Culture
Titans of Cultural Industry
I was reading this reddit thread about the creator of Spongebob Squarepants passing away. A lot of the commenters were mentioning the culture in the USA regarding shared cultural references that the show provided, as millions of children in the US grew up watching the series. It reminded me of something I wanted to write about: the change in default culture in America. Think about founding fathers America: what was Read More
Devaluing Content – On the Internet of Shit
If you look at the current wave of the internet, the dominant financial force is the move to social media. Reddit, Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, etc. It’s no longer the hot new thing, but a part of entrenched conglomerates coming after your time and attention. Here’s a hot button issue that’s increasingly talked about now: drinking from the internet firehose. Back in the 90’s, the internet was a small place. Read More
On Culture Fit
I’ve been on a bit of a culture kick recently – how to propagate an organization’s culture, how to prevent culture takeover, and onboarding newcomers to your existing culture. It really interests me because of how general this concept is – it’s applicable to any group that grows beyond a single person. I’ve also been looking for a cheap, good value server to use as a personal virtual private network. Read More
On Crucibles
Hazing rituals at frats are falling out of fashion nowadays, but I think the core concept of the ritual is valuable to any organization. Pressure is a tried and true way of establishing rapport and building intimacy between a shared group. It’s not something that is guaranteed to build relationships, but it’s certainly conducive to it. Think of situations like army troops that survive multiple battles together. There’s no way Read More
On Context and History
I started watching this documentary on Netflix called The Eighties, which is about the zeitgeist of the 80’s. One of the focuses of the series is the presidency of Ronald Reagan. Reagan’s presidency struck me particularly because of its relevance to our current political situation – the looming Donald Trump presidency. When I hear the name Ronald Reagan, I think of him as president first, actor second. He’s an American Read More