Just Because You’re Not Worried…
A business associate of ours was keen on the expression, “Just because you’re not worried, doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you”.
Sean and I always admonished him for his obdurate pessimism – but also listened and watched. While not a predictive comment, his offered the cautionary point of view. Just as “Trust but verify” offers. Be aware. Be wary. Simple tools, easy to apply.
You know of my eternal optimism. Certainly, a lesson from my mother. Also, a lesson from my reading. You also know that I am a voracious reader. And writer. I love the design and workings of wordcraft. Let’s try to apply it here.
We are in the midst of a global pandemic – of peace and prosperity.(1) As this virus infects more people, it should spread. This may encourage more constructive views -of economies, leadership, problem solving, personal views of the future. Or so the optimistic John wishes.
The pessimist is concerned. Intelligence is being relegated to machines, to AI, to networks. Stimulation is easily aroused with a quick answer to a tough question. If ‘the man behind the curtain’ of my phone is asked, he will respond. He can get smarmy too; try Grok. Yet he is limited in the manner his search functions work. We can easily become limited by the speed of his response time. We may stop searching. We may accept the headline as fact. We may fail to distinguish between opinion, research and established fact. (2) See Copernicus, Piltdown Man, the Scopes trial, Lysenko, trans, CC, etc.
Herer’s my concern. Few kids today are taught how to question. It seems they are often taught what to think rather than how to think. As a Catholic prep high school student, I was taught, rigorously, how to think. Question. Ask. Dig deeper. Enjoy the process. I don’t hear much of this today – from kids or educators. Too busy. Too distracted. If you accept, you are easily controlled. If you don’t know how to question authority – any authority - you become a cog in the machine.
The little wizard in our phones, and each of us, is easily subsumed beneath this wave of instant information. Information is not knowledge. Yet this is exactly how we are being trained. Who researches an article they read today? Who digs to find and read the sources for this information? Who then questions the journalist, his sourcing process and the ‘backstory’? Who reads other points of view? Who then offers a reasonable answer quoting sources?
My cautionary self has a problem. We are more educated and less informed. Immediate stimulation and gratification are rampant. These little black boxes in everyone’s hand today are amazingly powerful. Amazing resourceful. Amazingly ignorant. They simply look up words and answers. Despite the promise of AI, they do not think, nor will they ever. They are brilliant pebbles, nothing more. I may be insulting pebbles!
And we have become amazingly dependent upon them for information. Knowledge? Experience? Nothing there. They can find virtually any answer to any question you might ask.’ Virtually find’ is my issue. Reference points are missing. Other points of view? No. Contrary thought. Basic research. None. (3)
Each of us has reference points. Who, what, how we know and how we learn. These reference points also define us. Cogito, ergo sum: “I think, therefore, I am”. The black boxes have nothing of the sort – unless preprogrammed by their masters. That’s another story for another time…
Interrogatio ergo cogito: ergo sum. Question. Think. Learn.
Eat wisely
Sleep well
Love With Abandon!