Monday, May 29, 2023

Nice Guys

I’d like to be well liked. They say you shouldn’t care what other people think (those people are usually assholes). But I do care, probably too much.

Not sure if it’s the middle child in me, but I’ve tried to be compliant and helpful. Makes me well-suited to what I do at work – basically customer service. Since I helped develop the software for both our order entry system as well as the work order system, for the past 30 years people across the southeast call me to help resolve problems. Highly satisfactory. Hard to say no, even though my main full-time job is to serve our largest customer.

I used to listen to Clark Howard on the radio. He is always cheerful and helpful to the people calling in. I’ve tried to use him as an example, but often fall far short. When I get stressed I can snap at family and coworkers, but almost never a customer. I always try to be pleasant and helpful to our customer, without talking back about unreasonable demands or dumb or repetitive questions. Sometimes I do have to say no, what they’re asking cannot be done – but I try to not do it in a condescending manner. Telling a $50 million customer they are wrong should be done tactfully – not like a bull in a china shop.

Just because I am right about something, and the other person is wrong, doesn’t mean I should lord it over them, or remind them of their error. The relationship is more important than being right about something. Why I liked the movie “A Man Called Otto”. Still, in life there are some people that remain unreasonable. I make an effort to cross paths with them is little as possible, and pray to God about our relationship.

DENISON on artificial intelligence and social media: the Reboot Foundation asked young people whether they’d choose losing TikTok for a year or losing the right to vote for a year: 59% of young people—and 64% of teens—would rather keep the app than cast a vote. TikTok currently has more than 1 billion users and passed Google as the most popular website around the globe. 38% of US teens say it's their favorite social media platform, and 1/3 of American users are minors. Given the ability of all social media platforms—and TikTok in particular—to use algorithms to keep people hooked, it is no surprise. The Surgeon General has found these recent trends troubling. As Mark Legg writes, "Kids who spend over 3 hours daily on social media face 'double the risk of experiencing poor mental health outcomes, including depression and anxiety.' Eighth to 10th graders spend an average of 3.5 hours per day on social media. Average social media use essentially doubles troubled mental health symptoms in teens."

ME: reminds me of an episode of Star Trek: Next Generation when Riker inadvertently gets the entire ship so hooked on an addictive game (including Captain Picard). The game was designed by an enemy to take over the ship. Only Data (the android) is immune, and saves the ship by himself. Fun fact: actress Ashley Judd appears in this episode.

The Game (Star Trek: The Next Generation) - Wikipedia 

https://www.denisonforum.org/daily-article/ai-read-your-mind-help-paralyzed-walk/?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=AI+can+read+your+mind+and+help+the+paralyzed+walk&utm_campaign=05-26-23+Ryan+Denison+-+AI+can+read+your+mind+and+help+the+paralyzed+walk%3A+Should+we+be+afraid%3F

Makes me think: Data is a robot who looks and acts male. What are “his” pronouns? He? It?

CESAR TOVAR  [SABR Bio] played at least 200 games at each of 5 different positions during his MLB career - at each outfield position, plus 200+ more each at 3B and 2B. Although he was never named an All-Star, he did receive MVP votes in five straight seasons, from 1967-1971. In one game, he played all nine positions, starting on the mound. The first batter he faced had played all nine positions in one game three years earlier. Tovar did his on 22-Sep-1968 and got Bert Campaneris to pop out for the game’s first out. Campy played all 9 on 08-Sep-1965.

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