Keep These Three Things in 2022
As 2022, which has been an utterly glorious and eventful year, draws to a close, it is necessary to assess two popular quotes and one phenomenon that would be best left in 2022—not carried over to corrupt the new year of 2023.
“Hurt People Hurt People”
That people who engage in bad actions towards others are often people who have been hurt themselves is not something that can be debated. It is true interpersonally, and it is also true with respect to academic victimology. However, while the concept of hurt people deciding to hurt others may be valid explanatorily, using this phrase as a justification for hurt people hurting others is something that needs to remain in 2022.
The truth of the matter is that hurt people with wicked hearts hurt other people. There are so many hurt people who have decided that they are going to use the hurt that they have experienced to help others. Everybody is not evil. It is not mandatory to hurt others after being hurt. Whether one decides to hurt or help others after being hurt is simply a choice. The attempt to remove agency from people who decide to hurt others by pointing out that they were once hurt is a practice that condones evil.
Perhaps a better phrase would be: “Hurt people with evil hearts choose to hurt other people.”
“Do Things That Make You Afraid”
As the new year approaches, people will be inundated with advice from self-help and productivity gurus who advocate “doing what makes you afraid.” While it is generally true that there is inestimable value in leaving one’s comfort zone and trying to do new things to improve, the idea that is advisable to ignore fear, nervousness, and unease while attempting new things is arrant foolishness masquerading as profound wisdom. There are two important elements to consider when assessing whether to commence an activity that makes one fearful: rationality and utility.
With respect to rationality, one needs to consider whether or not the fear is sensible. For instance, it is perfectly sensible to be afraid of petting a barking Rottweiler, delicately placing a slithering boa constrictor around one’s neck, or gleefully standing at the edge at the top of skyscraper. Paying attention to such fear is rational, as it helps to prevent harm. Sometimes, fear can also be sensible when it leads to the avoidance of psychic or reputational harm.
When considering utility, one has to carefully judge whether the activity that inspires fear is useful. For instance, great entertainers and athletes consistently talk about feelings of fear and nervousness before concerts and big matches. However, it makes sense for these entertainers and athletes to overcome these fears because the activities associated with those feelings of unease are worthwhile and are how they make a living for themselves and their families. Moreover, there is no real danger involved in these activities for these prepared athletes and entertainers.
Distinguishing between rational fears that exist to be a protective force and irrational fears that exist to block a person from achieving their next level is extremely important. As a result, blindly encouraging people to “do what makes them afraid,” without understanding that some fears are extremely rational and ought to guide decision making, is foolhardy.
Unthinking “Influencers”
While social media has been efficacious in democratizing speech and allowing ordinary people to build impressive social platforms that enable their voices to be heard far and wide, it is important to note that this reality has also led to some of the very worst people having a lot of social influence. From know-nothing children to violent criminals, many of the people who are foisted on society as “influencers” tend to be woefully devoid of substance, originality, or even persuasion.
Manifestly, to be considered an influencer today, one merely needs to be able to garner a lot of attention. Being influential today just means the ability to go viral, even if the driving force behind one’s virality is utter vapidity. Genuine influence requires substance, originality, and the ability to persuade. However, the influencers of today barely even have proprietary thoughts, not to talk of having a grasp of what other people think to be able to change a thinking person’s mind.
The problem with using attention as a metric for worth or quality is that it is objectively easier to get a lot of attention by being a colossal train wreck than it is by being a well-oiled machine that runs smoothly. A train running smoothly and reaching its destination is not an event; a catastrophic crash, by contrast, is an event. Until value and quality become the most important criteria by which people are elevated to positions of social influence, and virality is correctly devalued, public discourse will always suffer from rabble-rousers trying to make as many train crashes occur. Institutionalizing these people who chase viral moments by calling them influencers does not make them any less vapid. This needs to be explored more later, as unthinking “influencers” are highly unlikely to remain in 2022.
Wishing all readers—even those who do not like me—a Happy New Year! All the best for 2023!