Cult Of Productivity: We Know He's Lying, But Who Cares?

I love this piece about the technoids all aswizzle over Timothy Ferriss: the 4 Hour Workweek author. Andreesen and a host of others are mentioned as acolytes.

[from Too Much Information? Ignore It by Alex Williams]

[...] After reading Mr. Ferriss’s recent best seller, “The 4-Hour Workweek” (Crown), Jason Hoffman, a founder of Joyent, which designs Web-based software for small businesses, urged his employees to cut out the instant-messaging and swear off multitasking. From now on, he told them, severely restrict e-mail use and conduct business the old-fashioned way, by telephone.

“All of a sudden,” Mr. Hoffman said of the results, “their evenings are free. All of a sudden Monday doesn’t feel so overwhelming.”

One of the Ferriss' premises is that you should just turn off communications to simplify your life. And all the hyperconnected folks seem to find this an attractive alternative. Just stop answering emails, shut off the IM, let the phone ring.

Like Linda Stone, Ferriss preaches that "it's the dose that makes the poison" not being connected itself.

I believe this is the backlash of connectedness: a distant echo on the war on flow. Or perhaps just another form of the dream of wealth.

In a world where technical folks dream of hitting it big, and becoming wealthy, 'fuck you' money may translate directly into throwing the blackberry off the Golden Gate Bridge and moving to the top of a hill in the Cascades.

In a different time, people dreamed of the impact of wealth as having servants, or nice clothes, or a big house. Today, the psychological attraction of wealth may be the freedom to ignore all the information out there.

Despite my advocacy for flow, I also believe that people should minimize sources of information. In particular, I anticipate that more of us will see our personal network as the primary source of information. So, I am closing down the mass media channels. Years ago I turned off the TV. Now I don't read magazines. I still am addicted to the New York Times, but increasingly that is the last mass media hold out for me.

But, in this piece, Ferriss doesn't distinguish between being connected to people or being on the wrong end of a fire hose of media bilge being spurted on us: the info porn. I think that distinction is critical: drop all the mass media stuff, and make more time for connection with people.

Still, whenever I get into this discussion with people, they say something like "I only watch documentaries, but there is some good stuff on there. Did you see last week's Heroes?"

My concern isn't whether or not Masterpiece Theater is worthwhile, or whether Jerry Seinfeld was the high water mark of televisioniana. My point is that TV is a social acid that has corroded social capital. Activities that reconnect people are countering the effects of decades of TV poisoning. Turn that shit off, sure: but why do I need to disconnect from the people most important to me?

Finally, I am saddened that Andreesen et al can be so taken with a guy who is obviously a huckster, lying his ass off. As related in the Williams piece, the guy is working 15 hour days, trying to become the Tony Robbins of the 21st Century.

Why do smart people get duped by a con artist? Because he is playing on the archetypal daydream of success, and for many, throwing that Blackberry away and heading for the hills would be the quintessential success scenario.

Comments

[Siona]

My favorite thing about this topic is how nuanced and complex it is. What counts as social capital? Is there more social capital between two people sitting in the same room, who spend their lives together, talking about the television program they both follow, or between two near-strangers (such as the two of us) holding a conversation about things that, supposedly, might matter more, hundreds of miles (and a few hours) apart?

I've been biased toward the latter for ages, but I'm beginning more and more to entertain a necessary inclusion of physicality, or literal presence, in the definition of social capital. And to that end, I'm with Ferriss and his ditching of the BB. I met him, once, in person, and Tony Robbins pretensions or otherwise, I have to say he was far more *there* than the majority of the terminally connected (no pun intended) Silicon Valley dwellers around us.

And me? I could be talking to my neighbors. Instead I'm here online. Our world might be growing smaller, but it could also be argued that we're growing further and further apart.

[Jeff McNeill]

Bravo! I spent a few weeks in thrall, and have since felt some guilt at being taken in. There is something in what he says, but the deep-fried sugar-coating and the hucksterism... Plus the fact that you only get a 4 hour work week if everyone else doesn't have one... urgh.

[Francine]

Nuanced. That's right. For me, a person who lives with two dogs, being connected is quite a source of social capital. Were I sitting in a room with someone else and Twittering away, I'd be missing an opportunity. I love information. Like Stowe, I have turned off most mass media channels, except if they are willing to run in the background. The news does that; TV "programming" does not. So I leave the TV on and do something else. But do I truly get my news from TV? Nope, I get if from feeds, including the NY Times.

[Deepak]

I don't know. The internet has made me friends all over the world (and I've never lived in the Bay Area), people I would likely never have met. It has given me intellectual satisfaction that, at least to me, is far more important that knowing the neighbors.

Anyway, I have always thought Tim was a bit of a fraud. It's easy for someone in his position to turn of his email. Most people don't have that luxury.

[Paul Sweeney]

Francine makes an interesting point in the comments above; so how many people would feel disconnected from the "opportunity flow" as opposed to some notion of "administrative flow" Turning off your TV doesn't mean you might miss a job opportunity. It might be interesting to see how many people "twittering" and "jaikuing" are in it for "opportunity flow" or "technical knowledge".... Finally, I know a senior manager at a consulting house that just doesn't look at his email: if its important he figures people will just ring him. He isn't the only one doing this. How I allocate my face to face/ phone2phone time are becoming filtering mechanisms, again...

[Allison]

TV? What's TV? ;-)

Seriously though, I don't think I will bother with this book. Social networks work fine for me. I hope Mr. Ferris is enjoying his reruns of American Idol.

[Paul Duncan]

"... the freedom to ignore all the information out there."

I found this particularly accurate. I couldn't agree more. I recently starting playing with Texting on my cell, because of Twitter, and I realized something: I spend far too much time screaming into a void and listening to others scream and far too little time looking at the sky or actually talking to people.

As a total geek, I've relied on technology and spend most of my day in front of a computer or watching a television while plugged into an iPod.

I think we've grown a generation (I'm gen-x) and will perpetuate (my poor daughter) a generation where "quiet" is far too unnerving and where constant flow of static noise is the only comfort.

I long for the day when I can get up the nerve to turn off the damn TV, the laptop, the iPod, the cell phone and actually hear what the daytime sounds like without influence.

Maybe after Battlestar Galactica series ends... :)

- Paul

[d. d.]

Is this guy a conman? Book has a catchy title but he claims alot of things that don't check out. Says he was a Chinese national kickboxer, vanquisher of 4 mixed martial arts champions, advisor to world athletes yada yada yada.