Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Social Eugenics

by 
Slim Fairview


Social Eugenics, in its most benign form, is the attempt to study a productive group or team, analyse it, replicate it, and reproduce similar results.

This, of course, is based on a faulty premise and on a well-intentioned but ultimately evil paradigm.

"Social Eugenics is the dehumanising field of study that reduces people to a list of component traits in order to organise them into groups to achieve a desired result." ~ Slim Fairview


Also From the Quotations of Slim Fairview

1. "Leaders are defined by their followers."

2. "Look behind you. If people are following you, you're a leader. If they're not, you're not."

3. "You can't lead if you can't manage."


The entire initiative is based on reducing individuals to individual components.

Various individuals are defined by isolating social genes--or demographic DNA.  Each may be valid and defensible in its own right. But it is not the skills that are being called into question. It is the end to which they are employed.

Such may include but are not limited to

Sympathy
Empathy
Listening skills
Validation
Etc.

Others may have more objective criteria--math skills, for instance.

There are reasons why some people become accountants and other people become artists.  One and perhaps most significant reason is that "They Want To."  Similarly, some people work better in groups, others work better alone, still others in pairs.

When used, however, to create a perfect team or group, even when the goal is to organise people to work together to be successful, they have dehumanised the people and have created a contrived arrangement.

Some of the tools are

Teach Consensus Building.  Aside from my having defined consensus building as group-think built by a consultant, Consensus Building is really influencing the members of a group to embrace a shared value or a shared vision to validate a preconceived ideal.

Leadership Training.  This is a series of exercises (where there are no right or wrong answers) to teach people presumed to have management skills how to lead people in such a way that will justify blaming the employees for any failures to meet standards or to achieve goals.

There is still the observer effect.

When a man is at the checkout at the supermarket sees an attractive young cashier, he stands up straight, sucks in his gut, and smiles.  When his wife is with him, not so much.  The observer influences the behaviour of the observed.

Appearance of Science.  With the rise of Social Eugenics, people attempt to portray opinions as facts so they can challenge facts by defining them as opinions. (SF.)

Who's to Say What's Right or Wrong?

"Circumstances if not consequences will determine who's right and who's wrong--too often when it's too late to benefit from the answer."


In an article I am writing about "personal robots" I pointed out that people who are affluent enough to afford a PSR (Personal Service Robot) will become desensitised to people in the service industry.  A robot can replicate a human, but a human won't replicate a robot.

Social Eugenics is based on an analogous principle.  That people are components in a group; and by analysing those individual traits, people can organise the component people into groups or teams that will become successful at achieving the desired results.

Warmest regards,

Slim.

If you find anything here to be helpful, please don't hesitate to send me one of those really tricked out Macbooks and to tuck a few dollars into the envelope along with the thank you note.  Slim

Robert Asken
Box 33
Pen Argyl, PA 18072




Copyright (c) 2016 Robert Asken
All rights reserved.

Thursday, March 10, 2016

Marketing to Millennials


For the media and or marketing people.

Alton Brown said he was paid more for 1 episode of a kitchen/combat show than an entire season of Good Eats.

If you want to make money, be a financial success, give the consumers what they want: Bread and Circus. [Or, to show I know how to use Google--panem et circenses.]

The Cooking Network switched to cooking contest shows

MTV once stood for Music Television. Then, talk and reality TV, with game shows thrown in.

The House Decorating and Remodeling shows spend more time showing people smashing walls and cupboards with sledge hammers than they do to showing the finished product.
 
And...the cooking shows have switched to close-ups and what I call cut to cut to. Lemon slice, pinch of salt, egg yolk, cut to: cut to: cut to:

As the politicians transmogrified from the 5 second sound-bite to the 2 second sound-bite, and we coined the phrase "the elevator pitch", as MTV shortened our attention span by conditioning us to embrace images that changed in a matter of one or two or three seconds. so too has the market changed.

The Market Demands:

Short

Fast

To the point.

Slim Fairview's Four Rules of Communication:

Precision

Concision

Enumerate

Specify

Witness "Social Media".

c u l8r.
k.


Remember: When Selling to Millennials:


Loud Noises...Bright Colours...&...Shiny Things 

Tap into this and you may be more successful reaching the millennials.

Of course, when millennials do it, it's because they're millennials.  When I do it, it's because I'm old fashioned, old, or have no patience... &c.


Warmest regards,

Slim.

slimfairview@yahoo.com

slimviews@gmail.com

Copyright (c) 2016 Bob Asken

All rights reserved.

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Hiring Einstein's Fish


Einstein said, "You don't measure the intelligence of a fish by its ability to climb a tree."

Okay.  Measure the intelligence of a fish by its ability to swim under water.

You don't measure the intelligence of a cat by its ability to swim under water.

Measure the intelligence of a cat by its ability to climb a tree.

From this I conclude,

If you want someone to climb a tree, hire a cat!


We don't do that.


We measure the intelligence of a fish by its ability to swim under water then hire the fish to climb a tree.  When the fish can't climb the tree, we hire a cat to climb the tree...and put the fish in charge of the cat.

If there is a problem, we send the fish to a leadership training programme.

If there is still a problem the fish goes into his boss to tell him:

The cat is not a team player,
The cat does not want to follow orders,
The cat wants to do what he wants to do.
 

The boss tells the fish to form a committee.

The committee decides:

There is no I in team,
To be a good leader you need to be a good follower,
The fish went to a leadership training programme and he wants to help the cat be the best tree climber he can be.
The fish will send the cat to a tree climbing training programme--run by fish.

If the company still has problems, the fish tells his boss, I did everything I could possibly do.
The cat is not a team player,
I tried to work with the cat using my leadership skills,
I sent the cat for training to improve his tree climbing skills,

The cat is counseled.

The cat leaves to take a job with a company where a cat is in charge of tree climbing.

The fish convinces you to hire more fish.

You end up with a tree surrounded with dead fish lying on the ground.


If you want someone to climb a tree, hire a cat.


Warmest regards,

Slim.

slimfairview@yahoo.com

slimviews@gmail.com 

Copyright (c) 2016 Bob Asken
All rights reserved.