You are one of the first generations of the hyper-media age, an age where every second of the day some story is coming at you from all corners of the globe. Some as short as a tweet and others long reads, streaming series and documentary films. Content of every kind from every angle is available to you. Strangely enough you aren’t likely to see much more than a small slice of what’s out there, thanks to the algorithms serving you up the things that you tend to pay attention to most.
And what is most likely to get our attention – OUTRAGE!
Can you believe what “they” have done now? Outrage has replaced fear as the go to button to push in the attention economy. And we all fall for it from time to time.
But if you are paying attention, it’s clear that you are being manipulated. My question is: to what end? To be more compliant? To “raise arms” and fight? Or perhaps more cynically, to have you stick around and get our advertisers to give us more dollars?
The cost has been civility, civil discourse, political progress (right or left), and the ability for us, day-to-day, to make sense of the world. When a writer aims to manipulate, facts are cherry picked or manufactured to match his or her point of view. These “facts” end up in the spin cycle and build credibility by repetition. Unfortunately, the facts that are at the extremes of a view, the ones that are least likely to be accurate or truthful get the most attention. Middle of the road facts with lots of consensus usually don’t cause outrage and thus aren’t very useful for manipulation.
With all of this noise we can no longer make sense of the world. If you can’t make sense of the world, you can’t make good choices about life, community, or governance.
The good news is that there are a number of projects launching now that aim to make good sense. Our colleagues at the Consilience Project are one example. They aim to catalyze a movement towards better sense making. And they have an amazing team working to analyze information for veracity and accuracy.
We at PROOF are working to bring you specific news about the viable future. Our angle is to report on promising projects, movements, technologies, future visions and leading edge thinkers who are pointing the way to a thriving future.
Why do we do this?
Because we want to inspire and support YOU to take Bold Action to build a world that works for all.
That is what Bold.ly NOW is all about. Please join us and let’s rock a thriving future!
& The Bold.ly NOW Team
INSIDE THIS WEEK:
PROOF of a Thriving Future for Humanity
• Positive World News
• Organizations and Initiatives that are Generating a New Futures
What We’re Listening to:
• BN 16 | What Does It Mean to be a Generative Futurist? With Pablo Jenkins
Generative Futures Initiative Updates:
• Join us on Clubhouse for weekly Generative Conversations every Wednesday at 7:30 pm, PT.
Proof of a Thriving Future for Humanity
In the News:
Organizations Generating a Thriving Future:
You have seen the Sea Shepherd in action if you have watched the new thrilling and controversial documentary – Seaspiracy. The crew members are brave and selfless and are willing to stand in the face of adversity, in order to protect and save the marine animals that are so precious to all of us and the planet.
Their goal is the detection and capture of criminal enterprises that are in operation to engage in illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing operations.
What We’re Watching : The Lorax
A 25 minute conservation classic from 1972 by Dr. Seuss. The prose and animation are whimsical but the message is serious: We must protect our environment against the effects of mindless consumerism.
The mustachioed Lorax battle’s to save his ecosystem from the Once-ler’s exploitation teaches us that, “unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it’s not.”
What We’re Reading – The Four Agreements
The book is marketed as ‘a practical guide to personal freedom,’ but it can also be used to solve a problem, listen to criticism, give constructive feedback, or resolve a conflict. The four agreements–don’t gossip, don’t take things personally, don’t make assumptions, and do your best.
What We’re Listening to – What Does It Mean to Be a Generative Futurist with Pablo Jenkins
We speak about and think about the future – a lot! Most of how we talk about the future is based on the past. But what does it take to generate a new future? Join us to explore what it takes to be a generative futurist and bring about futures that are beyond what is predictable; futures that bring about a thriving future for humanity and thriving lives for ourselves.
Please Join US – Generative Futures on Clubhouse
We are hosting weekly conversations for Generative Futures on Wednesdays at 7:30pm PT. Clubhouse is iPhone only for now and you need an invite to get on the app, please email us at firstname.lastname@example.org and we will invite you!
May this information inspire you to generate a thriving future for humanity and a thriving life for yourself.
-The Bold.ly Now Team
BOLD.LY NOW is a movement of co-creative up-levelers who have a burning desire to step free of our collapsing world & take the most daring leap forward to a thriving world.
PROOF is a Generative Futures Initiative Project
The Generative Futures Initiative
Generating a Thriving Future for All