My dad has a saying that stems from his 35 years working in social work + homeless services: "we lose to win." WE LOSE TO WIN. I've watched the man lose sleep and weight and a marriage to this fight, what Paul Farmer would call "the long defeat" --- and he (my dad) is still the most compassionate, generous, humble and quiet man I've ever met. Not that hes done everything perfectly, not that we never argue at the top of our lungs. But damn --- the people I love the most in the world have redirected their lives, priorities, work towards helping others. It has to start inside though. It has to start with private, unnoticed, serious will.
That really touches me. It also fits in with my frequent imposter feeling that I need to read more and more in order to make a real contribution. That (independent of virtual media) is also part of it for me. Thank you very much for the article!
Want to agree with entire thing, but one part is holding me back: unnecessary gloomy outlook.
Again, agreed with projections and causes. The tulip mania of performative emotions, behavior and whole identities will crash.
But it’s firstly — a good thing. And secondly, and I don’t mean disrespect here, not that deep. It’s a fashion of behavior. As an evolutionary scholar you likely have endless experience with nature taking this detour many times.
Mimicry, plumage, other fake features to elicit behavior in potential mates or predators.
At some point there was a bird that was prettier because it was strong and consumed more food and grew a more colorful tail. Nature selected for it, and within short few million years you get very weak males but with fantastic plumage, who dance and show off, taking advantage of females who have ingrained this (not multi-billion) algorithm.
Nature loves to lie. It’s in its firmware. 😊
We are supposed to be smart, and we will emerge from infotainment and emotional obesity cycle. Will take a few generations.
I think it’s bad, yeah. But not philosophically bad, IYKWIM. ☺️
My dad has a saying that stems from his 35 years working in social work + homeless services: "we lose to win." WE LOSE TO WIN. I've watched the man lose sleep and weight and a marriage to this fight, what Paul Farmer would call "the long defeat" --- and he (my dad) is still the most compassionate, generous, humble and quiet man I've ever met. Not that hes done everything perfectly, not that we never argue at the top of our lungs. But damn --- the people I love the most in the world have redirected their lives, priorities, work towards helping others. It has to start inside though. It has to start with private, unnoticed, serious will.
Spencer, this is fantastic. Looking forward to Part 2.
That really touches me. It also fits in with my frequent imposter feeling that I need to read more and more in order to make a real contribution. That (independent of virtual media) is also part of it for me. Thank you very much for the article!
Want to agree with entire thing, but one part is holding me back: unnecessary gloomy outlook.
Again, agreed with projections and causes. The tulip mania of performative emotions, behavior and whole identities will crash.
But it’s firstly — a good thing. And secondly, and I don’t mean disrespect here, not that deep. It’s a fashion of behavior. As an evolutionary scholar you likely have endless experience with nature taking this detour many times.
Mimicry, plumage, other fake features to elicit behavior in potential mates or predators.
At some point there was a bird that was prettier because it was strong and consumed more food and grew a more colorful tail. Nature selected for it, and within short few million years you get very weak males but with fantastic plumage, who dance and show off, taking advantage of females who have ingrained this (not multi-billion) algorithm.
Nature loves to lie. It’s in its firmware. 😊
We are supposed to be smart, and we will emerge from infotainment and emotional obesity cycle. Will take a few generations.
I think it’s bad, yeah. But not philosophically bad, IYKWIM. ☺️