Philosophical phriday - a little hype for the weekend


Advertising copy, marketing reports, social media pieces and news articles in general warn us that things are getting worse. Pretty much everything is getting worse, and of course that's bad.

See if you recognise any of these choice phrases:
  • In today's [*] world: a classic throwaway AI/MML introductory phrase, presumably emphasising that the present is different to the past, the future dramatically so. With just a short browse through my LinkeDin feed, I've seen the following fill-ins for that asterisk: 'unpredictable', 'complex and uncertain', 'complex business', 'hectic', 'fast-evolving' (paradoxically), 'fast-paced', 'digital', 'fast-paced digital', 'fast-paced hyper-connected', 'fast-paced tech', 'fast-paced data-driven', 'tech-driven', 'mobile-first', 'B2B', 'globalized' (yes, really) blah blah blah. Despite there being 87 synonyms, the robots are clearly adept at blending an assortment of words into that all-purpose phrase in a lame attempt to put us all on-edge. "Crises can erupt without warning in today's fast-paced world, turning stable environments into turbulent waters" is just one of several egregious examples. It's a handy up-front indicator of probable AI content ahead though, since actual flesh-n-blood humans rarely refer to "today's world" unless AI-prompted.

  • The rising tide: never 'the falling tide', though, oh no. Evidently, tsunamis only wash one way. Nobody cares about receding floods.

  • Increasing/alarming pace/rate of change: things are not merely changing but changing at a faster rate, allegedly (no data provided).

  • Things are becoming increasingly risky/costly/complex/challenging: as if they were not, before. Consequently ...
     
  • Things have become more deadly/important/critical/vital than ever before: we are plummeting into the abyss, I tell you! Nothing is getting better, easier, simpler, except perhaps whatever 'solution' is being promoted.

  • The stakes have never been higher: I bet they have.

  • The badness is escalating: the ratchet only ever ramps up.

  • The only constant is change: a vacuous and inane statement over-used for emphasis. We are faced with a constant stream of challenges - or is the stream growing more rapid? Commentators vacillate between the two.

  • Rapidly changing, revolutionary, transformative, disruptive: far outnumbering evolutionary, gradual or regressive changes, and totally eclipsing stasis. If anything ever stops, it is merely a pause, a respite, a temporary glitch. This is no time to rest and reflect.

  • Mounting pressure: never dissipating, hence likely to blow a gasket at any moment. "She cannae take it, Cap'n!"

  • Exponential: the curve steepens, heading off-the-scale, not merely increasing at a steady pace but accelerating. It's dramatic! Shocking! Deadly! Crisis! Headline news! Clickbait!
Due to the above, proactive, dramatic action is clearly necessary, imperative, essential, vital, crucial, even existential. Time is of the essence. Patently, "Something must be done! NOW! Jump, don't think! Inaction or delay could be fatal and failure is not an option" ... well, actually, it most certainly is. Even Superman fears kryptonite.

In case you haven't realised from my cynical tone, I'm poking a stick at a widespread negative bias and over-dramatisation of almost everything "in today's fast-paced world" because, of course, good news is an oxymoron. Even optimistic claims and positive turns of event tend to be followed with a 'but'. "We've clearly progressed ... but we still have a long way to go", they tell us, sagely. "The journey is not over yet. The end is still nigh."

I see two key problems with this:
  1. Once everything is an urgent priority, nothing is. It's overwhelming, making the "Do nothing", "Wait and see" and "Keep your head down, carry on with whatever you were doing" options distinctly attractive. Admittedly, inertia and inaction are powerful defaults, along with self-interest, so I appreciate the problem of getting things moving, especially in areas that address the common good, such as climate change.

  2. Stress and anxiety are the norm. I almost said "Stress and anxiety are increasing" but since I have no data on that, that would be an unjustified assertion. I appreciate there are numerous research reports demonstrating increased stress and anxiety in various fields but here I'm talking about all fields, the totality, taking a deliberately broad all-encompassing and timeless perspective. Life is dangerous! Nobody gets out, alive! Suck it up snowflake!
So, what can we do about it?

Perhaps I should draw up a buzzword bingo card to complete while browsing the next 'survey' or perusing my LinkeDin feed. I might even scan my own materials, my bloggings, awareness content, forum and LinkeDin posts since I fear I am not immune to the bias. I'm merely human after all. 

Allegedly.

Meanwhile, all I can say is "Orright, calm down, calm down, eh, eh" (thanks Harry Enfield).

[This piece was entirely and exclusively powered by my Natural Intelligence, such as it is. Take that, robots!  Actually, don't take it: all my content is covered by copyright. It is not public domain.]

PS  On LinkeDin, I read "In today's complex and rapidly changing business environment" and then "today's evolving threat landscape". Synonyms abound.  Frequently.

PPS The very first preamble clause of DORA starts "In the digital age". Oh I do hope DORA wasn't written by robots.

P3S I chuckled today when reading "In today's face-paced business environment" on LinkeDin. The robots are evidently adept at substituting vaguely similar words or phrases to generate vast quantities of multicoloured verbal diarrhoea, playing their version of the Turtle Diary Matching Synonyms Game, the natural complement for buzzword bingo.