Archive for the ‘Pop Philosophy’ Category

The New American Dream: Be a Pundit or Wonk

Posted on: November 1st, 2011 by Geoff Livingston 16 Comments

WonkAFAHero

  • Pundit: A person who gives opinions in an authoritative manner usually through the mass media
  • Wonk: A person preoccupied with arcane details or procedures in a specialized field

We as a culture have moved from doers to talkers, and even our education system seems to acknowledge this. A recent American University ad campaign in the Washington region encourages local prospective students to be a wonk. The ads highlight a subtle cultural shift to a desire to be known as an information source, famous for subject area knowledge. Today, Americans want to be famous for talking about things.

In the past, Americans wanted to do things with their career. They wanted to be a fireman, the president, a lawyer, a nurse, a parent, etc.

Notice the verb switch from doing to knowing. The two are not the same thing. One involves actively engaging in a career. The second path can possess the domain knowledge from experience, but not necessarily. The realm of the pundit or wonk is to talk about a profession, as opposed to actively engaging in that work.

Even the campaign subtext seems to acknowledge this: …where budding experts are transformed into true wonks.

What this trend acknowledges: Most Americans want to be famous. We have a celebrity culture. Success has transitioned from great acts to a great public perception. And now with the advent of social media building such a perception is easier than it has ever been before. A recent news article aptly dubbed this trend, “too much sizzle, too little steak.”

The new celebrity culture does make you wonder about a few things:

  • If we are all so busy talking about the work, who will actually do it?
  • What are the rewards for being a “doer?”
  • Does the talker fare better now? Have we dis-incentivized real action?
  • How do we as a culture delineate opinion from subjective experience and fact-based research?

Just some thoughts on the New American Dream of being a publicly known expert. What do you think of our celebrity culture?

Popularity: 1% [?]

Big Britches and the Beggar’s Bowl

Posted on: October 23rd, 2011 by Geoff Livingston 4 Comments

Bowl
Image by wwwarby

Now we know it’s true. The Kellogg School of Management has issued a study (hat tip: Rich Becker) that shows the more social connections one has, the more likely they are to treat others as less than. We see that big britches are a common by-product of doing well online. So all of the big bloggers who protest, “Not I,” really need to take a serious gut check.

Here’s the truth about this phenomena: It is timeless. It’s the stuff of novels and movies. Anyone read Faust lately?

Now we’re just seeing hot shot-itus played out on a very public stage with our colleagues, people who take tens of thousands of followers and the attention that comes with it all too seriously. It’s sad watching success change people, really.

It’s also sad that connectedness makes one feel better than other people. It fulfills a need to feel important. Yet twitter shout-outs, klout scores, blog rankings, etc. provide an empty sense of pleasure.

The whole phenomena is reminiscent of the old buddhist tale of the Beggar’s Bowl. A King eager to demonstrate his power fills a beggar’s bowl with silver, but it is not enough. As soon as the bowl is filled, it empties to the dismay of the monarch. There is always a need for more to fill it. The bowl is a metaphor for human desire.

In the real world, most of my friends are government contractors, ex-military types and general contractors (a.k.a. construction). We don’t really talk about social media, marketing and the Internet much. I come off like Spock when we do.

I’m actually grateful that most of my real life friends are not in the same field, that they have have known me for years, decades even. They keep me honest. I always know where I came from, and where I was 16 years ago when I was still an entry level writer working in yet another DC area trade association.

The truth about personal desire for fulfillment by peer recognition: The greatest successes are when others learned from our work, writing, and advice. When they are able to use our experiences to affect change, strengthen communities and/or make a better, happier world, we become stronger. We grow together, and in that sense, using our time as an investment in each other is the greatest gift possible.

That’s it. It’s help others, or it’s nothing.

Fame, awards, prestige, etc. are short sighted, unsustainable sources of pleasure. Money is necessary to feed our families, but that, too, does not make the soul stronger. Nothing else fills that giant hole in the bowl. Only the socially responsible outcomes seem to work, at least for me.

Popularity: 1% [?]

This Too Shall Pass

Posted on: September 11th, 2011 by Geoff Livingston 19 Comments

Virgin Island Sunrise

“This too shall pass,” is something my grandma used to say. It’s a reminder that when times are tough (or conversely, insanely good) that they are just temporary.

Sometimes life deals us a terrible blow. Other times you realize that you have to cut your losses and move on.

It is truly in the worst of times that we come to appreciate, not only the great fruit life offers, but also the subtleties of normalcy; the simple leisurely coffee; an hour of play time with your child; a fun day at work when it all goes right.

Many of you know I was flooded last week. Hardly a unique situation on the East Coast. There were fires in Texas, too. And of course many of us lost a friend or well liked social media acquaintance in Trey Pennington.

You have to get up and keep going through these times.

This is not a tough guy goad to muscle through it. Pain is and should be felt during such moments. You’re not supposed to be OK. This kind of pain produces appreciation for joy, in that most desperate way, repealing innocence and in its place leaving the eyes and scars of experience.

It really sucks dealing with the flood, and living in temporary housing while my house gets fixed up. Watching my family grapple with it, too, is really hard. It is infuriating to listen to inept Fairfax County officials shirk responsibility for an over-taxed, construction silt-laden Cameron Run that has produced two hundred year floods in five years. There is the insurance dodge ball game over tens of thousands of dollars in damages. And it is so hard watching an entire blue collar neighborhood suffer through this. Again.

Easing the pain are the friends who stand by you. You find your real friends in such times. They offer you housing, or check in and see how you are doing. Perhaps they drive by and pitch in a hand removing valuables turned junk. You know who you are. Thank you.

But have no doubt, this too shall pass. Life will change, it always does. And it makes you truly appreciate the good and the simple.

Back up, back to it, in pain or with joy, embrace the moment and move forward. This too shall pass. The sun will rise again.

Popularity: 2% [?]