OUR ANGER IS OFTENER EXCITED BY TRIFLES THAN ACTS OF CONSEQUENCE
The “terrible trifles” haunting us all today in America.
OUR ANGER IS OFTENER EXCITED BY TRIFLES THAN ACTS OF CONSEQUENCE
Oh yes, Biden was Republican castigated for his Easter egg hunt of late,
Understand that his opponents largely only have their trifles to sell,
Religious symbols on eggs were prohibited for many decades, you know.
And we have many highly paid, whose only job is to forward nitpicking,
Now it’s nothing new, we all remember Obama’s tan suit for instance,
Generally they can only nod approvingly as Trump vows his dictatorship,
Erstwhile they’d say the same to us when Trump said drink the bleach,
Really they only want to always stay in the weeds instead of valuable talk.
Isn’t it a waste of our collective time to push such political dribble,
So if there is a reactive button to push, Fox ‘News’ will exploit it fully.
Of knowing what really matters to us seems to be forgotten these days,
For Trump to be so pro-Putin, pro-Orban - so pro-dictatorship,
To accept such a drastic 180 degree change with no questioning,
Each one brainwashed about an illegal alien danger; brown skin you know,
Now their culture war nonsense drives their trains as well; so sensitive,
Easy to understand that these are anti-government crusaders at work,
Remember they only think that the government is in place for the trifles.
Each one who only wants someone to tell them what to actually think,
Xenophobia is their only comfort zone, they spend so much time in fear,
Certainly it seems they’re only vexed about what government should do,
Indeed what may seem trifling to me certainly is never the same for them,
Trump is the hypnotist’s watch for so many of them; gullible to deception,
Each one of these trout who bite the shiny object are only hooked,
Democracy sounds too much like a Democrat therefore it has to be bad.
By the reins millions are lead so easily by only emphasizing the trifle,
Yes, there might have been a chance before so much right wing media.
Trump is only stuck upon grievance now, and they’re glad to ride along,
Rush is long gone but his hideous spector lives on in the old folks,
Indeed, the widespread critical thinking ability is now very faulty,
For the divide is so great now for any debate or discussion to work,
Likely we are to eventually go into the ditch with such dysfunction,
Every day that goes by where misconceptions rule is leading us to ruin,
Society means so many different things to so many different people.
Trump is an expert manipulator, his presence is a wrench in our gears,
How in the world can a wise man fight against so many, many fools,
And I’m honest enough to know the challenge right in front of us,
Now calling the trifling only as foolhardiness might not do it.
Authoritarianism seems to be a trifle to so many of these folks,
Conservative values is what they tell themselves in their extremism,
Trump is the rapidly warming hot water around these frogs in the pot,
So how exactly to get them to notice the water temperature is the trick.
Only if rational debate could magically appear; just don’t count on it,
For Trump has poisoned the nation’s well like Putin poisons his foes.
Certainly, if the Trump spell might be broken enough we have a chance,
Of people who can agree upon items of only any consequence,
Now there are myriads of people who are wasting our time on trivials,
So fear is so widespread these days that rationality can’t be expected,
Each one of them - hard to say it’s only a trifle, is unwarranted,
Questioning people’s fear is bound to upset them to dig in their heels,
Understand that the information divide is worse than the wealth divide,
Every new conspiracy theory thought of only muddies the water more,
Now writing this has only made me realize what a juggernaut this is,
Certainly I hope our trifles can be agreed upon as well as our priorities,
Each one of us must try to focus our efforts in this extreme puzzlement.
“Our anger is oftener excited by trifles than by any act of consequence.”
— J. Bartlett.
John Russell Bartlett (October 23, 1805 – May 28, 1886) was an American historian and linguist. He then traveled to Washington D.C., intending to request the position of ambassador to Denmark. Instead he was offered the position of United States Boundary Commissioner responsible for surveying the boundary between the United States and Mexico. This required him to form a group to travel throughout the Southwest. Some group members were useful; in addition to the professional surveyors, there were four botanists and four zoologists who made significant collections. Some were at least decorative; the painter Henry Cheever Pratt contributed thirty plates to Bartlett's A Personal Narrative of Explorations and Incidents in Texas, New Mexico, California, Sonora and Chihuahua (2 vols, 1854), published after Bartlett was superseded by another commissioner.
“Few things discover a man's imbecility of mind sooner than his love for trifles.”
— N. Macdonald.
MACDONALD, NORMAN, born in New York, 1792; an American writer, and author of "Maxims and Moral Reflections," (New York, 1827.)
“Though life has its venial trifles, they cease to be innocent when they encroach upon its important concerns.”
— A. S. Mackenzie.
Alexander Slidell Mackenzie (April 6, 1803 – September 13, 1848), born Alexander Slidell, was a United States Navy officer, famous for his 1842 decision to execute three suspected mutineers aboard a ship under his command USS Somers in the Somers Mutiny. Mackenzie was also an accomplished man of letters, producing several volumes of travel writing and biographies of early important US naval figures, some of whom he knew personally.
Continuing on with a few more quotes touching upon the theme of today, with associated biographies of the authors of the quotes.
“Never unnecessarily wrong thyself or others about trifles.”
— Elizabeth Fry.
Elizabeth Fry (21 May 1780 – 12 October 1845), sometimes referred to as Betsy Fry, was an English prison reformer, social reformer, philanthropist and Quaker. Fry was a major driving force behind new legislation to improve the treatment of prisoners, especially female inmates, and as such has been called the "Angel of Prisons". She was instrumental in the 1823 Gaols Act which mandated sex-segregation of prisons and female warders for female inmates to protect them from sexual exploitation. Fry kept extensive diaries, in which the need to protect female prisoners from rape and sexual exploitation is explicit.
“Gods do not employ themselves about trifles, though goddesses may.”
— Fiji.
Seru Epenisa Cakobau (c.1815 – 1 February 1883) was a Fijian chief, monarch, and warlord (Vunivalu) who united part of Fiji's warring tribes under his leadership, establishing a united Fijian kingdom. He was born on Natauloa, Nairai Island in Lomaiviti but spent his youth on Vanuaso, Gau, Lomaiviti, later returning to Bau to re-establish his Father's Ratu Tanoa Visawaqa reign. Ratu Epenisa Seru Visawaqa was given the name "Cakobau" meaning destroyer of Bau, in reference to his grandfathers' (Nailatikau) effort to first claim the tile from the people of Butoni and Lovoni, returned with most of his warriors from Vanuaso, Gau, Lomaiviti to coup the leadership in Bau then and later takeover his father's title; known after his father as the 6th "Vunivalu" or Warlord of Bau.
“The most important events are often determined by very trivial influences.”
— Cicero.
Marcus Tullius Cicero (3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the establishment of the Roman Empire. His extensive writings include treatises on rhetoric, philosophy and politics. He is considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists and the innovator of what became known as "Ciceronian rhetoric". Cicero was educated in Rome and in Greece. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the Roman equestrian order, and served as consul in 63 BC.
“It is not good to elaborate trifles; the result should be worthy of the labor.”
— Bovee.
Christian Nestell Bovee (February 22, 1820 – January 18, 1904) was an epigrammatic New York City writer. Christian Nestell Bovee was born in New York on February 22, 1820. Bovee wrote two books that were widely quoted in contemporaneous compilations, these being Intuitions and Summaries of Thought and Thoughts, Feelings and Fancies. It was reported that Bovee "enjoyed the intimate friendship of Washington Irving, Longfellow, Emerson, Oliver Wendell Holmes and of all the brilliant men who composed at that time the Saturday Evening Club of Boston". He died in Philadelphia on January 18, 1904.
“Trifles insisted on make generally the widest breaches.”*
— Mrs. Cushing.
*breach: an act of breaking or failing to observe a law, agreement, or code of conduct.
CUSHING, MRS. [CALEB?]; the wife of William B. Cushing. Katherine Louise Forbes was a resident of Fredonia, New York. On 12 February 1870, she married the Civil War hero Lieutenant Commander William B. Cushing, USN. The couple had two daughters, Marie Louise Cushing (born in December 1871) and Katherine Abell Cushing (born in October 1873), during their brief marriage, which ended with Commander Cushing's death in December 1874.
Before taking command of USS Maumee, while he was on leave at home in Fredonia, Cushing met his sister's friend, Katherine Louise Forbes. 'Kate', as she was known, would sit and listen for hours to William's stories of adventure. Cushing asked her to marry him on 1 July 1867. Unfortunately, he received orders and was gone before a ceremony could take place. On 22 February 1870, Cushing and Forbes married. Their first daughter, Marie Louise, was born on 1 December 1871.
“The current of your happiness is often choked up by trifles.”
— Talmage
Thomas De Witt Talmage (January 7, 1832 – April 12, 1902) was a preacher, clergyman and divine in the United States who held pastorates in the Reformed Church in America and Presbyterian Church. He was one of the most prominent religious leaders in the United States during the mid- to late-19th century, equaled as a pulpit orator perhaps only by Henry Ward Beecher. He also preached to crowds in England. During the 1860s and 70s, Talmage was a well-known reformer in New York City and was often involved in crusades against vice and crime.
I searched for psychological research on triviality with no clear results. But I found this blog post below by Shane Parrish to have some relevance in the discussion. It might seem that in the complexity of policy that many may revert to focusing on the “bike shed” as described below. A Fox ‘News’ host is more than happy to concentrate their efforts on the “bike shed” if it proves effective. In fact they are very happy to introduce the easily understandable concept which will steer their viewer in the preferred direction. Perhaps almost making a career in repeating it ad nauseum year after year if it proves to be effective. It seems that this concept may indeed explain at least a good part of the phenomenon. In the business world changes can be made to address this in relationship with who actually meets. In the world of purposeful propaganda there is no effort to address the trifles, only to reinforce them if possible. So as far as putting forth any meaningful solutions, other than sticking with the truth, I see none.
Why We Focus on Trivial Things: The Bikeshed Effect
Shane Parrish
@ShaneAParrish
Before I begin a Tweet from the author which I found helpful to myself.
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Bikeshedding is a metaphor to illustrate the strange tendency we have to spend excessive time on trivial matters, often glossing over important ones. Here’s why we do it, and how to stop.
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How can we stop wasting time on unimportant details? From meetings at work that drag on forever without achieving anything to weeks-long email chains that don’t solve the problem at hand, we seem to spend an inordinate amount of time on the inconsequential. Then, when an important decision needs to be made, we hardly have any time to devote to it.
To answer this question, we first have to recognize why we get bogged down in the trivial. Then we must look at strategies for changing our dynamics towards generating both useful input and time to consider it.
The Law of Triviality
You’ve likely heard of Parkinson’s Law, which states that tasks expand to fill the amount of time allocated to them. But you might not have heard of the lesser-known Parkinson’s Law of Triviality, also coined by British naval historian and author Cyril Northcote Parkinson in the 1950s.
The Law of Triviality states that the amount of time spent discussing an issue in an organization is inversely correlated to its actual importance in the scheme of things. Major, complex issues get the least discussion while simple, minor ones get the most discussion.
Parkinson’s Law of Triviality is also known as “bike-shedding,” after the story Parkinson uses to illustrate it. He asks readers to imagine a financial committee meeting to discuss a three-point agenda. The points are as follows:
1. A proposal for a £10 million nuclear power plant
2. A proposal for a £350 bike shed
3. A proposal for a £21 annual coffee budget
What happens? The committee ends up running through the nuclear power plant proposal in little time. It’s too advanced for anyone to really dig into the details, and most of the members don’t know much about the topic in the first place. One member who does is unsure how to explain it to the others. Another member proposes a redesigned proposal, but it seems like such a huge task that the rest of the committee decline to consider it.
The discussion soon moves to the bike shed. Here, the committee members feel much more comfortable voicing their opinions. They all know what a bike shed is and what it looks like. Several members begin an animated debate over the best possible material for the roof, weighing out options that might enable modest savings. They discuss the bike shed for far longer than the power plant.
At last, the committee moves onto item three: the coffee budget. Suddenly, everyone’s an expert. They all know about coffee and have a strong sense of its cost and value. Before anyone realizes what is happening, they spend longer discussing the £21 coffee budget than the power plant and the bike shed combined! In the end, the committee runs out of time and decides to meet again to complete their analysis. Everyone walks away feeling satisfied, having contributed to the conversation.
Why this happens
Bike-shedding happens because the simpler a topic is, the more people will have an opinion on it and thus more to say about it. When something is outside of our circle of competence, like a nuclear power plant, we don’t even try to articulate an opinion.
But when something is just about comprehensible to us, even if we don’t have anything of genuine value to add, we feel compelled to say something, lest we look stupid. What idiot doesn’t have anything to say about a bike shed? Everyone wants to show that they know about the topic at hand and have something to contribute.
With any issue, we shouldn’t be according equal importance to every opinion anyone adds. We should emphasize the inputs from those who have done the work to have an opinion. And when we decide to contribute, we should be putting our energy into the areas where we have something valuable to add that will improve the outcome of the decision.
Strategies for avoiding bike-shedding
The main thing you can do to avoid bike-shedding is for your meeting to have a clear purpose. In The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters, Priya Parke [@priyaparke], who has decades of experience designing high-stakes gatherings, says that any successful gathering (including a business meeting) needs to have a focused and particular purpose. “Specificity,” she says, “is a crucial ingredient.”
Why is having a clear purpose so critical? Because you use it as the lens to filter all other decisions about your meeting, including who to have in the room.
With that in mind, we can see that it’s probably not a great idea to discuss building a nuclear power plant and a bike shed in the same meeting. There’s not enough specificity there.
The key is to recognize that the available input on an issue doesn’t all need considering. The most informed opinions are most relevant. This is one reason why big meetings with lots of people present, most of whom don’t need to be there, are such a waste of time in organizations. Everyone wants to participate, but not everyone has anything meaningful to contribute.
When it comes to choosing your list of invitees, Parker writes, “if the purpose of your meeting is to make a decision, you may want to consider having fewer cooks in the kitchen.” If you don’t want bike-shedding to occur, avoid inviting contributions from those who are unlikely to have relevant knowledge and experience. Getting the result you want—a thoughtful, educated discussion about that power plant—depends on having the right people in the room.
It also helps to have a designated individual in charge of making the final judgment. When we make decisions by committee with no one in charge, reaching a consensus can be almost impossible. The discussion drags on and on. The individual can decide in advance how much importance to accord to the issue (for instance, by estimating how much its success or failure could help or harm the company’s bottom line). They can set a time limit for the discussion to create urgency. And they can end the meeting by verifying that it has indeed achieved its purpose.
Any issue that invites a lot of discussions from different people might not be the most important one at hand. Avoid descending into unproductive triviality by having clear goals for your meeting and getting the best people to the table to have a productive, constructive discussion.
Ending on a short verse in an attempt to tie it all into place.
Poking at the Bear
It seems much is focused on the trivial,
It perhaps is purposeful among our bad,
Little things which will forever makes some mad,
Trump is the master at all this vitriol,
If only all of us were more convivial,
But America is in a place of sad,
The division is so much more than a fad,
We are now dividing over Israel.
America is not robust in all this,
The hen is forever being picked to death,
Choking and trying to draw in a deep breath,
Our country at odds with itself - all amiss,
Trifles remain always a good evil tool,
To just poke at the bear is only cruel.
So ends my exploration of the day on triviality and how it might gum up America’s gears. We have very serious problems to address and much time is wasted on trivial things. There are a certain number of people who see benefits in this dysfunction and actively try to promote it. It is up to all of us to recognize such manipulation in real time and not add to the problem.
187th Posting, April 5, 2024.