I’ve always held a tension with academia.

I respect the incredible amount of work they do to push the boundaries of knowledge. The people participating in this field are well read and well learned.

They have taken their lived experience of the world and critically reflecting on it and dissecting its parts. There’s never an acceptance for “that’s just the way it is.”

Where I am dismayed is when observations never progress beyond the initial thesis that got them into their field. I’ve seen some professors arguing and complaining about the same topics…. with the exact same arguments… for decades without any semblance the lived experience of the world has moved on.

I equate this to a coach using the same playbook and training for twenty years, wondering why their team keeps getting defeated.

This dichotomy of observing vs. lived experience is trickling down into our mainstream arguments – especially technology.

There are those who feel a complete distance from technology is the most appropriate response and others who embrace it with the assumption this is where the world is leading anyway. The New York Times just ran two pieces on why one person doesn’t respond to email, followed by an opinion piece of why not checking email makes you a horrible person.

Unfortunately, we can get caught up in an argument about one or the other without considering how both work together.

You need people living that experience and you need people observing it. If the two work together, then we have a true understanding of how to move forward.

Both need to learn from each other and if both are willing to listen, they will both become stronger people.