Life doesn’t happen in 140 characters
Life’s fast, reading isn’t
I’ll try to keep this short. This very statement is the issue at hand. The fact that you’re reading this may make you a minority. This is text that I am typing, it’s slow and demands that we delve into our scary, infinite minds. As we seemingly move from an age of limited information to one of information overload, scarcity is not a concern anymore. The problem is surplus. Which raises the question, how can we responsibly know what to consume versus overlook?
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The New Loyalty
Loyalty as it stands
As a species, our loyalties had shifted from the tribe to the local village, from organized religion to the great nation state. As national boundaries blur, economies mix, and identities splinter, our loyalties are changing as well. Though still very dominant, nationalism is weakening. With the extreme growth of multinational entities like the UN, EU, and some corporations, we’re seeing a shift in loyalty not restrained by physical boarders but ones of ideology. As the idea of membership becomes more fluid and access trumps ownership, where will our loyalties lie in the future?
What will this shift mean?
How have the recent Arab Spring and the Occupy movements help usher in this new sense of loyalty and community? Where will power and authority be maintained within this splintering and simultaneously blurring world? As we create new spaces for people and ideas to inhabit, we must be conscience of how it affects loyalty.
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I’m On Fire (Bruce Springsteen Cover)
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Live Video: Run, Far Away
Here’s an original song that my brother and I recorded the other day. Haven’t done something like this in a while so I am pretty pleased with how it all turned out. Would love to know your thoughts. Enjoy :)
-Dan
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Globalism & Tribalism: Two Forces At Work
Globalism & Tribalism: Two Forces At Work
Lately I have been fascinated with the idea of two opposing forces going toe to toe. I can’t help but to think of Newton’s 3rd law of motion stating that for every action there is an opposite yet equal reaction. That all the energy in the world is already out there looking to be converted into another means. This brings me to the concept of globalism and it’s opposite, yet equal, force tribalism. In a nut shell it basically states that as the world is constantly getting smaller (globalism) the world is in fact getting larger (tribalism). Through globalization, there is an active blurring of boundaries yet our world seems to constantly be splintering into smaller and smaller categories. The world is a mass of niches which we can constantly subdivide.
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The Splintering of Identity & The Online Narratives
The Splintering Of Identity & The Online Narratives
Lately I have been interested in online identities. As citizens of the digital world, we inhabit this space through an array of social platforms. This raises the question, “How do different social networks shape one’s online identity?” Some social networks lend themselves to certain behavior. What we do on LinkedIn vs. on Facebook is different than what we say on Twitter vs. Google+. The infrastructure these social networks are built upon have been differentiated for market reasons but have also inadvertently changed the way the user uses the network. What he or she says or responds to can vary depending on the site. With each social network’s constraints and freedoms, the canvas for expression is different. These differences lend themselves to certain actions, ideologies, and conversations.
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The Passion Of Learning
The Passion Of Learning
What do I mean by the passion of learning? Unfortunately, many things. The concept stems from the idea that with the more one learns, the more one is held accountable for his/her actions. No longer can one hide behind the veil of ignorance, safe and comfortable. The weight of responsibility grows heavier each day. Though I have talked about this before, I wanted to look at it through another perspective. Here I want to talk about it in terms of passion.
What does passion have to do with this philosophical dilemma? To me, a lot. Here one is faced with a twisted, addiction for knowledge, growth, and self understanding. However, the more one uncovers, the more one gets buried in it. One cannot help but want to expand their mind and soul, the more you do, the deeper you fall into its captivate fantasy. One is presented with the illusion of greatness by defying human limitations. Our experience pushing the bounds of self and reality; constantly reinventing identity and thus life.
One has a deep desire to learn, to better oneself because, after all, “if you’re not growing, you’re dying.” However, you are but a man, a mere mortal. The more you learn, the more you grow, the smaller you become. You begin to accept your insignificance on a universal level. However, madly attempting to further grow in futile hopes in challenging that. The more you know, the more you suffer because of it.
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The Best Ideas
As Seth Godin says, “Ideas that spread, win.” So how do you prime your ideas so that they spread easily? There is no science to it but I believe the Internet culture provides us with some clues.
Ideas That Spread Are…
Free – There are no barriers to adoption. Ideas that win are easily accessible, sharable, and linkable. There are no pay-walls, prices, or other economic barriers to prevent others from adopting them. The best ideas are accessible on an array of platforms with different flavors and perspectives in order to give a well rounded presentation of the concept. They are universal truths that speak to the soul of the human character. These ideas have a viral quality about them built into the fabric of its architecture. The best ideas travel fast across physical and digital barriers. In truth, no one “owns” an idea, it’s best to treat them so.
Open – The ideas that win today embrace the Internet’s remix culture. They are filed under the Creative Commons copyright and are encouraged to be dissected, broken, built upon, and changed. These ideas are platforms where others launch their own ideas off of. Others tinker with the idea in order to grow it, cultivate and unlock hidden potential within them. They are vulnerable, transparent, and public. The best ideas have nothing to hide and they serve the community by adding to the human body of experience. The more people feed the idea, the better it gets. Read More…
My Life in Beta: Let Me Collide Into You
My Life in Beta: Let Me Collide Into You
I often feel guilty. Sometimes the guilt is justified and other times I create it out of no where. I sometimes feel guilt when I interact with certain people because I know somewhere deep inside of me I want something from them. I want their inspiration. As if I were mining the earth for a precious metal, I cultivate and hold on to acquaintances just for the possibility of ideas. I am searching for what Steven Johnson calls, a complementary “hunch.” As if all the ideas I have are actually parts to a much larger, grander idea I have yet cultivated. By mining for the individual, smaller hunches, I can begin to put together a really fantastic idea quicker than if I came up with all of it on my own and I can do this more efficiently because most of the ground work is done already. Like scientific research, each researcher builds on those before them. As Newton said, “If I have seen further it is only by standing on the shoulders of giants.”
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The Need For Perspective
*Sorry it has been ages since my last post. I have been busy not that it’s an excuse. I think this post is appropriate for today, the 10th anniversary of 9/11.
The Need For Perspective
You can look at anything from multiple angles and change its integrity. It is this fact that gives us agreement and often disagreement. Disagreement, with its host of characteristics, some ugly and others beautiful, should not cripple us and prevent us from getting anything done. I recently saw Raghava KK’s TED Talk on his new iPad children’s book/app and what he said about perspective really stuck me as simply genius. He stated that it is perspective that gives us creativity and empathy. In our often ethnocentric world, we cannot forget about the others’ point of view. 
That it is completely valid and that the ones who hold them, in their deepest of hearts, believe it to be true and correct. Though challenging, it is through the understanding of their perspective do we suddenly take a little of them with us and understand where they are coming from. Statements like “George Washington was a freedom fighter” versus a statement like “George Washington was a terrorist” are both true and it simply depends on who’s perspective you are looking from. It is through this exercise that we can begin to put ourselves in the other’s shoes and learn a little more about them and ultimately ourselves. Even with creativity in mind, all great art has arose from someone looking at something through a nontraditional lens and creating a new perspective. Just ask Monet, Picasso, or Pollock and I am sure they could tell you the same thing. Read More…
