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How will the miracle happen today?

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Re: How will the miracle happen today?

#31

Post by JackFr »

gostsamo wrote: post #2

> I am not sure I would invite a casual tourist I met to take over my apartment, and cook for him, as many have done for me. leaves a bad taste. I've helped and been helped in all kinds of situations. The sense of entitlement in this guy and the way he proudly explains how he is using people is just awful. Help is to give when you know that the gesture will have an disproportional effect for the other person and will…

> the way he proudly explains how he is using people is just awful.

TFA: “One might even call the art of accepting generosity a type of compassion.”

Turns out he’s doing them a favor!

Re: How will the miracle happen today?

#32

Post by Fiveplus »

I couldn't help but focus on the vicarious adventure aspect Kelly mentions which was the "payment" he offered drivers in exchange for the ride. This is a mechanism that has largely been deprecated by the modern attention economy.

In the era of hitchhiking, the bandwidth for novelty was low. A driver on a long commute had no podcasts, no Spotify or audiobooks. A stranger with a story was high value. The transaction was something like = I provide logistics and you provide content; like the story of your cross-country bike trip.

Today, we have near infinite content in our pockets. The marginal utility of a stranger's story has plummeted because the competition is Joe Rogan or an endless algorithmic feed. We have largely replaced the P2P protocol of kindness with a sort of centralized platform of service. We stripped out the human latency and the requirement for social reciprocity and replaced it with currency and star ratings. It makes me surreal to think about this.

Re: How will the miracle happen today?

#33

Post by dheera »

SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #21
esafak wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just don't push your luck. There are a lot of people -- usually women -- who travel the world to prove the goodness of humanity and get killed by some rando along the way. Look up Pippa Bacca.

I wonder what the rate of "getting killed by some rando along the way" actually is. Sure, lots of anecdotes, and I don't really know how you'd measure it, but I'm curious how it plays out by the real numbers.

s/killed/harassed/ and the numbers are pretty damn high at least in my circle

Re: How will the miracle happen today?

#34

Post by reaperducer »

buellerbueller wrote: post #22
esafak wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just don't push your luck. There are a lot of people -- usually women -- who travel the world to prove the goodness of humanity and get killed by some rando along the way. Look up Pippa Bacca.

>There are a lot of people -- usually women -- who want to travel the world to prove the goodness of humanity and get killed by some rando along the way. "Wont someone think of the (lots of?) women?" Honestly: how are you defining "a lot" here? A dozen or two? That's a vanishingly small proportion of humanity, my friend. And would you even hear the tales of those who travel the world and don't get killed? I am just s…

They're human beings, not numbers or statistics.

Or would you have us believe that a certain number of these kinds of murders are OK, because they're just "rounding errors" or "edge cases?"

What's the over/under number?

Re: How will the miracle happen today?

#36

Post by jimbokun »

JR1427 wrote: post #5

This reminds me of a video I watch recently of a comfortably off guy who decided to try and do a long-distance cycle with just £100. He could afford not to rely on others, but instead he let people buy him food, give him a bed, etc. This didn't sit well with me. If you can pay your own way, but choose to instead let others pay for you, you're just sponging off people.

I think if he is willing to be generous in other times and places as well, it can be a good learning experience.

I know this is also how Jesus lives in the Gospels, and has his disciples do so at times as well.

Of course he paid his way by healing the sick and raising the dead!

And telling really good stories.

Re: How will the miracle happen today?

#37

Post by dheera »

Fiveplus wrote: post #32

I couldn't help but focus on the vicarious adventure aspect Kelly mentions which was the "payment" he offered drivers in exchange for the ride. This is a mechanism that has largely been deprecated by the modern attention economy. In the era of hitchhiking, the bandwidth for novelty was low. A driver on a long commute had no podcasts, no Spotify or audiobooks. A stranger with a story was high value. The transaction wa…

> replaced it with currency and star ratings

In addition, the socioeconomic gaps are wider. So much so that the software engineer rushing to their 10am meeting doesn't want your $50. The Uber driver does, though.

Re: How will the miracle happen today?

#38

Post by oasisbob »

dheera wrote: post #25
BrokenCogs wrote: post #6

Sounds like someone who takes and does not give

Exactly. People taking advantage of other peoples' kindness systematically and at scale is the reason why people are less kind today.

Not sure I agree, the systematicness can be cultural as well.

In my area there's a bunch of Islands with ferry service, but the ferry terminals are often remotely located on these islands, away from lodging and population centers.

It's fairly common to see people hitchhiking their way to hop off the islands. Every time I've chosen to do it, I'm still filled with the same sense of gratitude Kevin Kelly describes. The folks picking me up always feel like they're experiencing the sense of levity and kindness, not habituality and scorn.

Re: How will the miracle happen today?

#40

Post by convolvatron »

dheera wrote: post #25
BrokenCogs wrote: post #6

Sounds like someone who takes and does not give

Exactly. People taking advantage of other peoples' kindness systematically and at scale is the reason why people are less kind today.

people getting increasingly hung up on enforcing reciprocity is just as likely a culprit
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