current (and growing) connection economy, because connection is about engaging in acts of caring. And whoever put a dollar value on acts of caring? But here are a few challenge questions if that’s your attitude: Whoever put a Read more…
The culture of immediacy that we have created with our digital social communication tools, has convinced our brains that problems of all kinds should be solvable immediately, to our specifications, and with little effort (or friction) on our part. Here are a few examples. Your mileage (and examples) may vary: Read more…
We lose a little of ourselves when we outsource our memory to Google. But not in the obvious way that we think of. What we lose in the privacy (some would say inaccuracy) of memory is the ability to forget. And to be forgotten. The privacy of memory and the Read more…
On any curve of distribution, at the beginning of the curve and at the end of the curve are outliers. At the beginning, these outliers are known as “pioneers.” At the end, these outliers are known as “laggards.” And in the middle of the curve (where the bulge is) this Read more…
Can we have civility when we don’t agree on what’s true and what’s not? When we hold on to our worldviews, and when they become more than merely window dressing, and they become integrated into our overall identities, we can find it incredibly difficult to engage with others civilly. So, we Read more…
There’s always been news. There’s always been a continuum of what’s considered news by audiences and what’s not. But what’s been lacking has been information, wisdom, and knowledge. The continuum of what’s news has been debated for years by those delivering the content, and is now heating up with accusations of Read more…