The 3rd Ingredient: The Journey of Analog Ethics into the World of Digital Fear and Greed

by Jim Blasingame

This isn't a how-to business book, but it is a book every business person should read. Sitting here on our 21st century perch, where we've compounded Moore's Law into talking paint, you and I can be forgiven for thinking we're pretty smart. But we're approaching an intersection that will challenge us as never before. Humans have always been, and will always be, physical, analog beings. Fortunately, for 10,000 years we've advanced in a compatible, analog world, including assembling a thick catalog of ethical standards. But for the first time in history, contemporary humans are being called upon to reconcile our analog nature including ethics against forces of the world that are increasingly powered by digital leverage. This is a book of stories, with characters who will be our ethical proxies as we make the passage from our analog past to a once-and-future digital reality. The setting of each episode deals with challenges that illuminate the relationship between the ethics of that period and humanity's two, eternally primal Fear and Greed. And as we race, hell-bent-for-light-speed into the ever-more-digital 21st Century, there's the rub. As our fellow travelers approach and enter that intersection where the analog ethics that got us here are being increasingly challenged the digital universe will rudely, and without any due respect, demand answers to such questions What ethical force will humans use to govern digital Fear and Greed? What will digital Trust look like? Finding and becoming devoted to these answers is our ultimate quest to discover The 3rd Ingredient. Throughout the book, standing in judgment of each ethical player, guided only by your own values and devotion to the unenforceable, beware, lest the glass in the window you're looking through turns into a mirror.

314 pages, Hardcover

Published April 1, 2018

About the author

Jim Blasingame is one of the world’s foremost experts on small business and entrepreneurship, and was ranked as the #1 small business expert in the world by Google. President and founder of Small Business Network, Inc., Jim is the creator and award-winning host of The Small Business Advocate® Show, nationally syndicated since 1997. As a high-energy keynote speaker, Jim talks to small business audiences about how to compete in the 21st century global marketplace, and he talks with large companies about how to speak small business as a second language. A syndicated columnist and the author of three books, including "Small Business Is Like a Bunch of Bananas" and "Three Minutes to Success", which have sold almost 100,000 copies combined; his third book, "The Age of the Customer", will be launching on January 27, 2014.

Reviews

[John]

Not on Libby

[Charlene Burke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Are We Prepared For Commerce In the Near Future?

Artificial Intelligence is here. It is a part of the US Military - drones. It is a part of our entertainment - from offering customized recommendations on Friday night movies (as in the case of Netflix) to delivering sports match highlights during live TV coverage. It is in our healthcare at the basic level of monitoring and alerting and brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) backed by artificial intelligence could restore those fundamental experiences to those who feared them lost forever. It is in our communication - social media is a playground for bot creators, and while it really isn't AI just yet, we are fast approaching a time when the bot sequence (messaging sequence in response to an inquiry or keyword or phrase) will learn from each encounter with a human and be able to make a decision about how to engage further with the human. It is in our financial districts - used to predict moves in the stock market. It is the search engine of the internet, Google - creating and refining semantic. At this point, to most of us, it appears that AI is being used at the basic level, with some applications allowing for decision making and learning as each encounter is recorded and analyzed by the computer program (think self-driving cars). More importantly, I believe it is vital that we understand that there is no Standard of Ethics being used by the creators, the makers, of AI programs.

Which is why I am so glad that Jim Blasingame wrote The 3rd Ingredient, The Journey of Analog Ethics into the World of Digital Fear and Greed. He is concerned about the ethics of the makers of AI and the users - not the ethics of the program itself (though that is an idea being explored by others), and is concerned about you and me as the partner/user. His unique style of telling the history of commerce between humans, the development of trust, and setting of standards for commerce helped me to visualize the intangibles of Faith, Trust, and Ethics. Until recently in our human history, each transaction in commerce occurred between humans. We could 'read' the other person's body language, we could discern whether or not we were dealing with someone who 'spoke our language' in terms of culture and experiences, while trusting ourselves to know whether or not they were shysters or simply experienced negotiators. As time passes, we are able to adjust to the introduction of new ways of completing transactions and new monetary offerings.

Now add digital communications and commerce. There is a level of unease and distrust among the general population and it is based on the 'not knowing' if their information is safe in the realm of Privacy. Humans bring their analog selves - their emotions, their experiences, their knowledge - to the interaction, while AI and computer programs bring only the facts and cold Do This/Do That/If This/Then That. Here's the rub...we humans are currently changing our views on the use of AI and how we interact with it, dangerously close to leaving our analog ethics behind. We are adjusting to the Digital World, not making the Digital World adjust to us. What does the new world look like? The world of Humans with Digital Ethics? Jim answers that question while offering up the knowledge that we humans still have control of how we develop our Digital Ethics.

The book is an excellent starting point for discussions between makers and programmers and users. And a reminder that we humans need to be vigilant in our understanding of the world beyond our individual experiences, because it is we who are in control today and that means we are the ones who determine our future.

[Rick Hann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ethical business practices, and more importantly the impact of digital leverage on business ethics in today's world, is a critically important commitment to the long-term success of any enterprise.
Jim Blasingame does an amazing job of treating a complex (and most often painfully dry) subject in a way that is engaging and enjoyable to read. He uses short stories to transport the reader from the dawn of doing business, to our current state and possible future scenarios. Using these well-told stories with real-world examples, Jim illustrates the dramatic impact that doing business in a digital world can have on trust and maintaining its fragile balance with fear and greed.
The messages here are powerful, thought-provoking, and frankly slightly scary in predicting exactly what we're up against with digital amplification driving our on-line world.

[Blake Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely captivating! Blasingame artfully gives an easy to understand history of economics through entertaining short stories. Very entertaining yet thought provoking at the same time. This was probably the first non-fiction, business-related book that I couldn't put down like I was in the climax of a mystery thriller novel. Highly recommend to anyone interested in the future of economics and business technology & environment.