4min chapter

Being Human cover image

#68 Objective and Key Result - with Christina Wodtke

Being Human

CHAPTER

The Essence of Humanity and Compassion

This chapter examines the core of human existence and the vital role compassion plays in our relationships. It discusses the impact of technological advancements on our humanity and highlights the need for intentional actions to cultivate a more compassionate work environment.

00:00
Speaker 2
Well, we've been going for an hour. This has been great. I've learned so much already. So the question we like to ask a lot of people on the show, Christina, is the title of the show is Being Human. What for you, what does it mean to be human?
Speaker 1
Oh, everything I said. I mean, I think as much as I have a mission to my life, it's how do we make work more humane? We're... gosh. There was a wonderful conference called Being Human that disappeared. And it was magical because it explored that question. There's so many things like if I put magnets in my fingers, so I can sense magnetic flow with my hands, am I still human? If I write algorithms that then teach the algorithms to make new algorithms, does that affect me as a human being? How do I make sense of machine learning? Does that make me less human? Does that make me more human? Does that free me up to do more human activities? I think being human always changes all the time, but the core is that We are people with each other. I think that's the one thing that never changes. And that to be around other people, we have got to be compassionate. We cannot share our suffering. There was a study a long time ago that showed that if you shocked a rat and then it turned around and bit another rat, its stress levels would go down. But if it shocked a rat and it didn't have anybody to bite, its stress levels stayed high. And I like to think we're better than rats. That's my hope. I like to think that over time, we will learn how to be, even when we're stressed, kind to each other. Even when we're trying to do impossible things, we take care of each other. That being human means being part of humanity, I guess, is how I think of it. And when you have that much effect over other people's lives, that's a huge responsibility. And I think for me, that responsibility means constantly asking, well, the question of the Boat Zatva path, which is how do I end the suffering of all living beings? And I think we should all be walking that path. And we should all ask every day, how do I lessen the suffering of all the beings that I'm going to come in touch with today? That's the kind of human being, that's the kind of being human I would like to be. And I would hope to help as many other people who want to make those choices, help them make those choices. And I tripped over OKRs. I couldn't have found a weirder thing to work with, but I think of it as a pointy bit of the wedge to help us go, we can be great and we can be lovely both at the same time. Right.

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