Thoughts on Janik von Rotz

Don't overdo it

Wed, 27 Mar 2024 16:31:22 +0100

Being employed to think and to care can become a quite burden over time. I thought about “stress” a lot and would like to share my learnings:

Edit 2024-04-11: I updated the title and image, it felt too negative.

Experience

Hit the wall as early as possible. Or know your limits.

A mental “rubber wall” prevents exhaustive thoughts.

Make sure to know what gives you energy and what drains it. A net positive is a must.

The time to recover is a time for reflection.

Biology

As a species, we share the human psyche like our skeleton. The mental processes are mostly the same.

When working physically you become tired. When working mentally you don’t. Having idle times is important

Biologically we fail to handle constant stress. We adapt continuously until the body revolts. Very much like the boiling frog

Stress

Having a tense time is different from having a stressful time.

Stress must be differentiated. There is distress and eustress.

Eustress is a positive cognitive response to stress. For example, it gets out of the bed in the morning.

Distress ist the opposite of eustress and is more researched. People under constant distress become sick, mentally or physically.

Noise Cancelling

Wed, 26 Jul 2023 10:41:33 +0200

Do you remember clickbaiting? In the two millennia, this was a vicious way to attract attention. The practice was simple: assign an exciting teaser to a boring article. That will get people excited and increase engagement. What was criticized by quality journalism then is the standard today.

The noise and irrelevance of online content has reached a new high. The media landscape has changed even further, but our brains hasn’t. Of course we would like the media to change. Down level a bit. But we know this is not going to happen.

Instead we have to adapt. People aware of this problem call for more media competence. The ability to detect and filter fake news, fact check or simply ignore information. However, I don’t we should call for the individual responsibility. This is has been tried time and time again.

I propose that we should simply let it happen, but be aware of the new emergent properties. People will spoil their brains with toxic social media, but unconsciously they we will develop new ways to filter information (hopefully).

Making your mind up what task or information has priority is difficult. With a lot of noise I expect that the ability to prioritize and thus filter irrelevant information will improve drastically.

Future Words

Fri, 10 Mar 2023 10:18:30 +0100

I feel very uncertain about the near future. Climate change, migration, pandemics, rise of populism, oligopolistic capitalism i, post-fact, artificial intelligence, the list goes on. It is a lot to think about and to make sense of. However, I try to embrace what comes and avoid doom and gloom. Making up new words is one way into the future.

Climate

Bionet: An artificial intelligence that represents the public interest of nature and ecology.

Climax Refugee: Refugees that are forced to migrate due to the effects of climate change.

CCD - Carbon Capture Device: Manifold device that is used to extract carbon dioxide from air.

Habital Area Shift: The are that is moved from an inhabitable to newly habitable landmark.

Craper: A fuel powered car.

Legal

Corp Split: Making sure that international corporations have legal bodies in each country residing.

Legal Heaven: The European Union has become the only federation where legal entities are out of reach of authoritarian states.

Lex Homid: The right to have access to drinking water and breathable air.

Edvocate: Representative of ecological interests in public courts.

Cyberspace

Oldnet: Public domain space of the first internet.

Proto Net: Space of the internet where the matrix protocol is used to communicate.

Governance

Inter States: States that are organized beyond borders.

Citized ID: a unique identifier for everybody living on earth.

Uni ID: a unique identifier for every object that exists within our galaxy.

Media

Factnet: The part of the internet where actual facts are created and asserted by the scientific community.

Oracle: Public language model which has expert knowledge in a target domain.

Technology

Qntm Storage: Storage device that stores information on the subatomic level.

Honey Body: Fake digital profile to propagate positive data of a person.

Flatliner: Somebody who does not have a citizen ID nor is found on any net.

Neurology

Debias: A brain surgery and cognitive therapy that allows one to avoid common perceptive biases.

Psychology

Neurowear: Head clothing that stimulates brain activity.

Culture

Tomb of the Desert: A memorial for the people who died due to desertification.

Die Gesellschaft von Morgen

Wed, 13 Jul 2022 19:49:22 +0200

Der Zukunft mit Optimismus zu begegnen fällt aktuell schwer. Die Pandemie (fast) hinter uns, aktuell der Krieg in der Ukraine und die nächste Krise stellt sich bereits in die Warteschlange und wartet auf den Ausbruch. Mit dem Kampf gegen die Klimawandel werden wir vollends auf die Probe gestellt. Psychisch und ökonomisch angeschlagen geht es demnächst um nichts anderes als die Umwelt und uns zu retten.

Die Umwelt von der wir so offensichtlich abhängig sind, droht sich zu verändern. Ein Grossteil der Bevölkerung wird die Lebensgrundlage verlieren. Und wieder geht es um die Frage der Solidarität und was man für den Staat und die Gemeinschaft tun kann.

Hingegen zur Pandemie wird es dieses mal nicht bei einfachen Einschränkungen bleiben. Das Fundament unseres Verhalten und dem damit verbunden Individualismus kommt ins wanken.

Damit wir mit Zuversicht in die Zukunft schreiten können, brauchen wir eine Vision. Eine Vision die zeigt wie die Welt während und nach der Klimakrise aussehen kann. Wir müssen uns heute Gedanken machen, wie die Gesellschaft von Morgen aussieht.

Vom Leistungsgedanken zur Wertschätzung

Die Meritokratie bezeichnet eine Gesellschaft, die sich nach der Leistung ihrer Individuen orientiert. Der Leistungsgedanke und das Streben nach Erfolg ist der zentrale Anreiz in diesem System. Jedoch ist gerade dieser Anreiz verantwortlich für eine zunehmende Ungleichheit. Der Riss zwischen Arm und Reich und die dadurch entstehende Entsolidarisierung hat den Ursprung in diesem Leistungsgedanken.

Als Gesellschaftlicher Wert hat die Leistungsfähigkeit ausgedient. Bei der Gestaltung der Arbeitswelt spricht man schon lange von Interdisziplinarität. Nur kollaborativ entsteht heute echter Erfolg. Damit eine Zusammenarbeit funktioniert, braucht es ein bestimmtes Mass an Wertschätzung und Vertrauen. Obgleich in der Arbeitswelt oder Öffentlichkeit die Wertschätzung soll als Wertesystem etabliert werden.

Gemeinsam statt Einsam

Effektiv Handeln, heisst grosses Leisten. Die kommende Klimakrise ist nicht gelöst indem man sich im Supermarkt für Bio-Produkte entscheidet oder auf das Fliegen verzichtet. Denn wir wissen dass der Appell an den Einzelnen mit der Hoffnung auf eine Verhaltensänderung unwahrscheinlich ist.

Politisches Engagement, die Entwicklung von soliden Konzepten und vor allem die Fähigkeit gemeinsam etwas zu erarbeiten, sind gefragt. Weg vom Selbstverständnis als Konsument hin zum wirksamen Produzent.

Fokus statt Aufmerksamkeit

Unser kostbarstes Gut ist die Aufmerksamkeit und es geht viel davon in der digitale Suche nach Nähe und Verbundenheit verloren. Die Aufmerksamkeitsspanne ist kürzer und die Flutt an Informationen überwältigend. Es ist fast unmöglich allen Ansprüche Rechnung zu tragen, ohne dass man sich widerspricht.

Es braucht wieder mehr Fokus. Konzentrieren wir uns auf das Wesentliche und ignorieren den Lärm. Die Aufmerksamkeit hat einen immensen Wert, es wird Zeit, dass wir diesen schützen und erhalten.

Maintain attention

Tue, 29 Mar 2022 09:38:04 +0200

A subtle but profound change has happened during the last years. Our most valuable commodity has been captivated and exploited. Can you guess what it is? I’m talking about attention. Yes, the very ability to focus on something has been taken from many of us. In this post I try to elaborate my thoughts and hopefully establish a dialog on this issue.

Perception

As conscious beings we access reality through attention. It is what we hear, see, taste and most importantly what occupies our minds. We constantly try to perceive reality, but end up with only a glimpse of it. By paying attention we are able to take action and interact with our surroundings. We interact with other beings and therefore are perceived by them. It is the social fabric and the ability to deal with reality that keeps us alive. For a long time there has only been one reality to deal with.

A new reality

With the expansion of the digital realm we can now access an alternate reality. Through smartphones, screens or any other internet device we can open a window into another realm. New identities are formed, trust is reestablished and in some cases a new life is being formed. Of course this is true as long as you are online.

Me, myself and I

Individualism and social media make great pairing, at least profit wise. Big tech have become the most powerful and influential companies in the world. Remember that they are not moving solid goods, but only information in the form of bits and bytes. The business model relies on exploiting privacy and sell user data to the highest bidder. From an individualistic point of view it seems like a good deal. But from societies standpoint it couldn’t be worse. People giving away their most valuable commodity sure is not a good thing.

Who wants my attention?

The attention economy is an approach to apply economic theories to solve information management problems. It views human attention as a commodity and does not care about ethic and moral. Companies using economic theories and technology to captivate our attention. Not only can they keep us in echo chambers, but also steer what occupies our minds. What reads like a conspiracy theory, has become the harsh reality.

Overgrown garden

We are not able to change situation in short terms, but we have the ability to reason and discuss the value of attention right now. We also have the ability to tender our consciousness. Think of consciousness as a garden. It constantly changes, evolves and flourishes. New plants and thoughts strive under the right conditions, however, there are also weeds and pests. From time to time you need to weed the garden and therefore cultivate your consciousness.

Think without judgment

The cultivation of consciousness does not need a detailed explanation. A consciousness in a healthy state is able to think without judgment. Thoughts flow almost uninterrupted, obstacles are elegantly avoided and there is a sense of profound fulfillment. There are many practices that help maintaining your attention. Anything from a stroll in the forest to an elaborate hike in the mountains will give you some peace of mind.

It is crucial that we own our attention, only then we can be conscious.

Follow up

Instead of providing a summary and my opinionated answers, I would like to get inputs from you.

Do you agree or disagree with the idea of attention being stolen from us?
What strategies and habits have you developed to tender your garden?
Do you see a link between consciousness and attention?
When thinking about something do you make a distinction between yourself and society?
How can we regain our attention? Is it only through the regulation of big tech?

Axiome der Vernunft

Sat, 12 Mar 2022 07:52:15 +0100

Ein Axiom bezeichnet einen Grundsatz, der keines Beweises bedarf.

Die Vernunft ist geistige Fähigkeit des Menschen, Einsichten zu gewinnen, sich ein Urteil zu bilden, die Zusammenhänge und die Ordnung des Wahrgenommenen zu erkennen und sich in seinem Handeln danach zu richten.

Ich habe hier meine persönlichen Axiome der Vernunft festgehalten:

Denken

Mündig sein bedeutet selber zu denken. Und das ist anstregend.
Der Mensch kann glauben was er will. Aber allzu oft hat er zu wenig Vorstellungskraft dafür.
Der Glaube lenkt, auch auf Abwege.

Beziehung

In einer gesunden Beziehung kann man sich aufeinander verlassen und nicht aufeinander zählen.
Die Dynamik einer Beziehung schafft zwangsweise Abhängigkeiten.
Demut schafft Vertrauen.

Persönlichkeit

Wer zu viel Rücksicht gewährt, gibt seine Ansprüche auf.
Selbstbestimmtheit ist oft getrieben von der Angst die Kontrolle zu verlieren.
Wer nach sich selbst sucht, sucht eine Antwort auf die falsche Frage. Wer sich gefunden hat, kennt die Frage nicht mehr.

Konflikt

Jemand für seine Haltung zu verurteilen, ist der Beweis, dass man Charakter hat.
Emotionen aufgrund innerer Konflikte sollen das Umfeld nicht belasten.
Eine Persönlichkeit ohne Kanten ist keine Persönlichkeit.

Leben

Wer aus Liebe heiratet, hat die Liebe nicht verstanden.
Der Faule hat nichts vom Leben und der Tüchtige genauso wenig.
Wer sich Selbst an erster Stelle sieht, ist nicht Teil der Gesellschaft.

Bewusstsein

Mit Aufmerksamkeit kultiviert man das Bewusstsein.
Aufmerksamkeit ist das höchste Gut.
Urteil freies Denken braucht Übung.

Körper

Man ist sich bewusst, dass die eigenen mentalen und physiologischen Ressourcen begrenzt sind.
Ein gesunder Körper ist ein bewegter Körper.
Selbstakzeptanz heisst die Person im Spiegel zu sein.

Erfolg kennt kein Individualismus

Fri, 11 Mar 2022 13:24:49 +0100

Ein paar Gedanken zu Erfolg, Individualismus und Kollektivismus.

Dieser Artikel ist nichts für Röpke- oder Hayek-Fans, denn diese kennen keinen Kollektivismus. Ich möchte erklären warum die Idee des “erfolgreichen Individuum” keinen Sinn macht und der Erfolg dem Kollektiv gehört. In diesem Zusammenhang möchte ich Kollektivismus nicht im wirtschaftspolitischen Kontext behandeln, sondern als Basis zur Gestaltung eines Lebensentwurfs betrachten.

Verwertbarkeit des Ichs

Wenn man heute über die Zukunftspläne spricht, stützt man sich auf der ökonomischen Verwertbarkeit des Ichs. Man stellt verschiedene Fragen zur Selbstoptimierung und betrachtet sich als Ressource zur Investition.

Wie kann ich mich weiterbilden und Leistungsfähig bleiben?
- Wie kann ich erfolgreich sein?
  - Wie baue ich meine Karriere auf?

Das ergibt eine Kaskade von Fragen, die oft ins Nichts führt. Verstehen sich mich nicht falsch, die Selbstoptimierung als Lebensbegleiter finde ich in Ordnung. Es spricht nichts dagegen, wenn man sich im Leben stetig verbessern möchte, wenn aber die Selbstoptimierung nicht sauber von den Erwartungen einer Leistungsgesellschaft getrennt wird, wird sie problematisch.

Das Individuum ist in der Leistungsgesellschaft ist extrem unter Druck.

Falsche Fragen

Ist man von neoliberalistischen Ideologien getrieben, sucht man Antworten auf die falschen Fragen. Statt zu Fragen wie man Leistungsfähiger wird, sollte man sich fragen, welche Aufgaben jemanden Leistungsfähiger machen. Statt den Erfolg zu suchen, sollte man Unterstützung für den Weg zum Erfolg finden.

In diesem Zusammenhang plädiere ich dafür, dass Erfolg nicht einem Individuum attributiert werden darf, sondern immer einem Kollektiv. Nur das Kollektiv kennt Erfolg.

Hoch Spezialisiert

Als Arbeitskräfte sind wir extrem spezialisiert und dadurch immer auf andere angewiesen. In Unternehmen arbeitet man interdisziplinär und moderne Führungspersonen müssen empathisch statt autoritär sein. Der Einzelne bleibt erfolglos, als Teil eines Ganzen bleibt aber der Erfolg nicht aus.

Erfolg ist ein Mosaik, an dem sich viele beteiligen.
– Franz Schmidberger

Erfolg ist etwas, an dem sicher mehrere beteiligen können. Es ist das Resultat aus einer funktionierenden Zusammenarbeit. Warum glauben immer noch viele, dass man als Einzelner zu Allem fähig ist? Das ist reine Blasphemie.

Beerdigung

Tun sie mir einen Gefallen. Beerdigen sie die Vorstellung, dass sie erfolgreich sein können und nutzen sie ihre Ambitionen um Menschen zu finden, die ihnen vertrauen schenken und mit denen sie gemeinsam erfolgreich werden.

Open Source Software is not free

Fri, 07 Aug 2020 11:10:04 +0200

Open Source Software (OSS) is free to access. Everybody can download the code, change it and build something new. This requires expertise. Expertise that is hard to find on the market. Therefore open source software is not free.

Can you follow my argument? This thought originated from the claim people made about OSS. “If something is for free, it cannot be good”, many claimed. This is true in economics, but hardly applicable to OSS. Using OSS requires knowledge and competence. There is nobody to blame if it does not work. Even if you file an issue on GitHub describing your problem, it might simply be ignored.

Now the question arises: “Why should I acquire the experise of using OSS if I can pay someone to handle software for me?” Yea! Why the heck should I - in the digital age where the richest companies are IT companies - invest in digital know-how?
I obviously do not have to answer this question.

digital transformation

Oh boy, how I despise the term “digital transformation”. Everybody talks about it, but nobody knows about it. Is it about diversifying your investment portfolio across the IT sector? Is it about the paperless office? Is it about e-government? Is it about modifying the body with computer chips? Is it about talking with my fridge?

No no no and no, it is definitely not about these things. The digital transformation, to me at least, is about admitting that IT matters to your business model and therefore not treating it simply as a cost account in your financial reports. Software matters more than ever. If your company wants to persist, it has to see how software can be of help.

Using OSS fosters competencies and know-how for the digital age.

the new management model

Did you have business administration in high school and seen this picture:

The “The New St. Gallen Management Model” is a systemic management reference framework. This model is well known and accepted all over the world.
The IT process is often placed in the support process section. Most companies treat IT as cost account. In my opinion it must be treated as a core-process. Only then a company can truly utilize the advantages of software.

Make software your competence, find new ways to elevate your business model and never talk about digital transformation again.

Thoughts on deception

Thu, 25 Jul 2019 22:04:52 +0200

I am currently reading The redemption of Time by Baoshu. It is a fan-fiction of the three-body problem trilogy. A science fiction series that was appraised by Obama himself. The fan-fiction became popular as well, so popular that it was first honored by the author of the three-body problem and then turned into a book.

The story so far depicts how a human specimen, which has been captured by the the hostile species, is tormented in order to comply and release secret informations. The hostile species called Trisolarians are not aware of deception as they broadcast their thoughts continuously to their peers. As humans are indeed capable of deception the Tirsolarians want to acquire this skill. The Trisolarians treat deception as an important defensive weapon they had to consider.

Throughout the chapters you learn more about the definition of deception.

“Theoretically, understanding the principles of deception posed little difficulty; one simply had to purposefully make a false statement, which would achieve the desired goal when the target of deception believed it.”

Excerpt From: Baoshu & Ken Liu - “The Redemption of Time”

The very absence of deceptions gave it an entirely different meaning. I became curious - what if humans were incapable of deception? What are the benefits of lying?

Well the answer is quite simple.

According to an article in National Geographic to lie is the ability to manipulate others without using physical force. It provides an advantage in the competition for resources and mates.

“It’s much easier to lie in order to get somebody’s money or wealth than to hit them over the head or rob a bank.”

National Geographic - Why We Lie: The Science Behind Our Deceptive Ways

In the end we get to the “Survival of the Fittest” law. Deceptions it is part of our nature. It makes us human. A skill developed through language. However, whereas I would grant deception the status of a human trait, it is closely related to exploitation, which is a entirely different topic.

So in the end there is not much to say. Read the book, it is amazing and do not exploit people, but deceive them if you have to.

Environment matters

Mon, 08 Jul 2019 08:54:58 +0200

This post gets a bit abstract. I felt uneasy publishing it. Usually, I write about solid and measurable matters. But this time I wanna talk about an unusual topic. A less graspable. Its about how we perceive ourself and our environment. How we put ourselves into perspective. I wanna talk about the very distinction between individual and environment and why it matters.

But first, I need to make a short introduction about my way of thinking.

Thinking models

I believe that everybody drafts a less complex version of reality in his head. In other terms everybody builds a thinking model in his mind that is constantly validated with reality. It is a mental collection of laws and rules that govern reality. The more accurate a models is, the less obstacles we face and the more fearless we become. Based on our model we assess risks and dangers, make decisions and take action. We construct narratives about how we act and speak in certain situations. It is all about oneself and how one is able to influence other people.

Individuality

The “I” takes a central role in our thinking. Everybody adheres to individuality. It is the self that we shape through our lifetime. Having self love and narcissistic traits has become important. Self disciplinary and self responsibility are proclaimed as the must-have characteristics. If you want to be successful you need to be determined and focused. Everybody is the shaper of his own luck.

That is what I hear many times. But, I do not think it is entirely true. A lot of people miss an important point. We are in constant exchange with our environment and it affects us more than we might think.

Mental change

Let us take a step back and look at yourself from a birds view. Do not put yourself in the center of everything, but consider yourself as part of a system. A system consisting of other people and the relationship with them. Try to build up a narrative that speaks in the third person. Assess a situation not from a personal perspective, but from another persons. Consider not only the people you would talk to, but also consider the environment you are placed in.

The right environment

What I want to point out here, is that we make different judgements if we put the individual aside and start considering environment factors. You are different person if you are at the office, public transport, night club or on top of a mountain. Security, ease of socializing or simply the amount of possible interactions changes heavily for these environments. You act differently and set yourself different goals. Every environment differs in character and affects people in many ways.

Why it matters

Until here, this post might not have been interesting. Nothing too provocative. Just the message that we are affected by our surroundings. However, I would like to make an interesting claim:

The environment matters more than you.

Or in other words take your surroundings more seriously than yourself.

Lets face it, sometimes you feel accepted in life. Your ideas and values resonate with people at work or your family at home. Sometimes you feel sad and cannot point a finger at the cause. You face conflicts at work or get into trouble with somebody for no apparent reason. Actually, you experience dissonance and resonance with your environment. However, the popularity of the individual and self-centered thinking makes you question yourself. “Why am I facing this issue or why do I feel unhappy?”, you might ask. I claim more often it is the environment that matters and affects how one feels.

You do not feel happy at work?
The company your are working for might be the wrong environment and you should consider to look for a new one.
You feel fulfilled and happy?
You might have found the right place and wanna stick to it.
You feel distracted and restless?
Seek out place that calms you.
You have difficulty to sort your thoughts?
Head out and go for a walk in the forest.

Conclusion

My message here is simple. Once you have grown character, you should not ask if you are doing the right thing, you should ask if you are in the right place. Does my environment provide the job opportunities that I seek, do I have access to the social network of my choice or would I be better off in a different spot? These are the questions that should be answered.