When Puusti the Dog is trying to work out what is going on, considering what is about to happen, he has a thinking ear that sticks out to one side. He does this often, as he observes his surroundings (normally us) and wonders what is going to happen next. And a little ago when he was watching me from the couch as I entered the room, I thought that it is a pretty good strategy.
Stop, look, and listen.
And then I was reminded of that phrase from when I was a child, because there were adverts for it and it was taught at school, that children should stop, look and listen, before they cross the road. I looked it up and it appears that in some countries, they have added, "think" onto the end, which makes sense, but is also kind of obvious. Though in today's world, maybe we shouldn't take for granted that people would automatically think, since many seem incapable or unwilling to stress their brains with the taxing process required for thought.
Listening itself as part of our social abilities seems to have degraded, as our social media habits have turned us into broadcasters, not receivers. We are looking to send, not hear. And even when we are listening, we are listening without preconception instead of an openness to absorb, process and understand, before formulating our response. I know that I am often guilty of this myself, and I see it in many others I spend time with also. The few who do actually listen and process first, tend to do well for themselves, but there is also a cost to it, as some think they are too slow - impatience is another symptom of our changing habits.
We are not only living in an on-demand environment where everything is at our fingertips, as we are also pressured to be "the first" to have the information or experience, even if it is useless. Look at the lines that form to be "the first" with a new iPhone and then realise, none of those people are first, yet they feel special for being near the front to buy a product. And then, people will line up for hours in some places to get "the first" taste of a new drink or a donut at a shop in the same way. It is ludicrous, as lines snake around a shopping centre or through the streets for a five dollar pastry.
We have lost our sense of values.
Not just moral and ethical values, but the value of goods and services. From a monetary perspective the values is whatever someone is willing to pay for the product, but there are other forms of value like in the experience or practical usage. Many seem to overvalue getting a donut first and undervalue the time it takes, or the effort, or the disappointment. A lot of consumer products are highly overvalued, and a lot of the opportunity cost alternatives are undervalued.
Be the first in line for useless.
Perhaps if we used our thinking ear instead of listening to our desires, we would realise what is actually going on. That we are being conditioned to consume useless at a far higher cost than it takes to produce, or that it returns to us. We are being milked of value as we swap it for the valueless. If we listened, we would not only retain our value, we would be far more discerning with how we spent it, whether it be money, time, effort, or our psychological energy. Perhaps then we would spend our resources creating valuable experience, instead of losing valuable resources.
Stop, look, and listen.
Perhaps that "think" is needed after all.
Taraz [ Gen1: Hive ]
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