The majority is never right
I rewatched Death to 2020 and Death to 2021 on Netflix earlier today… I actually finished Death to 2021 moments ago, and I anxiously had George’s article open on my mobile waiting to read it.
Encourage innovation. Change is our lifeblood, stagnation our death knell.
Quotations of David Ogilvy — Ogilvy 75
I watch a variety of stimulating content on the TV, at least I think they are. From true stories in the form of movies to documentaries, well-written comedies and dramas, but there are times I find I need deadpan content, if I am not watching action thrillers, comedies are my go-to. What it is, is a love for satire, sarcasm… mocking reality, the factual frailty or perhaps, feebleness of humanity.
I am reminded in Death to 2020 and 2021 of a quote from Henrik Ibsen, “The majority is never right. Never, I tell you! That’s one of these lies in society that no free and intelligent man can help rebelling against. Who are the people that make up the biggest proportion of the population — the intelligent ones or the fools?”
The title of George’s article was what got my attention, and reading it gave me giggles, but the tears were real… well, if I cried, I imagined they wouldn’t be crocodile tears. The reality is, quality is missing across the board, technology not without its own value, still has the human being at the centre, and so far, what humans are saying is that we want it fast and cheap.
When fast and cheap breaks it becomes waste, or expensive. Business also is in the business of making money, so it either offers maintenance or sells commodities that last for a long time. Businesses must innovate and market that innovation, but none of this should mean quality should be lowered. Yet, the focus seems to be more on efficiency than effectiveness, which is a result of quality thinking.
You don’t get quality efficiency if there is no effectiveness, so if fast is what we want, then we should perfect the quality of effectiveness first. “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” — Abraham Lincoln.
“Since the beginning of humankind, the most fruitful and important work as come from an alignment of heart →hand →head. Any upset of that symmetry is necessarily in-human and inferior.
There are all kinds of things machines can do better than humans. But machines need human intelligence and guidance and oversight to really be useful.” — George Tannenbaum
Everything You Need to Know About A.I., Advertising and Killing Our Planet — Read from Goerge Tannenbaum
