I find it strange that there are people who are willing to pull all-nighters trying to figure out what's gone wrong in their Oracle implementation, or who discuss at length the merits of Oracle on-premise vs. cloud and spend an incredible amount of time and effort gaining deep knowledge about tools that do nothing other than improve the financial efficiency of an organization in which they are nothing but a tiny cog, but, these very same people would not spend one hour, just one, trying to figure out what is going on with the world. I'm getting way ahead of myself, getting informed would be a good starting point. Just understanding the complexity of the system/s that we inhabit and their impact on us -- or others-- on our beliefs, values, decisions, and how all this could lead us to understand why we do what we do, or at least why spending all night on an Oracle implementation is important, or how. But that's me.
Others would find it strange that I look for answers in places where they might not exist, and that my curiosity is not grounded in the practicality of a pragmatic pursuit, that the information I gain and retain is nebulous and begets more questions and even fewer answers. And that I'm willing to spend an entire night reading about something as useless as the symbolism of the theosophical movement and about its adepts. What is the point, they ask. The point. Well, let me tell you about the point, also known as the tip. A point is the topmost of an object, of a pursuit, or of an organization. It's the top of a hierarchy --of values, or of people-- and in it we find the culmination of the thing itself: the essence. At the essence of anything at all is our ability to understand it. You may as well, then, ask me, "Why must you understand X, is it that important?"
"Why not understand X?" I reply, "is it that irrelevant?"
"It might be, how do you know if it is or if it isn't?"
"Well, by understanding it, of course."
They sit and think for a moment. Oracle, at its essence, is easy to understand. Some things are not, but they realize that if they didn't understand the why of an ERP they wouldn't know how to do anything else with it. Every company training video starts with a combination of the same things: who we are, mission, vision, and values. The mission, vision, and value statement should be enough to answer the who we are part, and for corporate entities they are all copy/paste jobs anyway; we are a corporate entity created by a human entity to generate some type of value for other humans and in so doing to profit. Nobody really talks about why they want to profit or what they do with the profit. This is something Oracle should, but doesn't, help with. Because financial management simple, and motivations are not.
The world is complex. You have to know, and be open to, the whys and how's of the systems that move us, because it's the only way you'll know what is and what is not important. You want to, ideally, spend your time and energy on what is important. Is family really, "the most important thing"? People say it but don't really act like it. Money then? Based on our behaviors, yeah, that would be pretty high up. The problem is that it's become very easy to understand why money is, indeed, important, but much harder to do the same with family. You don't need family if money's there to bail you out any time you have a problem. Just one example. There must be a reason why people say that family is number one, though. What could it be? I don't know. Maybe it used to be and it's just another outdated mindset now; one to forget about.
Others would find it strange that I look for answers in places where they might not exist, and that my curiosity is not grounded in the practicality of a pragmatic pursuit, that the information I gain and retain is nebulous and begets more questions and even fewer answers. And that I'm willing to spend an entire night reading about something as useless as the symbolism of the theosophical movement and about its adepts. What is the point, they ask. The point. Well, let me tell you about the point, also known as the tip. A point is the topmost of an object, of a pursuit, or of an organization. It's the top of a hierarchy --of values, or of people-- and in it we find the culmination of the thing itself: the essence. At the essence of anything at all is our ability to understand it. You may as well, then, ask me, "Why must you understand X, is it that important?"
"Why not understand X?" I reply, "is it that irrelevant?"
"It might be, how do you know if it is or if it isn't?"
"Well, by understanding it, of course."
They sit and think for a moment. Oracle, at its essence, is easy to understand. Some things are not, but they realize that if they didn't understand the why of an ERP they wouldn't know how to do anything else with it. Every company training video starts with a combination of the same things: who we are, mission, vision, and values. The mission, vision, and value statement should be enough to answer the who we are part, and for corporate entities they are all copy/paste jobs anyway; we are a corporate entity created by a human entity to generate some type of value for other humans and in so doing to profit. Nobody really talks about why they want to profit or what they do with the profit. This is something Oracle should, but doesn't, help with. Because financial management simple, and motivations are not.
The world is complex. You have to know, and be open to, the whys and how's of the systems that move us, because it's the only way you'll know what is and what is not important. You want to, ideally, spend your time and energy on what is important. Is family really, "the most important thing"? People say it but don't really act like it. Money then? Based on our behaviors, yeah, that would be pretty high up. The problem is that it's become very easy to understand why money is, indeed, important, but much harder to do the same with family. You don't need family if money's there to bail you out any time you have a problem. Just one example. There must be a reason why people say that family is number one, though. What could it be? I don't know. Maybe it used to be and it's just another outdated mindset now; one to forget about.
Now the people who do continue to spend their nights learning about Oracle or another easy to understand thingie they are driven by something else. This is not me saying that something else is good or bad or important or unimportant. Just pointing out that nobody stays up late nights to service their corporations long term unless they somehow eventually become valued more than a tiny
I do find
i can't speak on their behalf but i have a feeling that i'm a fractal of the common-man... as in how i operate is how the average person operates. so i'll share how i operate to imply that i think this is what's going on with other people even though i just said i can't speak on their behalf lol.
I have a desire to improve. To improve requires resources. These resources may be skills or capital or social.
I understand that improvement here is completely subjective. I understand that my sense of improvement can come at the cost of macro destruction etc etc.
This desire to improve has been seeded by my desire to be a part of a family. Thus I desire to improve because i want to be an important member of a family.
Why do i want family? It's the only thing that matters to me. I don't mean family literally here. I like
"Family is the people when you need them they can't say no"
And the reason I think family is important is because of two things but let me start with the one that i think will resonate more with you.
1. Whenever i read a good story (novel/novella/short story) the keystone moments they capture are never about someone detaching from their humanity and buying their way out of inconvenience by paying the neo liberal machine. the stories always feature some situation when a change happens and it affects the character and their 'family'. they might be escaping an old family... or arriving at a realization about their old family. they might be finding a new family. or maybe they are realizing they have no family at all.
2. When you have no immediate health concerns the need for family might seem weak. Just a month ago I thought this too. Once you let's say face some life threatening or disabling disease straight on you realize that you might not just be able to buy your way out of this.
To summarize I believe that family is what we'll seek when we face death head on. People who forget that they will die might stray away from family and think that it's intellelctual or stimulation they want forever.
But every single person on their death bed wants one thing. Just a matter of whether you want to accept that now or later.
You often hate on people for not being informed about 'the world'. would you be willing to send a weekly update -- could just be links to articles -- each week that would keep people informed? I'd definitely read that.
These days it does seem like if your *real* family are also the people you seek when life hits you in the face, you're either lucky or doing it right.
For the weekly updates thing, you'll be the first to know when I get going on that substack :D
I've learned this recently too. that what the self wants in a given moment is usually convenience. No I do not want to give unconditional love. No this person requires me to do this and that's annoying... just tell them to use uber or hire a person to do it.
If you're too poor to buy any conveniences of capitalist life then you'll be more suceptible to be in a position come to resent your family... but also more suceptible to coming to unconditionally love them. This often leads to love/hate relationships but also can lead to members becoming disillusioned with the concept of family and running away from it in rebellion.
While a person with means may try to strip every inconvenience out of their life, there will always be a point if they strip long enough where they start seriously wondering... wait if i'm trying to just remove every little thing out of my life... then what is
As for your main point, that can definitely be an entire novel too. I would only add that it's part of the tendency many people now have to be shut in, entertained, fed, and as detached from other people as possible. A complete 180 from the big family dinner lifestyle...the ensuing loneliness is not ideal but potentially a good trade-off if it means avoiding the pain and suffering associated with failed or dysfunctional relationships.