We are Wired to Connect: Privacy, Transparency & Hope

Speaker 1

Ally Isom is a business and community leader and Republican candidate in Utah for the United States Senate. She held various posts in state government, including Deputy Chief of Staff and spokesperson for Governor Gary Herbert, worked at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in public affairs, communication, and branding. Then moved to the private sector as Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer and eventually acting executive officer for EVŌQ Nano. Ally and her husband, Eric, have four children and five grandchildren. Ally enjoys riding, hiking, cooking, and mole poblano, preferably on a beach with a good read. Thanks, Ally.

Ally Isom

Thank you, Carl. It’s great to be with you today. I really appreciate it. And I’m going to juggle just a little bit here with the way we have this set up. Okay.

Ally Isom

Who knew that a microscopic little thing like SARS-CoV-2 Or the coronavirus could wreak such havoc on our world. Economies set back, schools closed, travel prohibited, but one of the biggest impacts of all, our authentic connection as human beings. We were confined to home. School went online. Work went online. Even worship went online. And at first, the introvert in me, I relished my little COVID cocoon, especially the Lycra wardrobe part of it. And over time, physical isolation starts to take a toll, even on the most introverted, but especially for those who thrive around other humans. We started to realize how much we really need each other.

Ally Isom

And neuroscience tells us our brains are wired to connect with others. In conversation, pathways light up our brain. Let me try this. They light up our brain, mirroring the other person’s emotions and behavior. I believe we made connections before this world began. And our connections are the one thing we take with us when we depart mortality. It’s one of our greatest human needs, and it’s essential for our growth.

Ally Isom

And aside from my own experiences, there’s a growing body of social science research on the power of connection, whether it’s our declining lifespan-- hitting the wrong button again. She has technology issues. She’s in the right place. Okay.

Ally Isom

Whether it’s our declining lifespan, civic discord, partisan tribalism, political polarity, epidemic loneliness, substance abuse, self-harm, suicidality, anxiety, depression, addiction, the education gap, the achievement gap, the wage gap, the gender gap. Study after study after study tells us the antidote is connection. Put simply, connection restores hope, and there’s more than 150 studies that conclude that connection strengthens our immune system and lengthens our lives.

Ally Isom

People with a profound sense of spiritual connection are more gracious and compassionate. They flourish and savor life. Children who are more connected to family learn higher order skills that better equip them to face the challenges of our world. And volunteers, known as cuddlers in the NICU, reduce infant pain and stress and promote brain development and healing with very simple human connection. Interestingly, rats go from 100% chemical overdose when they are isolated to 0% overdose when they have connected lives.

Ally Isom

So connection. Call it cuddling, call it a relationship or being in tune, in touch, or aligned, or belonging, knowing, loving. At its core, it’s all connection. So let me add one more.

Ally Isom

People who experience trauma and then seek connection demonstrate greater grit and resilience. Let me repeat that. People who experience trauma and then seek connection demonstrate greater grit and resilience.

Ally Isom

We’ve all been a little traumatized during this global pandemic. People increasingly throughout our world and especially in this nation feel disconnected, unseen, unheard, and unvalued. I’ve heard that sentiment across the political spectrum and across this state. So if you take one thing from my brief remarks today, I hope it is this; as we come out of this pandemic, if we seek connection individually and collectively, now, today, we will better be equipped to face the next big challenge and the next one and the next one. We will resist what has become the paralyzing grip of fear, uncertainty, distrust, and hopelessness. What the world needs now is real, meaningful, and lasting connection. I know you’re all humming the song.

Ally Isom

Now, in the context of technology, there are some who say authentic connection is not attainable through digital relationships. That your Facebook friends are anything but real friends. None of you are on Facebook, right? Okay, that may be easy to assume, especially if one enjoys the gamified or financially lucrative aspect of accumulating friends and followers. Recently, one online influencer greeted her phone with, hey guys. And then she revealed something sensitive about her child with thousands of followers who don’t even know that child’s name. I would assert that is not real or meaningful connection.

Ally Isom

And yet, for a meaningful number of people, online relationships can be just as real as the ones formed face-to-face. Moreover, I might argue that my real relationships are actually enhanced because I now stay connected via digital platforms. Simply due to life’s patterns and activities, our lives crisscross more often online than they do in real life. So I’m aware when they welcome a new child or they say goodbye to an aging parent. They share highlights and lowlights, and when we are being honest, we all seem to realize how very human we are.

Ally Isom

Now, what are the trade-offs to that kind of intimacy? Due to time constraints-- I'm not even sure where I am. Okay, due to time constraints of this brief encounter today, I want to leave you with a series of questions.

Ally Isom

Do we surrender privacy when we log on? Is anything truly private online anymore? Should it be? How much regulation should there be? How accountable should tech companies be for protecting your privacy and personal information? Has surveillance-based advertising gone too far?

Ally Isom

Are alternatives like the search engine giant-- alternatives to search engine giant companies like DuckDuckGo with its 3% market share and user base of 30 million people, is that proof that companies can succeed without surveilling users for advertising profit?

Ally Isom

When does a fact checker become a fact blocker? Do we fully understand the scale and scope of misinformation? Do we have an accurate read to know that in this digital age, there’s a trade-off between privacy and free speech. Who has reliable data, truly reliable data? And will Web3 change this conversation in a meaningful way?

Ally Isom

Does cryptocurrency free us from the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy or flatten existing power structures? Or does it create new ones? In the public policy arena, I wrestle with these and other complicated questions, but I do so with hope, and let me tell you why.

Ally Isom

Since I officially filed to run for office in the U.S. Senate, I’ve walked with everyday Utahns in 90 communities, and there are amazing people doing amazing things. If you want your hope restored in humankind, turn off the TV and the computer and go spend time with your fellow humans. I ask people what matters most to them. We connect in meaningful ways.

Ally Isom

I have every confidence that humans can solve the toughest issues because we have. And humans can weather the worst storms because we have. Humans come up with some pretty incredible ideas. I mean, really, it’s amazing what we’ve done with this planet, but also to this planet. I think we have some responsibility going forward. At the most basic level, we all know we need each other. We know that.

Ally Isom

I’ll close with an experience from earlier this week. We have a family of five from Ukraine living with us as war rages in their homeland. They came seeking refuge and peace. Their 12-year-old son was seated in my kitchen counter playing a video game on the phone, earbuds in, speaking Russian. I was intrigued. With whom was he speaking? Had he found someone in school that also speaks Russian? You know, I was thinking, how great, he’s making friends. When he finished, we asked who was on the phone, a friend? He responded he was playing an online game with a boy who lives in Russia. Imagine two boys playing games from the opposite sides of the world, opposite sides of a real life war. And then he added, "That boy’s father died two weeks ago, fighting in Ukraine." And suddenly, the gravity of what is happening in my home hit me hard.

Ally Isom

It’s so easy to consider the bleak realities of our global dynamics and feel hopeless, as if global war is inevitable. But in that moment, I was struck by the symbolism of two boys worlds away, one left homeless and the other one fatherless by a common conflict. Two boys found each other, used a common language, found a way to connect, and for a moment forgot all the heaviness surrounding them and just enjoyed a game. Because of that connection, somehow I felt a flicker of hope, a divine hope.

Ally Isom

Isaiah 40:31 reads, "But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint."

Ally Isom

Deep down, we truly are wired to connect. And when we do, we keep moving forward with strength and resolve. And as we navigate our world and its complexities today, may we never grow weary in pursuing true connection with each other and the divine source of light and truth, the truest source of infinite hope. Thank you for your time.