One of my friends is a bit of a hypochondriac and whenever a health issue comes up, his mind automatically goes to the worst possible outcome it can be, until he has it checked out and is satisfied it isn't that bad. Rationally, he knows that this isn't a good response, but it is his response and he fears an early death. He is mid-forties.
You only live once.
He was visiting us last night and was saying that the poor state of the world has actually lessened his health anxieties, and his fear of flying has disappeared completely. This might seem like a strange response to what is creating more anxiety for a lot of people, but he puts it down to - he doesn't mind dying as much now, because this world sucks. Checking out early mightn't be such a bad thing.
He is not depressed or suicidal.
And I get it.
As much as this world does suck and looks to be getting increasingly worse, it is becoming like living with the belief that we are in a simulation, where nothing really matters, so you can try anything. This world is in such a bad shape, that people are behaving in ways that they wouldn't normally, and those ways are increasingly violent.
While there is definitely a selection and confirmation bias through the media reports from the US, nearly every story I read is about how insane the place has become. San Francisco is descending into some kind of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome hellhole, people are shooting each other in the street, Nazi militia groups are forming, crazies are killing children in schools, men dressed as women are punching women and it is acceptable and the list goes on...
It sounds like the latest release of Grand Theft Auto.
But, only one life, right?
I was thinking about what my friend was saying and while so many people seem to be going in the direction of, "Fuck it! - I will feed the chaos" - I think that those who break the trend and go the other way instead, will again be the ones who are the best off. While people are occupied protesting the latest social movement driven by Twitter and TikTok, those who buckle down and get shit done, have the best chance of pulling through the other side well in front. As I have always said,
While people shelter to wait out the rain, work in the mud.
It is an investment strategy as old as time. Buy low, sell high. And in the case of society at the moment, it is crashing into a dip. Those who are making the investments into building their life portfolio are going to benefit.
For example, while everyone is jumping on AI bandwagons to make their lives easier, those who shirk convenience in favor of taking responsibility and taking ownership, will be a scarce resource. Most will hold no practical skills themselves and what they can offer is the same as the 99%, but the rare bird is going to be one who has skills that no AI can provide, which comes through experience and, intentional growth.
And, what is interesting is that while the masses are hyper-focused on whatever they have had their attention drawn to, those who are actually building skills and taking a step back from the shite of the world, will see opportunities to invest further.
Aim small, miss small.
And this is what so many people are doing now, where they are aiming very small, a narrow sliver of their interest of the moment - but they are missing big. Few people these days have a truly broad understanding of circumstances, yet most feel that they do, because they have picked up snippets and headlines here and there. But, none of that headline information adds skill or changes behavior, it is valueless - other than for having a conversation or an argument with similarly narrow people.
There is so much opportunity out there, but people are spending the most valuable resource they have, their attention, on building nothing. There are personal consequences to this and the impact on society is enormous, but all this spent energy isn't lost, it is converted into value for the very people they are railing against. Yet, they don't see that they are empowering the very groups they are trying to disband.
Pay attention.
It says pay. Using attention is a cost. Spend it poorly and it is going to be very costly indeed, because it is not going to give any kind of return on the investment. And billions of people are investing more of their attention into supporting the divide and conquer approach that is being taken by those who benefit from the division. Take a step back and see some of the opportunities that are opening up instead, and things look very different down the road.
What are those opportunities?
Build a career.
It doesn't matter what it is really, but try to be great at something and monetize it. Create a following, build a demand, sell your product or service - build trust. Trust might be the single most valuable resource in the future, because while the data streams keep increasing, they are getting far less trustworthy and in time, all of these AIs are going to be used to ensure accuracy of information and that is going to include, track-record of people - like it or not. If you are deemed untrustworthy, you will be excluded from opportunity, physically and digitally.
Sounds like fun.
No wonder people are taking to the streets and forming militias, because what else can they do? They have backed themselves into a corner where they are increasingly irrelevant in this economic society, but don't have any alternative framework set up - no alternative economy. Oh, there is?
But, people don't support it, because they want to stay in the prison of what they know, but with a better view.
So many people look narrow on their life and base the future on what they know, which is the only thing that we can do. However, when we are narrowly focused and spending the majority of our attention on irrelevancies in the grand scheme, "what we know" isn't very predictive of the future - and our "skillset" isn't likely going to be suitable for it either.
Everyone is free to behave as they choose, but that behavior is going to have implications and, most people seem to be taking a path that is not only going to be worse for them, but worse for us all. Maybe we will come out the other side better off for it or, maybe we will all die in the tunnel.
At the moment, I look at the meta of this world and nearly all I see is illness.
I might be a hypochondriac too.
There is no pill to take.
Only work to do.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
