Occasionally I receive electronic messages that are so insincere they might as well have been scripted by a robot. These messages make all the right noises but tend to be over reliant on clichéd phraseology and gratuitously garnished with what the sender believes to be the latest buzz words – synergy, stakeholder, leverage, neuro – the list is long. I have lost count of the number of times that I’ve been “cordially” invited to x, or given a “gentle” reminder about y. This latter phrase, gentle reminder, hints rather menacingly that the sender is perhaps also capable of more brutal reminders.
I call this insincere, convention-bound, style of communicating “corporate cant”. The historian Ben Wilson describes cant as a four-letter word that has all but faded from the English language. But it originated from the Norman French for chanting, meaning a type of formulaic speech used to mask the absence of genuine devotion. Cant is decorum without sincerity. It is jargon masquerading as substance. Cant is well choreographed verbiage bereft of authenticity. The word may not have survived but the practice is thriving and is perfectly suited to our increasingly digitised existence.
At the start of Ramadan each year, I receive numerous text messages wishing me things like: “Choicest blessings on the auspicious occasion of Ramadan”. These are obviously “one size fits all” messages sent to all the contacts in the sender’s address book. Rather than respond directly to the sender’s greeting, I suspect many of the recipients probably just, in turn, group-text their own generic Ramadan messages.
We have to question the value of such shallow digitised greetings. Are we really wishing each other well? How much heart and soul is involved in such effortless cut and paste, bulk communication? It’s easy to imagine a future where we pre-program our phones with the following instruction: If Date = Dec 25 send “wishing you the sincerest seasons greetings” to contact group = “friends and family”. What would that really mean to the recipients of such thoughtless preprogrammed messages?
Worse than thoughtless friends, however, are thoughtful corporations. These faceless commercial entities carefully craft cant-filled communications that market their brands under the diaphanous pretext of wishing us a blessed Ramadan, Eid, Christmas or Hanukkah. I think I now get more good wishes from businesses than from friends and family.
Digital communications are fuelling insincerity. Many of us who use social networks such as Instagram, snapchat and Facebook engage in a type of cyber-posturing designed to make us appear cooler, quirkier, happier than we really are. “OMG the weekend was bliss, wondering if I can recover in time for round two (smiley face, winking)”. Then we have “celebrity” tweets, which are meant to be the uncensored musings of the fabulously famous when in reality they are often no more than the carefully crafted sound bites of a public relations team.
The full spectrum of deceit is flourishing in our digital world – from the culture of cant to new virulent strains of cyber criminality. One explanation for the rise of cant is that current communication technology makes it easier for us to be insincere.
Decades of research in social psychology show that lying to a person’s face is much harder than lying over the phone or by email. One study titled, The finer points of lying online: E-mail versus pen and paper, tested the idea and found that the lie rate by email was 50 per cent higher. Perhaps when we digitise we also depersonalise or dehumanise?
But what to do with those bulk-sent Ramadan blessings messages that will soon fill my inbox? This year I have decided to respond to each generic group-sent message with a very detailed, personalised and well meant greeting. It takes time, I know, but people are worth it.
Dr Justin Thomas is an associate professor of psychology at Zayed University
On Twitter: @DrJustinThomas
BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
MEDIEVIL%20(1998)
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDeveloper%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20SCE%20Studio%20Cambridge%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPublisher%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Sony%20Computer%20Entertainment%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EConsole%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20PlayStation%2C%20PlayStation%204%20and%205%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
Rating: 3/5
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Key findings
- Over a period of seven years, a team of scientists analysed dietary data from 50,000 North American adults.
- Eating one or two meals a day was associated with a relative decrease in BMI, compared with three meals. Snacks count as a meal. Likewise, participants who ate more than three meals a day experienced an increase in BMI: the more meals a day, the greater the increase.
- People who ate breakfast experienced a relative decrease in their BMI compared with “breakfast-skippers”.
- Those who turned the eating day on its head to make breakfast the biggest meal of the day, did even better.
- But scrapping dinner altogether gave the best results. The study found that the BMI of subjects who had a long overnight fast (of 18 hours or more) decreased when compared even with those who had a medium overnight fast, of between 12 and 17 hours.
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
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Honeymoonish
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THE%20SPECS
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Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion
The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".
The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.
He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.
"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.
As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.