How do we keep what\u2019s most important, most important?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a question often asked in our household as we approach the holiday season…<\/p>\n
How do we keep what\u2019s most important, most important?<\/em><\/p>\n Perhaps we should first define what actually is most important?<\/p>\n Peace\u2026 joy\u2026 goodwill to all\u2026<\/p>\n And yet we intentionally sacrifice some of the above.<\/p>\n I wonder why.<\/p>\n Last month Sean Parker, the founding president of Facebook, gave perhaps one reason why people too often seem to sacrifice what\u2019s most important, especially relationship. We have made some things more important than our relationships with others. Note Parker\u2019s somewhat concerning comments\u2026 [All emphasis mine.]<\/p>\n “When Facebook was getting going, I had these people who would come up to me and they would say, ‘I’m not on social media.’ And I would say, ‘OK. You know, you will be.’ And then they would say, ‘No, no, no. I value my real-life interactions. I value the moment. I value presence. I value intimacy.’ And I would say, ….‘We’ll get you eventually.\u2019”<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n “I don’t know if I really understood the consequences of what I was saying, because [of] the unintended consequences of a network when it grows to a billion or 2 billion people and … it literally changes your relationship with society, with each other …<\/strong> It probably interferes with productivity in weird ways. God only knows what it’s doing to our children’s brains.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n “The thought process that went into building these applications, Facebook being the first of them… was all about: ‘How do we consume as much of your time and conscious attention as possible?\u2019”<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n “And that means that we need to sort of give you a little dopamine hit every once in a while, because someone liked or commented on a photo or a post or whatever. And that’s going to get you to contribute more content, and that’s going to get you… more likes and comments.”<\/em><\/p>\n “It’s a social-validation feedback loop… exactly the kind of thing that a hacker like myself would come up with, because you’re exploiting a vulnerability in human psychology.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n “The inventors, creators \u2014 it’s me; it’s Mark [Zuckerberg]; it’s Kevin Systrom on Instagram; it’s all of these people \u2014 understood this consciously. And we did it anyway.”<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n This makes me stop and pause\u2026<\/p>\n It makes me wonder if we\u2019ve been duped\u2026 and not just duped into spending too much time and attention on our laptops and portable tech devices\u2026<\/p>\n It makes me wonder if we\u2019ve been duped into thinking this is a wise form of communication \u2014 representative of authentic relationship\u2026<\/p>\n And when our vulnerabilities have been exploited \u2014 and we believe this alone stands as a healthy determination of friendship \u2014 and a rant or a rave is offered with no respect to its audience \u2014 or we\u2019re uncomfortable with different opinion \u2014 we become more likely to sacrifice relationship.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve been duped…<\/p>\n … and perhaps unknowingly sacrificed what\u2019s most important.<\/p>\n Respectfully\u2026 How do we keep what\u2019s most important, most important? It\u2019s a question often asked in our household as we approach the holiday season… How do we keep what\u2019s most important, most important? Perhaps we should first define what actually is most important? Peace\u2026 joy\u2026 goodwill to all\u2026 And yet we intentionally sacrifice some of the … <\/p>\n
\nAR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"