Will Technology Make Us Dumber?

Smarter and dumber are overly broad.

There is an old adage (outside the carwash)

Rain will not clean a dirty car.

Rain will not dirty a clean car.

The same applies to Television

heretofore called, the Boob Tube.

Turning the TV on will not make you dumber

Turning the TV off will not make you smarter

Technology, for the user, simply involves less brain

application. The Brain may atrophy.

However, we as a society, have chosen to redefine

intelligence on other matters related to same

Musical intelligence

Athletic intelligence

Artistic intelligence.

As the definition of the word genius, once applied

to meeting a certain criteria in a specific area, has

been expanded beyond recognition, intelligence has

gone through the same metamorphosis.

Evolution--or devolution depending on your philosophical

bent or what you have to sell.

Technology is a tool. Just like a shovel.

Using a shovel may make me stronger if I am digging

ditches, but operating a backhoe to achieve the same

result will only get the job done more efficiently.

It won't make me stronger, only atrophy my muscles

Best wishes,

Sincerest regards,

Slim.

Robert Asken

Box 33

Pen Argyl, PA

18072

Copyright © 2021 Robert Asken

All rights reserved

Data? Think about this

Data! Think about this.

It's Saturday.

You and your wife are having her two sisters over for lunch.
You try to decide whether to eat inside or outside on the picnic table.

Your wife says, let's wait til they get here as ask them how they feel.

Jane arrives. You ask her about eating outside or inside.

She replies, "It's such a beautiful day I had to go back to put on shorts and a short sleeve blouse. Let's eat outside."

A few minutes later Sue arrives. You tell her about the plans to eat outside.

She replies, "It's too cold to eat outside. I had to go back to put on slacks and a sweater."

You check the thermometer, The Data reads 72 Degrees (f)

To Jane, it's warm.
To Sue, it's too cold.
The Data says 72.

Data has its limits. That is where thinking begins.

Regards,

Slim.

"There is no expedient to which a man will not resort to avoid the real labour of thinking." Sir Joshua Reynolds.

Copyright © 2020 Robert Asken

All rights reserved.

Robert Asken

Box 33 

Pen Argyl PA

18072

 

The Bug and the Bird

Through the magic of metaphor, I’ve just finished washing and waxing the car and am now on the porch sitting next to a pitcher of home squeezed lemonade and a plate of Moravian sugar cookies.

Just then, a bug from the garden across the road flies over to chat. And no sooner than he does, a bird from down the road lands on the back of the other chair to join us.

He looks at the car then looks at me and says, “Some days you’re the windshield, some days you’re the bird,” and laughs.

I hear the bug sigh.

“What’s the matter?” I ask.

He replies, “Some days you’re the windshield, some days you’re the bug.”

The bird laughs.

“Yes?” I ask.

“It’s always good to be the bird.  It’s never good to be the bug.” He laughs again.

“What about the windshield?”

The bird replies, “You win some, you lose some. But you’re always the windshield.” He laughs again then says, “Well, I’ll be off.”

The bug and I watch as the bird flies away.

“Well, I guess I’ll head back to the garden,” the bug says and flies off.

I watch as the bug flies across the road.

The bird dives for the bug.

The bird smashes into the windshield of a passing car.

Warmest regards,

Slim

slimfairview@yahoo.com 

Others by Slim Fairview

You Can't Fool the Lion

Five Apples

How Mr. Yakamoto Saved Face

Mr. When's Chicken 

Copyright © 2014  Robert Asken as Slim Fairview.

All rights reserved.

The Visible Hand

THE VISIBLE HAND

Limiting demand is the visible hand of economics.  Why?  Because “The invisible hand” loses potency with rising affluence.

“Rich people are insulated from price increases, but not from supply shortages.”  ~ Slim Fairview.

The Invisible Hand

The theory of the invisible hand says, “If there are more carpenters than needed, the wages of the carpenters will fall (supply exceeds demand) and many carpenters will be unemployed except for the fact that surfeit of carpenters means a dearth of plumbers.  The demand for plumbers and the higher wages arising from demand exceeding supply means people will become plumbers instead of carpenters and “the invisible hand” of the market will handle this…more or less.

The Visible Hand is entirely different.  By limiting the demand, you stabilize the economics of your entire enterprise.

Profits v. Growth

In this paradigm, maximising profits is not the overriding concern—stability is the overriding concern.  This is because stability is necessary for growth.

This is analogous to an investment portfolio.  You have growth stocks, you have income stocks.  At the outset, you want growth stocks.  When you get older, you want income stocks.

Think of the Sharpe-Markowitz Efficiency Curve.  Risk v. Return.

The visible hand is the growth stock portfolio.

In the early days of B-School (my early days) growth was described as having an inherent risk factor.

If you grow to fast (faster than your market) you tie up capital  and reduce your ROI. (Return on Investment.)

If you grow too slowly (if your market grows faster than you do) you lose customers, cut revenue, and lose market share.

Let’s review Mr. Putin’s Visible Hand.

MERGERS

Forming a Eurasian Economic Union.

ACQUISITIONS

Crimea

Mr. Putin is taking advantage of a competitor’s weakness (The EuroUnion) to expand Market Share and to Increase Revenue.

SALES/REVENUE

Mr. Putting stabilises revenue by limiting demand with a deal to sell natural gas to China.

SUPPLY CHAIN STABILISATION

Mr. Putin establishes a stable supply of oil with an oil deal with Iran.

MARKET PENETRATION AND DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS

The acquisition of the Crimea includes a warm water part and accesses markets.

Mr. Putin’s Economic Theatre of Operation is a Textbook Lesson on Strategic Planning.

• Market Analysis

• Mergers and Acquisitions

• Competitor Evaluation

• Supply Chain Stabilisation

• Distribution Channels

• Market Penetration

• Sales and Marketing

• The SWOT Test.

Mr. Putin’s SWOT Test

Strengths

Weaknesses

Opportunities

Threats

STRENGTHS

• Shared History and Culture with Eastern Europe

• Natural Gas Supply

• Natural Gas Deal with Germany

• Leveraged Capital Investment Opportunities in Russia

• Stable Government

WEAKNESSES

• Late arrival into the Global Free Market Paradigm

• Climate

• Lack of Warm Water Port(s)

• Activist Minority Stakeholder Dissent

OPPORTUNITIES

• Weak EuroUnion Economy

• Eastern Bloc’s Need for an Economic Union

• Iran Oil Sanctions

• China’s Growing Energy Needs

• The Crimea

• Slow U.S. and European Economies

• Emerging Nations

THREATS

• Trade competition from China

• Competition from Cheap-Labour Markets

• Sanctions by Western Nations

• Weak Global Economy

All of these describe THE VISIBLE HAND.  Not as practiced by a company within an industry or an economy, but rather by nations among nations in a global economy.  And right now, Mr. Putin is establishing a template for emerging nations to follow.

Warmest Regards,

Slim

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

Bob Asken
Box 33
Pen Argyl, PA 18072
Etats Unis 

slimfairview@yahoo.com

ADDITIONAL READING

Putin's Overture in Eurasia Minor

Mr. Putin's Economic Theatre of Operation

Limiting Demand: Slim's Paradigm

Copyright © 2014 Robert Asken writing as Slim Fairview

All rights reserved.