Bits and Pieces

What I Believe: Meta-Knowledge = Meta-Tribes

We develop beliefs based on our experiences. Our passive (reading and viewing) experiences as well as our active (physical) ones. Increasingly these days, the Metaverse has become a large part of our passive experiences.

If we become interested in, say, Paul McCartney or Modern Art or the history of serial killers, our social media landscape will tempt us with visual and verbal prompts. If we click on such prompts, we experience not just many more examples of what we are looking for, but examples that are more visceral and compelling.

We sometimes call such journeys going down rabbit holes. That metaphor feels harmless. And it can be harmless – and appropriate – when we are exploring some topics. But when we are traveling through the Metaverse of Ideas, it can become more complicated and profound. That’s because ideas are often harbingers of physical actions. Digital Nation States, such as Facebook and YouTube, understand this. Quite commonly, their algorithms are intended to cause action, whether it be commercial, social, or political.

To optimize and rationalize responsiveness, Digital Nation States divide us into tribes. And the algorithms for each tribe are uniquely structured to deepen our beliefs.

This is a prescription for danger, because the prompted actions can be extreme. We have seen it played out countless times in recent years on both sides of the political and social divides.

And because the algorithms are designed as they are, it is difficult to notice that we are being intellectually and emotionally manipulated. It feels as though we are learning more and understanding more. And so, our anger and our convictions become stronger, while our understanding may not.

In other words, there is actually no correlation between how strongly we feel about our ideas and the truthfulness of them. We are experiencing the world through separate Metaverses of fear. And the only way to keep Metaverse-inspired ideological tribal wars from continuing to flare up into real world violence is to remind ourselves, constantly, of what is happening.

How to Keep an Independent Mind

If you are tired of being recruited into ideological tribal wars, it’s not enough to want to think rationally. You have to manage the information you are consuming.

Here are five ways to do that:

1. Recognize that the news and views you are getting now are probably slanted. Even if they feel like the truth.
2. Recognize that the facts you are consuming, even if they are accurate, can be just one part of the full picture. Be aware that there may be – are likely to be – facts that support different conclusions.
3. Feed your mind with a digital diet of diverse ideological viewpoints. For social/political issues that are strongly bifurcated, take in about 50% from each side.
4. Choose high-quality over low-quality information. High-quality information seeks to present facts objectively and tell stories with nuance. Get your facts and opinions from intelligent, articulate people on both sides.
5. Make friends with smart people that think differently than you do. Find a way to have civil conversations with them.

Speaking of the Metaverse: Censorship in the Digital Nation of Amazon

I’ve pointed this out before: In the Metaverse, freedom of speech does not exist.

Amazon is and will almost certainly continue to be one of the largest Meta Nations. It has more than 300 million active customer accounts and gross revenues of $1.64 trillion.  Furthermore, it controls over 70% of the sales of new books for adults online.

But if you hope to buy or sell a book on Amazon, it has to be one that does not “violate” any of Amazon’s rules.

Ryan Anderson found that out when he published a book about the transgender movement called When Harry Became Sally. It sold reasonably well for three years. Then, suddenly, it disappeared from Amazon’s virtual shelves.

Anderson asked Amazon for an explanation, and was told that his book was in violation of their policies because it “framed LGBTQ and identity as a mental illness.”That’s not what Anderson did, however. He described gender dysphoria as a “deep discomfort that someone would feel as a result of a biological sex that doesn’t line up with their gender identity.” That’s pretty much the clinical definition. But not in the Meta Nation of Amazon.

What Makes a Big, Successful Marketing Idea?

Todd Brown, a colleague and friend, recently posted an explanation of an insight about marketing that I shared with him many years ago. It’s certainly not an original idea. I’m sure every successful marketer and salesperson has recognized it at some level. But many people in the biz don’t understand it, and this holds them back.

In this video, Todd presents it better than I could.

Colombia, specifically Medellín, is far and away International Living’s  #1 choice in South America. Here’s why:

* Perfect weather, requiring no heat or air conditioning…

* World-class health care…

* A rich cultural scene, with theater, orchestra, and exciting events…

* An affordable cost of living…

* Absolutely low property cost…

* Great investment potential, for both the capital-gains and the income investor

Readers Write… 

Re the Jan. 24 issue:

DP writes – “Good piece on the midterm elections! I think you nailed it. It’s all about fear since the Dems decided Trump was a danger to the Deep State. Fear sells better than hope. Still, I hope we can see America come back to sanity.”

Re the Jan. 7 issue:

AS writes – “Since you told me how many books you read every year, I’ve been reading a book a week. One book was 900 pages so it took me a week and a half. I’d like to say you motivated me but, really, it just made me feel guilty.”

Re the Jan. 2I issue:

SL writes – “Thanks for recommending The Hand of God. It’s now at the top of my To Watch list and I’m sure I’m going to enjoy it…. Pinker’s Enlightenment Now changed my world view. Glad you liked it as much as I did. He is a prime example of a public intellectual.”

Words to the Wise: Three That I Want to Use

* limerence – the state of being infatuated or obsessed with another person. Example: “But limerence, lovely as it feels, is a time-limited event – it lasts about five years for most couples.” (Alyson Schafer, Breaking the Good Mom Myth)

* velleity – a wish or inclination not strong enough to lead to action. Example: “Who would have imagined then… that the ancient Jewish hope, ‘Next year in Jerusalem’ – for so long more a velleity than a hope, the feeblest and most unanticipated of anticipations – would be realized in their lifetime.” (Howard Jacobson, Kalooki Nights)

* omnishambles – a situation that has been comprehensively mismanaged, characterized by a string of blunders and miscalculations. The word was coined in 2009 by the writers of the BBC political satire The Thick of It. Click here to watch the way they used it the first time.