[Advice] All That Happens Must Be Known

Given revelations of internet data surveillance what concerns should be raised about the possibility of brain monitoring devices?

All this week on the HSCT Communication Blog, we are answering questions put forth by the folks running the at the upcoming Suny-Broome 6^th Annual Interdisciplinary Conference being held on April 4^thand 5^that Suny-Broome Community College.

This week’s question was posed by the plot of David Eggers’ most recent novel, The Circle, and was not definitively answered by the end of the book.

Well, we here at HSCT have three primary concerns about brain monitoring devices. And the NSA didn’t make the top three.

The first is around marketing and the idea of “opting-out” rather than a mandatory “opt-in.”

The most annoying moment on the internet or social media is waiting for the commercial at the front of a YouTube video to load, with the countdown going before the viewer can “skip this ad.”

As the customer (you and I) have gained more control over blocking being sold to, marketers and advertisers have had to come up with more clever (and blunt) ways to compel our valuable time and attention, with confusing and frustrating results for all parties involved.

Now imagine if marketers had access to the most intimate space on the planet: Your private brain space.There would be no “option to opt-out,” even though all the legalese would say that there would be.

Which gets us to point number 2…

The second concern that we have is that increasingly, the desire to not participate in social communication is seen as a sign of social ineptitude at best and dangerous at worst.

Case in point: Whenever a school shooting happens, the first thing that the media does is breathlessly report whether or not the perpetrator possessed a social media account.

If he (and it’s usually a ‘he’) does, then there is breathless data mining that goes on in a search for pathology, motive, and aberration.

In other words, the nature of the aberrant act itself is no longer enough to create outrage; the lack of social participation is the driver for primary outraged responses.Which leads to concern number 3…

The third concern is that we have long sought—as individuals, societies and cultures—to control people under the guise of freeing them from Plato’s Cave.

Brain monitoring devices won’t be used to give us freedom, collaboration and connection.Instead, they will be used to take away freedom, encourage and inflame false fracturing and individualization, and destroy connections between people.

In other words, criminalization of thought will happen using the same powerful social sanctioning to illegality continuum that has banned smoking from restaurants, trans fats from NY City restaurants, and has gotten the White House cook to quit.

The inevitability of technological progress demands that we think about the ramifications of power and control, not only from government and corporations, but also by and from each other.

So, HSCT’s conflict engagement consultant, Jesan Sorrells, will be presenting on the issue of online reputation maintenance in a world where virtue and ethics are not often addressed.

We would love to see you there!

-Peace Be With You All-

Jesan Sorrells, MA

Principal Conflict Engagement Consultant

Human Services Consulting and Training (HSCT)

Email HSCT: jsorrells@hsconsultingandtraining.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HSConsultingandTraining

Twitter: www.twitter.com/Sorrells79

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jesansorrells/

Wisdom in the Machine

When the astronaut Dave powers down the rebellious HAL 9000 computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey, and more recently in the 2013 film, Her, starring Joaquin Phoenix, we determine through pop culture, what machine “death” looks–and feels–like.

The fact of murder comes from the fact of life and ideas and philosophies that we have as individual humans–and collective societies–about what traits constitute life.

In the case of a machine, we here at HSCT take the position that a machine cannot overcome the limitations of its creator.

Life is defined, not only by self-sustaining processes (we were asked while writing this post, if it would be murder to power down a machine created by another machine) but also by wisdom that is attained through life experience.

The crux of wisdom lies at the intersection of common sense, insight and understanding.

HAL 9000 may have had one, or even two, of those things—such as insight and understanding—but “he” (see how we anthropomorphized an inanimate object there) lacked the third trait in spades: common sense.

Just like Skynet in Terminator or the machines and computer programming networks of The Matrix, HAL 9000 was unable to negotiate in good faith with his creator.

“He” made an “all or nothing” decision about Dave’s presence, Dave’s mission and Dave’s motives and then took extreme action.

The same way that the machines did in The Matrix and Terminator.

The ability to negotiate with others in good faith, and to honor those agreements, is a human trait based in knowledge, experience, common sense and insight, not just a happy byproduct of a conscious mind.

And until machines have the ability to negotiate with, not only their environments in the rudest sense of the term, but also with their creators, we should feel free to power them up—or down—at our will.

After all, our Creator does the same thing.

Right?

-Peace Be With You All-

Jesan Sorrells, MA
Principal Conflict Engagement Consultant
Human Services Consulting and Training (HSCT)
Email HSCT: jsorrells@hsconsultingandtraining.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HSConsultingandTraining
Twitter: www.twitter.com/Sorrells79
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jesansorrells/

Get Out of Your Head

Get some outside your own head help.

When you are writing anything, it is easy to get cloistered and wrapped up in your own head.

And while you may have had this idea for an e-book for years and have been noodling away at it on napkins at restaurants for the last five years, if no one else looks at it, then it may not be worth its weight in gigabytes.

This is a critical step in the writing process for both fiction and nonfiction writers.

Part of the freedom and glory of blogging is that there are no editors or authorities to filter your voice.

But in a dynamic selling environment, where you will be giving away an e-book consisting of your best ideas, you want to put your best foot forward and an editor will help you do that.

As usual, a professional beats an amateur, but sometimes, crowd editing (like crowd funding) can serve as an awesome way to let others in on what you are doing, as well as tap into the vast resource of the internet

known as the collective mind.

Is it scary?

Yeah.

But so is never adding to the world in a positive way.

Getting an editor—whether it be the crowd or a former disgruntled journalist—can be a scary, expensive proposition.

But not as scary as the long-term effects of choosing not to communicate effectively.

Here at HSCT, we can help you explore the how to communicate effectively safely and thoroughly.

Sign upfor the March 26^th HSCT Seminar, Choices in Communication, held at The Studios of Bree Elyse Imaging for only $89.99!

Click on the link http://bitly.com/18LX7HC to register!

We would love to see you there!

-Peace Be With You All-

Jesan Sorrells, MA

Principal Conflict Engagement Consultant

Human Services Consulting and Training (HSCT)

Email HSCT: hsconsultingandtraining@gmail.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HSConsultingandTraining

Twitter: www.twitter.com/Sorrells79

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jesansorrells/

HSCT’s website: http://hsconsultingandtrain.wix.com/hsct

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Distracted Writing

So, we’ve decided that we’re going to write an e-book, because we’re going to use it to leverage interest in other products and services we are offering.

We’ve decided that our topic is relevant and our customers have told us that they need it and will eat it up.

Well, at this point, just like everything else, we should start writing. Now, this seems easy, but in a world of distractions and shortened attention spans, we here at HSCT have taken to writing our e-book in short bursts.

This has allowed us to effectively create content that we think will be interesting, relational and relevant to our audience, but also has allowed us the freedom to be…well…distracted occasionally.

We recommend that you do the same. Oh, and remember that, unlike a blog post, a Tweet or Facebook post, or commentary on LinkedIn or on a blog that you frequent, e-book content is still—for better or worse—long form content.

So,

Concentrate
Take small bites
And be focused in those moments when you are writing.

Writing can be a scary proposition.

But not as scary as the long-term effects of choosing not to communicate effectively.

Here at HSCT, we can help you explore the how to communicate effectively safely and thoroughly.

Sign upfor the March 26^th HSCT Seminar, Choices in Communication, held at The Studios of Bree Elyse Imaging for only $89.99!

Click on the link http://bitly.com/18LX7HC to register!

We would love to see you there!

-Peace Be With You All-

Jesan Sorrells, MA

Principal Conflict Engagement Consultant

Human Services Consulting and Training (HSCT)

Email HSCT: hsconsultingandtraining@gmail.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HSConsultingandTraining

Twitter: www.twitter.com/Sorrells79

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jesansorrells/

HSCT’s website: http://hsconsultingandtrain.wix.com/hsct

Hey, You Big APE!

As there is a process for making a movie, painting a picture or even developing a video game, there is a process for creating a book.

The format doesn’t matter these days: hardcover, paperback, e-book or other digital form, the book, the long form narrative, is still alive and well in the world.

And if you are going to choose a format, and you choose the digital format, you have to make the same kinds of decisions that you would have to make if you were writing a traditional manuscript:

What is my topic?
How long will my book be?
What is my audience?

But the most important question to answer is: How will anyone read it?

With 25% of the book buying public buying long-form content in a digital form (along with long-form visual content being delivered to them via tablet and mobile devises) why wouldn’t an entrepreneur, author, or budding publisher go the route of an e-book?

But, there are issues with editing, formatting, what platform to publish on and a lot of other questions.

Fortunately, Guy Kawasaki, former brand advocate for Apple, current Motorola advisor, and social media monster, has put together an e-book for you about how to solve all of those little problems.

APE (get it by clicking here) is the guide to artisanal publishing. I encourage you to get it as we will be talking about e-book publishing, in light of HSCT’s own e-book, 35 Hits, coming out later this summer.

By the way, we got our digital copy free from just following @GuyKawasaki on Twitter and we recommend that you do the same.

Publishing is a scary choice.

But not as scary as the long-term effects of choosing not to communicate effectively.

Here at HSCT, we can help you explore the how to communicate effectively safely and thoroughly.

Sign upfor the March 26^th HSCT Seminar, Choices in Communication, held at The Studios of Bree Elyse Imaging for only $89.99!

Click on the link http://bitly.com/18LX7HC to register!

We would love to see you there!

-Peace Be With You All-

Jesan Sorrells, MA

Principal Conflict Engagement Consultant

Human Services Consulting and Training (HSCT)

Email HSCT: hsconsultingandtraining@gmail.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HSConsultingandTraining

Twitter: www.twitter.com/Sorrells79

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jesansorrells/

HSCT’s website: http://hsconsultingandtrain.wix.com/hsct

You Will Be Made to Choose

You will be made to choose.

Imagine for a moment, if you will, the future that is likely rather than the future that is safe:

A future where there is no more “traditional entry level work” because it’s all been automated, and instead everyone has their own start-up, peddling ideas, small innovations or themselves either online or off-line
A future where there is increasingly dramatic stratification between those who collaborate and barter at the “low” end, those who have “safe” jobs in the trades and have acquired some money in the “middle,” and those who have been innovative and parlayed that into generational ownership of wealth at the “top”

(Think of Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg’s future children, or the founder’s of Whatsapp.com)

A future where everyone is computer/social/information communication savvy whether they have the desire to be or not
A future where education becomes automated and human teachers return to teaching under the trees and and are unencumbered by an educational hierarchy
A future where retail space collapses, shrinks, and disappears even as family housing units become smaller, cheaper and more integrated with onsite retail spaces
A future where religion (and genuine belief) changes the lives of more and more people as they shrink from false civic promises and government based fantasies about security, wealth and stratification

You will be made to care about the future that is likely rather than the one that is safe.

And that can be such a scary choice because not having the words to talk about “why” you made the forward thinking choice can be hard.

Here at HSCT, we can help you explore the “why,” safely and thoroughly.

Sign upfor the March 26^th HSCT Seminar, Choices in Communication, held at The Studios of Bree Elyse Imaging for only $89.99!

Click on the link http://bitly.com/18LX7HC to register!

We would love to see you there!

-Peace Be With You All-

Jesan Sorrells, MA

Principal Conflict Engagement Consultant

Human Services Consulting and Training (HSCT)

Email HSCT: hsconsultingandtraining@gmail.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HSConsultingandTraining

Twitter: www.twitter.com/Sorrells79

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jesansorrells/

HSCT’s website: http://hsconsultingandtrain.wix.com/hsct

The 33%

There’s a rule we just heard about here at HSCT.

It kind of goes like this:

Out of all the content ever created by human beings (art, music, plays, TV and radio shows, stand-up comedy, etc., etc., etc.)

33% has always been crap,
33% has always been middlebrow
and 33% has always been high quality.

This concept can also be applied to the heart-work of having a crucial conversation, once people and parties in conflict realize that most breakthroughs are really break “withs.”

If parties start with

maintaining the emotional connection and tonality of the conversation,
and are committed to preserving “face” and autonomy to make decisions (bad or good)
and if both parties remain open to change,

then success is assured.

However, if 33% of the conversations that you are having are not that crucial, and 33% of the conversations you are having are somewhat important and 33% of the conversations that you have are actually crucial, then the real hard work is figuring out which 33% you are in at any given moment.

Right?

[Thanks to M. Burt for introducing us to this concept.]

If 33% of conversations are crucial, how do you make that determination?

Here at HSCT, we can help you explore how to do that safely and thoroughly.

Sign upfor the March 26^th HSCT Seminar, Choices in Communication, held at The Studios of Bree Elyse Imaging for only $89.99!

Click on the link http://bitly.com/18LX7HC to register!

We would love to see you there!

-Peace Be With You All-

Jesan Sorrells, MA

Principal Conflict Engagement Consultant

Human Services Consulting and Training (HSCT)

Email HSCT: hsconsultingandtraining@gmail.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HSConsultingandTraining

Twitter: www.twitter.com/Sorrells79

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jesansorrells/

HSCT’s website: http://hsconsultingandtrain.wix.com/hsct

[Opinion] I Am the One Who Knocks on Bad Water

We here at HSCT are fans of the AMC show Breaking Bad.

We are currently binging on the last few episodes of the series on Netflix… a service of which we are also big fans.

One of the narrative elements of the show that coursed consistently through its five seasons was water:

Water in pools
Water used to clean up after a meth making accident
Water used to replace a chemical stolen from a train

And on and on.

In a crucial conversation, the pool of meaning is filled with “stuff”—emotions, ideas, thoughts, reactions and responses—that determine how the conversation will proceed.

Of course, if that crucial conversation is occurring around something that matters, then the pool of meaning can be filled with some brackish water.

On Breaking Bad, pools (and water) are used for cleansing and clarity. Or, sometimes, like in The Graduate, as a place to “just, sort of, float along peacefully.”

In a crucial conversation though, the pool can be filled with “shared” meaning—where each participant is being a careful steward to the reactions, emotions and responses of the other party.

Or it can be filled with “personal” meaning—where each participant jealousy guards their own reactions, emotions and responses and uses them as weapons against the other party.

We here at HSCT don’t condone violence, and Breaking Bad serves as an awesome commentary on the state of the contemporary American psyche, but wouldn’t it have gone better for Walter if he had operated on the principles of abundance and shared his pool of meaning sooner?

[Thanks to Breaking Bad & Philosophy for pointing out some of these things to me.]

We would love to see you there!

-Peace Be With You All-

Jesan Sorrells, MA
Principal Conflict Engagement Consultant
Human Services Consulting and Training (HSCT)
Email HSCT: jsorrells@hsconsultingandtraining.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HSConsultingandTraining
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/Sorrells79
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jesansorrells/
HSCT’s website: http://www.hsconsultingandtraining.com/

….delaying gratification….

Delaying gratification is not something that our culture—or us as American individuals—are particularly good at right now at the dawn of the 21^st century.

This Image is NOT Mine

The famed Marshmallow Test is a good example of this; as is the biological fact that our pleasure centers light up in response to social media engagement; as is the fact that 50% of all marriages end in divorce.

But the rub really comes when those who can delay gratification—and suffer through the hard times without a cell phone, social media exposure or connections, or money—outlast, outlive and out play those who can’t.

The dark side of delayed gratification—and there is a dark side—is intolerance of others, impatience, judgment, poor emotional intelligence, disassociation and a lack empathy.

The positives are success, self-discipline, impulse control, goal accomplishment, drive, grit, emotional and intellectual clarity and the development of a healthy ego.

Which outcomes would you like to choose?

Well, let’s see how we do on the Marshmallow Test…

-Peace Be With You All-

Jesan Sorrells, MA

Principal Conflict Engagement Consultant

Human Services Consulting and Training (HSCT)

Email HSCT: hsconsultingandtraining@gmail.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HSConsultingandTraining

Twitter: www.twitter.com/Sorrells79

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jesansorrells/

HSCT’s website: http://hsconsultingandtrain.wix.com/hsct