#technology #manners #truth
Has technology begotten rudeness?
Are you tempted to trip someone walking down the sidewalk who is only looking down at his or her phone?
We do know that social media has begotten various versions, or definitions, of truth.
George F. Will, columnist for the Washington Post, took on this subject in a column published April 9, 2017, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Will quotes from the book “Talk to the Hand: The Utter Bloody Rudeness of the World Today, or Six Good Reasons to Stay Home and Bolt the Door,” by Lynne Truss.
The author, whose book was published in 2005, says we are slouching into “an age of social autism,” Will quotes.
Truss foresaw an age of “hair-trigger sensitivity,” and “lazy moral relativism combined with aggressive social insolence,” Will writes.
Carolyn Stewart of the Hudson Institute, who revisited Truss’ book, says social media’s “self-affirming feedback loop,” encourages “expectations for a custom-made reality,” and indignation about anything “that deviates from our preferences,” Will quotes Stewart.
“We no longer hold these truths to be self-evident, we hold all truths to be self-evident, even the ones that aren’t true,” will quotes Tom Nichols, author of “The Death of Expertise: The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why It Matters.”
In other words, technology has made us into a rude society with a significant disregard for truth.
We probably are not all that way. Some of us may find technology just a tool to get things done more quickly. We prefer kindness, personal interaction and proven facts.
Some of us may take great pleasure in doing nice things for other people.
Others of us may resent technology as a culprit for putting us out of a good job. Some may even long to meet other nice people. Some may even be skeptical of what they read and hear.
Technology has certainly changed our world – not always for the good. But we become better people when we seek not just civility, but generosity. We become better people when we use technology as a tool, without letting it run our lives. We become better people when we seek out real truth, and base our opinions on it.
If you are one of those, and a machine has taken your job, there are many ways out there to not just earn an income, but to grow as a person. To learn about one of the best, message me.
In short, don’t assume something is true just because it fit whatever you think you believe. If you walk on a sidewalk, look up from your phone. If you are driving, don’t look at your phone at all.
Seek to be a kind, humble, generous person who respects bona fide science, reads and listens to respected and reputable information and is inspired to help others.
Sometimes, rudeness is best ignored.
Peter
Tag Archives: The Washington Post
NOT EVERY JOB IS FOR EVERYONE
#jobs #employment #income
Is the job you have the one you want?
Are you enjoying what you are doing for work, or are you just going through the motions to draw a paycheck?
Stephanie Merry tackled this subject for The Washington Post. The article was published in the Feb. 6, 2017, edition of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Merry’s article features the story of Dan Nicholson, who earned a physics degree from Purdue University, and got a job as a laser engineer.
He hated it. And it apparently showed. He lost his job.
But, he liked working on houses. So, he became Handy Dan.
His story illustrates that even if you get a degree in the right thing, and get a job in your chosen field, it may not be for you.
Merry points out that some folks would prefer to get back to nature, create something tangible, move to the Caribbean and manage a store or restaurant, or just sit on a sailboat and float around – as opposed to working 20 or more years at what they are doing.
As a reality check, it’s better to make a living than not. So many people want to make a living, but are working hard and barely getting by.
Others are so stressed and overworked that they have no time – even if they have the money – to do whatever gives them pleasure.
Wouldn’t it be grand if we could all dump the jobs we hate and earn a living with the hobbies we love?
Sometimes, it’s not about the job. It’s about the income.
What if one could pursue a hobby, while having a different source of income?
There are many good potential income sources out there, for those who wish to look for them. To check out one of the best, message me.
Meanwhile, if you feel you must stay in a job you don’t particularly like so you can make a living, here are a few tips: First, find some things about the job, besides the paycheck, that you like. Perhaps those might be the people you work with, the customers you deal with or some other perks that might have enticed you to take the job in the first place.
Second, keep your job and use non-work hours to find what really motivates you. It may not be working on houses, as it was for Nicholson, but perhaps there is something else you can do that you love, and that adds value to someone else.
“There’s no right path for everyone, and each one has its own risks,” Merry writes.”So, for those who aren’t living their dream lives, what’s the next step? You might start by sitting on a beach. Just leave your phone at home,” she writes.
Of course, sitting on a beach isn’t necessarily going to make you a living. But if you like sitting on a beach, it could give you time to think about what your life will be like five, 10 or 20 years from now, if you keep doing what you’re doing.
If that’s not what you want to be doing long term, it may be time to pursue an alternative.
Peter
TRAINING AN IMMIGRANT TO TAKE YOUR JOB?
#opportunity #60Minutes #immigrants #JobsLost
It’s hard to believe that a company can tell a worker, who has been on the job there for, say, 20 years and has given his life to that company, that he will be laid off.
It’s harder to believe that same company would insult that same person by telling him that he CAN’T leave until he trains his replacement – an immigrant, who will make a good bit less than he did, to do the same work. If he leaves early in disgust, he loses his severance package.
The CBS News TV show “60 Minutes” reported on this practice on its March 19, 2017, edition. The report focused on groups of technology workers at various companies who are facing this.
The report talks about immigrants getting a special H-1B visa to come over here to do specially skilled jobs that could not be filled by Americans. But, as any law, some will find a way to exploit it. Companies are doing just that, the report says.
We can debate for hours what Congress and the president should do about immigration. But this report is not about low-skilled manual laborers. This is about highly skilled, and relatively highly paid, American workers who have needed skills, yet are getting kicked in the teeth.
It’s worse than digging one’s own grave, a worker told correspondent Bill Whitaker.
So, let’s break this down. If you have skills that are in demand, and believe you will never lose your job, think again.
If you believe the immigration problems in the U.S. are driven solely by immigrants, think again. This is a business-driven problem. There can be no reason this is going on, other than companies wanting to make or save money, no matter who is affected. These companies have ensured through lobbying that government isn’t going to mess with what they are doing.
So, logically, one could think, why are these immigrants, who obviously have skills they could parlay in their own country, coming here and agreeing to work for that much less in American dollars? It’s easy to presume that they are doing it because they are still making more than they would in any other country.
That’s may be true, but there may be another reason, and it has nothing to do with doing anyone any harm. It’s been said that one in 10 people who come to the United States from elsewhere become millionaires. That’s an astounding statistic. So these highly skilled folks may see potential opportunity to get rich by, say, inventing something, that they may not have in their home countries.
To back that up, Thomas Heath, in The Washington Post, reports that in Forbes Magazine’s annual list of the 400 richest Americans, a record 42 of them are immigrants from 21 countries. Heath’s story was also published in the March 20, 2017, edition of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The fact that immigrants would make less than their American predecessors did, in the first job that brought them to the U.S., is insignificant to them. The OPPORTUNITY to be in the United States, and to do something great, is what drives them.
There is good news in all this for those displaced, highly skilled American workers. There are many vehicles out there for them to create their own, potentially lucrative, income, too. They may not know about them, or they may even believe that they cannot do what would be asked of them. Yet, they can potentially be not just financially stable, but potentially financially free, without that job they lost.
Such vehicles are available to anyone, regardless of race, education or background. To check out one of the best, message me.
In sum, immigrants WILL come, when they see opportunity. Companies will take advantage of every loophole in every law to improve their bottom lines. As a worker, there is little you can do about it. Your future is in your hands, no matter what happens to you.
Even if laws are changed, new loopholes will be created. The lesson here: ways to potentially fire the boss before he fires you are out there. Don’t be afraid to look for them, and look at them. You never know what someone, either already in your life or who will come into your life, may have his hands on. It could be a lifesaver for you.
As our parents used to tell us when we approached a railroad crossing that didn’t have lights or an arm that came down to block traffic when a train was coming: stop, look and listen. You never know when, or how or from whom, your opportunity will come.
Peter
THE RIGHT OF IGNORANCE
#truth #facts #opinion
Here’s a test: have you ever talked with anyone who passionately asserted that something was correct, when it clearly was not?
Perhaps we all have. Washington Post columnist George F. Will quoted Tom Nichols, professor at the U.S. Naval War College and the Harvard Extension School as calling it “a storm of outraged ego.”
Will, whose column on the subject was published in the Jan. 29, 2017, edition of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, also quotes Nichols, who wrote an article in The Chronicle Review on the matter, as saying there is an increasing phenomenon among college students who “take correction as an insult.”
Nichols writes, as quoted in Will’s column, that the students have been taught to regard themselves as peers of their teachers.
“College, in an earlier time, was supposed to be an uncomfortable experience because growth is always a challenge,” Will quotes Nichols. It is supposed to replace youthful simplicities with adult complexities, Will writes.
Today, according to Will, “A” is the most commonly awarded grade, given 30 percent more frequently than in 1960.
“Unearned praise and hollow success build a fragile arrogance in students that can lead them to lash out at the first teacher or employer who dispels that illusion, a habit that carries over into resistance to believe anything inconvenient or challenging in adulthood,” Will quotes Nichols.
We all probably know people with whom discussions are akin to talking to walls. No matter the correct facts, they’ll believe what they believe.
Sometimes, people gain leadership positions while completely oblivious to the truth.
The moral here is that we should embrace truth, no matter what it reveals. We should form opinions based on truth, rather than some alternative to truth.
That isn’t to say that we can’t have faith. Faith, by definition, is believing something to be true that has not been proved so. Faith can lead one to the truth.
But we must guard against treating truth as a matter of opinion. There’s nothing wrong with an opinion based on truth, but there is much wrong with truth based on opinion.
Do you know someone who seeks real education, is willing to be coached by others who clearly know more than they do and who is in search of something that might give them the financial prosperity they want? If you know such a person, have him or her message me.
Meanwhile, always search for the truth. It may present itself in ways you might not expect. When someone tells you something is true, verify it as best you can. Read about it from reliable publications. Don’t necessarily compare it to what you believe is true. Show yourself whether it is true, or not.
Shun arrogance. Allow yourself to learn. Alter your opinions if you must, but always base what you believe on what is true.
Truth may or may not set you free, but something other than the truth definitely will not.
Peter
SHAKESPEARE: IS HE NECESSARY TODAY?
#Shakespeare #Education #Literature #Drama
Many of us have read something William Shakespeare has written.
Some love him. Some hate him. Certainly, though his language is pure, it’s not always easy to understand. We certainly don’t talk like that in daily conversation.
For many of us, he was required reading at some point in our education. Today, however, a debate is raging over not only whether he is relevant to today’s world, but whether, in the name of diversity, he’s just another dead white guy.
Ben Boychuk and Joel Mathis had this very debate in a column they wrote together. It was published in the June 21, 2015, edition of the News Sentinel of Knoxville, Tenn.
Boychuck is associate editor of the Manhattan Institute’s City Journal. Mathis is associate editor of Philadelphia Magazine.
In Boychuk’s view, if a teacher can’t make violence, murder, insanity, greed, witchcraft, betrayal and other elements of Shakespeare come alive in the classroom, he or she is probably in the wrong job. Some of us, when studying Shakespeare or performing in one of his plays, could hurdle what language barrier there was – his old-time English and modern English.
Mathis, however, had the benefit of translation pages when he studied Shakespeare in school. Were it not for those, he says, he may not have survived that course.
“There’s a WORLD of really exciting literature out there that better speaks to the needs of my very ethnically diverse and wonderfully curious, modern-day students,” says Dana Dusbiber, a teacher at Luther Burbank High School in Sacramento, Calif. She told in a Washington Post column that she hates teaching Shakespeare.
Boychuk and Mathis refer to her column in their column.
If any student’s education is devoid of Shakespeare, how would they know that centuries ago, people actually talked and wrote that way.
On the other hand, many of today’s students have English as a second language. Do they need literature whose English is a bit more basic, to better master their second language?
The Boychuk-Mathis column points out that plays are best seen performed than read. Very few other playwrights get the attention in school that Shakespeare does. Perhaps that’s because Shakespeare is special, and, as the column points out, many of the phrases used today originated with Shakespeare, i.e. “there’s the rub,” it’s Greek to me,” to thine own self be true.”
No matter how one feels about what and how we teach kids, it’s clear that kids need a well-rounded education. They need to learn the niceties as well as the evils of today’s and yesterday’s world.
They need to be able to communicate clearly, to talk so as to be universally understood, to sell themselves to a prospective employer or client. A smattering of Shakespeare can teach them a good bit of how the language was formed and modernized.
Also, they need to develop a great image of themselves. How do you feel about yourself? Are you still looking for who you really are, or are you having to change things up to thrive in today’s world. If so, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. Many of those whom you will see may, or may not, be Shakespeare fans, but they’ve certainly learned that their curiosity has paid great dividends.
Studying the Bard may be hard, but he has many lessons to teach.
Peter
TRANSACTIONS AND ACCOMPANYING FEELINGS
Parting with money is difficult in most circumstances.
But if we trade money for something we really want, it can bring a certain amount of pleasure.
Washington Post columnist George Will once talked of “consensual transactions,” to differentiate between those in the private sector and taxes, which no one likes.
But there are many different feelings we can have when parting with our money. Not all “consensual transactions” are made with pleasure.
Hated transactions in the extreme are forced transactions, like taxes and fines. When someone robs you, and forces you to give him money, that’s another forced transaction.
Other transactions that displease to a lesser degree. If one’s car or refrigerator breaks down, the transaction to repair or replace it is not necessarily forced, but they are less than “consensual.” One would have difficulty living without refrigeration or transportation, so one must do what one must do. They can leave the consumer vulnerable, because circumstances dictate a purchase, at almost any cost.
Other transactions give you something you need, but anger you because of the cost. Gasoline, utilities and the like can cost you too much. Again, it’s difficult to live without those services. These are the expenses you look to minimize. Paying less for necessities can bring a certain amount of pleasure.
Consensual transactions in earnest might be the cup of coffee you buy each morning, or the decadent pastry you might buy with it. You don’t think about the cost, only the pleasure you’ll receive after consumption. These costs, though, don’t seem much at the time, but can really add up over time. Making your own coffee at home, or buying pastry in a grocery store — if you must eat pastry — can give you just as much short-term pleasure at a lower cost.
Real pleasure transactions might be that dream vacation you want to take. They might be that big-screen TV or other gadget that you’d always wanted. Sometimes, you want things so badly it doesn’t matter what they cost.
But these pleasure transactions can lull you into paying more than you should, or can lull you into buying something you really don’t need, or can’t afford. Make sure that purchases in this realm fit well into your income. Also, don’t scrimp on things like saving for retirement to buy a big-screen TV or take a dream vacation. You’ll pay dearly for that down the road, if you do.
It boils down to looking for value in every transaction. It also comes down to behavior and choices. Good behavior and smart choices can keep more of your money in your hands. Don’t go without affordable pleasures, but don’t overdo them either.
We all would like to earn more, and spend less. For one of the best ways to do that, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. Pleasure abounds when more money comes, and stays, in your hands.
So not every “consensual transaction,” as Will might define it, is desired or pleasant. If you are in business, you would love people to find pleasure in giving you their money. Make sure if you have to work with less-pleasant transactions that you minimize the displeasure. If you work with pleasurable transactions, take advantage with care. People don’t want to feel ripped off, no matter what they are buying. Learn to take “no” for an answer, and don’t try to sell someone upgrades they don’t need or want.
If you collect taxes or fines, ease the payer’s discomfort as much as possible.
Not all transactions are consensual. Let’s make sure yours are, at least, sensible.
Peter
FINDING GOOD IN EVERYONE
It takes all kinds to make a world, and those most successful people value everyone that helps them achieve success.
“When you make every client your favorite, you are bound to have a deeper connection with your clients, as well as have greater success,” says Gregg Steinberg, professor of human performance at Austin Peay State University and author of the Washington Post best seller “Full Throttle.”
“You will always have some clients whom you perceive as friendly and kindhearted.,” Steinberg said in a May 2013 column in The Tennessean newspaper in Nashville.
But, “”everyone’s business has a few clients that simply get on the nerves,” he added. Your dislike for that client will eventually show through, and affect your business, he said.
Let’s dig deeper into Steinberg’s idea. Everyone that we interact with has good and bad traits. We just have to focus on the good traits, and let the bad ones roll off our backs. By focusing on one’s bad traits, we waste energy. Dislike, even hate, takes energy. It doesn’t improve anything. It doesn’t move us forward.
If a person is vital to our lives, or our businesses, we have to manage our emotions about them. We have to focus our energy on appreciating the good they do, and not waste a lot of energy focusing on what they don’t do for us.
Any relationship is like that. One cannot be blind to the flaws of another, but one does not have to focus on it. Focusing on the positive not only improves chances of success in that relationship, it also creates less stress.
Sometimes we witness true evil. We can’t help but expend energy trying to combat that. Though motivational speaker Andy Andrews tells us to “sweat the small stuff,” sometimes the little things that a person does that annoy us might not be worth sweating. Andrews also advises us to “smile when we talk.” If we do that consistently, we will focus our energy on the positive traits of those we come in contact with. The nagging little annoyances won’t bother us so much.
Success is treating each (pick one: client, coworker, friend, acquaintance, neighbor) as if they are just right for you. Seeing and focusing on the positive in that person will be reciprocated. Perhaps you will make each other successful, which is ideal.
If you want to make everyone you interact with successful, but are not sure how to do that, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. This may be the vehicle you have been looking for not only for your own success, but also to help others succeed.
Helping others involves giving, but sometimes the best thing you can give a person is a way to help themselves and others.
The more you give in that regard, the more those to whom you give the opportunity will pass it on. The more everyone passes it on, ultimately, the more successful people become AND the more people become successful.
The more successful people there are, the better place the world becomes. The more successful anyone becomes, the less energy is wasted on little annoyances. But to get to that point, you first have to make the effort NOT to focus on what annoys you. Focus on what you see that is good, and continue to feed that.
In short, don’t let the little stings cripple you. That creature who stings produces the honey that you love. The more honey, the more success.
Peter
LEADERS WITH A CONSCIENCE
We think of leaders as people who like to give orders.
We think of leaders as people we need to look up to.
We also think of leaders as people who make things happen.
We don’t normally think of leaders who have a conscience. It seems we were all taught to have a conscience, but somehow when people get into leadership posts, they become more about themselves than others.
Mayor Julian Castro of San Antonio, Texas, brought this to light when he said that for good change to happen, “you need folks in the boardroom who have consciences, and people in the streets who can picket at the right time.”
Castro was quoted in a March 2013 column by Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne.
As long as leaders won’t change, change is not likely to happen. Yet, in today’s world, change is not only the operative word, it’s the way of life. To paraphrase Darren Hardy, publisher of Success magazine, the change that took 100 years to happen up to now will happen in a much shorter time frame.
It’s happening so fast that it’s difficult to keep up with.
It will take leaders – and others – to make it happen. The old-style leader who got where he wanted, then fought to keep the status quo, no matter how anyone else was affected, will have to change. The new breed of leader will be concerned with others first. He will want to give and serve.
You see, if he gives and serves, he will get plenty. One never knows who the next innovator is. It could be someone right under a leader’s organization. To allow that person to excel to the best of his ability is a sign of true leadership. If a leader provides the right atmosphere for innovation and success for others, those innovators will likely forever be aligned to him.
LEADERS RELISH HAVING MORE SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE UNDER THEM
The new leaders will aspire to have good, innovative and successful people with him, and will want to reward them accordingly. The new breed of leader relishes having people even more successful than he in his organization.
He will want to serve and help those people to the best of his ability. He will give them all the credit for their accomplishments. He will create an atmosphere in which the best innovators can flourish and thrive.
Are you a new breed of leader? Do you want people like you in your organization? Do you want to build such an organization? You don’t have to be in a company. You don’t have to shell out big bucks for a franchise. You just have to be willing to look at one of the many opportunities that are out there for the entrepreneur.
For one of the best such opportunities, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau . The potential for any leader is huge. All you have to do is find a few people like you that want to join with you. You help them succeed. They help you in return. And those who introduced you to the idea will help you, help them.
There’s no greater win-win than people helping people be successful, and have a great time doing it. No boss-worker hierarchy. No one person giving orders to the other. No one person succeeding, off the backs of others. People helping people succeed.
Mayor Castro has it right that we need leaders with conscience. But, more than that, we need leaders who WANT others to succeed, and will help them to do it. We want leaders who don’t just graciously allow their workers to be photographed with them. We want leaders who are honored to be photographed with those they are trying to help.
Peter