johnmaconline

Think about a moment, whether at work or home, when the chaos was invigorating. The chaos gave you energy, sharpened your senses, and made you happy.

You may have even said to yourself, “This is what its all about. I need more of this chaos in my life.”

Now think about a moment when the calm was invigorating. The calm recharged your batteries, allowed you to think, and made you happy.

You may have even said to yourself, “This is what its all about. I need more of this calm in my life.”

Sometimes I think we get so caught up wishing we had more that we miss the moment. We miss the opportunity before us.

What we really need is more presence and more gratitude in the moment.

I was probably a little unfair with my previous take on SBF and effective altruism. 

I said, “Effective altruists believe that making and then using gobs of money to influence the world is a noble goal as long as you’re very, very smart. “

OK, that’s the kind of hyperbolic leap I often rail against on The250. To be fair, effective altruism is a bit more nuanced. Specifically, it’s about using data rather than emotions to guide the charitable practice (i.e., the smart approach).

But that still misses the point. Altruism, charity, and giving is all about emotions. It’s 100% emotions. 

Effective altruism does exist, but it’s not a function of the smart people who think about it correctly. It doesn’t flow from data because that would require the assumption that an objectively correct vision for the world exists. 

Effective altruism flows from the giver. It’s about intention and the emotional investment of the giver. It’s about one person or group giving what they can out of love to help another person or group. 

It’s about the people who feel about it correctly.

Even if you don’t know anything about crypto, you’ve probably heard of Sam Bankman-Fried and the meltdown of his crypto exchange FTX.

You have plenty of opportunities to spend your outrage budget on what happened, crypto, greed, politics, political donations, mainstream media, and capitalism. 

But so far, I think we’re missing the real opportunity.

SBF (clearly, we’re all on an acronym-name basis with him, aren’t we?) has stated his purpose in getting wealthy as “effective altruism.” Effective altruists believe that making and then using gobs of money to influence the world is a noble goal as long as you’re very, very smart. 

This is utter bullshit.  

It’s one of the most pretentious, condescending, and narcissistic philosophies I could imagine. 

“I’m rich. Therefore, I’m smart. Therefore, I know best. Stand aside and watch me make this world a better place — the way I think it should be.”

Altruism, at its core, isn’t about outcomes or amounts. It’s also not about some objectively correct vision of the world. 

The real opportunity here is to shine a light on true effective altruism. 

Altruism is about the giver. It’s about you, your humanity, and how much you care about your fellow humans.

Have you seen the Progressive “what really happened?” replay commercials? Brilliant 30-second storytelling, and equally good at unveiling our lack of factual recall.

How many times would you have loved to throw the challenge flag in the middle of an argument and revisit the replay to prove how it actually happened (or, rather, your version of how it happened)? 

Certainly, the replay will match the story in your head, right?

Ah, but what would the replay show? What were the facts of the story? Who did what? What was the sequence? 

Many studies have concluded that we’re generally terrible at remembering factual details of past events. However, our brains are excellent at remembering how that event made us feel. Sometimes we’ll even distort the details to preserve or enhance the remembered emotions.

Hence, the intriguing carrot of the challenge flag and replay. Let’s set the record straight (and prove you wrong).

Revisionist history happens every day in all parts of our lives. We do it. Leadership does it. Tribes do it. Sometimes intentional (and malicious), but most often not. 

I often wonder how much more unity and progress we could generate if, rather than focusing on past facts, we led with the understanding that whatever those facts were, they generated the feelings that now exist.

You see, setting the record straight isn’t always about who’s right and who’s wrong, but why we feel the way we do. 

Kanye West is just the latest in a long line.

Before him came Kenneth Halliwell, Paul Gauguin, and Picasso. How about Louis CK, Dave Chappelle, and Bill Cosby? And depending upon your political lean, you might even raise an eyebrow at Kid Rock, Bruce Springsteen, Aaron Lewis, or Neil Young.

What if we expand the definition of “art” a bit?

What about Colin Kaepernick, Mike Vick, Pete Rose, Barry Bonds, Lance Armstrong, or Muhamed Ali?

What if we expand it a little further?

George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abe Lincoln, or Robert E Lee?

We could keep going and expanding the definition of art until we land right on your front doorstep.

Yes, you. And me.

Can we separate you and me from what it is we do? That’s a bit messy, isn’t it? Because we have some of us in all of our work. Of course, we do.

Take me, for instance. I work in the tech industry. I create biometric sensor software. One could plausibly say I’m part of the evil, anti-freedom, Big Brother empire. But am I?

If we canceled the work of every person who’s sinned, we’d be left with zero work, except that from a single human. 

The only way forward is to ask ourselves, “Is consuming, participating, or utilizing the same as condoning?”

Only you can decide for yourself. Don’t let the tribe do it for you. 

You have 86400 seconds each day.

Today. Tomorrow. The day after that.

You are free to decide how you’ll spend your emotions during those seconds. No tribe can tell you how to spend your emotions.

But they sure will try.

You are a free and sentient human being. Act like it.

Why does someone become a barista?

Maybe they love coffee and the atmosphere of the cafe.
Maybe they love people, especially coffee people.
Maybe they’re an artist.
Maybe it’s simply a job that they could get.

A good barista makes all the difference. Not just in the coffee itself but the whole experience.

We’re fortunate to live in a world that allows most to choose a path. This variety (dare I say diversity?) brings a richness to our lives that we can easily take for granted. We often assume that everyone should be like us, want the same things as us, or see the world the same as us.

Besides coffee, what other services and experiences in your life are enhanced by the physical proximity and personal touch of another human?

The barista has chosen this path. Let’s remember that it’s hard to do that work remotely.

I learned something today. I love days like that.

I always thought the day after Thanksgiving was called “Black Friday” because it was the day the retail world moved into the black — i.e., into profit. 

Wrong. Sort of.

The true history is much darker and more complex and has little to do with retailers’ profits. But, like many things in our collective and personal histories, revisionist history has taken over.

Yet another reminder that truth and reality are not always the same. 

Today in the United States, we celebrate Thanksgiving. 

If I could point to one single thing, thought, or practice that has made the biggest impact on me personally, it would be intentional gratitude.

We all live somewhere on the spectrum of blessings, and our position changes day-to-day or even moment-to-moment. 

Your spectrum is relative to you only. It’s not objective, relative to your neighbor, nor relative to some rich and famous person. It’s all about you.

The World wishes to keep you to the left. It benefits from your fear, anger, and victimhood because those are the fuel that fires its engines. 

But moving yourself to the right on this spectrum is one of the keys to your personal happiness and success. And it’s simple (if not always easy). You move yourself to the right by engaging in regular intentional gratitude. Focusing on, thinking about, and feeling the blessings you have in your life life. 

The beauty of intentional gratitude is that it moves you towards your perfect life without having anything change externally. Nothing changes, yet everything changes. 

You want to make your community, nation, or this world a better place? Start with yourself and being grateful. That gratitude will flow outward and upward. 

Today’s the perfect day to start. 

When I was a kid, the grownups pined for the days of the Route 66 travel experience. The slower speeds with interesting sights. The small towns. The people you met along the way.

Heck, Disney made an entire movie about it. (One of my favorites, by the way). 

Gone are those days. Since President Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, we have 46876 miles of interstates. High-speed, efficient, utilitarian rivers of concrete. Even nostalgia can’t compete with convenience.

But the interstates get a bad rap. Nostalgia aside, driving long distances, even at high speed on artless interstates, can still be one of the most human experiences of our time. 

That long drive (we’re talking 8, 10, 16 hours) necessarily traverses myriad lifestyles and perspectives in a way that the Route 66 approach never could. At least not in the same amount of time. Three hours at 75 mph can radically shift the geography, geology, and sociology of your experience. 

Even a quick stop for fuel at a large and polished gas station/made-to-order sandwich shop/luxury restroom exposes you to the other. Three hours later, that same franchise has a different feel, if not a different look.

Sure, maybe it’s subtle. Maybe you really have to pay attention. Maybe you have to look around the corner and in areas easily missed.  

Maybe I’m making it all up.

But isn’t that the foundation of perspective? How do I see it?