Zag To The Zig #27 :: No more Mafia, no more privacy & new industrialists
š¬ļø If youāre still opening and reading this newsletter, thanks. In these crazy times, there are obviously way more important things to think or un-think about. But I feel weāre going to need some mental/professional/intellectual oxygen to stay sane. So if I can be a contributor in the intellectual oxygen supply chain, then Iām happy. š¬ļø
But letās start with some light entertainment.
In the Play Room
The Cooper Hewitt Design Museum in New York is obviously closed, but it does have a lovely collection of online galleries. Thereās a beautiful collection of tech objects, but also car design drawingsĀ (and Iām anything but a petrolhead) or āstuff from Belgiumā (lots of lace). Get lost for a while. Ā
GeoGuessr anyone? The idea is simple: quizzing + Google Streetview.
Bored of Monopoly (because it is boring - just read this)? Try this Board Game Remix Kit.Ā
In the Business Lounge
I truly enjoyed Azeem Azharās podcast interview with Hilary Cottam, entrepreneur, social designer & author of āRadical Helpā. Interesting to hear how she focuses on people, plus sees open-minded (tech) entrepreneurs aka āNew Industrialistsā as a crucial element in designing the social future/revolution.
Plus, they give some neat little insights. Something like 80% of new jobs are never advertised, but rather filled in through network or internal corporate mobility. However, the nature of the gig economy means that the āworkers' (often vulnerable) donāt meet anyone new. So social mobility and opportunity creation goes down. I love some simple, yet mind-opening stuff like that. Highly recommended.ĀIn a similar vein, I like how the guys from Corporate Rebels came to the phraseĀ Community Capitalism and the impact it has on organisations. Clear. Eloquent.Ā
š Can I just plug my own writings on this subject once more? If you combine these previous 2 posts, you see where Iām coming from with my theme of Alignment.Ā Admittedly, Iām only starting to see that in hindsight.
In the Ethics Room
Zoom is everywhere now. And sure enough, it seems to be doing a pretty good job servicing those remote workers. My 9-year oldās teacher managed to use it today to keep 20 kids entertained (and quiet). Cue an investigation into its privacy policy and it seems murky at best. But hats off: Zoom listened and changed a few things.Ā
In the Sick Room
The narrative around tech + location tracking as an instrument to fight Corona picked up speed last week. Here in Belgium, mobile telco data was used to support a government message about how well weāre behaving and staying within a small radius. š š
Obviously that brings upĀ a kind of CoronaVirus trilemma. How can the world make a choice between saving lives (medical incentives), trying to keep the world running (economic/social incentives) and privacy issues (personal/social/legal incentives).Ā šµļøāāļøQuite surprisingly (and therefore interesting on a ZTTZ-level), one (American)Ā privacy activist points out:Ā
āThe terrifying surveillance infrastructure this project requires exists and is maintained in good working order in the hands of private industry, where it is entirely unregulated and is currently being used to try to sell people skin cream. Why not use it to save lives?ā
Apart from the major policy stuff, obviously there are all the personal Corona-impact stories. Iāve been following the weekly philosophy-meets-advertising-meets-life thoughts from Salmon Theory for a while & in these times heās now writing daily updates. I like this one on the difference between meaning and happiness and the role of stress in there (yes, another Taleb reference - he seems to be omni-present these days).Ā
Random ZTTZ
š« On the note of personal stories -Ā just a thought I had. What does the crime industry do these days? Petty thefts and burglaries, less so. Even the NY Mafia apparently is struggling. Are they all going to be digitally re-trained? Ā