Thoughts and ideas of a dyslexic designer/developer
I have seen a number of images from black lives matter protests, some of them are dramatic in nature. Sometimes clashes with police, teargas, etc. Its the stuff which sells and we all need to remember this! Most protests generally are peaceful.
For example, here is the Manchester protest where around 50 people took a knee.
Simple, peaceful and in the eyes of a newspaper, boring but real
Its quite a different look from what you see in the La Times
I know there is a ton of fan theory’s about the connection between Inception and Tenet.
I’ll be honest I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a link, as its almost exactly 10 years between them both. My thoughts are, there is at low end. The same company could be at play for the sleep sharing device and the “glove” which creates time inversion. On the other end (wild side) of the scale, I do wonder if Cobe’s children from Inception could feature in Tenet?
I will be signing up to watch this in the Manchester IMAX cinema, likely at midnight or a very late showing to avoid as many people as possible. While wearing a mask in the dark.
There is a podcast which I have been listening to for quite some time (almost 2 years) its been going for a lot longer and its a gem to listen to. The podcast is called the element of Inclusion.
Its been a breath of fresh air in a crowded market of Diversity & Inclusion experts., partly because of the free flow of extremely useful information in podcast format.
For example he’s boiled down a lot of mater and found 3 key elements (element of inclusion)
People
Organisations ind it difficult to engage with people that are currently being excluded “Employee resource groups directly engage employees that are underrepresented and excluded. These are the people at the Bottom of the pyramid who are being ignored”
Potential.
Organisations find it difficult to create a culture of inclusion “Employee resource groups can help to change the narrative of what it means to be a successful employee within an organisation and this is one of many things that helps to change the culture”
Performance.
Organisations find it difficult to articulate a compelling business case for diversity
A lot of the core information is usually buried deep in academic papers and dense books. As we are all now time poor, its amazing to have Dr Jonathan (Jonathan Ashong-Lamptey) read through the books and papers pulling out the wheat from the chaff, and then dicing it up into easily digestible form for all. Once you digested, you have direct links to the source material be it a book, review or a paper. This is so uncommon in a industry which keeps the source hidden away.
I do believe his mission of empowering 1 million people like me to make our workplaces more inclusive is a noble one; but also possible with the information Dr Jonathan keeps putting out.
Here’s some of the noticeable episodes I heard recently, although I would suggest starting with the 150th episode.
In this book review episode, Jonathan extracted some key parts from the book disability the basics including these 3 points.
The Disability Paradox
“There’s a perception that the lives of people with disabilities are completely undesirable, however the author said that data revealed that people with disabilities consistently report a quality of life as good as and sometimes better than people non disabled people.”
The Social Model of Disability
“some people have physical impairments, but it’s society through exclusion, through stigma, through oppression that makes people disabled”
The Thriving Disabled People’s Movement
“I was ashamed to say that I knew next to nothing about the disabled people’s movement. Described as the last liberation movement, it’s been inspired by previous movements like Civil rights”
The middle point about the social model of disability had me skipping backwards to hear it again and take it all in. Very apt for some of the neurodiverse conditions and one of those things I will always remember now.
I hadn’t really thought about this one too much till we went into lockdown for Covid19 but Dr Jonathan really made things super clear.
Why Loneliness is Misunderstood
“It’s possible to feel lonely while among other people, and you can be alone yet not feel lonely”
The Difference between Social Isolation and Loneliness
“social isolation is not loneliness and loneliness is not social isolation.
Not everyone who is socially isolated is lonely and not everyone who is lonely is socially isolated”
Why Social Exclusion May Lead to Loneliness
“If you’re an individual that is being socially excluded, ie socially isolated against your will, we don’t need the research to recognise that that person may have an unpleasant experience”
I swear by this one, and talk a lot about fireworks opposed to sustainable interventions. I also see this happen with one off training.
One Off Interventions are less likely to engage people in a meaningful way
“it’s the employees who get to see the truth, they get to see if the words and actions match up. They’re the ones you really need to buy into the narrative”
One Off Interventions are not as effective as programmes of change
“one off interventions have a smaller effect on attitudes, a smaller effect on how people feel and a smaller effect on behavioural learning compared to interventions that are part of a longer programme of change”
One Off Interventions won’t change systems of disadvantage
“It’s not always about individual behaviour, it’s about a system that reproduces existing norms and one-off interventions don’t solve that”Just these 3 are a
I always knew this to be true but Dr Jonathan armed me with some excellent case studies and data which is actionable.
Thankfully a few friends have reached out to me and asked how they can help or do something in regards to the murder of George Floyd and the systematic racism.
My thoughts are all over the place but I would start by listening!!!
As many of us have said over and over again its not simply this one murder. Its all the others and the systematic racism.
Start with the Daily Tech News show which did a special which had me in tears. Heck it finally got me to sign up on patreon to support them (first time).
We’re taking a day off to hear from black contributors to DTNS and its wider circle.
There has been many others who have spoken out including Clara on BBC Radio 1.
Another powerful piece video is Trevor Noah of the Daily Show, who connects all the pieces together in the way I was trying to explain in my previous post.
No matter what you think… just listen…
I heard about what happened in Tulsa a long while ago but didn’t really understand fully what it meant. Then during the Watchmen TV series I saw the Tulsa 1921 massacre play out and looked it up for the first time.
Shocking stuff even for 1921.
So why am I thinking about this? Well for many reasons plus it was 99 years ago yesterday the massacre happened
If you can’t get access to HBO, here is a video which explains the first episode and why Tulsa.
There is so much I have been thinking about in the last few days. I found Baratunde’s discussion with Leo quite relaxing to listen to. While America is on a knife’s edge with Trump once again making things much worst. Thankfully his Democratic opponent Biden is right on edge extending his ears and heart to understand.
On May 29th one of my favorite cities in America, Minneapolis’ police killed George Floyd because he was accused of buying cigarettes with a counterfeit $20 bill. The new york times have a good video explaining what happened using a number of different camera views including security footage. I’m not going to share because its a very difficult watch and been shared widely.
The almost the same day Amy Cooper (white lady) in central park calls the police on Christian Cooper (black man) saying shes an “African American” was threaten her. No one died thankfully, Amy was fired from her job and Christian makes clear its not about Amy but the systematic racism in our culture.
Oh, when Karens take a walk with their dogs off leash in the famous Bramble in NY’s Central Park, where it is clearly posted on signs that dogs MUST be leashed at all times, and someone like my brother (an avid birder) politely asks her to put her dog on the leash. pic.twitter.com/3YnzuATsDm
— Melody Cooper (@melodyMcooper) May 25, 2020
(If you didn’t get the Karen reference here is Bill Maher to explain it for you.)
Systematic or institutional racism as defined during the Stephen Lawrence case is exactly why so many black men and women in America have died at the hands of the people who are meant to be protecting us all. Heck even Ben & Jerrys knows its true! Its clear to me there could have been two deaths that day simply by calling the police out to a IC3 incident.
As Baratunde says we need everybody to get involved. This isn’t that tonedeaf all lives matter stuff. I am humbled to see London, Berlin protest and see a sheriff rejecting orders from the white house.
We live in incredible times with such possibilities that is clear. Although its easily dismissed by re-reading Anil Dash’s the web we lost essay and hearing doteveryone is closing up after 5 years.
To quote Buckminster Fuller “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”
You are seeing aspects of this happening with Luxembourg becoming the first country to provide free public transport.
Ian thinks: Seeing the charts on how Covid-19 has changed our use of the internet is quite telling and could be a forecast for the post Covid-19 future? I’d like to see different countries than just America of course.
Ian thinks: Mozilla works by actively doing, and their new Incubator programme targeting the toxic venture capital problem of new startups chasing the unicorn dream.
Ian thinks: Channel4 news piece with Malcolm Gladwell has some good news how people react and adapt to radical disruption like a pandemic.
Ian thinks: Its impressive to see genuine smart and sustainable world changing ideas all lined up together (here is 2019). They deserve so much more attention than some of the junk some other CEOs tweet.
Ian thinks: Thoughtful conversation about where western culture made the wrong steps. Another good episode of team human.
Ian thinks: Didn’t get around to reading the China proposal for the redesign of the internet in last months newsletter? Let American security expert Steve Gibson talk you through the main points in 20mins instead.
Ian thinks: Hearing Cory talk about corruption, monopoly in the midsts of the covid19 pandemic; sounds like the perfect start for his next science fiction book. Or maybe like Charlie Brooker said about Black Mirrror, its all just too real right now.
Ian thinks: There are many startups which grow to a point they could be better off state/public owned. If France do go ahead with their own Airbnb, it could be a blueprint of what or not to do for the future. Silicon Valley will make a point of saying this is why Europe isn’t financially competitive of course.
Ian thinks: Matt and many others have been talking about an ethical guide for public service media for a while. Now its launched theres a lot to learn and like about the approach taken. Really interesting timing with doteveryone closing its doors.
Ian thinks: I haven’t seen a better way of explaining how important the Crispr revolution is and ultimately the concept of programmable genes. (here is nature review ) if you can’t access it elsewhere.
Find an archive of previous public service internet notes here.