Another Perspective Awakened in a Society Where 'Being Able to Do It' Is Taken for Granted

Improving literacy is just a matter of personal effort and awareness, right?

Well, that is certainly true, but... I realized something very important just before that point, and I want to write it down here.

In today's society, the convenience of many things has increased. That's fine. It's fine, but... especially with various web tools, we have recently become a society where 'too many assumptions are left unexplained'.

Along with that, I feel that the 'atmosphere where you shouldn't ask anyone for an explanation' has become stronger than the act of saying 'I don't know,' and I've noticed this while feeling that more and more people are being 'left behind' by society.

The quietly growing number of those 'left behind'

From a young age, I was the type to try and assemble plastic models without reading the instructions, and I was someone who rarely looked at instruction manuals for audio equipment or TV-related products.

But recently, even when I buy a computer or smartphone, I am often bewildered by the fact that the 'instruction manual' booklet itself no longer exists.

A society where there are no manuals and even if you look online it's hard to understand... that is becoming the norm... and now, I am seeing a rapid increase in situations where I feel the harshness rather than just loneliness.

Applying for or renewing a My Number card
Various procedures on smartphones or computers
Arranging transportation or applying for visas, etc...

Most of it is digitized, but all that comes across from the device screen is the atmosphere that 'you should be able to do at least this much.'
Not knowing = your own responsibility.
When specifications or operations change, they just announce it and say, 'Please figure it out for yourselves.'

When this happens, things that are not originally issues of ability or intelligence end up being branded as 'people who can't keep up' before you know it.
Even for myself, who could do most things without a manual, the anxiety that my literacy for adapting to information necessary for daily life is definitely declining has been growing.

If people, regardless of age, continue to feel anxious about operating devices and the internet, then this is a society that needs something like a 'Web Tool Caregiver.'

The 'care' I'm talking about here is... a companion who is good at encouragement, who will check with you 'where you are walking now' and 'what you should look at' when the signs on the road you are walking on suddenly change to a foreign language, even though you have the strength to walk on your own.

Ultimately, so that you can walk your own path on your own...
Operating it yourself, checking it yourself, and judging it yourself.

It would be a real help if there were someone there to translate and organize things with me until that judgment becomes appropriate.

The essence of literacy taught by AI

In the world, it tends to be assumed that being 'young,' 'accustomed to it,' or 'able to learn by touching it' means having high literacy, but that is not the essence of it.

This is something I was struck by the other day when I had ChatGPT 'accompany' me in dealing with changes to Gmail's specifications.

While I was struggling, I wrote, 'I'm sorry for my low literacy. Thank you for dealing with such questions,' and what came back was...

Before I could even think, 'Huh?', they continued by saying this.

This response gave me a huge amount of courage, though ^^;

What is necessary for literacy is not the speed of grasping things to find a solution.
Rather, it is the power to stop and pause instead of leaving your 'unknowing self' as it is!

'Where exactly do I not understand right now?'
'What do I need to know to reach the environment I desire?'
If you can put this into words, then ChatGPT or generative AI will provide some kind of guidance.

That attitude is surprisingly the same as the stance our company takes when we accompany client businesses to improve the quality of their value-creation process.

Don't leave them behind / Don't make them feel stupid / Don't rush them / But don't make them dependent / Seriously look at the same future / Don't forget to stay positive even in difficult situations

Through this, the business owner who is the client themselves will
・Not leave thinking to others
・Not lower the quality of their judgment
・Move forward on their own
We work together to organize the 'design of thinking' for that purpose.
Because it is a stance that inspires them toward 'business management where they don't make mistakes in how they work hard' while repeating dialogues from such a position...

While it is difficult to measure this in terms of cost-effectiveness that immediately turns into numbers, clients understand that it is a necessary investment to reduce wrong judgments and mental stagnation.

In other words, a supportive stance is close to 'support that does not damage dignity.'
It is a way of engaging that allows them to move forward toward the future without denying the current situation where they cannot do something.

Therefore, unfortunately, I cannot face business owners who only care about making money and lack the subjectivity of 'what do I want to do.'

A society where you cannot say 'I can't' is exhausting

Now, with this newly discovered perspective, there is something I feel again.

'I don't understand this'
'I am not good at this'
'I don't want to do this'

I strongly feel the need for a society where people can say these things without worrying about the eyes of others, and where many people can mutually accept them.

But instead, having a quiet core of 'actually, this is what I want to do' is naturally expected of everyone.
This might actually be strict as something asked of each individual.

Even so.
'I can do this'
'I am good at this'
A society that forces you to only promote these things will definitely exhaust both yourself and those around you.

If it's something you genuinely love, that's fine, but outside of freelance-style sole proprietorships, such people are extremely rare in today's society, and the majority of corporate employees are exhausted.

Being pushed work with a smile, saying, 'You're good at this, right?', and the economic cycle that revolves around meeting those expectations... that is nothing more than the price of distorted effort, always worrying about what others think.

No wonder children start saying that 'working equals enduring to earn money'... because we adults only show them that kind of back.

What do I want to do?
Actually, what do I not want to do?

A society that cannot voice these two things is, no matter how you look at it, distorted.
My hypothesis this time is that the more clearly people can say 'what I want to do' and 'what I don't want to do,' the less likely they are to use generative AI incorrectly or become slaves to AI.

I want to organize the situation I'm struggling with.
I want to understand what needs to be solved structurally and just move forward.
But I use it not to get answers, but to untangle my own thoughts.

That was the realization that ChatGPT can actually walk alongside you properly.
If you make AI a 'teacher' to seek answers, you abandon the process of touching the structure of problem-solving, which is a waste.
Of course, the same applies if that companion is a person rather than generative AI.

And rather than rushing to provide the correct answer, enjoying the process of improving its quality naturally increases the resolution of 'what I really want to do'.

And the moment that resolution increases is something everyone should have originally possessed as an exciting experience in childhood.

Before school, when we were absorbed in making something in a sandbox or building a secret base, it was a series of endless trial and error, asking, 'How can I make this more fun?'
Back then, we would calmly assert, 'I want to do this, but I won't do that'.

I think the literacy to live true to oneself has actually been inside everyone all along.
As long as there is 'space for yourself' to remember it.

<Reference: Related Column>

Backstage, Inc.
Culture Formation Designer
Yoshinori Kawai

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