Thanks for outlining the distinction between what's awesome and what makes us happy.
In South East Asia, there's a pervasive 'boss' culture where people from underprivileged backgrounds take up gig jobs like food & parcel delivery on apps like Grab & Gojek, and I benefit from 'boss' being underpaid and out in the sun all day. It's 'awesome' that I can forget to bring my power cable to work and have someone send it over to me from my house, or order a bag of coffee beans and have them delivered for 60 cents because my coworking space didn't provide any.
Very awesome, but it doesn't make me happy thinking about how hard boss has to work for the pennies. The only way I can reconcile with it is by tipping, which is now built into these apps.
I feel like the piece I wrote could take detours through a myriad of related phenomena. I also think A LOT about how I live in a rich society that's pretty much insulated in a way that doesn't ever allow me to see the morally bankrupt (get it?) foundation on which it stands. Your comment makes me think of this excellent analysis of Glass Onion's financial theme (this critic is great): https://youtu.be/_xOBJ9pEQE0
I'll also add that the more callous one is, and the less empathetic, the easier it is to make money. Empaths will always look for the deal that's emotionally harmonious, while the cold-blooded businessman will always look at at profit alone. The way we are tricked to participate in a dehumanizing economy is because of the concept of Fairness, which means different things to the two types. Empaths take fairness to be something qualitative and close in meaning to its etymological root of beautiful, and then morally good. Sociopaths think quantitatively and make sure they present you with a neat mathematical equation they can actually manipulate in ways we don't even care to understand because we're simply not obsessed with getting materially rich i.e having much more than others.
I'm excited about moving forward with this kind of clarity, and hopefully stir up a discussion on these matters. Like I said, this framework actually explains most unjust behaviors...
Part of my interest is in finding and cultivating rehumanizing scenes and communities. And you are one of many that have encouraged me to pursue this in the free time that I have.
Thanks, Chris! I feel like I have a circle of friends I can trust to make the time for more thoughtful interactions, as well as introducing me to new people - that part of me isn't burned out at all. Twitter simply offered critically diminished returns lately.
And thanks for the article, it definitely relates to my point. With all this positive feedback, I'm encouraged to develop the idea further. Another symptom of what's going on is our collective focus on quantification over qualification: A life well-lived can rarely, if ever, be described in quantifiable terms. You can find correlations (no. of close friends, for example), but that's about it. And yet, we keep aiming at quantifiable goals in our day-to-day life, mainly money but also how much sex we're having compared to others, and other things.
So, I'm happy you find my podcast and Substack one such rehumanizing community, and are even inspired by it. This is very encouraging :)
Thanks for outlining the distinction between what's awesome and what makes us happy.
In South East Asia, there's a pervasive 'boss' culture where people from underprivileged backgrounds take up gig jobs like food & parcel delivery on apps like Grab & Gojek, and I benefit from 'boss' being underpaid and out in the sun all day. It's 'awesome' that I can forget to bring my power cable to work and have someone send it over to me from my house, or order a bag of coffee beans and have them delivered for 60 cents because my coworking space didn't provide any.
Very awesome, but it doesn't make me happy thinking about how hard boss has to work for the pennies. The only way I can reconcile with it is by tipping, which is now built into these apps.
I feel like the piece I wrote could take detours through a myriad of related phenomena. I also think A LOT about how I live in a rich society that's pretty much insulated in a way that doesn't ever allow me to see the morally bankrupt (get it?) foundation on which it stands. Your comment makes me think of this excellent analysis of Glass Onion's financial theme (this critic is great): https://youtu.be/_xOBJ9pEQE0
I'll also add that the more callous one is, and the less empathetic, the easier it is to make money. Empaths will always look for the deal that's emotionally harmonious, while the cold-blooded businessman will always look at at profit alone. The way we are tricked to participate in a dehumanizing economy is because of the concept of Fairness, which means different things to the two types. Empaths take fairness to be something qualitative and close in meaning to its etymological root of beautiful, and then morally good. Sociopaths think quantitatively and make sure they present you with a neat mathematical equation they can actually manipulate in ways we don't even care to understand because we're simply not obsessed with getting materially rich i.e having much more than others.
I'm excited about moving forward with this kind of clarity, and hopefully stir up a discussion on these matters. Like I said, this framework actually explains most unjust behaviors...
Sorry to hear that you deleted your Twitter account! But I still hope you have the friends and ideas you need.
I read a post on the Social Recession that gives some stats on the ongoing dehumanization that you pointed on: https://novum.substack.com/p/social-recession-by-the-numbers
Part of my interest is in finding and cultivating rehumanizing scenes and communities. And you are one of many that have encouraged me to pursue this in the free time that I have.
Thanks, Chris! I feel like I have a circle of friends I can trust to make the time for more thoughtful interactions, as well as introducing me to new people - that part of me isn't burned out at all. Twitter simply offered critically diminished returns lately.
And thanks for the article, it definitely relates to my point. With all this positive feedback, I'm encouraged to develop the idea further. Another symptom of what's going on is our collective focus on quantification over qualification: A life well-lived can rarely, if ever, be described in quantifiable terms. You can find correlations (no. of close friends, for example), but that's about it. And yet, we keep aiming at quantifiable goals in our day-to-day life, mainly money but also how much sex we're having compared to others, and other things.
So, I'm happy you find my podcast and Substack one such rehumanizing community, and are even inspired by it. This is very encouraging :)
Amazing piece my friend.
Heel erg bedankt! Even my wife read it and liked it, so I know it's good, haha :D
Wife approval is the best approval! 😘
Rehumanizing society -- love the term! It seems quite compatible with my https://abundance.dev/anyhumans podcast efforts :)
Thanks, Pavel! I'd love to be part of your project there, and would love to have you on Deep Dive. Let me know if you feel ready :)
That’s great, and I’ll reach out to you soon this month!
Looking forward to it!
Email is eyal dot sum at gmail dot com