~C4Chaos

COAT4D: Conspicuous Consumption

I've encountered the term “conspicuous consumption” while reading an interview with Andy Rubin (who is employed by Google).

“Mr. Rubin readily acknowledges his obsession with consumer gadgets and even more expensive toys — an obsession that put him at odds with Google’s stated aversion to conspicuous consumption.

“The day before Google went public in 2004, Wayne Rosing, then the vice president for engineering, stood on a stage during a companywide meeting and brandished a baseball bat. He threatened to use it on anyone’s car in the Google parking lot that was anything flashier than a 3 Series BMW.

“As a result, Mr. Rubin had to buy a new car when he came to Google. (A souped-up German sports car that he recently acquired sits at home in his garage.) He acknowledges the discomfort created by the situation. “One of the things that Google’s really good at is not encouraging conspicuous consumption,” he says. “I’m a big fan of well-engineered things, and so I’m wrestling with how those two things can coexist.””

As defined in Wikipedia:
   
”Conspicuous consumption is a term used to describe the lavish spending on goods and services that are acquired mainly for the purpose of displaying income or wealth. In the mind of a conspicuous consumer, such display serves as a means of attaining or maintaining social status. A very similar but more colloquial term is 'keeping up with the Joneses'.”

As much as I love the idea of *not* encouraging conspicuous consumption, it's tricky where to draw the line because what's conspicuous for other people might not be conspicuous to the one who's doing the consumption.

For example, I like to wear brand name jeans not because I want to show them off but because in my experience, I'm more comfortable wearing brand name jeans because they have better fit, they are soft, they don't smudge, and they last longer. I'm willing to switch to greener jeans but they're still mucho pricey for me. That's why I hang out at sale racks at Gap, The Limited and Banana Republic.

And if I can afford it, I'd really like to get a Lexus RX Hybrid (I don't do minivans, so this makes for a good family car too). Again, not for the intention of flaunting wealth, but because the Lexus brand has top notch engineering, lots of high-end features and has excellent customer service. This innocent preference might still be interpreted by others as conspicuous. Good thing I don't have this problem at the moment. I'm planning to ride my old car until it craps out on me.

My point is, it's all relative. However, there are indeed obvious signs when someone is spending lavishly to display their wealth – driving a Ferrari Enzo to work; wearing diamond blings on their teeth; private jet made of gold; spending hundreds of thousands on parties and flowers – and we can smell them from a mile away. I can't think of any justification for those except, “Hey, check out what I can afford!” 

At the extreme end of the spectrum are billionaires. It's hard to be humble when you're a billionaire. The only high profile billionaire I know who is humble enough not to display his worth is Warren Buffett. Check out this article on Forbes.

Homes of the Billionaires

“Things have changed. While today's superrich still like to live in large houses, surrounded with the best that money can buy, they are much more individualistic. Their houses are more likely to reflect their own tastes and interests rather than adhering to a grand, though impersonal, style.”

Very, very, conspicuous. Then again, on second thought, buying mansions is more of an investment than a consumption. These billionaires get a good return on their investments in the long run. Gah, it's easier to make money the more money you have.

Here's to conscious (not conspicuous) consumption.

COAT4D: On Suffering and Compassion

My daily quote from Glimpse @ Rigpa arrived a few hours early. And it's very relevant...

May 20

The times when you are suffering can be those when you are open, and where you are extremely vulnerable can be where your greatest strength really lies.

Say to yourself: “I am not going to run away from this suffering. I want to use it in the best and richest way I can, so that I can become more compassionate and more helpful to others.” Suffering, after all, can teach us about compassion. If you suffer, you will know how it is when others suffer. And if you are in a position to help others, it is through your suffering that you will find the understanding and compassion to do so.

COAT4D: Nietzsche on Chaos

"One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star" -- Friedrich Nietzsche

COAT4D: Rumsfeld on Uncertainty

“Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns - the ones we don't know we don't know.”

– Donald Rumsfeld, Department of Defense news briefing, February 12, 2002

A Pensive Rumsfeld
Uploaded by Katie Falkenberg on 5 Oct '05, 9.24am PDT.

Godspeed Donald, godspeed….

COAT4D: Love is the Teacher

Today's COAT for the day is a photo I took while waiting at O'Hare airport. Very fluffy.

COAT4D: On Laws of Technology

Kranzberg’s First Law helps to clarify this situation: Technology is neither good nor bad—nor is it neutral. At the risk of spoiling its Zenlike nature, let me propose an interpretation: a technology isn’t inherently good or bad, but it will  have an impact, which is why it’s not  neutral. Almost every applied technology has a good side and a bad side. When you think of transportation technologies, do you think of how they enable a delightful vacation or get the family back together during the holidays—or do you think of traffic jams and pollution? Are books a source of wisdom and spirituality or a way to distribute pornography and hate? Do you applaud medical technology for curing plagues or deplore transportation technology for spreading them? Does encrypted e-mail keep honest people safe from criminals or criminals safe from the police? Are plastics durable conveniences or everlasting pollutants? Counterfeiting comes with money, obscene phone calls come with the telephone, spam comes with e-mail, and pornography comes with the Internet. Every law creates an outlaw.

     

Bob Seidensticker  

Source: Future Hype: The Myths of Technology Change, Page: 10

 

COAT4D: On Jerks and Social Responsibility

“Suppose hypothetically that one out of every 200 people or so is a jerk.  In today's world these jerks will discover that if they enter government or business they can become super rich and powerful jerks.  Do we conclude, therefore, that markets (or government) have caused greed? No, the fact is that once we no longer live in tiny tribes of 200, anonymity allows some people, who would have been assholes in a small tribe but who would have been sanctioned there, to go off and become jerks on a much, much larger scale.

“Technology, including Zaadz, will allow us to evade the jerks far more than we could before.  The technology-based social responsibility movement, broadly construed, will allow us to return to some extent to the moral monitoring of small villages.”
      

Michael Strong   

 
   

Source: zPod:FLOW:Re: Forget the World Bank, Try Wal-Mart

COAT4D: What Zaadz Is and Then Some...

(Crossposted from ~C4Chaos@Zaadz.com)

On a rainy, overcast, and cold Thursday morning, while the UK is on critical alert due to terrorist threats, I felt the need to remind myself why I'm working at Zaadz. I believe that what we're doing here is worthwhile in the grand scheme of things…

(via zQuotes tagged with "zaadz")

First of all, I just want to make a distinction about who zaadz is serving. When we first came up with the idea for zaadz, we talked about creating a community for 'spiritual' people. Unfortunately, the word 'spiritual' normally conjures up a vision of groups of monks sitting in silent meditation or perhaps… a bunch of idealistic vegans.

Our big realization is that 'spiritual' doesn't have to be put into a box (or a silo). We believe that spirituality is about following your soul's purpose, whether that's about doing yoga,  spinning poi or creating the next big thing on the web.
      

Aaron Eisenberger   

        

Source: Aeon's Blog: Towards an Integral Zaadz 

But I don't see Zaadz as a place with a single motive for its members - I think that we want to enable people of like minds (whether those minds be yogic, Buddhist, self-improvement-oriented) to congregate, communicate and cooperate, to create an atmosphere of wellness, support and abundance for ourselves and our members, and for ourselves - the wizards - to do so in a sustainable way that supports our own livelihoods.

    

Jacob Stetser   

    

Source: Jake (ジャコブ)'s Blog: Sunyata

We want to be part of people's lives. People who want to live a life of health and sustainability. We want our members to learn from each other. We want our members to have various opinions. We want debate. We want encouragement. We want community.

We are not here to provide a platform for meaninglessness. We want people to come here for inspiration.      

    

Franc Paul   

    

Source: :franc's Blog: So what up with all this positive communication? 

I strongly believe that nothing is more spiritual than living at our highest potential while serving others. I believe that the more closely aligned we are to “spirit” the more fully we will give ourselves in service to the world. As such, my “spiritual path” is the path that leads me to a more complete manifestation of my unique Bodhisattvic duties.
        

Brian Johnson   

 
    

    

Source: www.c4chaos.com: B-SCAN with Brian Johnson (a.k.a. CEO+Philosopher of Zaadz)   

COAT4D: Visionaries

Anyone who has ever accomplished anything of importance - especially to the benefit of others - has had to endure being misunderstood by those who just couldn't get it.

There are some people who are actually driven by something much greater than self-absorption. These people have an Urge on the inside of them that haunts and compels them to make their Urge a reality.

      

Erika Harris   

    

Source: An Open Letter to Visionaries, via zPod:Vision Cafe – http://pods.zaadz.com/power  

COAT4D: On Work

The work of a person laboring in some humble occupation is no less relevant to the well-being of society than that of, for example, a doctor, a teacher, a monk, or a nun. All human endeavor is potentially great and noble. So long as we carry out our work with good motivation, thinking, “My work is for others,” it will be of benefit to the wider community. But when concern for others' feelings and welfare is missing, our activities tend to become spoiled. Through lack of basic human feeling, religion, politics, economics, and so on can be rendered dirty. Instead of serving humanity, they become agents of destruction.
      

Dalai Lama   

    

Source: Ethics for the New Millennium: His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Page: 174

COAT4D: Getting Hot in Herre

I'm sure a lot of people in the U.S. right now are thinking about global warming due to the current heat wave. That's understandable because it's really freakin' HOT out there! Good thing I'm in Ireland right now where it's mostly chilly and rainy.

In the meantime, let me add more wood into the fire with today's COAT :) Drink lotsa water y'all! And check out zPod:CLIMATE CHANGE!

I am not arguing that global warming is the same as eugenics. But the similarities are not superficial. And I do claim that open and frank discussion of the data, and of the issues, is being suppressed. Leading scientific journals have taken strong editorial positions of the side of global warming, which, I argue, they have no business doing. Under the circumstances, any scientist who has doubts understands clearly that they will be wise to mute their expression.

One proof of this suppression is the fact that so many of the outspoken critics of global warming are retired professors. These individuals are not longer seeking grants, and no longer have to face colleagues whose grant applications and career advancement may be jeopardized by their criticisms.
          

Michael Crichton
Source: State of Fear, Page: APPENDIX I

COAT4D: Michio Kaku Rocks!

Scientists willing to risk their reputations on higher dimensions soon found themselves ridiculed by the scientific community. Higher-dimensional space became the last refuge for mystics, cranks, and charlatans.
          

Michio Kaku   

          
        

  Source: Hyperspace : A Scientific Odyssey Through Parallel Universes, Time Warps, and the 10th Dimens ion , Page: 23

“Did God have a mother?” Children, when told that God made the heavens and the earth, innocently ask whether God had a mother. This deceptively simple question has stumped the elders of the church and embarrassed the finest theologians, precipitating some of the thorniest theological debates over the centuries. All the great religions have elaborate mythologies surrounding the divine act of Creation, but none of them adequately confronts the logical paradoxes inherent in the question that even children ask.
          

Michio Kaku   

          
        

  Source: Hyperspace : A Scientific Odyssey Through Parallel Universes, Time Warps, and the 10th Dimens ion , Page: 191

Some people seek meaning in life through personal gain, through personal relationship, or through personal experiences. However, it seems to me that being blessed with the intellect to divine the ultimate secrets of nature gives meaning enough to life.
          

Michio Kaku   

          
        

  Source: Hyperspace : A Scientific Odyssey Through Parallel Universes, Time Warps, and the 10th Dimens ion , Page: 334

COAT4D: Crazy Little Thing Called Love

We must forgive each other our arising, for our existence always torments others. The golden rule in the midst of this mutual misery has always been, not to do no harm, but as little as possible; and not to love one another, but as much as you can.
   

    

Ken Wilber
    Source: Excerpt B: The Many Ways We Touch - The Calculus of Uncomfort

 

 

I define love thus: The will to extend one's self for the purpose of nurturing one's own or another's spiritual growth.
          

M. Scott Peck   

          

 

       Source: The Road Less Traveled, 25th Anniversary Edition : A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth , Page: 81    

You are led
through your lifetime
by the inner learning creature,
the playful spiritual being
that is your real self.

Don't turn away
from possible futures
before you're certain you don't have
anything to learn from them.

You're always free to change your mind and
choose a different future, or
a different
past.
          

Richard Bach
    Source: Illusions : The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah, Page: 51

          

    

In a world full of people there's only some want to fly
Isn't that crazy
Isn't that crazy Isn't that crazy Isn't that crazy
Seal, “Crazy” via http://www.last.fm/music/Seal/_/Crazy

COAT4D: On Death and IPOs

WE DIE. You will never hear those words spoken in a television ad. Yet this central fact of human existence colors our world and how we perceive ourselves within it.        

Christopher Locke   

          
       

        Source: The Cluetrain Manifesto: The End of Business as Usual, Page: 1

A few years ago you could make an interesting distinction who thought there was something special about the Internet and those who saw it as no big deal. Now of course everybody sees it as a big deal mostly because of those weirdball IPOs and the overnight billionnaires they spawned. But I think the distinction is still valid. Most companies with Net-dollar-signs in their eyes today are still missing the “something special” dimension.       

Christopher Locke   

          
       

        Source: The Cluetrain Manifesto: The End of Business as Usual, Page: 6
                             

COAT4D: On Integration

“Fulfilling the four needs [spiritual, mental, physical, social] in an integrated way is like combining elements in chemistry. When we reach a “critical mass” of integration, we experience spontaneous combustion–an explosion of inner synergy that ignites the fire within and gives vision, passion, and a spirit of adventure to life.”

Stephen Covey
Source: First Things First: To Live, to Love, to Learn, to Leave a Legacy , Page: 48