This post is going to kick off a series that I’m dubbing the society series. It will explore how our society determines and pursues meaningful goals. I’ll look at each “meaning system” we currently use including our economic, political/legal/government, religious, media, philanthropic, and education systems. I’ll look at how each system helps us define and pursue meaning, the unique value that each one provides, and how these systems relate to each other.
I’m reading a book called Stolen Focus by Johann Hari - and the chapter I read today talks about incentives and social media and how the creators of social media have all sorts of meditation and mindfulness tools/programs for their employees who create platforms that are based on getting more eyes on and more clicks which robs the user of focus. And all because of the incentives - the companies make more money from more time spent on the scrolling - as opposed to incentives towards luring the user to a more fulfilling life. The incentives for a more existentially relevant society will have to coincide with the incentives of social media platforms to be successful - because that’s who is directing our attention right now. None of this is new to you as that’s a part of the start up business acumen, but for most of America, I suspect the nuances are hidden and they believe they are exercising free choice rather than aligning with a company’s incentives.
I’m reading a book called Stolen Focus by Johann Hari - and the chapter I read today talks about incentives and social media and how the creators of social media have all sorts of meditation and mindfulness tools/programs for their employees who create platforms that are based on getting more eyes on and more clicks which robs the user of focus. And all because of the incentives - the companies make more money from more time spent on the scrolling - as opposed to incentives towards luring the user to a more fulfilling life. The incentives for a more existentially relevant society will have to coincide with the incentives of social media platforms to be successful - because that’s who is directing our attention right now. None of this is new to you as that’s a part of the start up business acumen, but for most of America, I suspect the nuances are hidden and they believe they are exercising free choice rather than aligning with a company’s incentives.