Think like a Viking: Part thirty seven

in #hive-1664083 years ago

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Braver are many in word than in deed.


Each Thursday I select a Viking quote, sometimes randomly but ofttimes based upon relevance or meaning to my life at that point in time. Despite these phrases being over a thousand years old I believe most can still offer value in modern society and I find it interesting to ponder, weigh and measure them. original im src


This week's Viking quote

Braver are many in word than in deed - Grettis saga

The rise of the internet and social media has meant sharing information has become faster and easier than ever before. Carrier pigeon's, messengers, telegraph, newspapers and even the telephone, to some degree, has been replaced by the much faster means of communication found on the internet. Information spreads more rapidly, reaching people at virtually the same time in many different formats: Written word, video, voice, audio and so on. It has given people the chance to speak far and wide, a platform on which to speak or present their case, thoughts and opinions and to promote themselves, concepts, products or businesses and basically showcase themselves.

That's what we do here on the blockchain really; It's a collection of people all injecting their thoughts and opinions and promoting themselves or concepts to others in the community, virtually in live-time. I see a lot of value in it however there's aspects that are not so positive and there's a more insidious side to it: Online trolling, bullying, doxing, grooming, rapid spread of negative propaganda and concepts, cyber-crime and so on.

I recently wrote about a situation in which a friend's daughter had become embroiled in some rather disturbing online exchanges, bullying and threatening behaviour which had spilled over to her real-world life and it cost her a great deal of anguish, pain and suffering, her father suffered also for that matter. It was all rather senseless. The interesting thing is that it all revolved around lies and the deceptive behaviour and information spread through one of the social media sites by a particular individual. I find it ridiculous however, in the society we live in and with the tools we have at our disposal, it's unsurprising that these things happen.

History is full of cases of people deceiving others through the written or spoken word and through straight-up lies. Humans can be incredibly fraudulent and the use of illusory, delusive and specious words for personal gain has, for a long time, been prevalent. With the exponential rise of the internet it's become easier to do and people not only write falsely to self-promote they show videos and pictures as well. Because the human mind thinks in images, not words, it's incredibly simple to misrepresent a situation leading to false perception. Most often, what is presented is not true though, or is a very light version of the true reality.

I've chosen this quote today as I spoke with my friend a couple days ago and inquired as to how the situation with his daughter was progressing; it's not going well it seems. The situation made me think about those who talk a big game, overstate matters or simply lie outright with the view to self-promote, leave an impression, gain a reputation or accolades, and generally mislead others into being impressed with them. There are many reasons why someone may do so I suppose however the lack of self-esteem, need for validation they don't find elsewhere, desire to feed their ego or simply for financial gain are probably the main ones. The internet makes it easy.

I remember back a while when I was in an environment where strength, endurance and skill were critical to success. Had someone said, "I can do more chin-ups than you," it would be a simple thing to jump up on the bar and sort it out. These days someone can post a video online of them doing one chin-up with the caption, "I just did one hundred chin ups," and they get a thousand likes. But did they do one hundred? No one seems to care it seems. The person gets a feeling of validation and that feeds the need to do the same thing again and again. lie, cheat, misrepresent, deceive others...and delude themselves.

People lie, it's a fact. I like to think I'm reasonably good at sorting lies from truth although, in truth, it's incredibly difficult, certainly online. I'm a reward for effort sort of man though; that means, I don't give accolades and reward to those who have injected low, or no, effort. Sure, I know how to encourage others and I do, however one must earn my respect, accolades and rewards. It's easy to talk oneself up and to, talk a big game, whether it's factual or not but I find it's often those who don't talk a big game that accomplish more and feel more personally worthy. There's a certain satisfaction that comes from thoughts, attitudes and actions that bring an actual result and that feeling cannot be gained through deceitful means. Sure, one may feel like they've had a win through the use of deception and lies but have they really? No.

Proving one's worth isn't as simple as talking oneself up, making statements, and the feeling of value or worth that comes from doing so is hollow. It's the thought-attitude-action-effort-result process that brings feelings of true worth and the self-esteem that comes from it is priceless...and it endures.


That's it for this week, a thousand year-old Viking quote that extols the benefit of allowing one's actions speak louder than one's words. Please feel free to disagree with my interpretation and add your own, tell me a story, in the comments below, around this quote or topic or simply react to it and let me know what you think, how you see it, how it relates to you or someone you know.

Skol.


Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default - Tomorrow isn't promised so be humble and kind

Discord: galenkp#9209

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Social media is one of the best things technology has to offer us. But unfortunately there are people who abuse it too. I work in a high school. Bullying has always existed in schools. But this has moved to social media over the past few years. And that's a really big problem for kids. It is also difficult to deal with. The school administration takes various measures. However, it is not possible to prevent such things.

There's one way someone can prevent being bullied on social media and that's by deleting it, most choose not to though, and so will need to face up to the bullying.

Hi @piinaar

Yes, bullying has always existed, but I feel that the whole situation has changed radically. Parents need to take back their active role in their children's lives.

My sister told me a story recently of a parent who went onto a social media parenting site to ask for advice from her "peers" about her daughter who was cutting herself due to being bullied. The mother played it down to attention seeking behaviour and she had a financial choice to make - she could either take her entire family on holiday or she could use the money for psychiatric treatment of her daughter. In cases like this, you have to wonder who the problem is. Can you imagine if the daughter had to read that online and was already on the edge?

The school taking measures should be secondary to the parents actually parenting their children, finding out if bullying is taking place and then finding the best action to fit the circumstances.

And it's definitely not only children who are bullies or who are being bullied online.

Yep this is so true. I'm not a parent however have been a kid who was terribly bullied and was fortunate to have parents that took the active role you speak of. Yes, there was no internet when I was a kid, but bullying is bullying no matter how it's done. Parents need to step up as do the schools, and the victim as well.

Indeed, for good and bad, the net has given rise to fast, insidious spread of information. Sometimes, not even CLOSE to factual.

I love the fact that I do not have to wait for tomorrow's paper, to see the news. Or even tonight's 11 o'clock TV report to see the news. I despise, however, the sometimes anonymous ways that the net have allowed cowards to become bullies.

AND, not just middle school kids are bullies. It's also adults: parents, politicians, people of all walks of life. Using their hidden ID, to say whatever they want, with no regard for consequences.

#### Let another's wounds, be your warning - Njel's Saga C. 37

No disagreement from me with any of the above. And yep, a very complimentary quote; it matches perfectly.

Hello, @galenkp I read your post and I hope first that the daughter of your friend can improve in what happened by the evil desires of another heart. From my point of view I agree on the whole issue raised, we are in a technological and very free today, where it is essential to use these tools wisely is a great challenge for every parent and mature person to direct those who are in charge even for themselves, from the beginning there have been evil desires in the hearts of man and now is not something in which we are exempt, although if we can achieve some people if they have the courage to do things right in a straight path of good heart. This post is helpful to be alert of so much deception and stop to think why we follow or do what we see in other accounts, videos or so many things presented now. Let us seek to cope and act with diligence and wisdom. God bless you and greetings to all readers blessings.



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Hola, @ he leído tu post y espero primero que la hija de tu amigo pueda mejorar en lo ocurrido por los malos deseos de otro corazón. Desde mi punto de vista estoy de acuerdo en todo el tema planteado, estamos en una actualidad tecnológica y muy libre, donde es indispensable que usar sabiamente estás herramientas sea un gran reto para cada padre y persona madura dirigir a los que tienen a cargo aún para ellos mismos, desde el principio ha habido malos deseos en los corazones del hombre y actualmente no es algo en lo que estemos exentos, aunque si podemos lograr algunas personas que si tengan ánimos de hacer las cosas bien en un camino recto de corazón bueno. Este post es de ayuda para estar alertas de tanto engaño y detenernos a pensar por qué razón seguimos o hacemos lo que vemos en otras cuentas, videos o tantas cosas presentadas ahora. Busquemos hacer frente y actuar con diligencia y sabiduría. Dios te bendiga y saludos a todos los lectores bendiciones.

I think each individual needs to take more responsibility for their thoughts and actions and also what they chose to absorb. Many people complain about the negatives of social media and yet they don't delete it. I think that's irresponsible.

You are right friend.🙏🏽 Blessings on your life.

Almost as soon as I began reading, I wanted to quote a line…but there were quickly too many to copy and paste from the mobile app. This is an awesome perspective to share - calling on Viking wisdom is something I dig, the modern day application thereof is awesome, and the way you put it all together brought it to fruition nicely.

More and more I think we’re outgrowing the old internet that was made for porn and keyboard commando missions, for lies and deceptive facades. Posts like this, analyzing current situations and ancient wisdoms…

I appreciate your work, it’s one more mindful expression of consciousness to add to my faith in all of us living, sentient human beings.

Despite the passing of a thousand years or so there's something that probably every human can find in the Viking Saga's and Edda's that will add value, prompt or remind a person of how to think and act, or so I believe.

I'm not sure about outgrowing the old internet or if it's just that's ther s something new replacing the old, like that Tick Tock nutbaggery. Still, for me it's easy, I don't allow it to sink in and avoid it where possible...Seems to work ok for me.

Thanks for reading and commenting, I appreciate it.

A few days ago I was commenting with my partner about how technology and science have advanced in a surprising way both for better and for worse, we can communicate through cell phones and computers not only that but we can do it long distance, some people are cautious about the networks, do not dare to expose or write for fear have seen many cases of ill-intentioned people who use networks to scam, lie and harass.

About a year ago one of my brothers had to live an unpleasant experience through the networks if he does not realize in time he would have been scammed, it is so much malice and impudence that the same scammer threatens him to death by phone, when he tells us and explains us really frightened us because we did not know who were the ones hiding behind all that. Thank God nothing happened, the important thing is to be very cautious with all this new technology and know how to handle it.

Well the thing with lies is that even online (where maintaining a deception is arguably easier than it is in person) is that they will unravel eventually. I watched an unravelling happen over a course of years (it seemed incredibly slow/like it was never going to happen at the outset, and then eventually it started and then it seemed to speed up and now I don't think the person quite knows what hit them but they once more (because this seems to be a recurring pattern) can't seem to figure out why their friends keep abandoning them "for no reason".

at least as far as I can tell from one of their main victims who occasionally checks their socials to witness the trainwreck I told them would happen and then tells me about it

Liara need to have good memories so they donttrip themselves up I guess and, in many situations, will eventually get caught out.

I've allowed people to think they're fooling me, believing their lies, up to a point and have then indicated that I know the lies happened. Some lie more to try and cover over it and some...well, they seem to disappear pretty quickly. It's funny to think that people that continually deceive others then wonder why people don't stick around. Clueless.

I'd say there's many on social media who present themselves or their lives falsely. Most of them probably.