Why are so many people angry so much of the time?
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Today's second topic is a book review of Beyond Measure.
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I have been trying to understand why so many people are so angry so much of the time. Kristen Bell may have summed it up best when she said, "People suffer from outrage addiction."
Anger is a primal emotion. When we get angry, our heart rate increases, adrenaline starts pumping, and our brain chemistry changes. We get a quick rush. But that high does not last long, and we are left with the consequences of our outrage. Outrage addiction becomes a vicious cycle. We bottle up our anger until it explodes. This release always happens in the wrong place at the wrong time and is directed at the wrong people.
We have to break the cycle. But the internet seems designed to prey on our primal emotions. Many websites are designed to trigger angry responses. They want to activate the adrenaline rush and get us to engage. Engagement is easy because we can hide behind an avatar. No one knows our name or what we look like. It seems harmless, but it still has all of the adverse psychological and physiological effects. It wears us down until we break.
Here are three tips for breaking the outrage cycle.
Ask yourself, "What does this have to do with me?" Clickbait stories about evil HOAs or crazy Karens are designed to make you mad. Most of the stories are either exaggerated or not true. But if you engage, you see the ads and the original poster made money. When you see the headline, ask yourself if you should care before reading.
Practice some empathy. If some cuts in front of you at the grocery checkout, assume that they did not mean to do it. They may be having a really bad day and are distracted. Perhaps they didn't see you. If the person is rude, don't allow their bad behavior to trigger the same in you. Just let it go. Be the better person. You will feel better in the end.
Finally, practice some of Kristen Bell's The Good Place behavior. When you get angry at someone say, "Holy forking, shirtballs! What were you thinking, you stupid bench?" Being silly can be a wonderful antidote to the anger surrounding us.
Related articles.
The New Statesman - The age of digital outrage
Slate - How to Short-Circuit the Outrage Machine
Social Media HQ - How Social Media Sells Your Fear and Outrage for Profit
Stanford GSB - The Consequences of Viral Outrage
Book Review: Beyond Measure: The Hidden History of Measurement from Cubits to Quantum Constants by James Vincent
Throughout history, humans have strived to accurately and fairly measure the world around us. Accurate weights and measures are relatively new. Accurate thermometers were only developed in the late 1600s and early 1700s. The metric system is a product of the French Revolution in 1795. It took some time for the world to adopt the standard. The Gregorian Calendar (1592) was not entirely adopted worldwide until the early 1900s.
The continuing evolution of the science of measurement affects how we run our business and measure our performance. When companies use KPIs to track progress, they introduce aspects of Werner Heisenberg's uncertainty principle. When people are managed to performance metrics, the risk is that the focus will shift to meeting the metric rather than the outcomes the metric is intended to measure.
Understanding measurement is often overlooked. But it is critical to understanding the world around us.
What I'm Up To
Not much is going on. The weather is too hot. The average number of 100-degree days in DFW is 20. This year we will exceed 40. Fortunately, we are nowhere near the record of 71 days set in 2011.
Chips and Salsa: Snack-sized news and posts
This summer there have been many stories about the leasiure spending of the ultra-rich. Whether it is $250k to see the Titanic, $450k to be weighthless in space for four minutes, or a $5,500 mat fee have the opportunity to take an exercise class, it all seems shallow to me. It seems to me is more about people boasting that they have the means to do the thing.
Insider - Chaos in the Hamptons
Is this the real reason why beer exists?
Non Sequitur - Pivotal Moments in Brewing History
Good tomatoes are hard to find.
Bon Appétit - How to Pick Out Really Great Tomatoes
The world is constantly changing and evolving. The key to remaining relevant has always been continuous learning. The age of AI is no different.
MIT Sloan - How continuous learning keeps leaders relevant in the age of AI
Do not marginalize or demonize those who disagree with you. Take the time to understand them and learn how to strengthen your position (or learn that you may be wrong.) C-suites are notorious for being echo chambers where debate is not well received. Shock and Awe (2017) was a good film on this piece of history.
Foreign Affairs - Why the Press Failed on Iraq
More on numbers and how we measure things.
Wired - The Lawlessness of Large Numbers
Why were some dinosaurs so big?
Scientific American - How Sauropod Dinosaurs Became the Biggest Land Animals Again and Again
The good old days become that because we forget the not so good parts. It's a lot like listening to Classic Rewind on SiriusXM. Of all the songs recorded in the cassette era, they only play the best 30%.
Self - How to Stop Romanticizing the Past So You Can Enjoy Your Life Right Now
Quotes
"We must not allow the clock and the calendar to blind us to the fact that each moment of life is a miracle and mystery."
- H.G. Wells
"Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself the following question: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?"
- Marcus Aurelius
You can order The Leader With A Thousand Faces on the Recommended Reading Page of my website.
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