The Dangers of Marinating in Your Own Bullshit

When a cow is fed the ground up remains of another cow in with her normal grains, she can get Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) - commonly known as Mad Cow disease. I think we can similarly go "mad" if we continually feed ourselves ground up versions of our own bullshit. I've often said that I don't want friends who always agree with me. I want my friends (and my partner) to call me out and challenge me to see things differently.

Recently, I made a comment on one of my Facebook friends' postings that poked fun at a decision he made that didn't work out too well and he deleted the comment. This is not the first time he has deleted comments that he doesn't agree with or that make him look bad in front of others. This form of censorship is a way of ensuring that all those who post are in agreement or are supportive and, when taken further, can be dangerous. Literally surrounding yourself with "Yes" men makes you increasingly out of touch with reality over time. I've subsequently removed him from my friends list. If he can't take it, he won't dish it out either and I count on both in my friends.

Google just illustrated this by rolling out Google Buzz. It generated so much negative "buzz" so quickly by the outside world, that it's clear that Google didn't run this past anyone outside of their organization (or at least past anyone who would feel free to criticize it). In this way, Google is becoming just like Microsoft and (dare I say) even Apple lately. When you become so big and powerful, you stop listening to others and start feeling that the "right" way is your way and suddenly shut yourself out of all kinds of helpful criticism which would steer you away from a mistake. The iPad is a great example of this. Apple is probably shocked that it's not finding a receptive audience for the product. Had they actually reached out to find out what people wanted, they may have made iPod v1 much, much better.

Companies are run by people and people are susceptible to this problem if they don't make a conscious effort to stay balanced. For example, if you're deeply religious and you join a church and befriend people only from your church and your social gatherings, reading lists, and lectures all come from people in your church, you're literally marinating in your church's doctrine and sheltering yourself from any viewpoints which are counter to those your church endorses. Over time, you will become so out of touch with mainstream society that you'll rigidly form beliefs and close your mind even further. Rinse and repeat until madness sets in.

Similarly, if you watch only Fox News or MSNBC or only read right or left wing blogs, you're likely to lose track of what's actually happening. It's dangerous to think that what you're seeing in these places is what is actually happening because what you're seeing is really just a position dispensed with the goal of getting higher ratings - not getting to the truth.

So perhaps instead of working to find others (on TV or otherwise) who make us feel more "right" all the time, perhaps we should all consider having a few detractors in our midst and keeping an open mind. If we all did this, the world would truly become a better place.