Omni: Fill & Download for Free

My answer, if anyone cares. I kind of went overboard.-A lot of what I’m going to do will make me enemies. I will therefore call upon the protection of those Custodes not immediately protecting the Emperor, and set up shop deep within the Imperial Palace. Only the Emperor Himself will be better-protected.-The Officio Assassinorum is far to powerful and influential for the utility of what it does, but pissing them off is very stupid if you’re an individual on Holy Terra. As such, I will instead completely revitalize the Assassinorum, with loads of types of new not only assassins but also elite soldiers, army-killers along with individual-killers. One idea that comes to mind is the unholy union of an Eversor and a mecha built around their specific talents. This will not only make them much more useful but greatly ingratiate them to me, and they will be needed for some of the purges that I intend to enact.-Order the most powerful and knowledgeable of the Mechanicus’ tech-priests to disassemble and reverse-engineer all of the artifacts that they have so as to learn how to mass-produce them again. Convince them that the ancients that they idolize were innovators and would view NOT innovating as techno-heresy. Tell them that what they were told about innovation was to never engineer artificial intelligence, not to never engineer anything at all. While I don’t expect this to at least immediately sway all or even most of the Mechanicus, it should get enough on the right track to make a huge difference. Some of the stuff I want them to do will be individually mentioned somewhere.-Make Cawl Fabricator-General if at all possible.-Teach AdMech science so they actually know how their shit works. Introduce it as a companion to STCs to make them less terrified of it. Also prove to them their logical fallacy with machine spirits, that is, most everything that the DAOT made, from their advanced relic guns and armor to capital ships, had some degree of computerization and limited, non-self-aware AI (make sure they realize that it’s self-aware AI, not “dumb” AI, that’s the thing to not do while I’m at it). Thus, much of their more complex shit is indeed able to be appeased/offended/automated whatever, and their cants work on these because they contain the activation words used to work with these actual machine spirits (I won’t make them not call these machine spirits, I don’t care if they use that name as dumb as it may sound). However, they seem to think that this means that EVERYTHING mechanical has such a machine spirit, whereas the actual case is that only the stuff that has computerization has anything like this at all. This will lead to them spending less time appeasing the “machine spirits” of basic lasguns or even fucking pulleys with no computerization whatsoever and more time figuring out the nuances of the computers on things like Terminator Armor.-No more manual loading of things like macrocannons, autoloaders are to be introduced for all ships. If the Mechanicus moans about it, assure them that they can make BETTER ones for themselves if they really feel the need to do so, but SOME kind of autoloader needs to be available for everyone.-Get Volkite weapons back into mass production ASAP. Commission the creation of dozens of new Forge Worlds dedicated to making them. These are greatly useful weapons and will be fantastic against the Tyranids. They were once capable of being manufactured cheaply and I intend to see something akin to the Volkite Caliver replace the lasgun as the standard infantry weapon. The Volkite Charger is a bit too short-ranged for standard usage in my opinion, but could find usage as a replacement for the shotgun or something I guess.-Hand over highly embellished design ideals for modern-day-style tanks to either Cawl or people who think like him. My hope is to have something with insane frontal protection and very good side and rear protection, and yet is very fast. Its crew will be only 3 strong (driver, gunner, commander), as compared to the Russ which with side sponsons has a crew of 7 (driver, main gunner, main gun loader, commander, 2 side sponson gunners, front sponson gunner). This tank will be much wider than the Russ, but also probably still shorter. There will be no sponson weapons, but turret-top-mounted missile systems will likely be incorporated. The back section will carry a very powerful atomantic reactor, which will not only provide very powerful atomantic shielding but will also power everything else in the tank. Additional protection includes an ionic flare shield, void shields, and reactive armor if I can make it work. The hull will be the same material used to make Land Raiders at the least. There will be no retarded top-reaching, WWI style treads, and there will be no sponsons. The tank will be very heavily armed, and will as standard mount an accelerator cannon that fires rounds of a massive variety, no more having to use entirely different types of cannon to fire each different type of shell. The gun will fire large rounds, possibly as large as Demolisher Cannon rounds. Co-axial weapons will consist of a pair of over-amped multilasers that directly draw power from the reactor. Thanks to the internal space by the much smaller crew and lack of sponson weapons, as well as by having the co-axial weapons be lasers with no need for ammo storage, there is space for a lot of ammo for the main gun. Other main weapon options will exist. Other Imperial armored vehicles will become similarly sane, with priority being getting rid of the WWI-style rubber-band treads, adding sloped armor, ditching giant sponsons in favor of bigger main guns, better armor, and more troop-carrying space, compensated for by more external missile systems (cyclone launchers everywhere, and Havocs will be re-introduced), and re-introducing shielding and reactive armor. As soon as applicable, the treads will be replaced by anti-gravity plates and the Imperium will use hover vehicles as standard. Something that resembles the Fellblade but hovering if I can make it so and with sane treads if I can’t will replace the Baneblade. Due to the sheer size, the sponson weapons on this are okay, especially considering that they’re more strapped to the side than anything.-Try to get my hands on at least one Nanyte Blaster from the DAOT. Entrust this to Cawl or someone at his level willing to innovate to reverse-engineer. Considering all the horde enemies that the Imperium faces, especially Nids these days, the Nanyte Blaster would be a total game-changer, with one shot from such a weapon potentially obliterating entire tightly-packed Tyranid hordes, or maybe Orks as well. And of course the others have plenty of usefulness as well.-Try to get a DAOT Phase Walker, and dedicate massive effort to getting it back into wide enough production that elite units can universally employ it to dramatically increase mobility. While I’m at it, get Crusade-era Teleportation Transponders back into mass production, which are just like normal personal teleporters but you can bring other people with you (lets whole unit teleport in on tabletop).-There’s all kinds of relic loot that I want to see back in production at some point that’s desirable but not enough to get its own blurb, most of it dating from the Great Crusade or even the DAOT. Some of these are the Zeroth Conductor Shield, Blessed Autosimulacra, the Grav-Gauntlet, Grav-Flux weaponry, the Conversion Dissonator, the Warp Shunt Field, the Metaphasic Reader, the Cloaking Array, the Displacer Matrix, the Combat Augment Array, the Paragon Blade, the Cyber-Familiar, the Suspensor Web, the Blind Helm of Black Judges, the Blade of Perdition, and Arae-Shrikes.-There used to be Grav-Wave Generators just like what the Tau now have during the Great Crusade. They’re sufficiently similar that if I can’t get them back into production with remaining human tech then I can pass off a finished product with bits nicked from the Tau equivalent with little to no difficulty.-Buy digital weapons from the Jokaero. Try to get them in limited production ASAP for high-level commanders. I hope to have them able to be implanted like Mass Effect’s Omni-Tools. I hope for mass production and mass availability to happen at some point, but this will take a very long time even with a lot of effort focused on it, so putting them into more than limited usage at the top is a very long-term and secondary goal.-Revolutionize the Land Speeder. Make a model for standard mass usage across the military. Dedicate entire Imperial Guard units to using them. This will add another level of fast-response support to the Guard that I think would avail them greatly. The IG model will be fully enclosed, and mount a chin gun and missile launchers as standard. Make a very improved Land Speeder for the Space Marines that’s bigger, tougher, and better armed. I hope to add Voltagheist Fields to these, as they offer not only protection but will allow more powerful ramming attacks.-Get Phosphex back in mass usage. Particularly as usage for artillery and tank shells.-Get jetbikes re-introduced. By getting one from the Dark Angels they indeed have the only ones left, preferably by purchase but by blackmail or theft if I have to.-There’s a weapon type out there called gamma weapons. They’re slightly weaker than plasma, but are better against armor. The only example we see is in the AdMech’s gamma pistol on tabletop, which is Range 12″, Strength 6, AP 2, Pistol 1, Armorbane. I want these, not just in pistol form, but in all sorts of infantry weapon, tank weapon, and even spaceship weapon types, and I want them all over the place, as they’re widely useful against all sorts of target and don’t overheat like plasma does. I’ll dedicate a bunch of new Forge Worlds to making these as well.-Get black hole/singularity weapons back in production, pronto. The priority is for a Nova Cannon sized weapon for use in space battles.-Get AdMech to be able to make atomantic shields and flare shields for vehicles again. They used to be all over the place, and it can be this way again.-Get Inferno Pistols back in mass production. Seriously, it’s just a shorter meltagun, and meltaguns are all over the place. This is one of the dumbest things that AdMech has forgotten yet.-Phosphor weapons. They’re fucking flare guns, the real world has had those for centuries now IIRC and at least well over a century. Any other stuff where it’s basic shit that anyone can do, get someone to make those as well.-Have AdMech study what personal void shield generators are left in existence and reverse-engineer them. I will also need vehicle-sized ones for even standard vehicles, and I hope for basic soldiers to someday be able to carry around portable void shield generators that work kind of like Halo’s 3’s Bubble Shields but reusable.-Approach all other Forge Worlds that make or have tech I want en masse, such as Ryza with its plasma weaponry. Offer to pay for their creating new Forge Worlds under their control that are dedicated to producing this tech, whatever it may be. While I’m at it, get phased-plasma weapons back into production and covertly see if there’s a way for someone to quietly study Tau plasma.-Get every bit of STC data I can together and have someone, likely Cawl if he isn’t too busy (I intend to abuse his being a Mary Sue at every opportunity), make a new generation of Space Marine armor. This armor will be easily produced in huge quantities, will have better armored protection equaling or eclipsing that of Terminator armor in effectiveness, will increase the speed and strength of the wearer, will have a teleporter and a built in compact jump pack if possible, will boast powerful sensor arrays, and will be very heavily shielded. A more tanky version will be rolled out to replace Terminator armor. Next, verisons for elite forces like the Stormtroopers and Sororitas will be made, and finally a new replacement for Guardsman flak armor will be mass-produced. Personal shielding is to become standard even for horde infantry, even if it’s just a super-weak refractor shield.-Offer all bands of Eldar, be they Craftworld, Corsair, Exodite, Dark, Ynnari, or whatever, what basically amounts to Letters of Marque (privateer licenses). Those that agree will be offered sanctuary in Imperial territory and given some degree of Imperial resources as necessary, but are encouraged to launch raids against the Imperium’s most pressing foes and cannot attack the Imperium. With the Eldar as besieged as they are, a great many are bound to agree, however reluctantly.-Remove the 1,000-Marine cap for Space Marine Chapters. Chapters are encouraged to gain as many Space Marines as they possibly can, they’ll be needed.-Give Cawl access to the Emperor’s own research notes in creating the Primarchs, Custodes, Thunder Warriors, and Space Marines, and have him create a finalized, even better if possible, version of the Primaris Marines. These new Primaris Marines must be around as cheap to make as normal Space Marines, and must be able to be also made from existing Primaris Marines and normal Space Marines. The goal is to have every existing Space Marine become these Mk. 3 Astartes, and to have every new Space Marine be made as one to begin with. Standardize cybernetics into the process to increase usefulness and toughness in these new Astartes.-Require every Astartes Chapter to take part in a new backup-Chapter program. Each Chapter will send some samples of its geneseed, which will be replicated in the thousands, and a few dozen of their battle-brothers to go into stasis. They will also be required to go down a list of orders that they must place and customize for wargear, such as armor, tanks, ships, etc. All of this is produced to their specifications and goes into deep storage. If a Chapter is destroyed, then they may be rebuilt with an existing new command structure consisting of the Marines in stasis, and they even have their own Chapter fleet to start out with.-Try to get the Custodes back into production if possible.-Bribe the fuck out of the Eldar to help them complete the Imperial Webway.-Offer to hire any interested Orks on a permanent basis. Those hired will be paid handsomely with weaponry and Ork teeth made in new purpose-built cloning banks. They will also be provided with Aquila WAAAGH banners, as the banners seriously seem to help maintain their allegiances.-Secretly dedicate massive resources towards repairing the Golden Throne and incorporating some sort of device to allow the Emperor to communicate with His subjects. Codename the project “Alfabusa” and snicker quietly to myself.-Try to make nonaggression pacts with as many Necron Dynasties as possible. Offer to evacuate their homeworlds. Getting out of wars with them and preferably having them on our side against Chaos and the Nids is more than worth giving up these worlds.-Sign a nonaggression pact with the Tau. Buy samples of all their tech and hand it over to AdMech with orders to copy as much of it as is safe and possible, or at least to try to use it for inspiration of their own tech.-Spread the (likely true) rumor that it was Chaos that brought about the rebellion of the Iron Men and the oncoming of the Age of Strife. While this won’t sway 99% of the Lost and the Damned, a few powerful Dark Mechanicum members are bound to get pissed off and create (even more) dissention in the enemy ranks. As an added bonus, many people, especially Mechanicus people, will be less inclined to join Chaos as a result of this.-Force the Administratum and Munitorum to audit the fuck out of themselves with the end goal of having them run themselves more like 21st-century businesses. While it’s still not ideal it’s a lot better than it would be originally. Reward those who are compliant and successful with power and promotions, and for those who REALLY do well, the opportunity to visit the Golden Throne itself. With the latter reward in place, you can bet that they’ll desperately try to improve.-Get Titans back into production en masse once I can get someone from AdMech to actually study one and not just fap to it. My end goal is to have Warlord Titans as part of most PDFs, and to have Titan Legions spearheaded by Titans far larger than Imperators deployed in even mid-scale battles. The Imperium throws around Cobra-class destroyers like dice, and these dwarf Titans in both size and firepower - hell, even SDF gunboats do, as well.-Try to bring back the Squats from the brink of extinction and have them start building all the weapons that they can to arm this new, re-imagined Imperium. Hopefully they can build what I need that the Mechanicus can’t or won’t mass-produce. If I need something as such, I’ll ask them. I’ll also see if they can start outright innovating for me. I want their weapons and tech made available across the Imperium in exchange. All kinds of good loot here.-Completely and utterly gut pretty much every single noble family, killing everyone off that isn’t absolutely kosher, especially those families of the planetary governors, as their nepotism is one of the single things that’s hurting the Imperium the most. To accomplish this, I will use the Ordo Hereticus and my new revitalized Assassinorum to wipe them out en masse, all at once, a la Order 66, before they can mount an effective response. They will be replaced with successful military leaders, who will be allowed to form their own dynasties, but which will be regularly watched and audited by a new subsection of the Ordo Hereticus made for this purpose.-Prune the tree that is the Navigator Houses. Have a large portion of the Adeptus Mechanicus Biologis research how to minimize mutations and maximize breeding for them. Purge anyone who looks like they’re going to betray me and/or the Imperium. Reward those who comply with me and try to have them pump out as many children as possible.-Order Cawl to secretly examine and reverse-engineer the remaining pieces of the Necron Pylons, which will be recovered by a small, fast stealth raid on Cadia’s ruins. He will use this tech to create implantable psy-inhibitors that will be made cheaply and implanted en masse to the entire Imperial population. They can be disabled long enough to test for psychic talent, and the sufficiently potentially powerful and useful enough are recruited and the criminal are fed into the Astronomican (though the latter will be unnecessary soon with the repairs to the Golden Throne). This effectively all but neuters the danger of rogue psykers on Imperial worlds. Once the Golden Throne is fixed it will be entirely conceivable for weaker psykers to live out their free from any stigma or signs of psychic power. While this is by far the most important of the applications of reverse-engineering the Necron pylons, there are many other uses, the most notable of which are a new generation of psyk-out and anti-daemon weaponry, and, eventually, once it can be made on the proper scale, an effective and portable countermeasure to Warp Storms and maybe even nearby daemonic incursions. If at all possible, I will simply buy examples of this tech from the Necrons, complete with schematics if I can, and hand all of that over to Cawl instead of making the dangerous run to Cadia.-Dedicate massive resources to decoding the data files aboard the Ark Mechanicus Speranza, as she most likely contains the sum total of the DAOT’s knowledge.-Gut the Ecclesiarchy. Most it does nothing but grow fat off of tithes. The new Ecclesiarchs in charge are taken straight from the ranks of the absolute best frontline Ministorum Priests that I can find. They will militarize all of the Ecclesiarchy’s temples, pushing the belief that the best way to praise the Emperor is to further militarize and protect His great works rather than wasting time and resources making pretty buildings with little or no military application. Gilding is still fine but it must be gilding on things that can shoot back at the Imperium’s foes. The Imperium will start to less and less resemble artistic Gothic cathedrals and more and more resemble gilded Gothic fortresses bristling with weapons and battlements at every angle.-Rewrite the code of conduct for declaring Exterminatus. Make it much harder to obliterate a planet for suspected heresy in a tiny area of it but make it much easier to resort to Exterminatus upon worlds in the midst of something like a mass daemonic incursion or a Tyranid attack.-Commission a new generation of Imperial Navy ships (and Space Marine ships too, I guess) which use all the gadgets that the Mechanicus can cough up. Make it a pilgrimage for AdMech and subliminal-message the fuck out of them that building ships that will now have near-DAOT capabilities is not heresy but a titanic degree of worship of the Omnissiah, as they’re bringing about the works of the ancestors once again and on a massive scale. These ships will have Nova Cannons that shoot black holes, macros and lances that shoot awesome exotic new energy weapons, powerful new shields and new engines, and the like. Commission ships of all sizes like this, from comparatively cheap SDF gunboats a few hundred meters long to the new super-capital ship of the Imperium, a pimped-out monstrosity of a battleship hundreds of kilometers in length. My own flagship, which I will move my base of operations to, will be over a thousand kilometers long if I can manage it, and will be equipped with an energy cannon capable of causing a star to go into supernova.-Find a way to detect Tyranid fleets as they’re still well outside of the galaxy but incoming, and then find a way to build millions of utterly gargantuan bombs, probably of a variety resembling horrifically oversized cyclonic torpedoes/nukes, and then fling these at the incoming Nids so that they lose most of their forces long before they actually reach us.

I was very curious about this question too! Maybe I wouldn’t necessarily fake but there is an apparent lack of depth to most of our connections. Modern technology doesn’t help us but often hinders our pursuit of genuine connection.I have recently written a post about it on the website of my book recommendation portal.Since it is very relevant to the question I will include it here too :)The problem of human connection in a modern digital worldWe live in an Omni-connected world, but virtual abundance was served with apparent hollowness. Why do we often feel a lack of genuine connection when everything is just a click away? Why do we make more friends when we are kids than when we are adults? How does this whole connection thing work, and are there any prominent voices out there who can shed some light on these questions? As confusion turned into curiosity, I started binge-thinking and searching for some answers.The importance of shared commonalitiesTo make friends, feel connected, and be open to communication, we need to share certain commonalities. There is a substantial body of research to back up this claim. I’ll include the takeaway of the paper by Carolyn Parkinson, Adam M. Kleinbaum & Thalia Wheatley (2018):These results suggest that we are exceptionally similar to our friends in how we perceive and respond to the world around us, which has implications for interpersonal influence and attraction.Sharing uncommon commonalities spawns mutual attractionNevertheless, some of our similarities matter, while others not so much. If we discover we share something unique, then we have higher chances of forming a real connection.Turns out, social scientists use the term uncommon commonalities to describe precisely this phenomenon. According to researcher Jerry Burger of Santa Clara University, one of the most effective ways people bond is to discover uncommon commonalities. According to his study, on average, 55% of the time, people were responsive and provided small help to strangers. When the participants were led to believe that there were non-trivial commonalities between them and strangers in need, the number of responsive helpers rose to 82%!Adam Grant has this to say on the subject:To explain why uncommon commonalities are so transformative, the psychologist Marilynn Brewer developed an influential theory. On the one hand, we want to fit in: we strive for connection, cohesiveness, community, belonging, inclusion, and affiliation with others. On the other hand, we want to stand out: we search for uniqueness, differentiation, and individuality.I’d like to use the following Venn diagram to demonstrate the uncommon commonalities:At its extreme, the most unique commonality is sharing DNA, and no surprise: it represents the strongest bond of all - family.Clarification - it is about PERCEIVED commonalities and uncommonnessLet’s not be fast to assume that everyone is on the same page when we speak of commonalities or uncommonness. In the context of this post, it is all about perceived commonalities and perceived uncommonness.If you and I have the same favorite book, then I’d like to chat with you not because of the book itself but because of the qualities of character and intellectual curiosity I would tend to attribute to you in advance. This is the essence of the benefits of similarity - it establishes a sort of a credit line of mutual trust and intellectual attraction.Every little preference and feature we have is a part of a larger story and a narrative of our lives.Levels of considering similarities between people:On which level do we judge our commonalities? Spiritual leaders teach us that we are all fundamentally the same. But day-to-day realities often divide us on petty issues. At the end of the day, it is a matter of how we perceive the world and people around us. If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then the similarity is in the head of the observer.The same goes for the attribute of uncommonness. What is old and familiar to one person might be unique and exciting to another. It is easy to overlook that we are very similar in many unique ways to the people around us.If bonding through commonalities is the key, how come the internet didn't fix everything?Wait… didn't the internet and social media help to establish millions of unique connections? For example, how about this subreddit:Do you love the letter G? I mean, really love the letter G? Share your pics of G's in the wild with like-minded enthusiasts. http://www.reddit.com/r/ggggg/These days everyone with an internet connection can find like-minded people who share their most idiosyncratic features. Why do so many of us struggle to find friends and build real relationships? It is not that the uncommon commonalities idea is fundamentally flawed, but the fact that we are missing another important dimension of looking at the problem. The medium of communication is an essential aspect of consideration here. The power and effectiveness of human connection are greatly diluted as we move from face-to-face to phone calls to text messages to group chats to online forums. This is why companies spend big bucks on guest speaker training for employees and executives instead of just screening pre-recorded videos.The global pandemic has pushed us to work remotely and stay isolated at home. We've been slowly moving online for decades now. It is difficult to appreciate the changes when they happen slowly. But when you have to suddenly self-isolate and go 100% online for a few months, you notice how things are different.According to the paper Internet Communication Versus Face-to-face Interaction in Quality of Life, the researchers from the Hong Kong University state the following:It was found that contrary to our expectation, Internet communication cannot predict quality of life while face-to-face communication with friends and family members can.In other words, digital communication in itself doesn't contribute much to our well being while face-to-face interaction does. We are diverse and have different needs, but the idea of fulfilling communication and human connection will resonate with everyone in a unique way.What makes in-person communication unique?What makes the modern 200 Mbps internet better from the dial-up of the old days? Well… the bandwidth, of course. So is the difference between face-to-face and digital communication.The bandwidth of in-person communication can be staggering. We may even leave out the words, and the mere silent presence can convey more than hours of calls or thousands of messages.The problem of underutilizationDo you know those internet plans where you have a monthly data allowance, and if you don't use it, then it all gets wasted? It is like that when we meet people but do small talk or stick to smartphone screens. It is like someone having an ultra-fast unlimited data plan but watching YouTube videos at 240p.Here is a little example of bringing more meaning and connectedness into our everyday lives:Why we read what we read is the question that can lead to social bonding. Don’t just say “I love reading” and stop at that. Isn’t it much more delightful and engaging to hear someone say a slightly expanded version like:The Obstacle?: It takes to be brave, it takes to be vulnerable.Sharing non-trivial things about yourself may feel uncomfortable for some of us. Expressing observations infused with personal perspectives may be outside of our comfort zones. But being brave (courage) is about how we act while being in a vulnerable position.Brave - ready to face and endure danger or pain; showing courage.Vulnerable - susceptible to physical or emotional attack or harm.Oxford English Dictionary.“Vulnerability is the birthplace of love, belonging, joy, courage, empathy, and creativity” — Brene Brown, 2012Psychology Today summarizes it this way:Be open to sharing what you feel and taking those risks when your sense of judgment tells you that the risk is well worth it.The childhood advantageAs we grow up, the circle of our friends usually dwindles. But it is not because kids are simply better at making friends than other age groups. They also struggle (often more so than adults) with fears, insecurities, and anti-social behavior. Psychologists recognize three requirements for making new friends:Proximity (this is due to factors like convenience, the mere exposure effect, the chances of actually meeting each other, etc.)Repeated, unplanned interactions (like at school, daycare, play dates, extracurricular activities, church, parents’ friends’ kids, etc.)A setting that allows or encourages people to open up and confide in each other.Do you see how adults are at a significant disadvantage here? Kids happen to go to the same local school (or other extracurricular activities), and experience repeated, unplanned interactions in an environment that (ideally) encourages them.Adults are programmed to keep work and personal matters separate, and due to busy schedules, any meet-ups need to be planned in advance. Everything in between is just getting from point A to point B.The takeawayThe way we make friends, build connections, and live emotionally fulfilling lives depends greatly on how we engage with the world around us. When we understand the importance of uncommon commonalities, face-to-face interactions, and vulnerability united with courage, we can start acting differently in our day-to-day lives.Be more present with people who surround you and avoid escaping into the digital abyss. Go beyond small talk and find the courage to show a vulnerable side. Identify and use the repeated, unplanned interactions that occur in your life to build new bonds.It is not just about making friends, but about working towards bringing more unity and connectedness to our lives.

We are ever more plugged in but less and less connected. First, let’s see what is broken about human connection in the modern world. Then we can learn why and what can we do about itI have recently written a post about it on the website of my book recommendation portal.Since it is very relevant to the question I will include the answer here :)The problem of human connection in a modern digital worldWe live in an Omni-connected world, but virtual abundance was served with apparent hollowness. Why do we often feel a lack of genuine connection when everything is just a click away? Why do we make more friends when we are kids than when we are adults? How does this whole connection thing work, and are there any prominent voices out there who can shed some light on these questions? As confusion turned into curiosity, I started binge-thinking and searching for some answers.The importance of shared commonalitiesTo make friends, feel connected, and be open to communication, we need to share certain commonalities. There is a substantial body of research to back up this claim. I’ll include the takeaway of the paper by Carolyn Parkinson, Adam M. Kleinbaum & Thalia Wheatley (2018):These results suggest that we are exceptionally similar to our friends in how we perceive and respond to the world around us, which has implications for interpersonal influence and attraction.Sharing uncommon commonalities spawns mutual attractionNevertheless, some of our similarities matter, while others not so much. If we discover we share something unique, then we have higher chances of forming a real connection.Turns out, social scientists use the term uncommon commonalities to describe precisely this phenomenon. According to researcher Jerry Burger of Santa Clara University, one of the most effective ways people bond is to discover uncommon commonalities. According to his study, on average, 55% of the time, people were responsive and provided small help to strangers. When the participants were led to believe that there were non-trivial commonalities between them and strangers in need, the number of responsive helpers rose to 82%!Adam Grant has this to say on the subject:To explain why uncommon commonalities are so transformative, the psychologist Marilynn Brewer developed an influential theory. On the one hand, we want to fit in: we strive for connection, cohesiveness, community, belonging, inclusion, and affiliation with others. On the other hand, we want to stand out: we search for uniqueness, differentiation, and individuality.I’d like to use the following Venn diagram to demonstrate the uncommon commonalities:At its extreme, the most unique commonality is sharing DNA, and no surprise: it represents the strongest bond of all - family.Clarification - it is about PERCEIVED commonalities and uncommonnessLet’s not be fast to assume that everyone is on the same page when we speak of commonalities or uncommonness. In the context of this post, it is all about perceived commonalities and perceived uncommonness.If you and I have the same favorite book, then I’d like to chat with you not because of the book itself but because of the qualities of character and intellectual curiosity I would tend to attribute to you in advance. This is the essence of the benefits of similarity - it establishes a sort of a credit line of mutual trust and intellectual attraction.Every little preference and feature we have is a part of a larger story and a narrative of our lives.Levels of considering similarities between people:On which level do we judge our commonalities? Spiritual leaders teach us that we are all fundamentally the same. But day-to-day realities often divide us on petty issues. At the end of the day, it is a matter of how we perceive the world and people around us. If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then the similarity is in the head of the observer.The same goes for the attribute of uncommonness. What is old and familiar to one person might be unique and exciting to another. It is easy to overlook that we are very similar in many unique ways to the people around us.If bonding through commonalities is the key, how come the internet didn't fix everything?Wait… didn't the internet and social media help to establish millions of unique connections? For example, how about this subreddit:Do you love the letter G? I mean, really love the letter G? Share your pics of G's in the wild with like-minded enthusiasts. http://www.reddit.com/r/ggggg/These days everyone with an internet connection can find like-minded people who share their most idiosyncratic features. Why do so many of us struggle to find friends and build real relationships? It is not that the uncommon commonalities idea is fundamentally flawed, but the fact that we are missing another important dimension of looking at the problem. The medium of communication is an essential aspect of consideration here. The power and effectiveness of human connection are greatly diluted as we move from face-to-face to phone calls to text messages to group chats to online forums. This is why companies spend big bucks on guest speaker training for employees and executives instead of just screening pre-recorded videos.The global pandemic has pushed us to work remotely and stay isolated at home. We've been slowly moving online for decades now. It is difficult to appreciate the changes when they happen slowly. But when you have to suddenly self-isolate and go 100% online for a few months, you notice how things are different.According to the paper Internet Communication Versus Face-to-face Interaction in Quality of Life, the researchers from the Hong Kong University state the following:It was found that contrary to our expectation, Internet communication cannot predict quality of life while face-to-face communication with friends and family members can.In other words, digital communication in itself doesn't contribute much to our well being while face-to-face interaction does. We are diverse and have different needs, but the idea of fulfilling communication and human connection will resonate with everyone in a unique way.What makes in-person communication unique?What makes the modern 200 Mbps internet better from the dial-up of the old days? Well… the bandwidth, of course. So is the difference between face-to-face and digital communication.The bandwidth of in-person communication can be staggering. We may even leave out the words, and the mere silent presence can convey more than hours of calls or thousands of messages.The problem of underutilizationDo you know those internet plans where you have a monthly data allowance, and if you don't use it, then it all gets wasted? It is like that when we meet people but do small talk or stick to smartphone screens. It is like someone having an ultra-fast unlimited data plan but watching YouTube videos at 240p.Here is a little example of bringing more meaning and connectedness into our everyday lives:Why we read what we read is the question that can lead to social bonding. Don’t just say “I love reading” and stop at that. Isn’t it much more delightful and engaging to hear someone say a slightly expanded version like:The Obstacle?: It takes to be brave, it takes to be vulnerable.Sharing non-trivial things about yourself may feel uncomfortable for some of us. Expressing observations infused with personal perspectives may be outside of our comfort zones. But being brave (courage) is about how we act while being in a vulnerable position.Brave - ready to face and endure danger or pain; showing courage.Vulnerable - susceptible to physical or emotional attack or harm.Oxford English Dictionary.“Vulnerability is the birthplace of love, belonging, joy, courage, empathy, and creativity” — Brene Brown, 2012Psychology Today summarizes it this way:Be open to sharing what you feel and taking those risks when your sense of judgment tells you that the risk is well worth it.The childhood advantageAs we grow up, the circle of our friends usually dwindles. But it is not because kids are simply better at making friends than other age groups. They also struggle (often more so than adults) with fears, insecurities, and anti-social behavior. Psychologists recognize three requirements for making new friends:Proximity (this is due to factors like convenience, the mere exposure effect, the chances of actually meeting each other, etc.)Repeated, unplanned interactions (like at school, daycare, play dates, extracurricular activities, church, parents’ friends’ kids, etc.)A setting that allows or encourages people to open up and confide in each other.Do you see how adults are at a significant disadvantage here? Kids happen to go to the same local school (or other extracurricular activities), and experience repeated, unplanned interactions in an environment that (ideally) encourages them.Adults are programmed to keep work and personal matters separate, and due to busy schedules, any meet-ups need to be planned in advance. Everything in between is just getting from point A to point B.The takeawayThe way we make friends, build connections, and live emotionally fulfilling lives depends greatly on how we engage with the world around us. When we understand the importance of uncommon commonalities, face-to-face interactions, and vulnerability united with courage, we can start acting differently in our day-to-day lives.Be more present with people who surround you and avoid escaping into the digital abyss. Go beyond small talk and find the courage to show a vulnerable side. Identify and use the repeated, unplanned interactions that occur in your life to build new bonds.It is not just about making friends, but about working towards bringing more unity and connectedness to our lives.