The Future We Want?

What is written with Freedom today can be censored tomorrow making the "eraser" as mighty as the pen. Who ever controls the media controls people's minds. In the digital/A.I. age re-writing history may become as easy as asking an A.I., with the proper controls, to search and replace specific terminology with something else. 

This blog is using the blogger's backbone, for example, which is currently owned by Google who also owns Gemini... one bad decision is all it would take for this blog to be "cleansed" assuming, of course, it would require it.

We may also see the sort of technology capable of scanning someone's thoughts and arrest them for thinking negatively about the current regime - insuring total control.

Freedom of speech/thought is necessary to insure the growth of our specie. If we look at any country under a dictatorship, we can clearly see that one of the cost for obedience was progress.

We currently get to choose the sort of world that we want to live in. We need transparency, we need to elect political leaders with our best interest in mind, we need to be proactive about these issues. It's easier to prevent a technology to take over than it is to remove it once it's implemented.

A Teacher's Lesson

When my dad was younger he was misbehaving in school, as young boys often do, and was approached by a teacher who asked my dad the sort of questions that make you think differently about the situation. 

Without knowing it, that teacher changed my dad's life and ultimately shaped his parenting style. I vividly recall his questions/speeches that would make me think differently about the misbehaving situation I had gotten myself into. 

It helped shaped the sort of person I've ultimately become. I've always felt like I had an above average critical thinking skills and I have my dad to thank for this and his teacher.

Some of Socrates Thoughts on Democracy

“Why do we let just anyone vote? You wouldn’t choose a ship’s captain by popular vote, but by expertise.”

-Interpretation of Socrates/Plato

The issue with Democracy is that we chose leaders based on popularity rather than qualification. Additionally, the intelligent man has the same voting power as the idiot. When given the opportunity, we tend to not want to do effort and since being intelligent requires effort it means that, if (again) given the opportunity, we would rather not become intelligent. A parent that doesn't value education likely won't have kids that values it. Over time a threshold is reached where a political leader only needs to appeal to the idiot in order to gain power.

“The crowd rewards charm, not wisdom.”

-Interpretation of Socrates/Plato

A Democracy can only be maintained if we remain vigilant about who we choose. Socrates believed that it's not possible for the masses to make an informed decision about whom they pick. How else would a Democracy work? If voting is only reserved for the few then would the rest of the population accept the vote?

The Bigger The Decision The Bigger The Learning

“I have often marveled at the thin line which separates success from failure.”

-Ernest Shackleton

The decisions business owners have to make usually carry more weight than those of an employee and therefor they learn the most from them. Employees don't typically make major decisions, and the mistakes that may come from them, which hinders their ability for growth.

Generally speaking, business owners are better with their finances, for example, than employees because they better understand the impact money has - they've learned from the mistakes that they've made at work. Employees aren't generally given the opportunity to make such mistakes.

Since employees aren't learning much from the work itself, they need to find other ways for growth and that's usually through self-improvement on their own time - not doing so limits their potential over their lifetime.

Some subjects that are important to learn about about are Finance, Relationships, Communication, Leadership, Health... Pick a subject and go!

Big Red Button & Wisdom

"If we continue to accumulate only power and not wisdom, we will surely destroy ourselves."
-Carl Sagan

We live in a world where it's easier to kill a Billion people than to befriend them. Our ability to destroy far outweighs our ability, or patience, to see things from someone else's perspective for the purpose of making a friend. When we add to this that friendships we've built over decades can be destroyed in an instant... we're not setting ourselves up for long term survival success.

"Except for fools and madmen, everyone knows that nuclear war would be an unprecedented human catastrophe."
-Carl Sagan

A bomb has no other purpose than to explode - it's an accident waiting to happen. Stability today doesn't guarantee stability tomorrow. A good, responsible, government today doesn't guarantee one tomorrow yet they'll still have access to those bombs.

Technology is making things worse by controlling the direction of information. The authors have the ability to sway the populace which ever direction they chooses - usually to their advantage.

"The nuclear arms race is like two sworn enemies standing waist‑deep in gasoline, one with three matches, the other with five."
-Carl Sagan

Wisdom has become an obligation the moment we've started developing weapons capable of destroying our planet.

We Can Only Go Nuclear Once

"Full-scale nuclear war has never happened. Somehow this is taken to imply that it never will. But we can experience it only once."

-Carl Sagan (Cosmos)

Our destructive capabilities has grown at a faster rate than our overall growth. With great destructive abilities comes great responsibilities yet most people with access to the "big red button" today have questionable moralities.

Why build nuclear weapons if we never intend to use it? Why is the survival of the entire planet at the hands of a so few individuals? It's nothing short of an accident waiting to happen.

Nobody knows who will be the first to initiate the end of all things but it does feel like we've never been so close to finding out.

Putting the "Humanity" back in...

We've created a society that is making us sick; We work sitting, we eat junk, we isolate ourselves, we're exposed to toxic chemicals... 

To remedy the situation, we're offered various medication.

We don't need medication as much as we need to go back to the drawing board and build a society that better support the human condition instead of attempting to remove or make it sick. Who, for example, determined that it was acceptable to have toxic chemicals in our products? 

I shouldn't be required to read a food label to determined if the food is toxic or not...

We're so keen in removing humans from the equation that companies have replaced many of them with A.I.* even before it was ready for primetime. Efficiency and profit takes precedents over decency and health. 

We've reached a point where we need to ask ourselves what sort of future we want to live in as the one that's being proposed by our current society doesn't seem to want us in it.

*Yes, I understand the irony of using A.I. generated images while making this statement...

Clean Mind Clean House

 “Set your house in perfect order before you criticize the world.”

-Jordan B. Peterson

Organizing a room isn’t something that comes naturally to me. It’s not until I started reading on a regular basis that I’ve been able to figure out ways to organize my place better.
There's a connection between messy thoughts and messy rooms that I only found through reading: Organized thoughts makes organized houses. 

It starts from the inside out.

Our minds is like a pile of dirty laundry. With time and dedication we're able to understand it for what it is and sort pieces of it out.

When it comes to organizing a house, the same logic applies. We need to be able to analyze a place and set it up in a way that make sense based on the layout and the things we own. It needs to be setup in such a way that when we require an item in the future we know where to look for it. Books should be on the bookshelf, batteries should be in the box, clothes should be in the closet... each item has it's place and they'll be easier to find if grouped with similar items.

Time Will Tell

“Your habits will determine your future.” 

-Jack Canfield

In your early 20s you can't really tell who's following good principles and who isn't. We can't tell because we're all starting out at roughly the same spot: We're all young, full of energy fresh out of school and feeling invincible. 

Over time, our habits will define who we are.

Fast forward 10-20 years and you can see more clearly who has and who hasn't followed good finance/health/relationship... principles. If they continue on the same path they'll have similar result for the next 10-20 years as nothing will change unless they do. A quote related to this, often attributed to Albert Einstein, says "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results".

Those that don't live intentionally are more likely to end up somewhere they never wanted to be to begin with. Always set yourself small goals in any important areas of your life and work towards them.

Same Or Better

Almost 20 years ago now, I attended a leadership seminar where the speaker said we should always leave things the same or better than when we arrive. Since then, I've attempted to use the same strategy everywhere I go whether it be in an hotel, a hockey game or work - when I leave things are either the same or better than when I arrive.

Often this simply mean to clean up after yourself. Sometime it's about insuring that the project is in a better state when you left than when you came in. Before I leave somewhere I ask myself how I can leave the place the same or better than when I arrived?

If everybody did this the world would be a better place. I hate seeing piles of garbage after a show or chair not properly stored after an event. If everyone did a small part there wouldn't be a need for people to pick up after ourselves.

Expanding Our View

Years ago, I was working at a software company. I was sitting in the lounge, on one of my breaks, reading a book on Philosophy when the CEO walked in and asked "Why aren't you reading books on software?" to which I replied "Because there's more to life than software...". With a puzzled look on his face, he left.

Recently, I read the "A Thomas Jefferson Education" book by Oliver DeMille and was reminded of that interaction. In his book, Oliver DeMille argues that people today are highly trained but poorly educated which creates situations where people aren't aligned morally. This is partly the reason why morally bankrupt individuals have found support in some areas of the world.

"It is only he who has learned to like himself who can be generous and friendly with other persons." -Les Giblin

In order to live, what I would consider to be, a complete human experience one must be proficient in one area of his life while also be knowledgeable in other areas such as relationships, health, philosophy, politics, finances... To only focus on one area is to miss out on all others and the narrow view creates situations where your beliefs aren't being challenged which opens the doors to being taken advantage of.

Spend time learning about your area of expertise while also looking at other subjects.

Where It's Okay To Scream

My sister won lodge tickets to a hockey game and invited both my dad an I. We had an amazing view of the game and it was one of the best matches I had seen in a while.

While I'm not much of a sports fan, I realized that arenas are a great outlet for stress. Throughout the night, people screamed/cheer/booed at whatever was happening on the ice seemingly forgetting, for a brief moment, the troubles of their lives.

The more I got into the game, the less my troubles seemed to matter. As I was screaming/cheering, I felt a weight getting off of my shoulder.

If there's anger inside of you and you feel like screaming - go support one of your local sports teams (where these behaviours are usually encouraged). Obviously, remain polite as you let it all out.

Depression - Seek Professional Help

"The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven."

-John Milton

Depression is a black hole that sucks the life out of an otherwise healthy individual and his entourage. The sufferer knows that his mind is in darkness but is powerless to change. If left untreated, he may fall into addictions that will provide temporary relief while while also becoming its own problem.

"If you're going through hell, keep going."

-Winston Churchill

If life has become nothing more than a burden, day in and day out, to you then seek professional help. Therapy, medication and lifestyle changes can help heal your mind. While life has its dark moments it's not supposed to be all black all the time. There's sadness but there's also joy and you're meant to feel both not just one.

Fight it, conquer it and inspire others to do the same.

Where do YOU get Your Information From?

My immediate family is unanimously on the same page when it comes to politics and we're always so surprised when we meet someone who isn't. "What sort of information does that person listens to?" we wonder.

A better question would be what sort of information are WE listening to? Since we're all on the same page, I think we can reasonably assume that its because we're all listening to the same information. If we had different information, we would be thinking differently.

The media shapes our thoughts and its important that we tune in to proper sources of information. In the West, truth is under attack which means that it's becoming increasingly difficult to tune in to facts. Some argue that social media can help but it's mostly just noise made by people trying to live off of their content.
The "truth" is that there's no ultimate source of information that we can rely on for news. If we keep in mind that some of these news outlet just copy from each other, and copying a lie doesn't make it true, it is almost impossible to determine facts from fiction.
Looking for information at the source usually helps however the source can also be lying.

Listening to experts, on both sides of an argument, is still the best way to go for information on critical subjects.

20 years of Growth and Counting!

I recently came across communication from my early 20s with an ex girlfriend and it felt like that scene in Interstellar movie where the main character was behind the bookshelf trying to warn his past self. In an instant, I could see clearly the growth I went through in the almost 20 years since.

Growth is subtle, we can't really feel it day to day or year by year but it's quite a shock when looking back 20 years. I'm not who I used to be but I'm only better in areas that I have actively worked on during this time as weaknesses doesn't go away on their own.

If my 20s were version 1.0 of me then I'm now at version 1.3-1.5 ... just not quite at version 2.0. While I see improvement, there's still some of the same problems.

"Mastering one's future must surely start with managing one's self."

-Shad Helmstetter

Who will I be in 20 years?

Will looking back to this day, in 20 years, give me the same sort of feeling as I had looking back 20 years back from now? Growth is intentional - my hope is that I will look back and be thankful for the choices I made today.

Forgiveness To Move On

 

“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”

-Mahatma Gandhi A

The "strong" sometime ask for forgiveness even when they know they're right only because they want to bring the matter to a close. As a kid, I used to believe that adults knew everything and could do no wrong but now that I'm an adult I find that not only it isn't the case but many still think like children especially during heated arguments. 

Asking for forgiveness also comes easier, to a "strong" individual that is in the right, because there's an understanding that adults have internal battles that may be clouding the opponent's judgement at the time of the argument.

“A person cannot be a good protector of their country, a good avenger of wrongs, or a good defender of their friends if they are inclined toward pleasure.”

-Lucius Seneca

In Freedom We Are The Problem

I don't believe that the last American election was rigged. I believe 77 million Americans wanted a convicted felon, that said such things as "I will be a Dictator for one day", to represent them. 

All over the world there is a growing frustration with "the cost of living" and we are blaming Governments for this problem. The perceived solution is to remove the current form of Government to replace it with one that won't make the same mistakes. 

It's not wrong to want changes but the Government isn't to blame.

If the Government was your spouse and they cheated on you... you would want to get rid of them. The issue is, in the case of a Government with freedoms and Rights, that in every and all instances where this sort of change happened the subsequent Government was always worse. It's a little bit like leaving your cheating spouse and then start dating someone that cheats AND is abusive.

Living in a country with freedoms and the right to vote means that WE get to pick who will be the representing our country. Since WE pick them, WE are responsible for the successes and failures of the of party.

In a free country, the Government is a representation of its people. The Government didn't create the problem as much as we told them to do it. Every year, millions of dollars is spent trying to figure out what WE want from our Government and what WE want is more spending. This information is used to create future campaign promises and we vote for them.

In a free country, the solution isn't to change the form of Government when things are bad but to change what WE THE PEOPLE want from our Government. We've reach a point now where we need to stop asking for "free stuff" and instead look at balancing the budget and get us out of all this debt.

Whether it be a Federal Presidential Republic (USA), a Liberal Democracy (Canada) or any other form of Government where the people have a voice is the best form of Government.

College Talking Points

Some people go to college not because they want to but because they feel they have to. What they really want is the money tied to the career and not the career itself.

When I was in college, I recall instances of people talking about how fed up they were about the subject they were studying. I didn't realize it at the time, but choosing a college degree is committing to make the subject the main area of your life for decades to come. If you don't like talking about it, while you're learning about it, then what are the chances that you're going to enjoy it as a career? It's definitely not going to be the last time the subject is brought up!

Don't rush into a career you're not really passionate about. Don't feel bad about taking a sabbatical, work a few jobs, before committing to a subject.

Tariffs and New Beginnings

The War on Tariffs will bring changes to the Canadian working landscape. Now, more than ever, is the time to re-imagine ourselves in order to face the challenges ahead of us. To some, this will mean a career change.

"We don't control where we start our journeys, but we do control what we do once we've started. The goal is to take what we've been given and do the most we can with it."
-Chris Brady/Orrin Woodward

It's never too late to re-invent ourselves. We have to do what we must to thrive in this new, uncertain, economy.

Survival mode activated...

Hold off on big purchases as this isn't the time to get into unnecessary debt. If you don't need that new vehicle then wait until such time as a degree of stability has returned.

No one knows what tomorrow will brings but we know for a fact that things are not as stable as they used to be. 

Prepare in consequence.

CEO's Situation Isn't The Same as An Employee

CEOs are quick to point out when they "work on weekends" or "don't take vacations" or "do 16 hour days" somehow thinking this is the path to become a CEO or what any employee should be doing. What they fail to understand is:

• CEO build their dreams while their employees have their own goals or lack thereof. Whether it be consciously or unconsciously, an employee knows when he's building someone else's dream versus his own and act in accordance.
• CEO's paycheck is generally disproportionately higher than most other employees and tied to the company's overall performance creating an incentive not usually shared with employees.
• To some, there's more to life than work.
• When an employee goes above and beyond he's usually rewarded with more work rather than a promotion.

How does someone become a CEO?

Whoever creates their own business or change jobs whenever a higher position is available, at a different company, has a higher chance of becoming a CEO than the person that remained within the same company trying to climb the corporate ladder. The reason why "working harder than anyone else" doesn't usually work is because there's too much competition; everyone else is fighting for the same promotions within the company. 

If a different company has an opening for a higher position, it means they've already looked internally and don't feel anyone is qualified to do it.

"Work smarter" is something that seems to be shared quite often nowadays which, to me at least, means do what you're supposed to do at work without sacrificing your wellbeing.