Upstream #164
faithless, disconnect, water water everywhere, wonder-full, ideas.
Hello human person. You’re not a robot, are you? No? Of course not. And we love you for it. You messy, unreliable, unpredictable, freaks. Please share this with other human beings, so that we might spread the good human word. Right, let’s go.
“Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness (…) the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire”
Pierre Teilhard De Chardin, 1933
culture // faithless
In general, religion, and the number of people who believe in God is declining (though there's huge variances by country). In a 2012 Gallup study, Ireland had the 2nd highest decline in religion, from 69% in ’05 to 47% in ’12, while those claiming to be non-religious went from 25%, to 44%. Interestingly though, the number of young people who have faith in a higher power (secular) is increasing. See religion, and belief in something, is fundamental to being human. To make sense of - waves hands around - all this. Because there's a god shaped hole in everyone’s heart. And we’re all searching for something to fill it. It makes people happier. Let’s hope young people are filling that hole with the right things. Cause if we believe in nothing, we fall for anything.
brands // disconnect
We’ve had a clusterfuck of post lockdown problems. Depression, anxiety and just general existential dread. Take your pick. But loneliness is growing, and now 1 in 2 Americans are experiencing measurable levels of loneliness. Psychologist Esther Perel says "Modern loneliness actually masks itself as hyperconnectivity”. More connected, further apart etc. But is there a fight back? Gen Z’s are snapping up flip phones to avoid hyper connection. Non toxic social apps are on the rise. And brands are reacting too. Jose Cuervo are giving away free Dumb Phones for Cinco de Mayo because, “when your phone does nothing, you're up for anything”. While Jim Beam are encouraging people to just be together (while drinking obvs) because “People are good for you”. And US outdoor brand LL Bean call for a feel good May, while they take a digital pause in solidarity of the cause. As Noah Smith said “15 years ago the internet was an escape from the real world. Now the real world is an escape from the internet”.
technology // water water everywhere
The quote "Water water everywhere, and not a drop to drink" is from the Ancient Mariner poem written in 1798. It’s still timeless. Abundance still, isn’t always useful. Scott Brinker explored the 2nd order effects of generative AI in marketing and mar-tech, while also publishing the latest Martech landscape report (with 11,038 solutions). TLDR; it means a tsunami of shit headed our way, from content, to code, to bots and apps. Everything together all at once. Already chatbot journalists were found running almost 50 AI generated content farms. While AI ad creative platforms are readying themselves to dethrone industries. All happening quickly. Begs the question, is this the beginning of the end, or the end of the beginning? Buckle up, things are about to get weird.
creativity // wonder-full
Sadly, we’re not getting any younger, and this is no country for old men. But what happens to creativity as we age? Well, because we know more, we lean on our knowledge. And when we face a new problem, we quickly try to find a solution that's close to one we already know. We become path dependent. We stop exploring, and lock into exploiting what we already know. We stop thinking with childlike wonder. We follow all the rules. But, exploration — trying something new — may lead to a more unusual, less obvious solutions. Maybe one solution is to surround yourself with Gen Z wonder, and hire a ZEO or recruit your own Z-Suite (🙄)? Or maybe you just need to wonder a little more. As Socrates said “wonder, is the beginning of wisdom”.
five random (ish) things:
Useful deck from Zoe Scamon on Community 📊.
Reeses Cup reframed as a healthy snack 😱.
If you want influence, be in the room 🏢.
Enthusiasm is key to happiness 🙋🏾♂️.
Jobs to be Done: the real science of selling 💰.
watching // ideas
Little ones. Big ones. Lightening bolts. Big entrances. Little itches. Big scratches. Hard work. Copying. Pasting. Ideas are great. Here’s some thoughts on them from among others David Lynch, Robert Krulwich, Chuck Close and Tracy Clayton. Lovely.