Friday Fun(d) - Public Health + Identity Politics
What’s up MWF @ 8 community?
Normally, I like to keep the Friday Fun(d)™ pretty light-hearted and beneficial to you. But, the perks of a newsletter is being able to write about whatever is going on. One big discussion this week was Simone Biles & mental health, so we briefly touch on that topic. Everyone who is a living, breathing human being struggles with mental health, but everyone showcases it differently. Read below to see the rest of my thoughts! Plus, Electives consist of:
What to Read
Podcast to Check Out
Historical Find
Patent of the Week
Enjoy!
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What gymnastics routine would you be the best at?
What I Learned This Week
I wrote a while back when the CDC lifted the mask mandate for those vaccinated that the mask controversy was far from over. Well, less than three months later, with a new variant spreading, it seems like masks are going to begin surfacing again.
I continue to be amazed at how public health is a matter of identity politics. I was in Boston in June, where the mask mandate had just been lifted. That's a very left-leaning city, but I barely saw anyone wearing a mask. Why? Because public health is not a matter of identity politics as the media makes it out to be. It's a matter of assessing the data and information available to make an educated decision. The majority of people see through the charade our government wants to make of it.
Simone Biles
If Covid doesn't highlight this enough, we had an excellent example of public health and identity politics with Simone Biles this week. Again, it's certifiably insane to me that public health will now forever be a political stance. The left is lifting up Simone Biles like she just cured cancer; the right is basically calling what she did a war crime. It's incredibly saddening on both ends.
This is what mental health is per mentalhealth.gov:
Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.
I haven't met a single person who hasn't struggled with something categorized above: Democrat, Republican, Independent, Asian, Black, Hispanic, White. Not one. Yes, some people have it a helluva lot harder than others, but we face the struggle of mental health every day.
So then we shouldn't feel sorry for her, right? Yeah, my initial reaction was this. It's my first feeling when any celebrity/athlete tries to play the victim or tell me what's right and wrong. We all face the pressures of life's trials. She just happens to be doing it in front of the whole world.
Wait, then we should all sympathize with her, right? Sure, we can all throw our sympathy rainbows over every sensitive mental health scenario. But then, do we teach that you can't ever overcome your inevitable feelings of doubt?
It is all contradictory because there is no right answer.
99.99% of people watching Simone compete have no clue who she is, so it's easy to not care about the person. As Americans, we love our country (well, not everyone). We want to cheer on as many athletes to a gold medal because they are representing us. So I think it's perfectly fine to feel frustrated by the scenario. I am semi in this category. I'd be mad if we lost to Russia in a laundry folding contest, much fewer women's gymnastics.
Then, I did the classic cliché "put yourself in her shoes." After Rio in 2016, Simone probably produced the most outstanding Olympic performance from a woman's gymnast ever. It's like the musical artist whose first album goes double platinum. The question looms, how do you follow it up? Most musicians struggle to do so because of new fame, obligations, laziness/partying/money, pressure, etc. I'd imagine Simone was the same way. It takes you away from your preparation, not to mention, Covid-19 was a thing.
So, she stepped away feeling like her performance would hurt the team. That's where the other 0.01% of people who actually know Simone Biles come to fruition. They have seen this process and probably the toll it has taken on her. If I did what Simone Biles did, I guarantee you my family, friends, etc., would sympathize with me. My parents would not say, "You're such a disappointment to your country." They would love me and support me because they would know what I went through.
The bottom line is, you don't know Simone Biles, but that doesn't disallow you to be critical. When we make every issue a matter of identity politics (like someone bowing out of the Olympics?), we draw a line with two sides, and you must be on one side. You can support mental health advocacy but still have high expectations for American Olympians. I promise.
Electives
What to Read
Where Loneliness Can Lead - Samantha Rose Hill
This is a beautiful essay examining the ways that loneliness can make people susceptible to totalitarianism. Our world often isolates us. Everyone experiences feelings of loneliness, even the most social people I know, by the nature of our environments. When we succumb to loneliness, the author argues, we become more idealistic. I absolutely love this sentence that highlights my basis for writing:
We think from experience, and when we no longer have new experiences in the world to think from, we lose the standards of thought that guide us in thinking about the world.
Historical Find
If you don't follow History Cool Kids on Instagram, I highly recommend it. Last week, they posted this find of a man in Maine taking out a newspaper ad looking for a wife. If only he could see online dating now. As a matter of fact, this bio would probably still work on Hinge. My favorite line is, "My buckwheat looks first-rate, and the oats and potatoes are bully." Not going hungry with this gentleman!
Podcast to Check Out:
I crowdsourced a few new podcasts this week that many of you recommended. Overall, I'm drawn to good conversations these days. I started out being attracted to the whole business success stories, and it is inspiring. But, at the end of the day, it's all about what you do.
North Star Podcast: Hosted by David Perell -- Kevin Kelly: Seeing the Future
The host of this podcast, David Perell, is one of my inspirations for writing online. While I don't see him as the best conversationalist, his guest Kevin Kelly is such a good listen. Kevin does an incredible job examining the dichotomy of technology trends and society (basically, what I like to write about). Here are a few of my favorite *loose* quotes:
Startups have to invent the solution; they don't have any money to buy it. Big companies are the inverse in that their mindset is to buy the solution. When you begin to generate cash flow, you lose your creativity.
Silicon Valley and science (in general) have made failure an essential part of the success process. We have de-moralized it to an extent. -- I wrote more on this subject here --
The trend of tech is this: As it becomes more powerful, it becomes more social (i.e., more people using it, more teams, bigger companies, etc.). The early adaptation is where the hiccups are. This makes people apprehensive about using early tech because of the unknown. Facebook is an excellent example of this.
Patent App of the Week:
It's the dog days of summer. In other words, it's the season of getting to a body of water as quickly as possible. Last weekend, I went to the lake with a couple of fellow MWF @ 8'ers, and one of my friends seamlessly put his boat in the water. Meanwhile, another guy was struggling with the whole backing in of the boat in the water.
Toyota has applied for the following patent:
BOAT TRAILER WATER LEVEL DETECTION SYSTEM - Toyota Motor Engineering
"The system comprises a control unit and at least one sensor in communication with the control unit. The at least one sensor is configured such that the control unit can determine a pitch of a trailer coupled to the vehicle and the height of a surface of water proximate to the trailer. The system includes a display screen displaying a representation of the trailer including the pitch of the trailer, and a representation of the surface of water proximate to the trailer."
This is another example of a very niche product that will make a big company a lot of money. Don't think big; think about the issues surrounding your interests. The boating community will enjoy having this technology.