Halloween—why would someone do this to a child

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I was gathering our mail from the mail kiosk at the townhouse complex we live in. As I pulled up, I noticed what looked like parents taking their small children trick or treating. All the children and the parents were dressed up and the townhouse was decorated with the traditional unfriendly decor.

All the attention seemed to be on a small child dressed in a black outfit with tiny yellow ears. I could only see his back. This child was obviously very unhappy and it seemed like the parents were trying to coax the child into the house as they all seemed to be friends. The child would not go. The man who answered the door was dressed as a pirate. He bent down to make a friendly gesture to the child and ease his fears. Then he squatted down to be level with the child. By now, a young girl, slightly older than the scared child, dressed in a blue princess or fairy costume, came out and was rubbing the back of the younger one.

It was a no go for the little one. The pirate man began, one by one, to take off some of his outfit, checking along the way, as if to say, “See, it’s only me.”

As I watched, I began to wonder what sort of memories this poor young child was going to come away with on this Halloween night? Is this really what we want to do to our children? Oh, I’m sure a lot of candy can sugar-coat the experience and all will eventually laugh about it. Really, come on. The frightening experience will be buried and covered in a grave of celebration of evil. But, no memory is completely erased.

I looked for an image to add here, but the overwhelming numbers of evil images made me think twice. Who really can believe in ‘Happy Halloween?’ Can celebrating evil actually be fun?

Think about it!

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Turn, Turn, Turn—What music is stirring my mind

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a hard days night, banjo, bobby darin, byrds, camilla, chad mitchell trio, chicago, chiris hillman, christian, country-rock, david crosby, elvis, folk, folk den, folk rewind, folk-rock, gaene clark michael clarke, grand ole opry, guitar, heartbreak hotel, herb alpert, jaohn sebastian, jazz, jim mcguinn, john coltrane, john lennon, lp, martin, mr. tambourine man, my back pages, old town school of folk music, pbs, pop-rock, popular music, psychedelic-rock, rickenbacker, roger mcguinn, skiffle music, the beatles, tijuana brass, troubadour, turn, twelve-string

It is really strange. Three songs, Turn, Turn, Turn, Mr. Tambourine Man and sometimes My Back Pages as recorded by The Byrds have been going through my head—constantly for over a month now. Why is this?

It is certainly rare for any song to so constantly occupy my mind. Over and over and over, they go on and on and on. Waking in the morning, I find one of these tunes roaming my consciousness. Heading to bed, my mind runs through portions of these songs. I do not grow tired of this, but become more fascinated each day as to the meaning of this experience in my life. I have even listened to whole albums on YouTube by the Byrds.

It all seems to have started, or perhaps was re-energized, when I stayed up late to watch once again John Sebastian’s Folk Rewind. It is a great show of music I more or less missed because of my interest in Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. The show has aired on PBS several times and I always find the performance by Roger McGuinn as the highlight for me. I don’t really know why. Perhaps I am on a journey to discover why and hopefully something new about myself.

Roger McGuinn heard Elvis’ Heartbreak Hotel and decided he wanted to play music. Beginning in the folk revival era after having the opportunity to study at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago, Jim McGuinn, his real name, must have been in the right place at the right time and was able to get work with major artists, including The Chad Mitchell Trio and Bobby Darin. One day he discovered The Beatles and recognized they were using folk chords; probably filtered down to them through the skiffle music movement that had originated in America, only with a new beat. He began playing folk tunes with The Beatles beat and is now attributed to having inventing the folk-rock genre. He soon teamed up with David Crosby, Chris Hillman, Gene Clark and Michael Clarke and fronted the band called The Byrds. The Byrds literally invented a variety of music genres from folk-rock to psychedelic-rock to country-rock.

An important characteristic of the sound of The Byrds was the jangly sound of McGuinn’s guitar. The story told by band members is that they went to The Beatles movie A Hard Days Night and took notes. They outfitted themselves with the same instruments that The Beatles members were playing. McGuinn noticed that the electric guitar that John Lennon was playing seemed to have a second set of tuning keys when turned sideways. It was a twelve-stringed electric Rickenbacker and he had to have one. He practiced eight hours a day and developed a unique style blending rock picking with some banjo fingerpicking. During a recording session, it was felt that the guitar sounded a bit “thuddy,” so the engineer for the session heavily compressed the sound; thus the signature McGuinn Guitar sound was born. A sound that I can’t seem to stop thinking about.

A quick note here about the guitars of Roger McGuinn. While he did play banjo and the twelve-stringed guitar, he also had a special version of the Rickenbacker and a seven-stringed Martin acoustic. The Martin had an extra G string.

To me, it seems the Byrds fell into many of the awkward experiences of popular music of the time that resulted from the introduction of the LP record. They had folk roots and quickly saw that folk could merge with rock. From there they got into drugs and experimented; even with eastern music styles and with jazz. McGuinn was heavily influenced by John Coltrane and Coltrane’s influences can be heard in some of his guitar solos. The LP ushered in a new form of recording. Instead of songs standing alone as singles on one side of a record, they melded together thematically and stylistically. Thus, The Byrds had forays into country that nearly infuriated country audiences; getting booed at The Grand Ole Opry, and confusing their folk-pop-rock followers. With each new recording came a new sound. The backstage issues the band experienced were just as confusing.

I guess I would sum up the legacy of The Byrds by first saying that, as with most popular bands, they chased commercial success. However their musical experimentations meant they gained only modest numbers of top hits and many middle charters in both the singles and album categories. Therefore their greatest legacies are the influences they left on music and other bands. Notably, The Beatles said The Byrds were the only band to influence them. Interesting, since it was The Beatles that originally influenced the Byrds.

When folk-rock, psychedelic-rock or country-rock are discussed, the Byrds are usually attributed as among the original creators of those styles. As I was writing this, I decided to read the lengthy Wikipedia entry about the Byrds. It pretty much confirms what I think. As for Jim ‘Roger’ McGuinn, he says, “no way” about doing anymore Byrds reunion stuff. Perhaps because he is a Christian and wants to distance himself from the epic monumental contributions he made to popular music. The Byrds today are considered to be among the top half dozen groups that transformed popular music.

I’m still on this journey to discover what my fixation is with those three tunes, the band, the man, the guitar and the style is all about. Since I was somewhat absent from the birthing of this music it is now intriguing to me. During the sixties, I was learning to play the trumpet, I can recall hearing people comment about the new controversial music as having little musical substance, sometimes played by young people who learned three chords and played this simplistic music of little lasting value. To many, the electric guitar was simply used to make a lot of noise.

I went from devotion to The Tijuana Brass to early jazz and swing with only a short attempt to indulge in the pop music of my generation. I always knew of other musical genres of substance, but always found a reason why they were not for me. Country was too twangy, folk was too simple, etc. I had reasons, particularly when I was considering myself a record collector of early jazz and swing from the 20s, 30s and 40s. Then I was purist.

Over the years, I have become much less snobby about music, however, I still have obstacles toward pop music from the eighties on. Something happened at that time and it may have originated in the disco movement. That is another story I may look at one day.

Roger McGuinn is still active and touring. After 50 years in the music business, I can’t imagine how many times he has played those famous notes and chords to the three songs. I have often wondered what if would be like to always have to keep reliving past times playing the same hit tunes over and over. I know this happens for McGuinn, however, he has moved on and returned to his folk roots. He runs an excellent website called the Folk Den. His wife Camilla writes a great blog about their travels. McGuinn is still a mover and shaker in the music business. He seems to be living his dream of being a troubadour; traveling the world, playing music, story telling and writing. He gives his voice to several causes such as literacy charities, music downloads and recording royalties for musicians.

It could be that I need to re-think my ways of listening to music, that is, music with lyrics. I have always said that the lyrics really don’t matter much to me, that they simply become part of the phrasing of the music. Most people probably think of a song as saying something through music. I think of a song as something said as a way of phrasing music. So, I don’t really pay nearly as much attention to what a song is saying as I should. Folk music has story content and meaning. Perhaps I need to dig into some folk music.

Roger (Jim), if you ever find this writing and music confession, please know that you are playing; playing some yet to be identified part in my musical journey. You may even play a part in some discoveries I may make one day. Until then, I say thank you for your massive historical contributions to music.

Resources:
The Byrds
Wikipedia: The Byrds
Roger McGuinn’s website
Wikipedia: Roger McGuinn
Blog
Folk Den
YouTube: Byrds
YouTube: McGuinn

Answers to everyday physics questions

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physics

Here is an easy way to learn physics and get answers to everyday questions. Truly well done.

http://www.youtube.com/user/minutephysics

You’re a machine—Striving for optimal performance

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Last week when I was curling (the game) with the men, I was making a unusual number of good shots. Finally, a fellow on the other team, turned to me and said “You’re a machine tonight.” Later, sitting around in the lounge, another fellow said the same thing.

I have been curling for only a few years now, yet, I have noticed something that can occur at times. The skip, that is, the person who is in charge of the team and calls the shots, may call one shot, only to have the person throwing the rock (actually sliding the rock on the ice) miss. The result can sometimes be an unintentional good shot producing a different, but positive result. It is a bit of a joke, but does happen quite often. We call it Plan B.

The Plan B concept might be worth a little closer look and consideration. It seems to me that humans are striving for optimal performance with such vigour as to want our society to be full of human machines. It’s not the only way we are becoming more like machines, but it seems to be the most intentional.

We are born into the routines of society. Almost immediately, we enter into a repetition of activities that allow us to fit into society. Later, we enter a journey through school systems that seem mechanized like a machines. We are trained throughout our lives to do particular activities and to do them well. We even reward the best. When we enter the workforce, it becomes a race to be successful and that means being the best. Doing things right.

But, what about plan B? Let’s forget, for a moment about the fact that humans are fallible anyway, and consider that, as in curling, sometimes things work out in other ways. Is our striving for perfection causing us to lose some of the plan B affects in our lives?

Back to curling. I am amazed at some curlers who do it all wrong and still make quite a few good shots and enjoy the game. In fact, they have been doing it wrong for so long that they are actually good.

Our society and culture seems obsessed with doing things the right way and the best way, and to becoming the best. Are we actually having a better, more human life? Are we happier performing at machine precision?

Next time you are watching professional sports on TV, notice whether the participants are happy. Hey guys, it’s only a game, have some fun!

Now, another question. Is our obsession with machines causing us to become machines? Let me re-phrase to a question that is one I ask regularly. Is our technology making us more human or, in making and using the technology, are we becoming more like machines?

Does anyone remember the German film from the 1020s called Metropolis? I remember the workers struggling to work the machines. It is an iconic image, but may well be playing out in our lives. Yes, many humans work on assembly lines with machines, even making more machines, doing work that would seem to be better suited to a machine. Wait, did I just describe machines making more machines?

Take a look at your online life. Chances are you have a computer and that you carry a cell phone and it is likely a smartphone that can connect to the Internet. I suspect that you check your E-mail at least once a day, probably more. You may also check Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and other social media. They all organize information in various ways and you work within the structure of each.

Just before I began to write this I posted a reply to a discussion in a group on LinkedIn. They mentioned cyborgs. Here is an excerpt from my reply:

Cyborgs were always the stuff of science fiction, yet, in reality, it is true, many of us have been becoming partially cyborg for years now. And questions do arise. Think of the Olympic runner or the person with an implant that is controlled by software. What is it, for every 100 lines of code, there may be a bug, or something like that. What about hackers? I have heard of implants that communicate with a monitor station and that, in turn, is connected to the Internet and is monitored by doctors. I like to think that there are aspects of us, including spiritual, that may never be replaced by a machine. 

It had been mentioned that Benjamin Franklin started the cyborging of humans with eye glasses. We have been slowly adding more technology to our bodies.

Whatever technology we look at, we can see how it adds benefit to our lives. It will also add negative aspects to our lives. Facebook allows you to make, what they call, friends, but do you really know them? As we fill our lives with machines, we actually become more machine like to use them and we strive to perform like a machine.

Things don’t always work out the way we plan. Perhaps, we could loosen up and expect the unexpected and remember Plan B.

What about wisdom

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There seems to have been a massive shift in an aspect of humans that provides the ability to steer and navigate through life. Throughout human history, we lived together and one would interact and learn from previous generations, through life experiences, the wisdom of life. This was not merely information, but a depth of knowledge and understanding that would produce a solid foundation on which younger generations could construct their living. Have we replaced wisdom with information?

Wisdom provides the ultimate guidance for living and, since it is not just information, we might consider it a much deeper aspect of human experience. Perhaps, even spiritual. Humans learn knowledge and skills through stages. First, is to learn about the subject by learning terminology or observing the performance of a skill. Next, one may use the basic knowledge or skill in simple forms. As they learn more about the subject, they begin to use the knowledge or skill in more complex ways. Eventually, they learn to apply the knowledge or skill on their own, adapting as required. At an even higher level of learning is mastery. Here one is able to somewhat bend or break the rules in ways that may be deemed artistic. They flow and are free from thinking and focusing on the techniques to being able to create and to make judgements. The knowledge and skills become who they are at a very deep level.

That would not seem to be the end of it. On the path to understanding, we employ various forms of what we sometimes call common sense. We seem to sort of pick up common sense as we travel through life. It stands on top of our inherent knowledge of what is right and what is wrong, what is good for us and what is bad.

As I look around at the world and society today, I see what I have just discussed has become so tattered and torn that I can scarcely find a thread of common sense, let alone any wisdom. What went wrong?

We have never had so much information at our fingertips and yet known so little about who we are. Look closely at this statement and you will see how it applies to what I have written above. Our society operates only at the basic levels of understanding. Today, information is used interchangeably with knowledge and seems to be considered to be synonymous with understanding. People still get educated, however, they may not end up making the field they are educated in, their life’s work. They may not be able to find a job or they may change jobs several times throughout their life.

For most of human history, who one was could often be established by one’s name. A name might even be changed to suite who a person became in life. One might be known as John the shoe maker. Names often had very deep meanings.

Without a flood of information at one’s fingertips, a person would have to learn from an elder, or wiser person—someone with more experience to pass along, often in the form of stories that would not only pass along wisdom, but would entertain. We sometimes call this mentoring or apprenticing. As books became available, valuable and important information could be published as a permanent record.

Enter mass communications. Suddenly, information is everywhere. More than we can absorb. There is no time to soak in the information to begin the journey to making it knowledge. The message travels through only a glimpse and the mind has no time to determine what it is being fed. The path to wisdom is broken. In addition, since it is so simple to publish or transmit information, anyone can do it and that information may not be accurate.

The question is, can a plethora of surface information at massive levels lead to the outcome of knowledge and even understanding? Can one, bombarded by daily doses of thousands of messages of information become wise with wisdom? Remember, wisdom allows one to make sound judgements. Look around and see if you can observe people making sound judgements.

It seems to me that the lack of wisdom is also tied into education and the need to systematize and mechanize human existence. The education system is designed to indoctrinate people into the current world view and to prepare them for a particular job or field of work. It is less about making human beings that can reason and more about maintaining the status quo. I ask, is it wise to maintain a path of growing consumption? Can we keep producing more and more? Does it make sense to judge the health of our society by the growth of its economy? This is a whole area of discussion that I have written about for years. Hopefully, you can get an idea of the sorts of questions one could be asking.

Our use of technology and its limiting of what full communications consists of, is stripping humankind of wisdom. When we communicate using any other means than face to face, we are missing about eighty percent of the message. I suspect that wisdom is best exchanged through face-to-face communications. As our machines become smarter and more like humans, humans become dumber and more like machines. We don’t seem to understand what is happening.

What exactly is wisdom? I’ll provide a little research. I did the following research after I had written the above.

Google, the reputed source of all knowledge today, yielded a definition of, ‘the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgement; the quality of being wise.’

From Merrium-Webster:

: knowledge that is gained by having many experiences in life
: the natural ability to understand things that most other people cannot understand
: knowledge of what is proper or reasonable : good sense or judgment

Full Definition of WISDOM
1
a :  accumulated philosophic or scientific learning :  knowledge

b :  ability to discern inner qualities and relationships :  insight

c :  good sense :  judgment

d :  generally accepted belief <challenges what has become accepted wisdom among many historians — Robert Darnton>
2
:  a wise attitude, belief, or course of action
3
:  the teachings of the ancient wise men

From Wikipedia:

Wisdom has, in the Western tradition, been listed as one of four cardinal virtues. As a virtue it is a habit or disposition to perform the action with the highest degree of adequacy under any given circumstance. This implies a possession or seeking of knowledge of the given circumstances. This involves an understanding of people, things, events and situations, and the willingness and the ability to apply perceptions, judgments and actions in keeping with an understanding of what is the right course of actions. It often requires control of one’s emotional reactions (the “passions“) so that universal principles, values, reason and knowledge prevail to determine one’s actions. In short, wisdom is a disposition to find the truth coupled with an optimum judgement as to right actions. Synonyms include: prudence, sagacity, discernment, or insight.

Google lists The Free Dictionary as the second hit after Wikipedia. So…

From The Free Dictionary:

1. The ability to discern or judge what is true, right, or lasting; insight.
2. Common sense; good judgment: “It is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things” (Henry David Thoreau).
3.
a. The sum of learning through the ages; knowledge: “In those homely sayings was couched the collective wisdom of generations” (Maya Angelou).
b. Wise teachings of the ancient sages.
4. A wise outlook, plan, or course of action.
5. Wisdom Bible Wisdom of Solomon.

Ah, the Bible. Finally, a source we can take a deeper look at. Notice the above notes Solomon as having wisdom. Solomon was the son of King David and wrote most of the book or Proverbs, the Song of Solomon and Ecclesiastes. In 1 Kings 3, Solomon asks for wisdom:

5 In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.
6 And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.
7 And now, O Lord my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in.
8 And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude.
9 Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?
10 And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.
11 And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment;
12 Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.
Exodus 31:3
And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship,
Psalm 37:30
The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment.
Psalm 49:3
My mouth shall speak of wisdom; and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding.
Psalm 136:5
To him that by wisdom made the heavens: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Proverbs 1:7
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Proverbs 2:9-11
King James Version (KJV)
9 Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path.
10 When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;
11 Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:
Proverbs 3:19
The Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens.
Proverbs 17:24
Wisdom is before him that hath understanding; but the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth.
Proverbs 23:4
Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.
Proverbs 24:3
Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established:
Ecclesiastes 2:13
Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.
Ecclesiastes 2:26
For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit.
Jeremiah 10:12, Jeremiah 51:15
He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion.
Matthew 12:42, Luke 11:31
The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.
Romans 11:33
O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
1 Corinthians 1:20
Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
1 Corinthians 1:24
But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
1 Corinthians 1:30
But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
1 Corinthians 3:19
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
Ephesians 1:17
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
Colossians 1:9
For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
Colossians 2:2-4
King James Version (KJV)
2 That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ;
3 In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
4 And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words.
Colossians 3:15-17
King James Version (KJV)
15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
James 1:5
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
James 3:14-16
King James Version (KJV)
14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
James 3:17
But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
Revelation 13:17-18
King James Version (KJV)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

Through the above select passages, the Bible seems to add to what I have already written by stating wisdom comes from the spirit of God, that the righteous speak wisdom. Wisdom made the heavens and the Earth. Only a fool despises wisdom from which deep understanding and judgement comes. Man seems to have his own wisdom, the wisdom of this world, that seeks riches and other earthly things. This is called folly and is vanity and vexation of spirit. This earthly wisdom is sensual and devilish. We are told that, if we lack the wisdom of God, which is pure, peaceable, gentle, full of mercy without partiality or hypocrisy, we should ask for it. With the wisdom of God we have the understanding of the beast of Revelations.

If Solomon was considered the wisest man to live, Jesus claimed to be greater. He is even called the wisdom of God.

Archaic—where are we going?

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Today, I watched as somebody was attempting to access a website over the data connection on their smartphone. It was slow. Even though what he was trying to do would have been nearly unthinkable ten or twenty years ago, it was now looking archaic, particularly since someone else was getting ready to write down the website address on a piece of paper—now, that really is archaic.

Yesterday, I was sorting out some difficulties with my smartphone and computer being able to synchronize through my cloud account. This is a very useful possibility, however, my personal stuff is being stored on a server that is out there somewhere and that makes me wonder how safe it is from hackers. Probably something similar struck folks the first time they put their money in a bank.

If you have read some of my other writings or have been following my blog, you will know well that I tackle technology issues often. I think we all need to consider carefully about where the technopath is leading us. One very important question I feel we should be asking is, does it make us more human and truly improve our lives? Just about everybody I meet and talk to about technology is excited about what it can do. It is undoubtably amazing.

My purpose here is to look at what has happened in recent history, where we are, and to urge you to consider and to think. Then, I want to take a stab at extrapolating to determine where we might be going. Let me start with a few observations.

I’ll just quickly mention that my first experience with the telephone was with the one phone we had in our house and the line we shared with neighbours. It was known as a party line. I remember when the digital calculator came along. Mechanical calculators had been used for years. Many were huge and all were too big to carry around. Digital, hand-held calculators allowed people to carry them around and use them in all situations. People seemed to lose the ability to do simple addition in their heads. My parents and aunts could add rows of figures fast on paper, usually faster than I could punch the numbers into a calculator. I was among the last of high school students who were not allowed to use calculators in math classes.

I also remember life before the personal computer. The manual typewriter reigned and typesetting and graphics were produced by industry experts with special equipment. Eventually, the typewriter became electric and one day, it got a very small screen that could show a few words that had just been typed and, most importantly, allowed one to back up and make a change to what had just been typed. I’m sure you can see where that led. The personal computer debuted from Apple, invented by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, changed the world by a huge leap.

It didn’t take long before these individual computers started to be connected together. We’ll take a jump here to mention the next major change. Many groups of connected computers existed, however, the Internet prevailed as the largest. The Internet was born during the cold war and was designed to provide a way of communicating that could not be interrupted. In other words, the Internet can’t be disconnected or destroyed. This is a characteristic we should all keep in mind. Another original segment of the Internet was used by educational, scientific and research institutions to store and share information.

There are a few other pieces to the puzzle that I should like to mention. Cameras have become digital, no longer requiring film that had to be processed before a photograph could be seen. Photography has not only become instant, but cameras have been shrinking and gaining quality. This also applies to video cameras. Most people wear a wrist watch. While the phone has morphed into a multifunctional digital computer device, I find it amazing that it is only now the wrist watch is about to be replaced. Perhaps replaced is not the correct word. Absorbed might be better. The cell phone has been absorbing many devices we use.

Here is one more and probably the most important piece of the puzzle. Our information. We are living in what has been described as ‘the information age.’ All this, the devices that have been getting absorbed, is about storing and sharing our information. As this becomes faster and easier, we find we have more of it. It is mind boggling. We need more technology to help us remember, manage, organize and use all the information we have.

Thus, here we are, most people carrying around a small device that is a computer and communicator. It is cumbersome in that, we have a very small screen to look at, a small keyboard to enter information and it often fails. Sometimes, some of us revert back to using paper in conjunction with the digital device. It is difficult for us to read large amounts of information on screen so we print it. We wear a separate device to tell time. Our pockets and our purses are filled with everything from money in the form of cash to sophisticated credit cards with computer chips in them.

I have watched as computers that used to take up entire rooms became terminals connected to a central computer, to computers that sat on or under a desk, to computers that could be held in one’s lap, to a computer/telephone/camera/multifunctional digital device that fits in one’s hand. And that, as it turns out, is beginning to look awkward, cumbersome and slow, in other words archaic.

So, where are we going?

We all love our digital devices. I like to think that we feel we can turn them off whenever we want, although this seldom happens. While they seem handy in many ways, technology always seems to find new ways to get closer to us, to infiltrate our lives even more.

My prediction, actually it is already beginning to happen, is that we may soon be looking at the ability to have our digital devices implanted in our bodies binging all the capabilities we now enjoy with our current technologies and much more, much faster and without the awkwardness and cumbersomeness we experience today. Why would somebody want to do this?

Why would somebody want to carry a telephone around with them 242/7? Why would somebody want to be able to have complex math, complicated problems and simply be able to store and access vast amounts of information without much thought? Why not have images and video display instantly in your mind? Who would not want to get rid of their wallet full of valuable information and money that can be stolen or lost? You would not need a passport. Nobody else could use your device and you could not lose it.

The world, through the Internet, is becoming a giant brain. Sometimes I see an image of a human head that looks like the Earth and has web-like lines covering the brain. As we feed it more information about us, it grows and grows smarter about us. Why would we not want to tap into this huge vastness of human experience? Why would we even need our awkward, cumbersome physical bodies?

Why would anyone really want to do this? As with most technologies, there might be some resistance at first, however, it usually does enter our lives. Online banking is one. I remember thinking I would never trust my banking to be done online. Somehow, perhaps by charges or by convenience, I have adopted online banking. The RFID chip credit card was thrust upon us without choice. There are instances where one can’t make a purchase without a credit card. Will the day arrive when the only card accepted is a chip card? Can you see where I am going with this?

In considering these issues and situations, I have wondered if a revolt by a large group might change the path we are on? Might some people withdraw from allowing deeper infiltration of technology in their lives? Could there end up being two or more groups, such as those with implants and those without? Can technology completely replace the human brain, or is the human spirt what truly make us human and what can’t be absorbed or infiltrated by technology?

There are prophecies in the Bible about the sorts of predictions I have written about here and Bible prophecies have always come true.

Round peg, square hole

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Have you heard the phrase ‘He’s a square peg in a round hole?’ I don’t like it! To me it doesn’t quite make sense and I think it is time to set the expression straight.

The ‘peg’ phrase is generally used to describe a person who does not fit into a job or position. Hold on, my contentions is that it is backwards. To me, society is made up of all sorts of boxes, not circles. The boxes are getting squarer and tighter and more defined. Look at a list of job postings on one of the many job related websites and you will find most postings are for a sharply defined position. The don’t seem very round.

I propose that the expression be reversed. After all, people seem more rounded to me. Let’s have it make sense. Now, i’ll bet you are thinking that the round peg can actually fit into the square hole. Sure, that could work, however, the corners would be empty and that wouldn’t work. I like to think that the round peg exceeds the size of the hole, so in essence, the round peg has attributes and characteristics that don’t fit the mould.

In a group of people, if you can talk hockey or golf, you will easily find someone to talk to. If your interests are in something less popular, like archery, your chances are less. You might well have many interests, more than most people and, yet, if you don’t speak the popular ones, you can be left out.

Now, apply the same idea to the workplace and jobs and you will get what I mean. I feel I am a round peg, many possibilities and, well, you get the idea, I’m sure.

How is it that we can’t have a world that is fluid and adaptable, one that can allow the abilities and inabilities to be used to the fullest? Is it just a natural result of humans organizing their society that everything becomes more rigid and compartmentalized? Is it necessary for all aspects of society to be so organized in order to function? How about the stock exchange? I’m not sure what it is like now, but I know at one time, it looked about as disorganized and chaotic as one might imagine. And yet, it functioned.

For a few decades now, the business world has been working toward more efficiency, to be leaner and more profitable. Education has become more about training and preparing workers for specific work and jobs, rather than creating citizens to contribute to society in a variety of settings. In doing so, they seem to carve the curves of their humanness into sharp edges—into a shape that I would call square. Shaping people into a squarish shape means trimming unique aspects of each person, uniquenesses that are valuable and useful. Somehow, they must fit in and the place they must fit is square.

Here is another view of this notion. Perhaps the round peg is a bit soft. In that case forcing the peg into the hard, square hole might cause it to squish, thus becoming uncomfortable. Now that rings true.

I would consider myself a roundish person. Perhaps not a circle, or even an oval, or oblong shape—certainly not square. I feel I have uniqueness that I have never been able to bring to any job I have had. Usually, I have to confine myself to the specific needs of the job.

My experiences in education have shown me that the same thing applies to learning. As I have said, this is what education is about. Trim learners into square pegs that can easily fit into society. Those who are not easily trimmed will have difficulties and even be deemed a problem. Why are graduates of universities going back to colleges? Because a general degree does not guarantee a job in today’s society. To get a job, one must be trained for a specific job. To get a job one must meet all the criteria in the job description and have experience that matches. New grads can have a huge problem here in some situations. These days, human resource departments may scan job applications for specific keywords. How square can this get?

Our society seems to have little use for uniqueness. I’m not talking necessarily about unusual people. I think everybody has roundness and uniqueness that usually gets ignored in order to fit in. Thus, square pegs in square holes. Well, I’m still a round peg trying to fit into a square hole.

Why do we watch war pictures?

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Last week, I found myself wondering if there might be a war picture on TV that night. Almost immediately, I began to wonder why and what kind of war movie. I also realized that this was most certainly a guy thing. Taking a short inventory of some of the war pictures I had seen in the past, I realized that, not all are violent. Some only imply the violence, others are quite graphic.

Why do we watch war pictures? One reason might be the great theme music. At the moment I am listening to the music from A Bridge Too Far. One of the best themes is from The Great Escape. How about Colonel Bogy from Bridge On the River Kwai or the Longest Day. These are just a few that come to mind without looking. There must be more to why we watch war pictures and why they are made.

We might consider the historical reasons. Certainly, it is important to make an historical record of events so people will know what happened. Then there are the entertainment reasons. These movies are gripping in drama and excitement. There are usually heroes and a win or lose situation.

Wars have been devastating societies for as long as societies have existed. War is about disagreements that lead to life and death struggles, severe pain and suffering all inflicted by humans on other humans. Of any of mankind’s endeavours, war arguably impacts people and societies stronger than any other. Mass killing of man by man. Perhaps nothing can compare. Thus, war becomes a powerful subject for the movies.

As I mentioned above, I do particularly like the music, often in the form of a march. From a historical perspective, I find it important to remind ourselves how horrible war is; let us not forget those who served and those who died and may it never happen again. I may watch to see triumph and victory, although that is sometimes not the point or even depicted.

A Bridge Too Far follows the failed attempt by the allies to take bridges leading to Berlin by making the largest drop of paratroopers ever attempted. The Great Escape ultimately failed. Yes, war is about winning and losing and the movies depict both, however, we must remember that everyone loses in war because all participants suffer consequences.

Is it important to make and watch war pictures? Do you ever get an urge to watch one? Why?

Tethered to technology—leave home without your phone

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This morning, I left home without my phone and I didn’t care. OK, it was Saturday and, OK it was only for a couple of hours, not the whole day, but still, I was a little surprised that it did not bother me.

You can find on my blog that I have written about my love/hate relationship with technology. I have been ranting warnings and concerns to think about for years, yet I even I, get caught up. I shall admit it right here and now. I grab my phone every time I go from one room to another. I even have the phone docked next to my bed. I have been wondering about that one lately.

One day, I did leave the phone home alone for the whole day. I felt naked and lost. I worried I would miss something. What? For most of my life, I did not have any sort of technology like this. It was barely a dream. Now, I seem to feel as if I can’t get along without it.

So, I have decided to begin to call this phenomenon tethering. How far and how long can one go before they have to be near their technology? Might I miss a call, perhaps need to check my texts or E-mail. Maybe, I will need my technology to do something with it. I have a computer and a phone. I can be away from my computer for a while, but the phone seems to have a different hold on me. I wonder if I had a tablet, would I have to take it from room to room, thus carrying two devices? If my TV were gone, what would I do? I seem to recall suffering from the tethered effect with my watch. If I forget my watch now, I can always check the time with my phone.

Here is a key. As a technology device holds access to more information that we need most often, the greater the tethered effect feeling will grasp a person.

This tether I am describing might also be described as a leash. Perhaps this would be a better term to use, as the term tethering is also used to describe a process whereby two or more devices are connected together for the purposes of sharing an Internet connection. In some ways, the term actually could apply in context of a human connection to the information contained on the device and for the purposes of connecting to the Internet. To avoid confusion, perhaps switching to the term leashing, or something else, might be a good idea. With this leash metaphor, one might ask, ‘who, or what, is leashed and who, or what, holds the end?’ This is interesting. Are you leading around your phone, or is it leading you around? It may be a complex relationship that combines both possibilities.

I think the main notion I am prompting you to think about, is wether (whether) to tether and do you have control? Do we have a need to be tethered or leashed?

We may well be developing a new human and social characteristic—the need to be constantly connected to information. With this characteristic comes the need to have an access device in very close proximity, as if on a leash, or we are on a leash to our technology device, depending on how your look at the situation. The smartphone does seem to be the handiest device. I can leave my wallet in a usual location in my house when I come home, yet, my smartphone I must carry with me where ever I go in the house. It is rather facinating, don’t you think?

Where do you think this inconvenience might lead? What about a watch? I wear my watch almost everywhere, yet, I do take it off at home. A watch may or, may not solve the problem. If we are permanently connected to the Internet, perhaps we will only need our brains for bodily functions. I have heard that some people are looking toward embedded chips. Now that harkens to the prophecies in the Bible.

Technology—cornered again and again and again…

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It was only a few short years ago I heard the news that banking could be done online. I knew I would never do it; that is, to do banking transactions using my computer at home. I think it was a combination of extra charges for paper and some other activities and the fact that, with all the technology in my life, life simply speeds up and was having trouble finding time to get to the bank. That will be the focus of another article post tentatively to be called Technology at the speed of light.

Well, the above is a great example of getting cornered. When the path of a technological change and the interest or need for that technology by a particular person meet is the point of a corner that convinces that person they need the technology and to keep using the technology from that point on, until that technology is no longer current. What I am saying is that at some point, we all get cornered by a particular technology and will adopt it into our life.

Another axiom I notice is that as a particular technology becomes ubiquitous, it intersects a point on a path of decline for an older system or technology and creates a corner whereby a person must change to the new technology. We can look at the postal system. As more companies begin to offer services online or through other technologies, the postal system is no longer used. I’m sure you can think of several examples. How often do you use the phone to get help with something?

Here is another one. Any new technology that attempts to replace an older technology or system will offer more features and greater convenience with less cost that will entice users. This does not necessary mean the new technology is a better solution.

And still another way we get cornered. As a technology usage appears and begins to improve, one will downgrade their expectations for quality to adopt it, if the new technology is cheaper, more convenient and provides more features. The point when one adopts the technology is another corner. I can remember when computers became capable of doing typesetting. We, who were working in the trade, could not imagine cheap computers improving at this ability to the point that expensive dedicated typesetting equipment would become obsolete. The same thing happened with digital photography. We could not envision a photo made up of pixels could ever be of a quality that could replace traditional photography.

There is something else about digital technology. It will often be too perfect. In the case of audio music, it no longer sounds real or human. Audiophiles, are going back to vinyl records, and tube amplifiers. Vinyl records have imperfections and tube amps hum. If you tune a piano or guitar perfectly, it won’t sound right. In the hands of a musician, who tunes by ear, the instrument sings. A computer can easily emulate a drummer, however, a human drummer never plays every beat perfectly. It varies ever so slightly. When printing press operators were given plates imaged digitally with computers, they had trouble controlling colour.

The point here is that we are used to what is often called colour—imperfections that we tune out. I did state that often a new technology isn’t as good as the technology it replaces, however, digital information is perfect, while analog information is imperfect. Humans are analog and imperfect, so we naturally prefer analog information. Sometimes, imperfections are built into a digital technology. So, we can say that there is a point where we become cornered into accepting the perfection of a digital technology, even though it may be uncomfortable.

And then there is this one. Any new technology that offers new features and conveniences will erode the aesthetic artistic skills involved in the person using it. For example, E-mail and texting has eroded the skills and abilities of people using this medium, to compose good and proper writing. This decreases the impact, clarity, value and accuracy of the message. Yet, everyone accepts it, why, you guessed it.

In a few rare instances, at technology may be impeded by corporations. An excellent example of this is the electric car, or for that matter, any replacement for an oil reliant vehicle. Many years ago, General Motors produced an electric car called the EV-1. It was sporty, performed close to a regular automobile and was affordable. In the end, all these cars were picked up and destroyed. The story is told in a documentary called ‘Who killed the electric car?” Here the cornering is interrupted and the reverse of the usual situation happens until other influences change the direction. In the case of the electric car, one might speculate that corporations and perhaps government, with a stake in the oil industry might slow the introduction of the electric car until pressure from environmental groups and other groups cause a change.

In some cases, the new will become the only way and the old is out. Try to find a pre-recorded cassette tape to purchase. When was the last time you used or even saw a camera that uses film. However, we still have books and magazines that were predicted to disappear.

It is at the point where one adopts a particular technology, either willingly with enthusiasm or out of necessity, a corner occurs whereby a person has little choice but to continue to use the technology. Technologies are always chasing us and attempting to corner us into changing the ways we live do things.