#ThoughtsFromTerry Dispatch w.5.2018
Dispatch w.5.2018
Addiction. If you search for Addiction on Google, you will get about 376,000,000 results. The top pre-populated result is from Dictionary.com
ad·dic·tion
əˈdikSH(ə)n/
noun: addiction; plural noun: addictions
the fact or condition of being addicted to a particular substance, thing, or activity.
"he committed the theft to finance his drug addiction."
Synonyms: dependency, dependence, habit, problem
The top story around addiction here in the U.S. would be the Opioid crisis and the overall drug abuse challenges our culture is facing. It is certainly devastating to our society and the human race. As I was processing this today, through a different lens, I can’t help but think about the addictions to our mobile devices, and specifically social media. You know, the constant looking, scrolling, liking and commenting on streams of photos, tweets, posts and stories has us living in another world. We exit our present life and enter another. People are plagued with FOMO (the fear of missing out). We have all seen it, sitting in a restaurant and looking over and seeing a couple staring at their phones and not even noticing they are sitting right across from one another. Or a family road trip with many new sights all around as you drive through this new area and the kids are buried in their phones in the back seat with no care of what’s going on around them. Or in church, focused on sharing the experience and pictures with the outside world instead of being fully present at the moment. I am not immune to this. I absolutely have my struggles and I am frustrated by it. It’s a social distortion (shout out to one of my favorite bands in High School). These social streams are distorting our views and lives.
The reality for me is that I feel the tension. I see the good in social sites, and I have personally experienced so much benefit from them. However, I have just come to the place where I am fed up with the nagging of them, always wanting my attention, desiring something from me and they deliver nearly nothing in return.
As I was listening to a powerful message from Pastor Craig Groeschel this weekend, he talked about the issue many of us face about always desiring and wanting to be in the “next season.” It’s an oversimplification of his great message, but he encouraged all of us not to overlook the season of life we are in right now by desiring to be in or have the “next thing.” Powerful! You can watch or listen to the full message here. The connection for me was how many of us are overlooking what is right in front of us, for some other experience that is happening in a stream of social media that has little to no relevance to us.
Addiction. Social Distortion. Just some random pondering...those are my extroverted thoughts.
This post from the latest The Culture Translator was a requirement.
Text Neck
What it is: Poor posture due to prolonged smartphone usage is leading spine surgeons to create a new medical diagnosis called “text neck.”
Why it's unhealthy: The way we hang our heads to stare at our phones isn’t just a physical problem; it’s causing both emotional and social issues as well. The next time you’re in Starbucks, look around and see if anybody else is “really there with you” or if they are immersed in their own digital worlds. “To treat the person standing in front of you as secondary to your phone” is not only rude, it’s honestly sinful. It’s a degradation of their status as an image-bearer. When was the last time your child begged for your attention while you finished one more email? Is it any wonder they do the same thing to us? Try this: When you come home from work tonight, leave your phone in the car. Walk in and be all in. Give your kids the best gift you can possibly give them: your full presence.
If you have teenagers or pre-teens you must subscribe to CT.
RECOMMENDED WEEKEND READING
Called to Greatness: The Virtue of Magnanimity
I had never heard the word Magnanimity before. It means “greatness of soul.” This is a virtue by which man pursues what is great and honorable in his life, even if it is difficult. Yes...I deeply desire and strive for that! If you do, this is an amazing read.
Catholic Education
7 Days of “Doing Nothing Strategy”
Pagan Kumar is a digital marketing professional who lives and breaths social media and a digital connected life for a living. This is his story and learnings from shutting it all off for 7 days.
Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Team Up to Try to Disrupt Health Care
YES!!!! I have no idea how this will turn out, but Bezos summed this up in one brilliant statement.
"Success is going to require talented experts, a beginner's mind, and a long-term orientation."
BITCOIN TIDBITS
A conversation I am having with a lot of newer Crypto investors is around tracking cost per Crypto and understanding realized and unrealized gains and losses per investment. Most of those I talk to manage this by remembering the total investment made and just seeing their portfolio value go up or down. This is okay to start with, but I think it’s important to know and have more insight into your overall investments. A few different apps make this really easy to track.
The easiest I have used is Coin Stats. I have used this on iOS, but they also have an Android App. Check them out http://coin-stats.com/ Coin Stats has a really nice user interface, and is really easy to use. It allows you to track your portfolio automatically by connecting your exchange directly. Simple, and clean...it’s a winner.
The one I use, and I like the best is https://cointracking.info. Be warned, it’s not user-friendly, nor is a great user experience. CoinTracking.info is the “power user” tool because all the features it brings. It does everything Coin Stats does, but much more. The reason I really like this tool is because of the ability to manage my trade history, and track everything for tax time. Cointracking has iOS, Android as well as desktop web. It’s my choice, but again it’s not pretty.
Robinhood joins the Crypto Trading World
The popular Stock trading app Robinhood announced it will offer Crypto trading last week. This is big news, and Robinhood announced there are more than one million people on the waiting list to start trading Crypto. In the midst of a January bull market when it comes to Crypto, it’s good to see more and more options for people to learn, understand and trade crypto. Get in line for an account here.
Bloomberg
Square Cash expands bitcoin buying and selling to all users
A few months ago, Square Cash was beta testing buying and selling Bitcoin in the Cash app. Now, you can Cash me Bitcoin, as well as buy and sell with no built-in fees. Looks like they are marking up the price of Bitcoin to cover any spreads on exchanges...similar to what I think Robinhood is doing.
TechCrunch