I am reading a very interesting but heavy-duty book by Yuval Harari titled “Nexus.”He traces the origins of information going back to cavemen and roaring right into our AI Age. The burning question is about what is the truth and who defines it? And you thought I was just playing golf or going to hospice. I need to learn so much. 

In early times, information was survival. Watch out for this and beware of that. As we became more educated there were more and more pieces to absorb. People not only viewed occurrences or revisited history but they were now subject to some people’s interpretation. 

Beliefs became complex and adherence became essential to keeping everyone in line. Pre-Gutenburg, it was a lot simpler. The mucky mucks put out the word and there was not much discussion. A fascinating fact is that the Bible is the word of God…sorta. It seems the religious cognoscenti in the 3rd or 4th century, decided which books were to be included with some provocative deletions. It swayed how people thought and in some ways, could be viewed as early algorithms. 

With the printing press, all hell broke loose. In the Age of Enlightenment, you could opine and be read by a lot of different people.Some of the early writings were supportive of the status quo and some said let’s chuck it and start anew. The drip, drip of knowledge became a fire hose. The truth became more and more vague or undefinable. 

Enter, stage right, the self-correcting mechanisms.Your brilliant ideas were subject to scrutiny and debated. That at least, was the case on the scientific spectrum. The ideological part was where it got a little more difficult. People could believe in a lot of things and absolute control of the masses got some  big chinks in the armor. This struck fear in the hearts of everyone  from the Popes to Kings and despots. 

Wait! Let’s bring up the concept of infallibility. That’ll fix em. I can whore and thieve all I want but when it comes to moral doctrine I am the way, the truth and the life. The monarchs  were chosen by and approved by the Vatican. One big happy family. Please understand, I am not opting for heresy. I believe in God. I just think that whole message has taken left and right turns to be convenient rather than doctrinal. Jesus was a simple and loving man to me. What part of, “Do Unto Others” needs deep thinking? But I digress. 

Information, factual and otherwise determines your brand of government or vice versa. In a vibrant democracy, different thoughts are encouraged. You can say and believe whatever you want. In theory, we sit down and hash things out. A little from column A and some from column B and maybe even C. In theory. 

Totalitarian governments control everything informational. Their self-correcting methods are secret police and censorship. Your perception of reality is orchestrated and distorted. No dissonance or commentary is tolerated. If something comes up that seems at odds and maybe even sensible it is quashed and labeled fake news. Our propaganda is the real thing. Just you believe it. 

The interesting thing about this type of thinking is that it quashes any originality or inventiveness. Why be creative, it will never go anywhere? You are in lockstep as a family, in school and in life. You refuse to acknowledge any other possibilty. Even worse is when the boss man or woman goes off the rails. They will not tolerate any individual thinking. Sycophants are successful. Factual pragmatism is not spoken here. Conspiracy theories abound. The unbelievers are just out to get us. 

Building trust over miIllenia has required introduction, ridicule, persistence, refinement and ultimately acceptance of some sort. In an evolving world there is a continuing review  and verificatiuon. My religious and ethical views mature and morph by what I discover in time. They could change or not based on new treatises. It is a process of evolution of basic underlying tenets. That I believe is changing. 

Fast forward to our current world. Facebook, X et al designed to maximize human engagement. They make money by selling ads. The more you watch this or that, the more lucrative.  If that content is human, one can challenge the validity. If it is machine-generated you don’t know and most people accept it as gospel truth. AI can recreate my image and voice to the point no one will realize it is fake. 

QAnon was established by a dude named Q. This far right innovator came up with incredible conspiracy theories that blamed various groups for all our ills. If you feel like the world is doing you wrong, you latch onto this and even help in its propagation. The more people believing in these posits, the more fantasy becomes real life happenings. The same is true for the left as well. They are playing on people’s soft spots and we are more than receptive. 

This creates a conundrum for yours truly. I can hunker down and rely on my block of beliefs. I will close my eyes and ears to anything new. This is probably one of the basics in polarization.  Or I can consider all the possibilities in trying to glean some element of truth. I feel I can have a discussion and try to learn new ideas or different approaches. But where did your beliefs come from? How can I verify your sources? How can I know if it is an original construct or someone’s warped fantasy. 

Well, kids that is my problem. I really don’t know. I am confused as I hope some others are. And….that’s the truth

As always 

Ted The Great 

Factoids:

The internet houses a staggering 1.9 billion websites, including over 600 million blogs. More than two billion blog posts are published annually.There are over 6 million podcasts. Man, do I feel irrelevant? 

Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1455. By 1500 there were believed to be 8 to 10 million books in existence. There are over 135 billion today. 

Some experts estimate that AI-powered scams could reach losses of over $10 trillion globally by 2025.The classic is a recreation of a person’s voice and image.  The kids call grandparents and say they need money. They even create the surroundings of a person’s location. 

As we greet a new administration coming into office, the word transition is bandied about. Ironically, the word is also used in hospice.  It denotes the time when one goes from dying to “actively dying”. The final countdown, so to speak. I bring this up, tongue in cheek, for both sides of the fence. 

Over many years, I have been witness to our country, society, military,religion and ethos change at various times. Those switchovers for the most part have been subtle. Yes, we all can claim the savior or disaster about to befall us, but by talent and a little luck we have all survived. Could it have gone differently or more expedtiously? Perhaps but rear view mirrors are just that. Looking behind us. I like to look forward.

In terms of government, we have gatekeepers of a sort for the process. The system of checks and balances allows that however shallow the process seems. I was taken aback on the hearing for Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense. As each pol used their 7 minutes of time, there were long introductory statements and posturing and any questioning was in the realm of the absurd.

 Very few if any asked the most important one. What experience do you have that would qualify you to run an $850 billion company with over two million employees? Not woke or about your sex life. Just plain and simple how would you run the place, deal with foreign governments and threats to our viability as a nation. Seems rather obvious. Why was it not to boys and girls under the Dome? Maybe we should have reverse hearing on the senators. 

I am struck by the one step forward two back approach over the years. One guy comes in and wants to change everything. Then four or eight years later another genius has a totaly different idea. I can’t even imagine what this costs us in manpower and dollars. Some time I am going to go back and see all the promises to do this or that. Then I am going to compare them to what actually gets done. 

Think about all the transitions that have taken place in our lives. Rural to urban. Offshoring of manufacturing in the 90’s and now we are bringing it back again. From globalism to isolationism of a sort. Religious to secular. Neighbor interaction to loneliness. Mostly married to mostly single.  Simple way of life to one that is chocka block with activity and consumerism. The rise of China. The disaster of a united Europe. The fall of the USSR. Warfare with might and right to a simple homemade drone laying waste. I could go on but you get the idea. 

We face them in our own lives. We marry. We have children. We get a job and advance. We might lose that job and security. We excel and yet some fall ill. It can be sudden or over a period of time. Life changing is the moniker. It could not be more true. 

That brings to mind the tenor of change. Currently, we want to take the Bastille by storm. There is a new sheriff in town. We are going to show you. We are going to get even. If that floats your boat, go for it. Looking back we have seen New Deals, Great Societies, Hope andChange.A Thousand Points of Light. Yada,Yada,Yada. Not a lot of the Great Expectations seem to survive, so forgive me if I am suspect. 

I tend to question not the motive but the execution. Take immigration. It is a mess and has been so for 40 years. We do have to fix this, but how? Let’s not talk about philosophy but practicality. We CANNOT round up 11 million people and get them shipped out. 65% of the populace think the same way. Yet we make attention-getting headlines that we will get it done. That is a short time feel good that will never happen. 

There have been a lot of promises made as far as taxes. Hell, I would love to pay less taxes. But we have a dirty little secret called the deficit that kind of puts a hole in that tire. We are also going to fire the Feds, move offices out of DC and cut back on a bunch of programs. We are going to build a hundred ships and submarines. Is all this going to be a wonderful utopia or will it be a pipedream that never comes true? This is not anti anybody but just asking you and me if this makes any sense at all? 

If we start this off with parties for the rich and famous are we really helping out the little guy? I am pretty sure the average Joe did not pony up the $200 million for bands and booze. If $1 million gets you in the door or an audience, doesn’t one swamp take the place of the other? If the incoming and outgoing presidents are pardoning everyone, how about the poor schmuck doing time for the everyday assault or fraud or tax evasion? Oh, I forgot. We are all created equal. 

Transitions are good and bad. The devil you know can be better than the one you are about to meet. Totally replacing an existing framework is easier than fixing what we have. It is almost like tearing down a nice house to replace it with something new and glitzy. In the end, you are going to be paying a lot more money. For what? Bragging rights? 

I would like to see this transition be like one a long time ago. Walk softly and carry a big stick. Get it done without the bravado and blame. Turn off the cameras and microphones. It is not what you are doing but the style in which you do so. Hey, I can always hope. 

As Always 

Ted The Great 

Factoids. 

The Donald has raised $200 million for the inauguration. Since they moved inside, there had been a fistfight for seats from the millionaires who opened their wallets. 

There are 27 members of the Senate Armed Service Committee. That is 189 minutes of questioning. The Republicans were the only ones ot ask questions of competence and suitability to hold the job. 

Transition is very much akin to Gail Sheehy’s Passages. In the book she notes that these times are periods to learn and grow no matter how bumpy the road. Here’s hoping.

Transitions often portend taking a big risk. They can markedly change one’s outlook in both a positive and negative way. Don’t look past them.