Tuesday 10 June 2003

Pic of the day: Lifestyle of the rich and famous? (Screenshot from The Sims.)

Who's who, and who am I?

A few weeks ago, I got an amusing spam. It was from someone claiming to represent "Who's Who Historical Society". They wanted some biographical data for the next "Who's Who of professionals". Needless to say, I gave this only the briefest of attention before deleting. How dumb do they think people are?

Today I got another mail on the same topic. But unlike most spam, it was not the same mail with another (spoofed) sender address. No, it was a follow-up to the first mail. Brace yourself, dear readers, and don't drink while reading.

"Dear Magnus Itland,
Several weeks ago we sent you notice that you have been selected as a candidate for the coming edition of International Who’s Who of Professionals. However, we have not received your biographical data form and our publishing deadline is nearing.
International Who’s Who of Professionals is the definitive worldwide directory of professionals. It is published by the Who’s Who Historical Society, which has been recognizing significant achievers in business, education, public service, and technology since 1928.
It is an honor to be proposed for admission to Who’s Who and there is no fee associated with your listing."

***

You know, normally you do something to deserve honor. Something honorable, I guess. Perhaps, I thought, the intended audience were people who thought that they deserved honor by default. Well, as I this time read to the end, I found the reason. "This message is brought to you as a registered user or subscriber to Economist.com."

So, err, I am being recognized as a significant achiever in economy? That is just so ... trippy, I guess. Don't I wish. But the sad truth is that these people don't know my profession, nor do you (unless you know me fairly well in the flesh). And so far my attempts to save the world economy has met with only the most moderate success, as people don't believe me until it is too late. (For instance now I tell you that the home property boom shall and must be reversed, and people with heavy borrowing against property are in hot water. Let's check again in a couple years and see what happened, hmm?)

Or perhaps I am recognized for my significant achievements in online role playing games? My overly defensive paladin hit 49 today! W00t! Err, I think the "who's who" of overly defensive paladins has a somewhat more limited circulation. And my main claim to fame as regards The Sims is accidentally teaching some gay player that Sims of the same sex can indeed fall in love, with a little nudge at least. Instant Shounen-Ai!

My significant achievements within literature include only the most family-friendly of Shounen-Ai, however. And my other pieces of fiction fare no better. Writing half-finished stories somehow seems to be regarded as less than outstanding by literary critics as well as the average reader. I guess writing a verbose journal for 5 years is an achievement of sorts, but diaries don't have much of a position in literature. Well, not unless they are very tragic or very comic.

Perhaps my significant achievements in philosophy, where I have discovered that the unique thing about humans is that we can think before we speak. (Not that we necessarily do that very much.) And the unique thing about philosophers is that we can think even more before we speak. And the unique thing about autism is that you think but you cannot speak. So, philosophy is about leaning as far as possible into the gravity well of your mind, without falling in. That's why philosophy is so loopy too: It has gone round and round inside the philosopher's head.

***

No, the prosaic explanation is that The Economist is not your average magazine. It is written for economists, obviously, but also for business leaders, politicians and others who need an objective, fact-based view on world events. Realistic to the border of cynicism, global, impartial. No dumbing down to please the masses. Small wonder they use this magazine as a starting point for the "Who's Who of professionals".

And of course, the target group being what it is, most of them probably believe they deserve any honor they could get. While I am surely not the only one who reads The Economist for the love of knowledge and insight alone, I suspect I am in a distinct minority. As usual. And perhaps that is my only significant achievement: To dedicate my life to the love of insight.