Snowden, monkeys and the lone banana

Edward Snowden* once said,

"Social media, in a way, is like a Circus show and we are all monkeys in one of it's cage. Everyday a banana is thrown into the cage and we all take sides and fight for the lone banana. End of the day the banana might not satisfy any of the monkeys. But it doesn't matter, because by that time a new day comes and along with it a new banana

Slowly the monkeys started getting a kick out of these daily fights, even though it often turns out ugly. One can't expect the circus company to end this ridiculous routine, as their whole model is based on interactions. The more the monkeys fight,  the more interactions it creates and more dollars audience will shed. Once the monkeys  stop their fight, the model breaks and the business dies.

Interesting part is that the doors of this cage is never locked. The monkeys can get out anytime and have a better, independent life outside than being restricted to this vicious fighting cycle. But what if they are too addicted to the fight, that they don't even bother about a way out"

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* You all know who Snowden is and that's not the point. Considering the shrinking attention span of social media  population, the only way to get this kind of relatively 'long'  post read by people is to link it to someone who could generate curiousity. In other words, replace "Edward Snowden" mentioned above with Me ... 

The big picture

One day I decided to look at the big picture..

I looked closely at the world today, the politics, ideologies and all those crazy folks at the helm .. I saw a pattern which feels more like a build up for an end game. Even though Mr. Pinker believes that we are in the most peaceful of times, what if it's like a calm before the storm .. And in a world where this nuclear stuff is like candy that every other kid in the neighborhood has, a perfect storm will mean our return to the stone age ..

Now suppose I survive the storm, think about the post-apocalyptic world .. all those virtual money in my bank account will be nothing more than mere numbers and all those so-called skills that helped me get those numbers in the first place will be 'outdated'. Like that school principal's advise to Mr. Cooper, the world will need more farmers .. or for that matter more carpenters or construction workers or at least someone who can get along with others without the help of emails or calls. Which means the IT professionals won't stand much chance and their managers even less. For me, the future looked dark and hope seemed like a mirage .. I needed to do something about it and something right away..... So I did!

.. I slowly turned my head and focused my stare at a much smaller picture .. Apart from the occasional gas trouble, life seems perfect now!