Friends of Dave #188: kids with old faces
Fear is a choice.
Oddly, a recurring topic that I kept reading about, hearing about and talking about this week was FEAR.
I suppose if 2020 has any sort of underlying running narrative, you have to admit that "fear" plays an integral part in it across the board.
Hell, fear has played such a large role in our lives this year that the upcoming Shark Week, once the bastion of summertime fear mongering, just seems so contrived and quaint.
Like oh....there's a mean looking shark....with big gnarly teeth.....yeah, well Rona don't care about no sharks.....
But I digress....
With schools and businesses reopening, Fall right around the corner, concerns about a COVID second wave, unemployment still prominent, political and social unrest, etc., people have a lot to fear these days.
Some long time FoDs may recall reading my thoughts about fear in business a few years back, discussed in the context of the YouTube TV series, and Karate Kid spin off, "Cobra Kai". FYI, it was recently announced that the show will be coming to its new home on Netflix in August -- my recommendation stands.
Regarding the topic of fear, I will remind everyone: fear is not real.
Fear is an emotion that is triggered by our thoughts of what could happen. We create fear in our minds due to ambiguity and lack of trusted information and we make a choice to buy into it. Most often, that distortion and choice leads to us perceive danger -- even when there might not be any.
Honestly, it's easy to choose to live in fear. What we can do to combat this, however, is question the thoughts that trigger our fears.
For example, we may say "By going back to school this Fall, I am afraid my kids will catch COVID-19 and someone I love might die" or "If I wear a mask in public, I am giving up my personal freedom, and I am afraid if I comply more of my freedom will be taken away from me as a result."
What makes us think this way?
If we don't want to be fearful, we cannot succumb to distorted thoughts. That said, we can't simply ignore them either.
Make an effort to challenge them. See if there is real danger. Ask questions. Analyze options. Look at trusted facts and insights from trusted experts. Demand solid answers. Ignore propaganda or biased messages that are there simply to stoke fear. We collectively need to make choices not based on fear, but on reason.
FYI: we may still come to the same conclusion (like, because I cannot get good answers to my questions, I feel sending my kids to school puts my family in danger), but it won't be based on a response to an emotion. Ultimately, we have to decide how we want to live.
Here is an excellent clip from an otherwise mediocre movie by Will Smith called "After Earth" that effectively explains this idea >> WATCH HERE <<
Fear is a choice. We are all telling ourselves a story. What kind of story do you want yours to be?
Along those lines....you know what really terrifies me? Creepy pictures of kids in creepy old ads......besides that (and maybe the clown hotel story), I promise all of the other selections should make you feel safe this week, Friends. Enjoy.
XOXO
Dave
Think on This...
GPT-3, a new artificial language generator, is shockingly good—and completely mindless
“Playing with GPT-3 feels like seeing the future,”
That pretty much sums up the response on social media over the last week to a new development in language-generating artificial intelligence. If you may have heard about GPT-3 and don't know much about it, this will be a good intro. If you are unfamiliar with the real possibilities that can be unlocked by artificial intelligence technologies, I suggest taking a few minutes to jump into this one. It will quickly open your eyes and give you something to think about. Highly recommend digging in as I am sure you will be hearing more about this in the coming months.
For Your Day Job...
The Tech-Enabled Office In A Post-Covid World
Company operations and office spaces have changed significantly over the last six months. From autonomous cleaning devices to tighter cybersecurity measures, excellent look at the technologies influencing how the office could look during the reopening process and beyond.
The Unforeseen Benefits of Online Events
Good quick look at the unanticipated benefits of online events that are only now coming to light. Always worthwhile insights from VC Tomasz Tunguz.
3 Strategies the Event Industry Needs for Success in a Post-COVID World
The people attending your event are struggling to make sense of the new world they find themselves in — exactly like you are. Talk to them, not at them, and you’ll find that your audience is still out there, waiting for you to delight and engage them through events.
More great stuff (and another quick one) from experiential marketing expert and Friend of Dave Jeff Snyder.
You Can’t Kill the Bloomberg Terminal. But If You Were Going to Try, Here’s How.
The Bloomberg Terminal’s success stems from the fact that it is both a software product and a social network. Not just for the FinTech folks.
Your Weekly Dose of Randomness...
Creepy Kids in Creepy Vintage Ads — waitbutwhy.com
Yes, no matter how much you want to resist, you are going to click on this one.....
Meet the Man Behind Nevada's Famous Clown Motel Come for the 2,000 clowns. Stay for the cemetery next door.
How will planes fly in a hotter world?
Bigger question: will climate change lead to an increase in the snake population on planes?
Uncovered: 1,000 phrases that incorrectly trigger Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant
FUN FACT: "Ok Boomer" may also trigger your parents...
And The Last Word....
How The Busiest International Border Crossing In North America Into The Centerpiece Of A Billionaire's Empire — jalopnik.com
Manuel “Matty” Moroun might not mean much to you if you’re not from metro Detroit or Windsor, Canada. But he was the billionaire who owned, among other things, the Ambassador Bridge, which just happens to carry roughly 27 percent of all merchandise trade between Canada and the U.S.
Perhaps it was because I spent some time living in the Detroit area growing up, but I found this to be a pretty interesting story -- and it turns out that technically someone could actually sell you a bridge if they wanted.
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