I don’t generally get depressed easily, or when I do, I typically don’t stay in that state for very long.
This is different.
Honestly, since last November there’s been a backdrop of disbelief that’s slowly transitioned into a growing malaise. This last week it took a full-on leap into “WTF?!” territory.
Unfortunately, it’s also been impacting my ability to remain focused and productive, and I’m not sure what to do.
I’m thrilled at the turnout for yesterday’s (January 21, 2017) protest marches, I truly am.
I think that size as well as the diversity of locations around the planet exceeded all expectations. It was a welcome message at a time when I believe we are in serious need of hope.
But it leaves me hanging, with a question.
Now what?
I love technology, but there’s one problem I have yet to solve in a way that I consider “safe”.
I generally carry two devices with me: my mobile phone and a dedicated pocket voice recorder.
I’d rather only carry the first.
When my father fell and broke his hip in 2004 he’d just had his last cigarette, ending approximately 75 years of continuous and occasionally heavy smoking. His remaining years in a nursing home involved weaning off nicotine, followed by periodic searches for his cigarettes which he was convinced he had simply misplaced.
As he aged prior to dementia he would occasionally use his longevity as an indicator that smoking wasn’t really that bad for you.
I knew better than to argue with him.
But … that’s not how statistics and probability work.
With apologies to The Beatles, of course.
There’s a lot of discussion about autonomous cars in the news over the last year or so, and there’s plenty more on the horizon.
There are many, many roadblocks (so to speak) before self-driving cars become a reality. The sad part is that the technology won’t be biggest.
Perhaps more correctly, “put your money where you want your mind to be.”
Much has been made in recent months of the decline in journalism. Specifically, that journalism has responded to changes in our culture and information consumption by becoming less of source of information and more of a source of entertainment. Quoting Seth Godin’s blog this morning: “… newspapers won Pulitzer prizes for telling us things we didn’t want to hear. We’ve responded by not buying newspapers any more.” The implication is that if newspapers and other sources of information want to survive they need to tell what we want to hear.
That needs to change.