If you let people’s perception of you dictate the way you act, the way you are, you will never grow as a person.
Category: Thoughts
Digitizing my life
I’ve been working on decluttering for some time now. It’s amazing how much you can accumulate in a short amount of time.
One way I’m doing that is scanning documents that I don’t physical copies of anymore. It’s a challenge, as I have boxes full of files that, for some reason, I’ve carried around rather than getting rid of.
Another tool is photographing something that I want to remember, but don’t really have a use for. Even actual photographs themselves, as addressed in this post from Courtney Carver.
Uncomfortable conversation
My content
What I write here is a cultivation of my thoughts, feelings, and perceptions. They are uniquely mine, in that I don’t repeat them on social media very often, if at all.
There’s a freedom to having your content excluded from algorithms, or subject to the ups and downs of news feeds. Every day my post is the front of the page, only to drop down after my next post goes live.
Creating content, sharing opinions, and leaving it for all to see – there is value in that alone. After that, it’s up to me to say something worth saying.
Recent items 6
DC Comics’ face masks, with a mask going to a hospital for every purchase.
A publishing industry strike in solidarity with worldwide protests against racism.
Was asked a trivia question about sci-fi set design: What does greeble refer to? I had to look up the answer (it involves texturing).
AMC reports that “almost all” theaters will reopen in July.
And maybe, just maybe, film production can restart next week (whether or not it will remains to be seen.)
Hitchen’s Razor
“Hitchens’ razor is an epistemological razor expressed by writer Christopher Hitchens. It says that the burden of proof regarding the truthfulness of a claim lies with the one who makes the claim; if this burden is not met, then the claim is unfounded, and its opponents need not argue further in order to dismiss it.”
Hitchens has phrased the razor in writing as “What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence.”
An empty page
“I saw that my life was a vast glowing empty page and I could do anything I wanted.”
– Jack Kerouac
Life is painted on empty canvas by our own hands. The image or words you leave behind are all that matter, in the end.
What we expect
Expectations are funny things. They’re little predictions, and may or may not be accurate for any number of reasons.
When we predict correctly, we get to assert just how smart we are. An incorrect guess may cause as little as temporary denial, or full-blown depression.
When you let go of expectations, you free yourself up to live in the moment. To be honest and understanding, and not dependent on your rightness or wrongness, alleviates that moment when the expectation is either realized or proved incorrect.
Digital tolerance
Oh, internet. The bastion of great thoughts and petty skirmishes. An open forum of unique ideas and rehashed biases.
How we interact with each other online, if only viewed through that lens, would indicate we aren’t a very hospitable race. Twitter, Facebook, and even the ‘gram can sometimes reveal the vilest and despicable thoughts that we, the engaged, can express.
People say, or type, things online that they would never say in person. Others express opinions that they may have shared with like-minded individuals, maybe two or three in their community, but now they enjoy a world-spanning platform. The like-minded respond to their opinions, reinforcing behavior that, again, would not be socially acceptable in person.
At the same time, we actively engage in digital fisticuffs, trying our best to pivot and outmaneuver our networked opponents. Because they have become our opponents. No opinion but ours is valid online, and we defend our little nook with extreme prejudice, with failure never an option.
And thus we devolve into warlike attitudes with those who would otherwise be someone we could actually connect with.
The internet was, and remains, a great idea. It is its execution that has been stymied somewhat by us, the users.
Trying to remain tolerant of others with different opinions is usually a difficult task. At the best of times, it makes us somewhat uncomfortable to have our opinions challenged. At the worst… Well, wars have been fought for less.
Remember that behind each screen is a living person, little different from you or me. Attacking with verbal violence and vitriol shouldn’t be your go-to response. And rather than a preemptive trolling, why not engage in preemptive understanding?
A sensitive issue
Another week that just didn’t seem to make sense. 2020 will be the year of incongruities. Pandemic sweeping the world, forcing the US to shut businesses down. Some scared to leave their homes, others adamantly arguing everything should open.
Race relations once again coming to a head, with the question of fairness, inequality, and ethical behaviors at the forefront. How do we respond to our countrymen?
Derisiveness and partisan-pandering; vehemence and bile; hurt, pain, and agony. And with protests, riots, disease, and race, everyone has an opinion, but there is no consensus.
Holding out hope is the best we can do. Saying what we believe is important, but listening is even more so. If all we do is puff our chests until they collide with someone else’s, then the resolution never comes. Just more suffering.
Michael's Musings 