I'm amused by the people who act like Time "giving Donald Trump devil horns" makes any sort of difference to anything whatsoever
I think it's just one of a myriad of ways in which we do something utterly cosmetic and then congratulate ourselves
Other egs include #PrayForX, changing the color of lighting on bldgs (Eiffel, Empire State), & articles you can share on FB to virtue-signal
None of those are bad things; we are humans with feels and status needs. I'm just struck again by how formulaic it always is, how repetitive
How long have we spent in the past ~5 years in passionate arguments that ultimately amounted to nothing? What could've we done w that time?
I don't mean to be dismissive; at heart I think I'm a frustrated idealist who's seen too much energy expended with nothing to show for it
It seems necessary to be highly selective about the information you take in so you can focus your attention on the work you most want to do
This simple statement of fact flouts a 'moral' rule that some have: that you should pay attention to everything or you're a bad citizen
To be fair, that was probably a good rule prior to information surplus. Today, paying attention to everything = focusing on nothing
If you wanna make a serious impact on anything, you have to focus on it for a sustained period of time. This is slightly 'unnatural'
Your conscious attn is the most precious resource you have. The world around you wants a slice, & is devoted to manipulating u to give it up
Don't give it up.
