You can’t make anyone care about anything

The article The Who Cares Era by Dan Sinker describes this era as a time when

“[…] completely disposable things are shoddily produced for people to mostly ignore.”

He writes further that,

“If you don’t care, [AI] is miraculous. If you do, the illusion falls apart pretty quickly.”

And that,

“Most people […] use it quickly and thoughtlessly to make more mediocrity.”

He gives what I consider to be good but probably career-killing advice in the our era. I really hope its not because I’m an optimist.

“As the culture of the Who Cares Era grinds towards the lowest common denominator, support those that are making real things. Listen to something with your full attention. Watch something with your phone in the other room. Read an actual paper magazine or a book.

“Be yourself.

“Be imperfect.

“Be human.

“Care.”

I was discussing the article with a friend who’d sent it to me after I’d already read it the prior evening. He asked about how to get people to do just that—to care, I wrote:

Man, that’s a tough one. The youngest ‘uns are becoming increasingly convinced that you can get through life without your pulse going over 80, either physically or mentally speaking. They also are being taught that life is something to “get through” rather than to “enjoy” or “savor”. Or, God forbid, that their time here could or even should be used to “contribute meaningfully to our shared existence.”

A good first step is to realize—or remember—that they might care less not out of maliciousness or laziness but because expressing that they care (e.g., about code-quality or spelling or grammar) requires a lot more work for them than it does for you. Whether it comes more easily to you or whether you’ve already put in the work, “doing it right” probably looks like a much steeper climb for them than it does for you. You might need to meet them where they’re at and be a Sherpa.

Pain is the feeling of weakness leaving the body.

I remember a somewhat silly expression from Outside magazine a long time ago: “pain is the feeling of weakness leaving the body.” Some people avoid all sorts of pain. They’re like water, finding the path of least resistance. They don’t even know what they’re missing … but because they don’t know, they can’t care either. It’s tough not to land on “ignorance kinda bliss, ya know?”