The Godfather of Likes

Below is our quick analysis for why Facebook is such a powerful platform. And the philosophical and psychological theories underpinning its creation and existence: 

“People wanna go online and check out their friends, so why not build a website that offers that. I’m talking about taking the entire social experience of college and putting it online.” – From the movie The Social Network

“Human beings naturally imitate the desires of other human beings. (Have you noticed that? Obvious, yes?) Human desire is, by and large, mediated desire. Girard calls this ‘mimetic desire’ after the Greek word ‘mimesis.’ Someone signals a desire for a particular thing, and now you discover that you want that thing. Most advertising works through this mechanism with demonstrated success. You and I are mimetic creatures.” – Woody Belangia, “What is Mimetic Theory?”

“What made [Peter] Thiel see the potential of Facebook before anyone else? We find his answer in an obituary for René Girard (who died in November 2015), which reports that Thiel ‘credits Girard with inspiring him to switch careers and become an early, and well-rewarded, investor in Facebook.’ It was the French academic’s mimetic theory, he claims, that allowed him to foresee the company’s success: ‘[Thiel] gave Facebook its first $500,000 investment, he said, because he saw Professor Girard’s theories being validated in the concept of social media. ‘Facebook first spread by word of mouth, and it’s about word of mouth, so it’s doubly mimetic,’ he said. ‘Social media proved to be more important than it looked, because it’s about our natures.’ On the basis of such statements, business analyst and Thiel admirer Arnaud Auger has gone so far as to call Girard ‘the godfather of the ‘like’ button.’’” – Geoff Shullenberger, The Society Pages

“To find yourself, think for yourself.” – Socrates

Trump Signals a Serious Syrian Response: The World Health Organization’s partners in Syria have now confirmed that 500 people visited medical facilities showing signs that they were involved in a chemical attack. As the Pnut has reported, the attack took place this weekend in eastern Ghouta, right outside Damascus. Medics on the ground confirmed that hundreds of people were treated Saturday night with symptoms consistent with exposure to a toxic chemical such as sarin gas: frothing at the mouth, suffocation, dilated and constricted pupils, corneal burns, and central cyanosis (a blue tinge to the skin). At least 42 people were killed in the attack.

US President Trump tweeted at Russia early Wednesday morning that “nice and new and ‘smart’” missiles would be launched in response to the attack. Like many of his tweets, it caught staffers and aides off guard, and Trump did what he once promised never to do as president – telegraph a future US military action to the world. Later in the day, the administration clarified that no decision had been made yet on future actions in Syria. Also that afternoon, top military officials, including Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,  General Joseph Dunford, met at the White House to discuss options for Syria.

US officials have also been in consultation with France, Britain, and other allies on a possible joint military operation, but no agreements have been made. Trump is pressing for a more “muscular response” to the latest attack than the actions the US took last April after the Syrian government used sarin gas, or a similar substance, in an attack on the town of Khan Shaykhun, killing at least 74 people.   

– Speaker of the House Paul Ryan will not be running for re-election. The immediate fallout is that Republicans are jockeying internally to fill his position. Or could November 6, 2018 (midterm elections) usher in a Democratic wave? (Politico)

– The FBI raids on Trump’s lawyer’s office were aimed at finding “records about payments to two women who claim they had affairs with Mr. Trump as well as information related to the role of the publisher of The National Enquirer in silencing one of the women.” (NYT)

– Yemen and Saudi Arabia are essentially at war. It seems Saudi Arabia has excellent air defense as it “intercepted a ballistic missile over Riyadh on Wednesday … after at least three blasts were heard and three clouds of smoke were seen in the sky above the capital.” (Reuters)

– “New evidence presented in a Washington, D.C., federal court claims that American journalist Marie Colvin was killed in a targeted assassination by the Syrian regime in 2012. Colvin, who was 56 when she died, was reporting on the Syrian war for The Sunday Times of London.” (NPR)

– “President Trump quietly signed an act last month encouraging U.S. officials to visit Taiwan, angering China amid mounting tensions over trade.” To further complicate US-Sino relations, the “appointment of former Ambassador John Bolton as Trump’s new national security adviser also stands to further complicate the situation. Bolton wrote in The Wall Street Journal in January that the U.S. should ‘play the Taiwan card’ against China, suggesting the U.S. would lend Taiwan full diplomatic status if China doesn’t back off in the South China Sea.” (NPR)

– China isn’t just worried about Taiwan when it comes to Trump. Its leaders are also worried about the impact of a trade war on its relationship with the US and how this might impact trade relations globally. “Virtually no one in Europe wants President Trump to plunge headlong into a trade war with China. But nearly everyone thinks that it is time to stand up to China’s closed markets and trade manipulation.” (NYT)

– In Flint, Michigan, the “state has spent more than $16 million to distribute free bottled water to residents. But no more. That program is ending this week.” The good news is that tests of Flint water show that it is now safe to drink. The bad news is that Flint residents don’t trust authorities given that it was the authorities who initially downplayed the seriousness of the contaminated water. The very bad news is that there is a national issue with aging pipes and the infrastructure associated with potable water. And the super bad news is the incredible deficit the US faces, which limits the building of critical infrastructure projects. (NPR)

– Flint residents might want more plastic bottles. But not ocean animals. “A young male sperm whale that was found dead off the coast of Spain had 64 pounds (29 kilograms) of garbage in its digestive system. A necropsy revealed that the animal had trash bags, polypropylene sacks, ropes, net segments and a drum, among other things, in its stomach and intestines. Local authorities said the animal died because of inflammation of the abdominal lining, or peritonitis. The amount of human trash in its system had become so enormous that the whale was unable to expel the garbage from its digestive system.” (Washington Post)

Mystery of the Night of the Repeating TV Anchors Has Been Solved: David Smith, chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group, claims his company absolutely does not lean right, despite requiring its news anchors across the country to read identical scripts mirroring President Trump’s continuing attacks on “fake news.” But Smith does remember telling Trump in 2016: “We are here to deliver your message.” Smith said he had “zero tolerance” for “political spin” of any kind. However, multiple detailed reports found that Sinclair’s news coverage is skewed politically to the right.

And Trump’s Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman circumvented regulations in 2017 to allow Smith’s organization to reach a much larger percentage of households than other media companies. Sinclair is the biggest owner of local TV in the US, and may soon reach 72% of American households if a proposed $4 billion takeover of a rival, Tribune Broadcasting, is approved by federal regulators.

Last year a media industry group, of which Sinclair is a prominent member, lobbied federal officials to force manufacturers to incorporate technology chips in all new devices that would enable authorities to broadcast directly to any American’s phone or television. The FCC decided to make incorporation of the chips voluntary. Recently, Smith went to the White House to pitch the idea again, saying he just wanted the president to be aware that the technology could be used as a government emergency warning system.  

CEO Chris Ripley sent a memo to Sinclair employees Tuesday apologizing for their having to endure “politically motivated attacks” over the scripts news anchors had to read last week. The memo was in response to widespread criticism erupting after a Deadspin video of local anchors reading the promo went viral last week. And many wondered why these anchors didn’t just quit rather than lose their respectability and dignity? Well, it’s because “Sinclair TV stations’ journalists face expensive penalties if they quit.” And that’s the rest of the story.

– To paraphrase The Lego Movie, “humans are pretty awesome.” We landed on moon (yes, there are those who deny this just like there are those who deny climate change), we built the Pyramids, the Great Wall, and have found numerous ways to lengthen and improve our quality of life. But we are still a great mystery to ourselves. In fact, scientists have no idea whether the pleasure we receive from art is any similar or different then the pleasure we receive from candy, sex, or drugs. People are incredibly weird. For example, “eating a ripe tomato or reading nonerotic prose has been reported to provoke an orgasm. So, too, has walking barefoot on wood floors and doing pull-ups.” (NYT)

– Many people derive a ton of pleasure through food loaded with sugar and simple carbs. And most people ignore “physicians and dietitians [who] recommend eating more fat, protein, and fiber.” (Business Insider)

– People are constantly chasing after the next hedonic kick and will spend aggressively to find the thing that will get them that kick. Unfortunately, buying the next thing is a temporary solution because the hedonic kick “always wears off, and your overall life happiness returns to exactly where it was,” Mr. Money Mustache says. “The key thing to know about your happiness is that you have a ‘baseline’ level.” And that “friendship, freedom, health, meaningful work, privacy, philosophy of life, and community” are what is needed for human happiness. (MMM)

“The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.” – Coco Chanel

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