Podcast
SAMVAD (Together In Conversation)
Hosted by Sunil Rao · EN
Our life experience would ultimately amount to whatever we had paid attention to. Attention: is important and most of the times we are so indifferent to it. It is as fundamental as food; and we go blundering about, seeking ways to assuage the craving, instead of learning how to provide ourselves with what we need, sensibly and calmly. We feed the hunger blindly. Once the mechanism is brought to our attention and we begin to study it, it is as if a veil has been stripped off ordinary life, and we become freer in our action and choices.
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Why Everything We Do Matters
Jul 2700:05:28Tap to summarizeNamaste, Welcome to SAM-VAD (Together In Conversation). Almost a fortnight ago, I shared an excerpt titled – ‘Knowing the Social media Algorithm’ from an article titled ‘Algorithmic Gatekeepers’ by Shawn Fuller. In this episode we briefly discussed as to what these algorithms are and what are the different types currently in use by various social media companies Now, SAM-VAD (Together In Conversation) to the ones paying heed, is where we try to draw your attention to things that matter and the importance of your attention, because, ‘Our life’s experience would ultimately amount to whatever we had paid attention to’. Attention: is as fundamental as food; and we go blundering about, seeking ways to assuage the craving, instead of learning how to provide ourselves with what we need, sensibly and calmly. Once our attention is drawn to the mechanism of why and what we give attention to, it is as if a veil has been stripped off and we become freer in our action and choices. And that is our endavour. This week I bring to your attention an excerpt titled – ‘Why Everything We Do Matters’ from a book titled ‘Fluke’ – Chance, Chaos and Why Everything We Do Matters by Brian Klaas. In his book Brian points that Contrary to our instinctive beliefs, cause and effect are never simple and easy to understand: any specific outcome is dependent not only on what appear to be the major events leading up to it, but also on an array of seemingly insignificant, arbitrary, easily overlooked factors, “flukes”—some under our control, but countless others not. Why Everything We Do Matters Here is a real tale reported in the news in Greece in the summer of 2022. In the summer of 2022, a routine tragedy took place of the coast of Greece. A tourist named Ivan from North Macedonia was swept out to sea. His friends rushed to alert the coast guard, but the searchers came up empty. Ivan was declared lost at sea, presumed dead. Then, eighteen hours later, Ivan was found. Miraculously, he was alive. It seemed impossible. But just before he slipped below the waves to drown, Ivan had spotted a small soccer ball, floating on the surface in the distance. He swam over to it with his last ounce of strength. He clung to it through the night and was rescued. The ball saved his life. When Ivan’s tale of survival made the Greek news, a mother of two boys reacted with shock. She recognised the ball Ivan was holding. Her two boys were playing with that exact ball ten days earlier when one of them accidentally kicked it into the sea. The ball had bobbed across the waves for eighty miles, until it converged with a drowning swimmer at precisely the right moment. The boys had thought little of the lost ball. They shrugged and bought a new one. Only later did they realize that without their accidental kick, Ivan would now be dead. Excerpt from ‘Fluke’ – Chance, Chaos and Why Everything We Do Matters by Brian Klaas. I am sure that you will enjoy reading this book, to read book report you can click on the following link and subsequently buy your copy too: https://humanjourney.us/mind/fluke-brian-klaas-summary Enjoy reading it with your family, friends and near and dear one’s. Namaste!
Transcribe →Knowing the Social media Algorithm
Jul 1400:06:34Tap to summarizeNamaste, Welcome to SAM-VAD (Together In Conversation). A week ago, I shared an excerpt titled – ‘Gatekeepers and Our Perception’ from an article titled ‘Algorithmic Gatekeepers’ by Shawn Fuller. In this episode we briefly highlighted as to how we “Make Sense” of the world around us using our natural faculties of perception and what happens when the social media algorithms become the gatekeepers of our information ecosystem?Now, SAM-VAD (Together In Conversation) to the ones paying heed, is where we try to draw your attention to things that matter and the importance of your attention, and that is because, ‘Our life’s experience would ultimately amount to whatever we had paid attention to’. Attention: is as fundamental as food; and we go blundering about, seeking ways to assuage the craving, instead of learning how to provide ourselves with what we need, sensibly and calmly. Once our attention is drawn to the mechanism of why and what we give attention to, it is as if a veil has been stripped off and we become freer in our action and choices. And that is our endavour. This week I bring to your attention an excerpt titled – ‘Knowing the Social media Algorithm’ from an article titled ‘What is a Social media Algorithm?’ by Shawn Fuller. Knowing the Social media Algorithm In its simplest form an algorithm is any set of steps that, if followed, will accomplish a goal. For instance, a recipe is an algorithm that a human follows to make a meal. The traditional computer algorithm should provide the same answer or do the same thing each time it is given the same input. Increasingly tech companies use machine learning algorithms for many of their systems. Algorithms developed by machine learning don’t follow an ordered set of steps. Hannah Fry summarizes the four major categories of algorithms that are used by some major social media companies in her book, Hello World: Being Human in the Age of Algorithms. They are prioritization, association, classification, and filtering. Prioritization algorithms rank things according to criteria such as popularity, or ratings. When you search YouTube for videos of hurricanes, cats, TV bloopers, or how to repair your dishwasher it uses prioritization algorithms to bring you the most popular videos, ranked according to the number of times a video has been viewed by other people. Association algorithms find connections between things. They are what Amazon uses to display other books and products that you may be interested in based on what you just searched for. Classification algorithms attempt to place you in various categories. The massive data harvesting that social media applications and data broker companies engage in is aimed at placing you in demographic and behavioral categories in order to target ads for products that might interest you. Filtering algorithms remove or exclude information that is considered noise or not of interest. The social media apps use filtering algorithms to include only the stories, memes, and videos that match your known interests. Excerpt from ‘What is a Social media Algorithm’ by Shawn Fuller. I am sure that you will enjoy reading this article, to read it you can click on the following link: https://humanjourney.us/development/our-digital-world/what-is-a-social-media-algorithm Enjoy reading it with your family, friends and near and dear one’s. Namaste!
Transcribe →Gatekeepers and Our perception
Jul 600:04:47Tap to summarizeNamaste, Welcome to SAM-VAD (Together In Conversation). More than a week ago I shared a story titled – ‘The Frogs that rode Snakeback’ from the book ‘The Panćatantra’ tradition ascribes this fabulous work to Vişņu Śarma (“Preserver of Bliss”), prompted by a thought ‘what are we riding on?’. Now, SAM-VAD (Together In Conversation) to the ones paying heed, is where we try to draw your attention to things that matter and the importance of your attention, and that is because, ‘Our life’s experience would ultimately amount to whatever we had paid attention to’. Attention: is as fundamental as food; and we go blundering about, seeking ways to assuage the craving, instead of learning how to provide ourselves with what we need, sensibly and calmly. Once our attention is drawn to the mechanism of why and what we give attention to, it is as if a veil has been stripped off and we become freer in our action and choices. And that is our endavour. This week I bring to your attention an excerpt titled – ‘Gatekeepers and Our Perception’ from an article titled ‘Algorithmic Gatekeepers’ by Shawn Fuller. But before we go on to the excerpt here is what Dr. Robert Ornstein had pointed out in his book – Meditation and Modern Psychology (https://malorbooks.com/titles/meditation-and-modern-psychology-robert-ornstein/) That the two major ways in which we “Make Sense” is: First, we use our sensory systems to discard and to simplify the incoming information. Second, we further sort the amount of information that does come in along a very limited number of dimensions, out of which we construct our awareness. Gatekeepers and Our Perception What happens when the social media algorithms become the gatekeepers of our information ecosystem? In her talk, the internet’s original sin, Renée DiResta observes that the information ecosystem that was built for advertisers is also remarkably effective for propagandists. The recommendation algorithms prioritize what is popular and engaging over what is true. Some of the major newspapers, like the New York Times and the Washington Post, use their own algorithms to analyze story content and combine this with measures of how well the stories perform on Facebook, to decide which future stories to recommend on their Facebook pages. Mainstream news editors will apply a number of criteria to decide what is newsworthy, but they boil down to whether the story has societal significance. What criteria do Facebook’s algorithms use? The media scientist, Michael Ann DeVito analyzed Facebook newsroom and Notes blogs, as well as patent filings, and securities and exchange commission filings to determine which values the algorithms follow in selecting stories for your news feed. For Facebook they boil down to personal significance. Your friend relationships are the single biggest decider of what stories you see. Excerpt from ‘Algorithmic Gatekeepers’ by Shawn Fuller. I am sure that you will enjoy reading this article, to read it you can click on the following link: https://humanjourney.us/development/our-digital-world/algorithmic-gatekeepers Enjoy reading it with your family, friends and near and dear one’s. Namaste!
Transcribe →What are we Riding on?
Jun 2200:10:29Tap to summarizeNamaste, Welcome to SAM-VAD (Together In Conversation). Last week I shared an excerpt titled – ‘Reciprocation’ from a book titled ‘Influence – The Psychology of Persuasion’ by Robert Cialdini, Ph.D. This excerpt pointed to “Web of Indebtedness” – a unique adaptive mechanism of human beings and its role in our evolutionary history as a society. Now, SAM-VAD (Together In Conversation) to the ones paying heed, this is where we try to draw your attention to things that matter and the importance of your attention, because, ‘Our life’s experience would ultimately amount to whatever we had paid attention to’. Attention: is as fundamental as food; and we go blundering about, seeking ways to assuage the craving, instead of learning how to provide ourselves with what we need, sensibly and calmly. Once our attention is drawn to the mechanism of why and what we give attention to, it is as if a veil has been stripped off and we become freer in our action and choices. And that is our endavour. This week as I draw your attention to a story titled – ‘The Frogs that rode Snakeback’ a thought prompts one to think – What are we Riding on? Now this story is from a book titled ‘The Panćatantra’, tradition ascribes this fabulous work to Vişņu Śarma (“Preserver of Bliss”), faced with the challenge of educating three unlettered princes, to awaken their intelligence, Vişņu Śarma (“Preserver of Bliss”) evolved a unique pedagogy – for his aim was to teach the princes howto think, not what to think. The Frogs that rode Snakeback In a certain region lived a black serpent of a ripe old age, named Weak Venom. He deliberated over his sad situation thus: ‘How in the world can I now manage to have a comfortable living?’ He then crawled along to a deep pool inhabited by a great assemblage of frogs. There he flopped down as if he were infirm. As he stayed thus, one of the frogs swimming near the edge of the pool asked, ‘Uncle, how is it that you are not gliding around today, as you normally do, hunting for food?’ My good friend, replied the serpent. What desire for food can someone like myself have whose fortunes are at their lowest ebb? Just now, in the early hours of the night, I was crawling around looking for food and noticing a frog I duly prepared to grab him. He too having noticed me, slipped in somewhere where a group of Brähmanas were intent on reciting the sacred texts to themselves; nor could I make out which way the frog had slithered away. But at the edge of the pool the son of one of the Brähmanas was standing and mistaking his great toe for a frog, I bit it hard; the boy died instantaneously. The father, stung by grief, cursed me in the following words: “Oh! You! Villainous creature! Because you stung to death my innocent son, you shall suffer for this evil act by becoming a vehicle for frogs; and you shall live entirely on what the frogs allow you for food.” So here I am, your vehicle, O, you frogs! The silly frog immediately carried this news to all the other frogs. They were all so excited about it that they approached the frog-king, Watertoes, in a body and told him of it. He, in turn, thinking what a wonderful happening it was, swam out of the pool in a great hurry and accompanied by his ministers went to where Weak Venom lay and climbed on to the serpent’s outspread hood. The other frogs in order of seniority also climbed on to the serpent’s back. Why say more; yet others, not finding any room on the serpent’s back hopped behind Weak Venom as best as they could as he started moving. Weak Venom for his part keen on securing a comfortable living for himself, showed them many different fancy turns and movements that he knew, so that King Watertoes enjoying the contact with the serpent’s body exclaimed with delight: ‘Oh! What fun it is to ride on Weak Venom! No horse or lordly elephant no fine chariot, or palanquin can at all compare with him.’ The next day, Weak Venom, wily rogue that he was, barely managed to crawl at a snail’s pace, which prompted Watertoes to remark, ‘Why, friend Weak Venom, why are you not carrying us nicely as you did before?’ To this Weak Venom promptly replied, ‘My lord, through lack of food, I do not have the strength to carry you properly today! Well, my good chap, why don’t you eat a few of these low-born commoner frogs?’ said Watertoes casually. The sound of these words made Weak Venom thrill with delight in every limb. But then he made haste to observe, You see, my lord, I have this curse of the Brahmana hanging over my head. But now that you have issued this command for me to eat a few frogs, I am simply delighted’ Weak Venom now started eating frogs and he continued to do so without interruption, so much so that in a few days, he grew strong. Eventually Weak Venom succeeded in gobbling up every one of the frogs. Not a single frog was left; not even for seed. Tale from ‘The Panćatantra’ As this story ends here and before another interconnected story begins, I want to draw your attention to these wise words of a Storyteller which I have extracted from yet another monumental work which has been inspired by “The Panćatantra”, it is titled Kalila Wa Dimna; compiled from different source books by Ramsay Wood ‘My stories require, at this stage, no extra commentary, imaginings, or guesswork by you, me, or anyone else. The very worst would be that of moralizing. To explain away is to forget. Thus, let the stories which you can remember do their own work by their very diversity. Familiarize yourself with them.’ I am sure that you will find this book a delight to read and find in it a treasure of stories interwoven into each other. To get your copy click on the following link: Enjoy reading it with your family, friends and near and dear one’s. Namaste!
Transcribe →Reciprocation
Jun 1600:05:12Tap to summarizeNamaste, Welcome to SAM-VAD (Together In Conversation). Last week I shared an excerpt titled – ‘Shortcuts and Decision Making’ from a book titled ‘Influence – The Psychology of Persuasion’ by Robert Cialdini, Ph.D. The excerpt pointed to the need and pitfalls of shortcut methods that we use in our decision-making process. Now, SAM-VAD (Together In Conversation) to the ones paying heed, this is where we try to draw your attention to things that matter and the importance of your attention, and that is because, ‘Our life’s experience would ultimately amount to whatever we had paid attention to. Attention: is as fundamental as food; and we go blundering about, seeking ways to assuage the craving, instead of learning how to provide ourselves with what we need, sensibly and calmly. Once our attention is drawn to the mechanism of why and what we give attention to, it is as if a veil has been stripped off and we become freer in our action and choices. And that is our endavour. This week I bring to your attention an excerpt titled – ‘Reciprocation’ from a book titled ‘Influence – The Psychology of Persuasion’ by Robert Cialdini, Ph.D. In this book the author explains the psychology of why people say yes and how to apply these insights ethically in business and everyday settings. Using memorable stories and relatable examples. I am sure we all wonder sometime as to how do we take our decisions whether they be mundane or important ones. Reciprocation The rule of reciprocation says that we should try to repay, in kind, what another person has provided us. “Web of indebtedness” – A unique adaptive mechanism of human beings, allowing for the division of labour, the exchange of diverse forms of goods, the exchange of different services (making it possible for experts to develop), and the creation of a cluster of inter-dependencies that bind individuals together into highly efficient units. A widely shared and strongly held feeling of future obligation made an enormous difference in human social evolution, because it meant that one person could give something (for example, food energy, care) to another with confidence that it was not being lost. For the first time in evolutionary history, one individual could give away any of a variety of resources without actually giving them away. Sophisticate and coordinated systems of aid, gift giving, defense, and trade became possible, bringing immense benefit to the societies that possessed them. With such clearly adaptive consequences for the culture, it is not surprising that the rule for reciprocation is so deeply implanted in us by the process of socialization we all undergo. Excerpt from ‘Influence – The Psychology of Persuasion’ by Robert Cialdini, Ph.D. I am sure that you will find this book thought provoking and an interesting read and enjoy the memorable stories and relatable examples that form part of this book. To get your copy click on the following link: https://humanjourney.us/books/influence-the-psychology-of-persuasion Enjoy reading it with your family, friends and near and dear one’s. Namaste!
Transcribe →Shortcuts and Decision Making
Jun 800:06:29Tap to summarizeNamaste, Welcome to SAM-VAD (Together In Conversation). Last week I shared an excerpt titled – ‘Understanding Ourselves and Solving today’s Problem’ from an article titled ‘An Ancient Brain in a Modern World’ contributing writers are Robert Ornstein, PhD; David Sobel, MD, MPH; and Sally Mallam. Through this and many interconnected articles the authors are trying to highlight that to solve today’s problems, we need to understand more about who we are and how our brain works every day. Now, SAM-VAD (Together In Conversation) to the ones paying heed, this is where we try to draw your attention to things that matter and the importance of your attention, and that is because, ‘Our life’s experience would ultimately amount to whatever we had paid attention to. Attention: is as fundamental as food; and we go blundering about, seeking ways to assuage the craving, instead of learning how to provide ourselves with what we need, sensibly and calmly. Once our attention is drawn to the mechanism of why and what we give attention to, it is as if a veil has been stripped off and we become freer in our action and choices. And that is our endavour. This week I bring to your attention an excerpt titled – ‘Shortcuts and Decision making’ from a book titled ‘Influence – The Psychology of Persuasion’ by Robert Cialdini, Ph.D. In this book the author explains the psychology of why people say yes and how to apply these insights ethically in business and everyday settings. Using memorable stories and relatable examples. I am sure we all wonder sometime as to how do we take our decisions whether they be mundane or important ones. Shortcuts and Decision making Automatic, stereotyped behaviour is prevalent in much of human action, because in many cases it is the most efficient form of behaving, and in other cases it is simply necessary. You and I exist in an extraordinarily complicated stimulus environment, easily the most rapidly moving and complex that has ever existed on this planet. To deal with it, we need shortcuts. We can’t be expected to recognize and analyze all the aspects in each person, event, and situation we encounter in even one day. We haven’t the time, energy, or capacity for it. Instead, we must very often use our stereotypes, our rules of thumb to classify things according to a few key features and then respond mindlessly when one or another of these trigger features is present. Very often in making a decision about someone or something, we don’t use all the relevant available information; we use instead, only a single, highly representative piece of the total. And an isolated piece of information, even though it normally counsels us correctly, can lead us to clearly stupid mistakes – mistakes that, when exploited by clever others, leave us looking silly or worse. Our shortcut approach is like an automatic responding of lower animals, whose elaborate behaviour patterns could be triggered by the presence of a lone stimulus feature. Where we are rushed, stressed, uncertain, indifferent, distracted, or fatigued, we tend to focus on less of the information available to us. When making decisions under these circumstances, we often revert to the rather primitive but necessary single-piece-of-good-evidence approach. All this leads to a jarring insight: With the sophisticated mental apparatus we have used to build world eminence as a species, we have created an environment so complex, fast-paced, and information-laden that we must increasingly deal with it in the fashion of the animals we long ago transcended. Excerpt from ‘Influence – The Psychology of Persuasion’ by Robert Cialdini, Ph.D. I am sure that you will find this book thought provoking and an interesting read and enjoy the memorable stories and relatable examples that form part of this book. To get your copy click on the following link: https://humanjourney.us/books/influence-the-psychology-of-persuasion Enjoy reading it with your family, friends and near and dear one’s. Namaste!
Transcribe →Understanding Ourselves and Solving today’s problems
Jun 100:06:21Tap to summarizeNamaste, Welcome to SAM-VAD (Together In Conversation). Last week I shared an excerpt titled – ‘Social media and its Impact’ from the book titled ‘LikeWar – The Weaponization of Social Media’ by Peter Singer and Emerson Brooking. In this book the authors explore amongst many other things the collision of war, politics, and social media, where the most important battles are now only a click away. Now it seems that we are all trying to find solutions to our various problems, Individually or collectively, but the moment we find a solution there seems to be a new problem that we come across and we wonder why? Now, SAM-VAD (Together In Conversation) to the ones paying heed, this is where we try to draw your attention to things that matter and the importance of your attention, and that is because, ‘Our life’s experience would ultimately amount to whatever we had paid attention to. Attention: is as fundamental as food; and we go blundering about, seeking ways to assuage the craving, instead of learning how to provide ourselves with what we need, sensibly and calmly. Once our attention is drawn to the mechanism of why and what we give attention to, it is as if a veil has been stripped off and we become freer in our action and choices. And that is our endavour. This week I bring to your attention an excerpt titled – ‘Understanding Ourselves and Solving today’s problems’ from an article titled ‘An Ancient Brain in a Modern World’ contributing writers are Robert Ornstein, PhD; David Sobel, MD, MPH; and Sally Mallam. Through this and many interconnected articles the authors are trying to highlight that to solve today’s problems, we need to understand more about who we are and how our brain works every day. What psychologists call “normal” consciousness and then take a look at what else it might be capable of. Understanding Ourselves and Solving today’s Problem The work of evolutionary psychologists like, Robin Dunbar found out that many characteristics we recognized as human – such as mentalization, sympathy, empathy, and a theory of mind – have been shared by hominid species since at least Homo heidelbergensis (about 700,000 years ago). By 35,000 years ago, the capacity for abstract thought and symbolic representation had finally become a stable and universal capacity of the human mind and one of the traits that we share with all other humans. It enabled us to communicate in unprecedented ways and build the world we know today. We were the same human beings then as we are now. The brain’s age-old strategies to ensure survival in the short term still hang on today, among them are: What have you done for me lately? We are short-term animals, animals who look for the immediate gain. We are extremely sensitive to recent information. “Call me when something new happens.” Our senses show us the outside world, but they operate to notice change – the beginnings and endings of events. Loosely speaking, their operation follows the axiom, “call me when something new happens.” Get to the point.Our mental system determines the meaning and importance of any event and its relevance to ourselves based on a relatively small amount of information. In the process, it throws out almost all information that reaches us to “get to the point.” Excerpt from ‘An Ancient Brain in a Modern World’ contributing writers are Robert Ornstein, PhD; David Sobel, MD, MPH; and Sally Mallam. I am sure that you will find this and many interconnected articles thought provoking and interesting read; to read them click on the following link: https://humanjourney.us/mind/an-ancient-brain-in-a-modern-world Enjoy reading it with your family, friends and near and dear one’s. Namaste!
Transcribe →Social media and its Impact
May 2200:06:08Tap to summarizeNamaste, Welcome to SAM-VAD (Together In Conversation). A few weeks back I shared an excerpt titled – ‘Polarized Behaviour’ from an article titled ‘The Conditioning Machines in Our Back Pockets’ by John Zada. This article highlights amongst many other things that we are all at risk of becoming more biased and blinkered than we think we are. And, People are conditioned not only by deliberate indoctrination, but also by systems whose proponents themselves are ignorant of the need for safeguards to prevent conditioning. Now, SAM-VAD (Together In Conversation) to the ones paying heed, this is where we try to draw your attention to things that matter and the importance of your attention, and that is because, ‘Our life’s experience would ultimately amount to whatever we had paid attention to. Attention: is as fundamental as food; and we go blundering about, seeking ways to assuage the craving, instead of learning how to provide ourselves with what we need, sensibly and calmly. Once our attention is drawn to the mechanism of why and what we give attention to, it is as if a veil has been stripped off and we become freer in our action and choices. And that is our endavour. This week I bring to your attention an excerpt titled – ‘Social Media and its impact’ from a book titled ‘LikeWar – The Weaponization of Social Media’ by Peter Singer and Emerson Brooking. These two defense experts explore in this book amongst many other things the collision of war, politics, and social media, where the most important battles are now only a click away. Social media and its Impact Imagine … a system of communications in which each person has unlimited power of individual design. If some people want to watch news all the time, they would be entirely free to do exactly that. If they dislike news, and want to watch football in the morning and situation comedies at night, that would be fine too … If people want to restrict themselves to certain points of view, by limiting themselves to conservatives, moderates, liberals, vegetarians that would be entirely feasible with a simple point-and-click. If people want to isolate themselves, and speak only with like-minded others, that is feasible too … The implication is that groups of people, especially if they are like-minded, will end up thinking the same thing that they thought before – but in more extreme form. In an age when shared information is the bedrock of shared experience, the filter bubble is the centrifugal force, pulling us apart. Most people don’t ponder deeply when they click “share.” They are just passing on things that they find notable or that might sway others. Yet is shapes them all the same. As users respond positively to certain types of content, the algorithms that drive social media’s newsfeeds, ensure that they see more of it. As they see more, they share more, affecting all others in their extended network. Like ripples in a pond, each of these small decisions expands outward, altering the flow of information across the entire system. Social media algorithms work by drawing attention to content that trends on their networks, even (and especially) when people are outraged by it. The result is the virtual equivalent of a grease fire, where widespread condemnation of something ensures that new groups of users see it and condemn it in return. Because virality is incompatible with complexity, as content trends, any context and details are quickly stripped away. All that remains is the controversy itself, spread unwittingly by people who feel the need to “weigh in” on how fake or nonsensical it sounds. Even as they complain about how big it has gotten, they make it bigger. Excerpt from ‘LikeWar – The Weaponization of Social Media’ by Peter Singer and Emerson Brooking. I am sure that you will find this book thought provoking; to read a preview and buy your copy you can click on the following link: https://humanjourney.us/books/likewar-the-weaponization-of-social-media Namaste!
Transcribe →Polarized Behaviour
Apr 6, 202500:05:34Tap to summarizeNamaste, Welcome to SAM-VAD (Together In Conversation). Last week I shared an excerpt titled – ‘Happiness’ from an article titled ‘How to become Happier’ from the book ‘The Happiness Hypothesis’ by Jonathan Haidt. I highlighted some ideas from the book that can point in the direction on ‘How to become Happier’. Now, SAM-VAD (Together In Conversation) to the ones paying heed, this is where we try to draw your attention to things that matter and the importance of your attention, and that is because, ‘What we give our Attention to matters,’ as Our life’s experience would ultimately amount to whatever we had paid attention to. Attention: is as fundamental as food; and we go blundering about, seeking ways to assuage the craving, instead of learning how to provide ourselves with what we need, sensibly and calmly. Once our attention is drawn to the mechanism of why and what we give attention to, it is as if a veil has been stripped off and we become freer in our action and choices. And that is our endavour. This week I bring to your attention an excerpt titled – ‘Polarized Behaviour’ from an article titled ‘The Conditioning Machines in Our Back Pockets’ by John Zada. Polarized Behaviour In the last few years, I’ve noticed something odd: many people I know who’d never had much interest in politics have suddenly become quite deeply politicized around certain issues. People I previously knew to be either politically indifferent, more balanced in their views, or of mild temperament had quite suddenly become excessively emotional and obsessive mouthpieces on a single issue; or embroiled in the polarized “culture wars” that continue to pit left versus right. Of course, an interest and participation in politics, even activism, is considered an accepted norm in our culture within nonviolent bounds. We all come with largely pre-determined biases that shape our worldviews. And there is no shortage of negative news for us to react to. It’s hard not to be affected by horrible events, no matter how far away they play out. All the more so if they involve us, or our communities, more directly. But what has struck me about my newly politicized friends, acquaintances and family—beyond the rapidity of “conversion” to their newfound views—is that for all of their certainty and deepness of conviction and righteousness, they often had a very shallow knowledge of, or experience with, the things they propounded. Indeed, in many cases when pressed on the source of their understanding, they’d cite content seen on their social media feeds. “The need to be one with a group, to have group approval and therefore social support, means that individuals will very often change these attitudes themselves, to fit with the norm, instead of having to be persuaded,” writes Denise Winn in her book, The Manipulated Mind. No matter how much agency or knowledge we think we have, or how critical we deem our faculties, or how “media literate” and objective we take ourselves to be, we are all at risk of becoming more biased and blinkered than we think we are. Our natural learning and adaptive reflexes and instincts that helped us survive for aeons are simply too easily hacked. Excerpt from ‘The Conditioning Machines in Our Back Pockets’ by John Zada. I am sure that you will enjoy reading this article, to read it you can click on the following link: The Conditioning Machines in Our Back Pockets Enjoy reading it with your family, friends and near and dear one’s. Namaste!
Transcribe →Happiness
Mar 20, 202500:07:08Tap to summarizeNamaste, Welcome to SAM-VAD (Together In Conversation) to the ones paying heed, this is where we try to draw your attention to things that matter and the importance of our attention, why is that? Now ‘let us remember this again, ‘What we give our Attention to matters,’ as Our life’s experience would ultimately amount to whatever we had paid attention to. Attention: is as fundamental as food; and we go blundering about, seeking ways to assuage the craving, instead of learning how to provide ourselves with what we need, sensibly and calmly. Once our attention is drawn to the mechanism of why and what we give attention to, it is as if a veil has been stripped off and we become freer in our action and choices. And that is our endavour. This week I bring to your attention an excerpt titled – ‘Happiness’ from an article titled ‘How to become Happier’ from the book ‘The Happiness Hypothesis’ by Jonathan Haidt. This is a book about ten Great Ideas. Each chapter is an attempt to savor one idea that has been discovered by several of the world’s civilizations - to question it in light of what we now know from scientific research, and to extract from it the lessons that still apply to our modern lives. Happiness Here are some of the ideas from the book that can point in the direction on ‘How to become Happier’. Step 1: Diagnose YourselfYou inherited a particular brain with a setpoint for an average happiness level (ch. 2). You are not doomed to live at your setpoint — many other factors move your actual level of happiness up or down from your biological predisposition. But you do need to KNOW what your setpoint is, so you know which challenges you’ll face. And knowing your strengths will help you overcome these challenges. Step 2: Improve Your Mental HygieneHappiness doesn’t come entirely from within, but if you ever have to choose between changing your thinking or changing the world to make it conform to your wishes, be sure to choose the former. Step 3: Improve Your Relatedness The theme that arose most often in my research for the book is that we need others to be happy. We were made for love, friendship, and family, and when we spend a lot of time alone, or free ourselves from the “constraints” of relationships, it is generally bad for us. Step 4: Improve Your WorkWork at its best is “love made visible,” as Kahlil Gibran said (p.222). Are you doing your work with love, or out of duty or fear? Most people don’t have the luxury of choosing a job for its spiritual satisfactions, but no matter what your work is (and that includes childrearing or being a full time student), you can take steps to make it more lovable, or to make yourself more loving. Step 5: Improve Your Connection to Something Beyond YourselfIn the Happiness Hypothesis I suggested that we are, in a way, like bees: our lives only make full sense as members of a larger hive, or as cells in a larger body. Yet in our modern way of living we’ve busted out of the hive and flown out on our own, each one of us free to live as we please. Is it any wonder so many people ask “what’s the point?” or “what is the meaning of life?” Excerpt from ‘How to Become Happier’ extracted from the book ‘The Happiness Hypothesis’ by Jonathan Haidt. I am sure that you will enjoy reading this article and may want to buy the book. So, you can click on the following link: https://www.happinesshypothesis.com/beyond-gethappy.html Enjoy reading it with your family, friends and near and dear one’s. Namaste!
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