This is great. It also made me think of something I often think about when I see some figure who agreed to be profiled for a magazine or something. It is nearly always a bad idea to say yes to a media interview, because you and the writer/journalist have fundamentally misaligned incentives. You want to be written about in a flattering way; the journalist wants clicks and attention, which means sharing some unflattering angle that allows people to go, "I knew he was a jerk!" Which is to say, the journalist/writer nearly always makes the profiled person look like an ass hat. So I always wonder why people say yes to interviews. Maybe some think that they'll be an exception and come off looking great. But I also think they figure any publicity is good publicity. And I don't think that's correct.
Unless you are on their side, and then you get a Vanity Fair glow-up. It’s really about alignment. But yes, always a bad idea if not aligned—I learned this the hard way.
Well-said, Jack. As an older (than you!🤪) former LEO/SWAT guy, there is much to be said for being the quiet professional, and that of honor and virtue. Nothing matters to him more than the respect of his small group of peers with whom he has braved danger and difficulty.
And the problem with any publicity being good publicity is it's creating a generation of professional nuisances who'll intrude on other people's lives for clicks and money. It's so satisfying to see idiots like Johnny Somali starting to face jail time for it.
This is great. It also made me think of something I often think about when I see some figure who agreed to be profiled for a magazine or something. It is nearly always a bad idea to say yes to a media interview, because you and the writer/journalist have fundamentally misaligned incentives. You want to be written about in a flattering way; the journalist wants clicks and attention, which means sharing some unflattering angle that allows people to go, "I knew he was a jerk!" Which is to say, the journalist/writer nearly always makes the profiled person look like an ass hat. So I always wonder why people say yes to interviews. Maybe some think that they'll be an exception and come off looking great. But I also think they figure any publicity is good publicity. And I don't think that's correct.
Unless you are on their side, and then you get a Vanity Fair glow-up. It’s really about alignment. But yes, always a bad idea if not aligned—I learned this the hard way.
Well-said, Jack. As an older (than you!🤪) former LEO/SWAT guy, there is much to be said for being the quiet professional, and that of honor and virtue. Nothing matters to him more than the respect of his small group of peers with whom he has braved danger and difficulty.
And the problem with any publicity being good publicity is it's creating a generation of professional nuisances who'll intrude on other people's lives for clicks and money. It's so satisfying to see idiots like Johnny Somali starting to face jail time for it.
To quote the artist and philosopher Lil Wayne: “Real G's move in silence like lasagna.”
On god nigga
Great advice. If I might add some, too: https://lorendean.substack.com/p/two-moments-that-make-a-man
Brilliant
Thank you
Well said.