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You do not have fear of missing out (FOMO). You are ambitious but not aggressive about it. I’m sure you’d want this for the Internet we all inhabit.
Problem: However, products that profit from Digital Advertisements use persuasive technologies — algorithms and Push Notifications — to mold your behavior, opinions, and attitudes to meet their company objectives. You keep returning to their platform (DAU/MAU) and spending more time out of FOMO or by driving you into echo chambers. This does long-term harm to you, your children, your business, and your civic information space.
Solution: But life doesn’t happen in a Mobile Apps but outside. So Humane Products tend to be Work Products, i.e., they want you to get the job done as soon as possible and exit. Additionally, they recognize that life can be stressful, and hence they often build gratitude right in.
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The myth-making around journalism, much like the myth making with entrepreneurship, social work, professional sports, politics, etc. is destructive.
It surrounds young professionals with stories of others doing the same thing as them, a few successfully but all with a good degree of swagger, so much so that they tend to ignore the risks of their undertaking.
If there was any honesty among those who teach and promote journalism, they would tear down the inspiring quotes and hand out posters saying “You wrote that ground breaking story to challenge that powers that be — and all you got was few Likes on Facebook from your peers, a bunch of anger from trolls and a lousy eviction notice.”
But they don’t because there is a countervailing force at work. There is a profound psychological need which journalism can satisfy. To succeed as an investigative reporter is a form of heroic achievement in any political climate, but particularly in one that your cult deems hostile.
To hold billionaires and powerful politicians accountable affords you fawning respect, fan following and invitations to speak at prestigious universities.
Independent Journalism accelerates this process. It allows individuals a shot at the even deeper pleasure of doing work that they cannot do while working for others.
CopiedIn Eric Liu’s book, “You’re More Powerful than You Think,” he breaks down the concept of power. He highlights six ways we can see power play out, especially in the civic domain:
1. Physical Force: It’s the idea of making people do things because they’re afraid. Remember the Partition of India in 1947? The fear of getting communal violence made millions of Sikh, Hindu, and Sindhi families to move out of Pakistan.
2. Capital: Basically, money talks. Take the Delhi Metro’s development, for instance. It got major funding from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
3. State Action: When the government steps in and changes things up. Recall when, in 2016, the Indian government made ₹500 and ₹1000 notes worthless overnight? That move aimed to squash black money and fake currency.
4. Social Norms: It’s about what most people believe is right. In India, “arranged marriages” are a big thing. They’re a deeply-held tradition, and a lot of folks actually like this method more than finding a partner on their own.
5. Ideas: Think of how just one idea can shift the way we all think. Mahatma Gandhi introduced us to “Ahimsa” or non-violence. This simple idea became a game-changer in India’s quest for freedom from British rule.
6. Numbers: There’s strength in numbers. Back in 2011, a guy named Anna Hazare started the Anti-Corruption Movement. So many people showed up at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan that the government had no choice but to pay attention. They even started working on an anti-corruption bill.
So, when we look around, we can see these forces at work. It’s a neat way to understand the dynamics of power in our world.
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