The Signalling

For as long as humans beings have lived, they have interacted with very few people. Maybe 100 or sometimes 200.

Once cities started forming, your village expanded. But really, cities also interacted with very few people. You did not meet X family, who were living on the other side of town

This environment meant that your behaviour was shaped on familiarity. You knew the other person and you knew how they will react to your behaviour. Vice versa they knew you.

Cut to the modern day social media. Maybe last 20 years. You have suddenly begun to reach thousand and maybe even millions. They watch what you look like, what you are wearing, what you do, what you say, how you say it and how you behave. They don’t know you and yet they know you now. You don’t know them and yet you are giving the messages to which they will react. 

But the problem is your messaging has not changed. You are giving them messages in the same time honoured way. Your psychology and social understanding has not changed, as formed over a million years of social contact. Evolution does not change in twenty or thirty years. You are designed for a different time, living in a very visible and unfamiliar environment.

Hence the daily wrath created on social media. There has to be much friction. Hence the grouping of a particular type of audience, which re confirms what you are thinking. These groups can bunch together due to political views, maybe cultural views, possibly sports related views, gender ones etc. But they are fairly narrow and typically deal with a facet of life. Not an all around coming together of many topics. Therefore, even in these groups there will be friction. You might agree with political views, but maybe you support a different football club, which therefore still leads to friction.

At the moment we are not ready to solve this, nor do we have the wherewithal to solve it. Left on evolutionary means it might take a few hundred years. I foresee that as many more powerful and rich people rely more and more on this social media, it might one day bring the world to the edge of destruction. That is how important and destructive this topic is.

For myself, where I was very active on all forums, I have now taken a safer route and withdrawn from almost all of it. It is much less stressful and also leaves me time to live my life as I want to.

Modern Day Pillars of Ambition

In the old days, power through authority was the biggest pillar of desire and ambition. Kings could change the world. The Pharaoh even had the arrogance to think he could reach for divinity. He was rudely corrected and put in his place, but in the end Kings dominated the world. Power told! Alexander climbed mountains to conquer, Hannibal crossed seas to challenge Rome and Muhammad Fateh dragged ships across land to subjugate. 

Along came Magna Carta in 1216 and the authority of Kings was fenced. You can influence, but you cannot make rules without 'Us' (Us can be various segments of society at different times). The French Revolution in 1789 dealt a fatal and final blow to Kings and the future definition of power changed totally. From a throne, to a series of chairs debating in a hall. In various forms, for the last century this has been a constant. Though there are recent signs that a change is coming soon, in the power of authority, but for the moment 'Power is exercised via cliques and interest groups, while individual authority has receded'.   

Throughout history, money also had its place in individual ambitions. In earlier times, money could be substituted by land, or gold or flocks of livestock. In the Industrial Age it became factories, stocks of goods or commodities, plus paper. Paper which could translate into gold, shares or money. Today it need not be in any physical shape at all. Simply, a digital entry may be worth billions. Facebook, Uber, Google are just such examples. But money always had its limitation. It need not translate into power. Hence, Shylock had to concede to a judge and Qarun (in the Quran) was shown his real place, though he was richer than rich. And hence, China can shut out Facebook.

Nevertheless, ambition for money is a constant drive through history. For some it could be greed and for others it is that elevation of status which is another part of man's ego. We love to be admired and unfortunately this world admires money. So despite its limitation money attracts. I hear someone saying what about comfort and luxury? Comfort and luxury can be achieved with reasonable amounts of money and does not need billions of dollars. That extra bit of money ambition is placed at the door of ego. 

Modernity is shaping out in a different direction. Fame seems to have overtaken money and power. I have no research to justify this statement, but it is what I observe. People are dying to be famous. It can be through stardom, but it can be as big through social media. It need not translate into money, but it definitely translates into power.  

The Twitterati, Facebookers, Instagramers, Whatsappers, Bloggers can move governments and societies today. Remember back to the Arab Spring and see the devastation it caused. And then there was Obama, moving opinions and grabbing the biggest job in the world. It was all done through the power of connectivity and social media. Lately, so much of Brexit and Trumps power and success have come via online connectivity fame. 

This fame and power equation has been further accentuated by the use of 'fake news'. Just a decade ago, it would have been inconceivable that non-existent events could drive power. Today, if I am clever enough and skilled enough, I can create a false event on the net and get it accepted as truth. Based on this acceptance, I can then drive public opinion, my own popularity and eventually acquire the power to influence. Unfortunately, presently there is no defence against such an eventuality. We see that regularly, when totally false and illogical facts are being retweeted a dime a dozen.

We are entering a new age of power. More than anything else, ambition in our children will be connectivity and its trappings of power. The consequences of such a social change is mind boggling. More than ever, the up-bringing and value system of our children is an imperative. With no boundaries to truth, only values deeply set in the mind can keep this world on a fair and decent road.

*from the 1939 movie Gulliver's Travel