Maybe WSJ should offer a Kindness Challenge.

 

The Wall Street Journal recently informed me that to help me reach my New Year's goals they are offering three 6-week challenges.  There is an "Investing Challenge," a "Money Challenge," and a "Fitness Challenge."  Should I chose to engage in a challenge, a daily email will be sent to my inbox to guide my efforts.

 

It appears they have neglected to offer a "Kindness Challenge."

 

Perhaps they are unaware that research has proven that money does not buy happiness. 

 

But giving to others does.

 

According to a 2015 research study, in 120 out of 136 countries there is a positive relationship between giving and happiness.  And yes, the United States is one of those countries.

 

Giving to others satisfies the need for social connection.  If people have control over who they give to and how much they give, they will feel a personal sense of accomplishment as well.  (Dunn, Aknin, & Norton, 2015)

 

Even the perpetually greedy should understand that.

 

If not, there's always Henry James - "Three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind; the second is to be kind; and the third is to be kind."

 

 

Dunn, E., Aknin, L., and Norton, M. (2015, September 5)  Prosocial Spending and Happiness: Using Money to Benefit Others Pays Off.  harvard.edu.  Retrieved January 11,2022, from https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/11189976/dunn,%20aknin,%20norton_prosocial_cdips.pdf?s

Taking humans out of the equation.

 

On September 3, The Art Institute of Chicago fired all of their docents. 

 

Docents are the volunteers that lead visitors around museums.  Since it is an unpaid job it is mostly occupied by retirees.  And most of those retirees are affluent white females.  Hence the dismissal of them despite the fact that some had worked for the museum for as long as 15 years. 

 

Ms. Stein, the Executive Director of Learning and Engagement at the museum explained that the institute needs to  find “a way that allows community members of all income levels to participate, responds to issues of class and income equity, and does not require financial flexibility.” (Bottum, 2021)

 

So does that mean they are going to start paying volunteers and recruiting minorities?  Doubtful.

 

My guess is that what will happen is the docents will be replaced with technology - QR codes that can be scanned, pre-recorded audio tours, interactive kiosks, etc.  That will of course make the possibility of asking follow-up questions impossible, thus depressing learning, as well as the opportunity for human interaction.

 

And the experience is likely to be as frustrating as trying to get Target's website to work properly.  (For some odd reason they have frozen me out of my cart, yet they keep sending me reminder emails about that cart.)

 

Is this really what Millennials and Gen Z want?

 

Research shows that people who have friends are happier.  It also shows that "loose acquaintances" those that we don't know well, but have pleasant interactions with are particularly important to our perceptions of belonging and happiness.

 

And yet, we seem to be moving to a world where human interaction is minimized.

 

Are we doing this on purpose?  Do we really want to eliminate all human contact and interact with each other only on devices?  If not, how did we get here?

 

I recently read an article where someone hypothesized that in the future only rich people will be able to interact with other people and everyone else will interact with robots instead. 

 

What do you think of that?  Is it the future we really want?

 

Bottum, F. (2021, October 15)  Indocency on Display at the Art Institute of Chicago.  wsj.com.  Retrieved October 19, 2021, from  https://www.wsj.com/articles/indecency-art-institute-of-chicago-docents-diversity-firing-11634310172