Life should be a Bigger Deal
Happy New Year.
Welcome again to our 3 Bells Newsletter. Every week, we'll share 3 things that mattered. And ring 3 bells for you.
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Something special just happened in Kenya
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A few days ago, some human beings played big. A passenger bus was attacked by separatist militants near Mandera in north-east Kenya. A year earlier, a similar attack took place. Then, al-Shabab terrorists separated Christians from Muslims, and killed 28 passengers in cold blood. This time, however, the Muslim passengers made a stand. They refused to be separated from the Christians, shielded them and gave them their clothes to wear. Another massacre was thwarted.
This brave act did not get the media attention it deserved (good stuff never does - go figure), but it was huge. It signified that even in the most trying circumstances, good people can do the right thing. Those Muslim passengers risked their own lives. They could have just looked away and saved themselves, but they decided: enough is enough. Let us remember them when we next feel tempted to condemn Muslims en masse for terrorism. Let us remember them also when we are faced with our own dilemmas. The right thing to do is usually right there - but we look away. May we have the courage to do it.
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Dilemmas abound. Look out for yourself, or act selflessly? Help yourself, or help humanity? We usually know what's right. Draw deep within for the courage to go for The Bigger Deal.
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In 2016, look out for Dr Watson
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Did you overdo it over Christmas? If you need to see a doctor, you may soon be asking for Dr Watson. Watson is IBM's cognitive technology that tries to bridge the gap between how machines think, and how humans do.
But wait: you won't be going to visit a robot. Watson may soon become your regular doctor's cognitive assistant. An assistant so clever that it can transform healthcare. Watson can place at the doctor's fingertips all the world's knowledge about a particular disease - and can trawl through mountains of expert opinion to provide a super-quick, evidence-based recommendation. Doctors guess all the time. Their new assistant will make their guesswork less whimsical. Dr Watson does not make decisions - your regular doctor does. It just helps your doctor make better ones.
We often think of new technology as something that supplants human activity. But often, it is a very welcome companion that overcomes human frailties. As a patient, you need to check whether your doctor or hospital is embracing these powerful new technologies - or doggedly resisting them.
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Are you seeing how technology can help you gain more insights and eliminate your own biases? The winners of the future (in any line of work) will work arm-in-arm with new technological assistants. Are you already trying them out?
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Are you still watching a lot of TV?
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Lots of people watch a lot of television over the Christmas holiday period. Did you? And did you watch as much as the Christmas before? The answer probably depends on what your age is.
Nielsen recently confirmed that traditional TV viewing in the US probably peaked in 2010 - and has been falling ever since. This is particularly true for the 18-34 age group. Where are all the eyeballs going? To the smartphone, the games console, the set-top streaming box, and the time-shifting device. For a long time, audio-visual entertainment in the home was the traditional TV set. Now, there are many devices vying for attention. Even when TV is watched, it is often watched with a second screen (usually the smartphone) also being used.
This should give us all pause. Traditional TV has dominated all our lives for the past five decades. Now, it needs reinvention. The large screen in the living room isn't going to disappear, of course not: but the traditional ways of making money out of TV will be upended. You can't count on viewers watching all your adverts, and you can't count on them paying for all your bundled channels. So what else will change in a multi-screen world, and what will it mean for you?
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That ubiquitous gadget in so many pockets - the smartphone - is a ticking time bomb for so many industries. Do you know what it will do to yours? Stop watching so much TV, and start paying attention...
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