Stride & Saunter

When those around us are grappling with difficult circumstances, our responses can be very revelatory. Do we give them hope in attempts to lift them up, do we hunker down with them in the trenches? Ultimately, what is the distinction between pity and compassion as two reactions to the struggles of others? Is one approach more humanizing and holistic towards the recipient?

“How are you?” is a common refrain in our social lives. It’s the way many of us open conversation and whether we’re seeking earnest answers or simply offering verbal acknowledgement, its familiarity is safe. But how do we adjust when that safety disintegrates? In a brief and compelling article, Dr. Adam P. Stern addresses his struggle with the question during a cancer diagnosis process. So this week, we welcome Bruce Kohl to explore the phenomena underlying the question and its application. What do we really mean when we ask it? Does it reflect some truth in our society and the depth with which we’re comfortable seeing in one another or ourselves?

In the 21st century, digital technology is a core element in the lives of billions. For most, the devices with which we work, play and consume media illustrate this fact. Though we make do with the tools we’re given, the software we employ is designed, curated and eventually abandoned. Yesterday, Windows 7 became one such example. Microsoft formally ceased its support of the decade-old operating system still used on over 446 million machines around the world. This week, a brief and personal tribute from one of its many users.

For all our prognosticating, artificial intelligence is already present and widespread in the modern world. From the online algorithms suggesting news stories or the next songs in our playlists to autofill text, the seeds of this powerful technology have already been planted. As it develops and reaches further into our lives, what will be the human impact? That question was central to an article from Aeon, which we discuss this week with Matt DiBiase. How will the speed of adoption affect our understanding or lack thereof of this technology? What will its applications reflect about human desires, fears and abilities? Will it enhance our best and worst tendencies? Will it guide us down an unexpected path?

What would you send into outer space to commemorate Earth and humanity, to a potential audience of alien life? This week, we continue an interview series to tackle that question. In each entry, we’ll interview someone about the five objects - with a stipulation - they would place in a space capsule to launch into the starry beyond. For our third episode, we spoke with Charles Clark about the five objects that he would launch - all of which had to fall under a weight limit of 17.2 pounds.

Our communicative access to one another has expanded considerably in the digital era. Along with it, so has our ability to reach into the lives of others and influence them with compassion, inquiry, solidarity and unfortunately, animosity, cruelty and distrust. In 2007, Özlem Cekic became the first female Muslim to win a seat in Danish Parliament and experienced this venom firsthand. After a friend encouraged her to reach out to the authors of her hate mail, she took on the project of sharing “dialogue coffee” and coming to share conversational space with these previously-faceless aggressors. In September of 2018 she shared her experience on the TED stage and this week we welcome Lee Ann Song to unpack Özlem’s insights. How does the act of conversation disarm initial charges of rancor? Why do many shift with palpable discomfort when considering said aggressors as equal or as human? Can others help us overcome internal flames of hatred?

In our posturing and jockeying to project an image of ourselves to others, are facades and efforts are sometimes clearly perceived. In these moments, our authenticity is questioned and social conflicts can emerge. But what does this idea, captured in the remark “I can see right through you,” reflect about our nature? Are we so used to falsehoods that even truths unintentionally-revealed become a source of clashes? Are personal truths as meaningful, powerful or valuable when they’re brought to light involuntarily by others?

With the advent of modern plumbing, many depictions of bathrooms now feature standing showers. At a bare minimum, it’s common to have a bathtub with an added shower nozzle. Could the distinction between bathing and showering offer a practical metaphor for different approaches to the dirt and disorder of existence? What associations do we have with bathing - the luxurious imagery of some baths and the concerns of “stewing” in others - that we don’t find in showers? Ultimately, what do rapid and convenient methods of waste-disposal do for our understanding of the waste we produce as individuals and societies?

Curiosity has long been a defining trait of our show and of the human species. Probing questions and persistent explorations are crucial in every field from astronomy to history. But between individuals, the trait isn’t always so welcome. This week, we welcome Dan Farina to explore the questions our culture tends (or tends not) to permit. Why are some topics off the table? What do we gain or lose in disregarding them for discussion? How does it impact our society when we shut off expressions of interpersonal curiosity?

As mobile technologies have proliferated in the 21st century, our technological toolkits have expanded in kind. Specifically speaking, apps like Venmo have allowed for quick and easy transfers of money electronically. But as writers and researchers at Harvard Business School asked in an April 2019 article, “Is the Digital Age Making Us Petty?” This week, we tackle this question in a consideration of how money operates between friends. One interesting find of the research: It’s more preferable in relationships to reimburse with rounded numbers than with specific amounts.