Hi reader,

Have you ever seen a human, who has said something and did the utterly opposite? I hope the answer is yes, and if not, then it may sound harsh, but all you need is a mirror. Yes, it is offensive to listen to something like this, but this is a reality. We carry a mix of personalities of what we show to the world and what we keep to ourselves. A few weeks or maybe months back, one of my friends asked me if I had ever written on the dual nature of people, and this needs to be something that is worth a scribble.

I was going through one of the TED talks and found an interesting take on us. This was about our aspirational and revealed values. Everyone likes to talk about the good things, the good habits, the good decisions, the good experiences, and any noun with the word good before it, but there are always a few things which no matter how much we talk about, we like something completely different. A simple example: a balanced diet with regular exercise, and then binge-watching a series with a slice of pizza and a fizzy drink. Our most of choices, be it the choice of food, choice of dress, choice of lifestyle, or choice of entertainment, are defying what we aspire to. Have a quick watch of the talk:

In my personal opinion, I believe we are living in an age, wherein the world is too exposed to us right in our pocket screens. We can pull the device out, and see what is happening in the other part of the world and start doing the same. We find all the cool and glittering parts of things and start so believing in them that we try adapting to them. It can be the Western culture in the East or the Eastern culture in the West. The cultural transfer is a good thing, but half knowledge is the most dangerous thing too. Talking about the cool and glittery things, what it brings into our life is an impulsion. An impulse to buy things we may not even need. More money, more impulsive buys, and then comes the time, when we realize we don’t even use them. But, since one has seen it in a trending video, one will buy it, use it once or twice, and then forget it.

I remember, when we used to go on vacations, we used to spend time with family or friends, and mainly a few group pictures and some landscapes. After that, used to wait for the pictures to be printed, and then watch the photo album to relive those moments. Now, everyone is a travel vlogger. You go to Kyoto or Varanasi, Paris or Switzerland, Dubai or Amsterdam, and all you will find is people with pocket screens clicking photos or selfies. Not saying that there is any harm to it, but if you look at the vlog content present on Eiffle Tower itself, I’m not sure how many hard drives would be required to store all those pictures and videos about Eiffle Tower (and I am not including the personal pictures).

Ironically, the world talks about global warming and being carbon neutral. But, all this data (pictures and videos) about history, geography, and whatnot are stored in some hard drive around the world, and of course with some redundancy. In order to keep things digital, and accessible to the world, all those hard drives, servers, and networks are running on electricity, which is not 100% green energy, and let’s not talk about the carbon emission from the devices themselves. So a message to all the vloggers, I am not against you, but can you find a smarter way where you don’t create redundant vlogs and maybe come out of this digital social world, to share whatever you want to share? I am sure, you will experience it much better while sharing it with 10-20 live audiences in comparison to 100K-1M subscribers. 

Another part of our life, where I have seen the duality in ideas or belief is, Complaining. Currently, if we browse through LinkedIn, I would be surprised if we do not find one post, in your top 20-30 posts where someone somewhere is talking, or I would say complaining or whining about some product that we have used for ages, or about the river, or about the traffic, or about the work culture, or simply anything. We live in a world, where we are getting educated, and then all we do with that education is complain. It is not that complaining or bringing the facts upfront is wrong, but the motive behind it. If it is for general awareness… accepted, but just raise the voice to get the limelight and maybe if got lucky, some settlement from the brand, then what was the point of complaining then? There’s a race out there, for being the smarter, and it is endless. From putting a post to having the debates in the thread that follows, of who is better, or whose thought process is better, and if nothing else, who talked politely or harshly, it never ends.

This race of being the better or smarter isn’t just limited to the digital world. It is even becoming a part of the real world. Maybe some of you have noticed the trend of Pseudo-Alphas. Earlier, if we pick any civilizations or revolutions, there used to be a leader, who was considered the alpha human, one who had the strength to take the tough decisions while leading, one who used to protect, ready to sacrifice, and always always for the people. Fast forward to the 21st century, where everyone is alpha. The bottom line is if you are following the latest fashion trends, going to the gym and having a muscular body, standing like a king (even in public transport, and arguing with people on simplest things), and have zero temperament, patience, kindness but still, you are alpha! Why? Here’s a popular dialogue from a Bollywood Movie called, Rockstar.

Everything is image, Image is everything

If you really followed through this blog, you would notice that I am writing about the act of complaining, and all I am doing is also complaining, so here is the clearest example, no matter how much we try, we all have a duality in life. We will always have a difference in the aspirational vs the revealing self. Hence, it is better to accept our duality first, before we say of anyone else. Also, be a little kind to each other, as who knows what the other person is going through.

Take Care!

Cheers!
Navneet