The Monday Mix (28/11/2022)
Hi friends,
With the weird World Cup underway, it’s a reminder of the power the sport has to unite and divide people. Qatar is coming under a lot of scrutiny, and rightly so, but the football is taking centre stage now, and it feels like questions over the host nation’s suitability to stage the event will slowly fade the longer the tournament goes on. For all the talk of how hosting the event will lead to Qatar becoming more progressive, I doubt this will be the case. Once the eyes of the world move away from the Gulf State, little will change. The same was said of China when it hosted the 2008 Olympics, and look what’s happened since.
On the pitch, the competition has reminded me of why I hardly ever watch England matches as you run the serious risk of being bored to death. I watched the most recent match in the pub, and it was so boring I was willing the clock to fast forward to the end! With Christmas not far away now, it’s going to be weird going into the festive season with the World Cup on, but it will be one off hopefully. Even weirder if England actually win, which I doubt will happen. I would like to see it in my lifetime just to see how the country reacts. We’ll probably run out of beer and a mass of drunken souls will still be roaming the streets the next morning would be my guess, but I’m not sure if it will ever come to pass.
The Wikipedia Toaster Hoax
A fun article that looks at how a prank on Wikipedia resulted in the inventor of the electric toaster being misrepresented for years. As someone who edits on Wikipedia every now and then, I found this article funny and a little worrying. Wikipedia is a great resource and you can normally tell if the articles are factual, by looking at the references used. But the article in question was edited in such a way that the Wikipedia page itself became a kind of re-inforcing circle of verifiablity, until one eagle-eyed editor spotted a problem.
Just goes to show you cant, and shouldn’t trust everything you see on the web!
Would You Want To See Your Secret Police File?
If you lived in a police state and had the chance to see the secret police’s file on you when that state collapsed, would you want to read it? This is the fascinating premise of this article that looks at the Stasi in East Germany and why some people were reluctant to see their files. Thankfully, I’ve never lived in a police state and hopefully, never will, but I probably would want to see my file. To see what was in there, why the state was keeping tabs on me etc. But I understand why some people wouldn’t, as sometimes it is best to leave the past alone, which is a personal choice in the end.
The article also has some candid images of life in East Germany taken by someone who the Stasi had a file. They do a great job of depicting what life was like in East Germany.
The Faustian Bargain of Social Media
An old article but with Elon Musk becoming increasingly erratic on Twitter (he’s now trying to pick a fight with Apple which we won’t win), this is a good article to read. It focuses on out relationship with social media and is written by the director of the documentary The Social Dilemma, which came out during the pandemic. As good as social media is at connecting people, it’s probably even better at driving people apart.
Facebook is the prime example, with mounds of misinformation floating around. Thankfully, Zuckerberg is running the platform into ground with his mad push for the Metaverse. Twitter is another example, now in the hands of Musk, who seems intent on cosying up to every far-right figure on the platform. These apps are dangerous, as they’re so addictive and can alter the way we act and think. While they’re always going to be there, taking a more considered look at how we use them is definitely a good idea.
Book I’m reading - The Age of Football by David Goldblatt
Thought this was an appropriate book to read with the World Cup ongoing. It looks at how football has become more than just the global game in the 21st century, it’s one of the most dominant forms of culture across the planet. Only a few chapters in, but if you’re a football fan, this is book is well worth reading.
Quote I’m pondering: – “To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity.” - Nelson Mandela
That’s all for this week.
Until next time,
Tom