This blog is just a grab bag of thoughts and useful links. However, as the name suggests it may be interpreted by some as a wee bit challenging, if not, activist. Hence the use of the term "Left" in the title.
The views expressed are strictly my own. The mention of any software or service is not to be taken as an endorsement or criticism.
I attended the "CRAZY8S" gala last night which is an annual event and challenge for up-and-coming filmmakers. It was a marvellous time. The amount of creativity displayed by people was incredible. Everyone at the venue was doing their best to stand out and there were no holds barred as far as glitter, colour and creation. This is a prestigious happening so all in attendance were doing their utmost to put on the show. And I must say it was great!
Coming home, I had a little difficulty boarding the Metro Vancouver public transit, SkyTrain.
Fortunately, a fellow SkyTrain passeger was able to get my wheelchair unstuck and we began to talk about pretty much everything. At one point, they asked how I "got in my chair". They wanted to know the details of how I became disabled. I explained that my condition Cerebral Palsy was a lifelong and our conversation continued. The exact details of the dialogue are a little vague now but at one point I said, "That I would not want to be normal or cured. I enjoyed being different because there were so many different aspects to explore, which an able-bodied person might never have the opportunity to investigate. To be clear, some of that "investigation" is not by choice, sometimes you have to figure out a solution to a problem which doesn't normally occur for the rest of the world. An example would be, picking up a bankcard off the floor when you can't reach it. My solution for that one has always been dangling a long strip of scotch tape and with a little work the sticky side adheres to the card and you reel it in as though you were fishing. --That is really what I do :-). There are so many other examples… But the bottom line is being different can help you stay engaged with reality and thereby benefit from that extra awareness. Guess what?… You are already different.
People seem to think that difference must be obvious to the outside world, I suggest that some of the most profound discoveries you will ever make will be from the subtle things. Events that no one else will ever see or understand. Tiny little opportunities grow. They happen all the time. So if you feel like you're an outsider, celebrate that difference. Actually now that I think about it at this very moment, all of the films I saw last night at CRAZY8S were about that very thing. They were all internal journeys of exploration and discovery. But I can guarantee you they weren't simple little trips down memory lane for the characters in the movies.
So as you explore your differences go ahead and be loud and proud, but don't forget those small powerful insights… Because one of them may be telling you "You Are There And You Are Fine. The journey ahead is up to you."
Image of a Tulip taken with a Kodak DX3900 in April 2002. I just thought it looked cool 😲 for this post.
You may be tempted after reading the title of this post to fervently respond "No!..." , then articulate various reasons why. But hold on, before going down the gloom and doom rabbit hole, consider the following:
Let us consider image creation and here I'm not talking about the dreaded "Deep Fake" phenomenon, I would like us to consider the ability to create images by merely articulating an idea. This has quite a few benefits when used responsibly.
1. If a person has a disability which physically impairs their motor function, AI can allow them to release their creativity like never before. As with, anything else it takes practice to learn how to prompt artificial intelligence correctly. That in turn means that the person must organize their thoughts and consider the various aspects of the image they want to create.I myself have found this very liberating. Often I take what the AI initially generates and tweak it to improve the presentation or context. In this situation, Artificial Intelligence allows the manifestation of creativity.
The image below of a fictitious RCA "Cathedral" vacuum tube radio from the 1930s is an example of what can be done by simply describing to an AI system what you would like created. The actual prompt (text) is in italics below the image. With practice just about anyone can create a pleasant useful image. It should be noted here that some understanding of how AI works is necessary when creating your request. In a nutshell AI in its current form statistically calculates the all odds of words in a sentence, maps that result to a meaning and then reevaluates. It does this for each word until it gets a high probability that the answer is correct. In the case of an image it may start by evaluating what shape is most likely being asked for. This results in billions of calculations and is the reason why it is so power intensive.
AI generated picture from the service Ideogram AI.
My prompt to the AI: "A beautiful 1930s RCA Cathedral vacuum tube radio sitting on a desk with the tuning knob marvellously lit in that warm incandescents light glow. The lighting should be warm and inviting in the room and the image should be photorealistic."
2. You're working on a problem and you reach an absolute dead as to the solution. This can be a physical situation or an abstract idea, but in either case, you've hit the proverbial brick wall. So you put the question to an AI chatbot, and even if it doesn't come up with a usable answer, it very likely approached from a different angle. That's just enough for you to get inspired and tackle the problem once again. Normally you would ask friends in this situation but sometimes, especially if you're stuck at two in the morning, this is the more appropriate way to go.
The above two examples are the benefits of artificial intelligence. In both cases the tool of AI is not detracting from the process of creativity, it is adding to it in a very beneficial way. Allowing the individual to explore more deeply their given situation. This is in stark contrast to another article I wrote several years ago " Learning and knowledge in the shadow of AI " which explores what happens when people use AI to circumvent understanding of an issue or topic. The above two points are almost the opposite of what that article is talking about.
To be rather blunt, the question is whether people will be wise enough to use this new tool to expand their understandings and opportunities to learn, or will individuals insist on taking the easy road and thereby reduce their opportunity to grow. Both situations will probably exist for some time but it is my hope that overall people will use this collectively as a society and individually as a person to grow.
In order to ensure growth means that when AI is used we must always not take it for granted, being involved with the technology only superficially. Society must understand what is going on and how AI mechanisms work and continue to evolve. Not to mention this is the only way to get the maximum benefits of this revolutionary tool. AI is not human and the current mechanisms used to create the manifestation of Artificial Intelligence can never understand the information it presents. That must be understood. We do not know however how this technology will evolve. There are many, many, ways forward. This means that society again must understand and be involved with the evolution of this technology. This is not a way to get out of school so to speak, this is another course in your curriculum of life. This is a technology we must continually grow with.
There is one final point - AI is an incredibly rapidly evolving technology. It should never, ever be blindly relied upon. One must always double check with other facts and research. In some ways this has a historical parallel.
It was believed that the sun and planets revolved around the Earth since before the time of Ptolemy the standardized this idea in the Ptolemaic model. Even though there alternate ideas which challenge this model. It became the predominant one for hundreds of years. Until Copernicus published "De revolutionibus orbium coelestium" (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres" in 1543, which portrayed the earth and other planets going around the sun. However, the Ptolemaic model was entrenched, for one reason it appeared to align with common sense. The compartment can idea was only accepted slowly however as we all know Copernicus was correct in his observations.
In a similar way there is a tendency to automatically assume that whatever is generated by AI is accurate and to be taken at face value, even if it feels right.
Personally I find the very act of researching a topic on my own very rewarding. In some cases I find it intoxicating to follow little trails of knowledge to a larger concept which I have the satisfaction of understanding. This is something you don't experience with AI. It just gives you the answer which is different from the knowledge attained by understanding. As a matter of fact, yesterday I had this very experience, albeit in a subtle way.
A local library had one of their patrons come in complaining about not being able to access an online resource. It was one of those situations where because they were a member of the library the should've been able to access this streaming service by simply entering their library number and password. At one point the library and thought it might be a problem with the patrons email address, and so they contacted the place where I volunteer the Vancouver Community Network (VCN) which provides email addresses and other services to low income and seniors. One of the volunteers at VCN asked an AI about the issue and followed a number of steps, with the presumption that the email address the patron was using was the source of the problem. The next day I called the library back and had a long talk with the librarian hoping this particular patron. There were many details we found which indicated that the problem was on the streaming services and and not an email issue at all. Details which the AI had ignored in its analysis.
Even if the issue hadn't been solved, going through the mental exercise gave everyone deeper insights and that is something that no AI can provide. The lesson here then is, even when AI is the most efficient way to go, if one still wants to truly understand something they must do it themselves.
With that final thought I will wish you a pleasant day. Take care Patrick
** NOTE: The picture of the RCA "Cathedral" vacuum tube radio is from the service Ideogram AI. As a layperson, I have read their relevant "terms of service"
and determined, to the best of my ability, that the image may be viewed
by the public. However before any reuse, please review fully their
terms and if necessary contact the company for more information.
The use of said image does not imply any affiliation or endorsement.
What if, for reasons unknown, the Internet stop working permanently and for presumably other unknown reasons we couldn't replace it with any other technology? Just think up the number of things that would be immediately useless or incredibly limited. Your cell phone would for the most part be just a phone. I bet even text messaging wouldn't work because I am sure that somewhere embedded in the Short Message Service (SMS) technology is a reliance on the Internet. So scratch one fancy phone. Your computer, aside from your home network, would literally be a standalone machine. No email, video calls, and definitely not know uploading and downloading. No streaming. You get the idea.
Just the removal of one component of our technological life… A technology that is so integrated into everything now that I'm sure almost no one has a grasp of the full impact of the loss, should it one day disappear. My wheelchair gets updates over the Internet. That right. that in itself, tells us how deeply intertwined this communication technology is. I don't think society could go back, actually when the Internet didn't exist for the average person. It is tempting to think "Oh yes, society could go back" but in all honestly I don't think that thought is realistic. Not only have billions of people grown up with having the Internet and have gotten very used to looking up anything pretty much instantly. (Here we are not considering the quality of the information retrieved, just the fact that it can be retrieved easily.)I can't see business reverting to the old ways of doing things either.
It is however, and intriguing thought experiment. The public Internet began around 1993 when the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) put the underlying software in the public domain, and yes I just use Gemini to look that little factoid up. Any links in this article will be my attempt to corroborate these statements. That small amount of "research" took all of 20 seconds. If however we were back in the year 1989 or so, what what I have to do to find the information?… My first thought would be a trip to the library, and I'm probably only thinking that way because I am 66 years old and can remember using a library. However how would someone in their 20s or 30s if they were put in such a situation find any information. A library may be a relic to them, something they will only heard about from their parents.
Let's say a city like Vancouver British Columbia Canada was put in this situation. Would people begin to rally to the challenge of a pre-Internet existence? To be clear I'm not talking about rolling the entire city back to the year 1989 or so, just removing the Internet itself. This might make a fascinating book or at the very least a video series. That may be even better because the viewer could see the impact of losing a technology so critical to our modern lives.
False Creek, Vancouver BC Canada, circa 1980s Click to download the full resolution image. I, Patrick Clark, hereby place this image in the public domain.
This image was scanned originally from a "slide" (More information on what a Slide projector was can be found here,) which had faded and was corrected with scratch removal, white balancing, and slightly cropped because the original image was not aligned properly in the scanner. This photograph was originally taken by my father and scanned into a computer some years later running Windows XP. Restoration was done in 2026 on Windows 11 using Corel Paint Shop Pro 2023 by Patrick Clark.
I know the photograph of the Vancouver from the early 1980s is a little out of place with the topic at hand since at the time of the photo very few people knew about the Internet and it was still in extremely early development. But it does underline how much things have changed. I think cell phones were just becoming a thing and again they were expensive. But could the average person living today adapt to a world without Internet? I mean, my watch needs the Internet to set the correct time. There is no way to set it manually. So if the battery ever dies, that's it for the watch.
I have lots of old skills that would enable me to cope, and I do remember researching school essays by hand, raiding the aforementioned library. Or buying a physical book and reading the whole thing. These behaviours are sufficiently ingrained in me that I'm not even sure what skills I am using. Someone born in the 2000's however, would have their skills tied to the Internet.
Socialization
This could be most difficult for people who grew up with the Internet. Without social media and text messaging this could be very difficult to adjust to. It would include discovering the lost art of conversation. And conversation is pretty much a lost art indeed in some segments of the population. Go on public transit and there is very little discussion among the riders. Everybody is glued to their devices. There is a lot of subtlety in being social:
You have to pick up on clues in the environment.
Know how to keep a conversation engaging.
Know when to not engage someone.
These are all skills that can take many years, may be months if you're only rusty at the particular task.
From my perspective social media has done more harm than good. It doesn't allow people to naturally mature emotionally because they can write or say something inappropriate online and then just disappear. Do that in real life and you would get an unavoidable reaction from the other person. People I think would have a rough time regaining old skills. Learning how to be in a larger environment and sociable is something humans start to learn when they're young and it is complicated to say the least.
When I was about 15 citizens band radios (CB) were all the rage and I was caught up in it. This is the first time we saw people say things and act inappropriately go off the air. You couldn't do that before. If someone said something rude the other person or a group of people would let them know right then and there that whatever they said was unacceptable.
My CB radio a RadioShack Realistic TRC 30A Circa 1975
Society needs people with good socialization skills. It is fundamental in getting along. The question is and I know I'm repeating myself - Could people pick these critical skills in adult life? Would there always be something rough around the edges with these people or could they successfully master socialization? My goodness the number of questions in this article so far is rather surprising. From my initial perspective it looks like we really do rely on the Internet in a lot of areas.
On the other hand, there are many positives that being able to communicate rapidly and exchange information brought to us by the Internet that have benefited people. So like life itself there are no absolute good or bad in this discussion.
I remember my parents absolutely freaking out whenever it was necessary to make a long distance phone call. The price was expensive and charged on a permanent basis. Now with just your browser, you can have a conversation with a friend on the other side of the world and the cost is negligible complete with real-time video.
Would handwriting come back in to use?
This is a point I really find a mind blowing. The fact that they do not teach handwriting in school. Initially it makes sense since everything is done online. But consider the intimate connection of writing something on paper. It involves a completely different mindset and I wouldn't be surprised if it ultimately affects in a positive way one's cognitive abilities. Not just the mechanics of creating a written sentence, the way you are putting together the thoughts in your mind. It is much more intimate than typing on a keyboard.
I know from personal experience using voice dictation that a person speaks in day-to-day language very differently than they write. Presumably this is due to the fact that you have time to think while constructing a paragraph. Voice dictation on the other hand there is a tendency to write very informally. So if someone always had access to the Internet and did not learn handwriting the challenges they would face would be quite large. After all this was a skill which took time to develop. Never mind reading someone else's handwriting. Both my parents were in healthcare and my father had particularly bad, almost abstract, and writing. Very few people have to deal with this now.
And all that is happened is that one component, albeit a big one, has been removed in this discussion. "The Internet".
I am really interested to hear your comments. When time permits I will also add a YouTube video version of this article. ... And here it is:
Have a great day! Patrick
PS: This is the 200th post on this blog. I plan to keep on going😀.
** NOTE: The picture displayed at the top of this article is from the service Ideogram AI. As a layperson, I have read their relevant "terms of service"
and determined, to the best of my ability, that the image may be viewed
by the public. However before any reuse, please review fully their
terms and if necessary contact the company for more information.
The use of said image does not imply any affiliation or endorsement.
As many of you know, I live in a supported living environment, which simply means the due to my physical disability I have 24 hour care. On the whole however I am quite independent and am always up to some activity. I really do have a curious and thoughtful mind. This is in sharp contrast to many of the people in my building who for lack of a better phrase, regardless of the severity or mildness of their condition don't have a "life" outside of the institutional framework. That is everything about their existence revolves around this facility. They may go outside but only to the local shopping mall or occasionally a movie theatre. There was a constant complaint that they are board or in other ways disgruntled and yet they do nothing to alter that state. As you can imagine, this results in a very routine life. For them every day is essentially the same as the one before it and frequently the names of each day don't seem to matter. A Wednesday has just as much importance as a Friday, which anyone working a standard week would know is definitely not the case. Friday is the beginning of the beloved weekend, and it still issomething I get excited about 😃
I've been in this facility for about seven years now and many times I've tried to encourage people in the building to broaden their horizons and do more. I mean we live in a day and age where we are simply flooded with information and opportunities… How could one not have an outside interest or opinion upon which to expand their life upon? Whenever I bring up this point, people asked me what they should do instead of looking inside of themselves to consider what they want to do.
"You will never be satisfied with life, if you ask others what to do. You must ask yourself, what you want to do with life."
This cyclical behaviour of people asking others what they should do and then rejecting the suggestion, only to go back into the same routines repeats constantly. Honestly this is now something I find a little annoying, because many of the people living in my building could be doing something more rewarding with their lives, but there is always something that has blocked them. I think, I might have an idea now what that issue might be.
Is it possible that they have locked themselves into a social caste like system? Perhaps they believe that because of their condition and because of where they live that they are compartmentalized into a limited set of opportunities. Very much like the caste system in other countries. You are born into a level of society and that is where you must state. That may sound like a ridiculous thought, but I am reminded of a friend who during a meeting of one of the groups I belong to, and I'm paraphrasing said "We are the elites, of the disabled in our age group. "At the time I thought this was a very arrogant statement. But now I am reconsidering this, although not from such a literal point of view. At the time the group I was attending we were talking about the geriatric disabled. People born in the early 1960s. The group grew up in a totally different culture especially in the early days, there was an implied social caste: "You are not normal. You are different. The opportunities in life for you will be very limited." While this is an exaggerated statement, we did take subtler messages like this to heart and even to this day at 66 years old I still have to fight the occasional belief that I feel pulling me into this limited set of opportunities. I think that is what my friend meant. Analogous to electrons trapped in the valence rings of an atom. Each electron stays within its own orbit until forcibly nudged out of it. It is not a perfect analogy and I am by no means a chemist so please take only the very general concept of this idea, in other words don't shoot the writer of this article for being inaccurate. What I mean to say is our people locked in their own or mental orbits in my facility? Do they just feel that they are part of this caste system and must stay within their own orbit.
As we all know, even though we are thinking beings of emotions can override logical thought. And if you think you belong in one orbit, or one caste you emotionally hold yourself to that level. This way of approaching the problem does make a lot of sense to me. I am not sure of the solution, aside from nagging everyone around me to death to get off their butts and do something with their lives. Which I will continue to do, so not to worry. But, if what I propose here is true, then there are undoubtedly others who are equally compartmentalized and limited by the very nature of the way they are feeling and thinking about their lives. So this is no small matter and I shall take it with me as I moved through my various activities moving forward.
Down the road there will likely be a video companion to this article because it is rather profound from my perspective. Videos however take time to get right and in the meantime I would love to hear from you, dear reader.
As you can see the, I have created a companion video. The more I think about this topic, the more profound it becomes. I really do believe that a lot more emphasis needs to be placed on it. Being visible issues are easy to see and therefore simple to focus resources on, but it is ultimately the subtle beliefs and behaviours which have the long term impact.
While I was making the video there was a concern in the use of the word "Caste" was inappropriate, but I think it is perfectly accurate. It describes an involuntary classification placed on the individual-based only upon the situation they were born into. More importantly, as the person grows up this often becomes a self reinforcing belief so that it is fundamental in everything they do. If we step back and take a wider perspective you can see the limits and judgements being placed on many people.
To a greater or lesser extent I think everyone knows about this but I think it is been vastly underestimated. Just because something is subtle only means that it may go on unnoticed by the larger public. It does not mean that it is any less deserving of attention and ultimately resolution.
Do you think the ideas put forward in this article have merit? Let me know your experiences and thoughts. In the meantime of course have a great day and take care.
Patrick
** NOTE: The pictures and the thumbnail of the video are from the service Ideogram AI. As a layperson, I have read their relevant "terms of service"
and determined, to the best of my ability, that the image may be viewed
by the public. However before any reuse, please review fully their
terms and if necessary contact the company for more information.
The use of said image does not imply any affiliation or endorsement.
One of the scenarios I hear from people frequently is regarding their phones storage filling up. The phone call or discussion goes something like this:
They are getting messages from the phone that they can no longer take any photos because there is no storage space left… Usually at this point there is also a message suggesting that they pay for more online storage as well.
These two messages totally confuse the issue for most people who are not technically savvy. If they buy more online storage, the problem on the phone seems to go away for only short amount of time and then there is another message asking them to upgrade.
So my purpose in this article and accompanying video is to attempt to untangle this mess of running out of room on the phone for photos.
First off let's make clear what online storage is and why the phone is using it. When you take a photograph with your phone it is stored in two places.
Inside your phone as you would expect, and this does take up physical storage space.
The phone also sends a copy of the photograph to online storage. So you have a backup of the photograph.
Great, except unless you're paying extra the amount of photos which can be stored online is rather limited. So you start getting messages about running low on storage pretty quickly after sitting up your new phone.
This behaviour of automatically backing up photographs is pretty much the default configuration for phones now days. Some phones however are configured a little bit differently and they will not display this message about running low on storage until both the online storage and the phones physical built in storage are full. If this is the situation a phone is in then it's a real mess because usually the phone cannot do software updates since there is no room to actually put the update.
So what do you do?
Answer: Transfer your photos from the phone's physical memory to another device, usually a USB memory stick or an external hard drive, for safekeeping. This does mean that you won't be able to look at all your photos on your phone, but because you now have the photos stored somewhere else you can use other devices to look at them. And if you really want to you can transfer them back to the phone at any time.
The video goes into greater detail of the transfer process but here in brief are the steps, just so you get some idea of what is going on and how to do it. These steps are specific for the Android Operating system for phones. With iPhones the procedure is considerably different. If I can get my hands on a current iPhone I will make a video and article for those as well.
Before proceeding… Phones and anything related to the Internet changes frequently. It is quite possible that the procedures outlined below no longer match your phone. These instructions are specifically geared toward android-based operating system phones and tablets. Use them at your own risk. When in doubt Do Not guess. Take your device to a professional who can provide specific guidance.
Buy a USB memory stick with a Type "C" plug as shown in the picture below. The USB stick will connect to your phone using the same connection as the one used for charging. If the phone does not have this style of USB connector take the phone to the store when you are purchasing the USB stick and see if you can get a compatible USB stick or an adapter. (In the video I recommend a USB stick with at least 32 gigabytes (GB) of storage. But after thinking about it if you can get 64 GB that would be preferable. Pictures and videos can be quite large now days.)
A suitable USB stick with a "Type C" connection on the end. This represents 90% of all new cell phones.
Plug the USB stick into the phone. If you get a message indicating that the stick must be "formatted", click "yes" to proceed. This will only occur the first time you use the stick and may not occur at all.
Be aware though that this formatting process will erase anything previously put on the USB stick. So when in doubt always use a empty stick.
However once the initial format is complete the next time you use the same stick the phone will not go through this process and you can add more photos to a partially filled stick.
Sometimes, just sometimes, something happens that catches you off guard and make your day. As though the world was saying to you "Hey, here's a surprise, if you're quick enough to notice it." and in this situation it was a friend of mine would recently become a grandfather telling me about the child's name. It wasn't the name that caught my eye, it was the expression on his face. Absolute and complete joy!
I swear the guy lost 20 years in a split second and it was astounding to see this just instantaneously happen. To know that this was a regular at the end around the world millions of times a day doesn't matter. Nothing could discount this experience. I don't even know if he realized intellectually just how much joy he was feeling, and I guess it doesn't matter.
So the next time someone tells you or expresses an opinion that nothing good ever happens in the modern world or that everything is negative I want you to think about this short little post and video. It reminds us all that good things are constantly happening. We must however be open to listening for them. They are there, taking a multitude of forms, some short some long.
Hypothetical site, not real.
Can you imagine if there was an online service similar to Facebook but focused on posting positive or inspirational stories and events. That would be pretty cool. There probably is, somewhere on the vast Internet and if not, which is something I find highly unlikely, we must find out why. Maybe it's just the simple fact that we are conditioned on an evolutionary level to look for negative things first. It is better to suspect that there might be something hiding in the bush, then not be aware of it in the first place. Regardless however, such a service putting a positive angle on events would be a welcome and needed commodity. ("Commodity" is not the word I would use, but it is the word that came to mind as I write this text.)
In the video below, it is easy to see how pleasantly I was blown away by my friends expression as he told me about his new relative. I wish I had been able to get a photograph of his face. I am really not understating it when I say that he became 20 years younger. These really are the things we need to retrain our modern brains to pay attention to. That is to look for positive experiences, rather than the default negative.
In the past I know that various people and companies have tried to start "Good News Networks" and that it is always been an uphill battle. I think the idea would be much easier to address if one would start small. That is pay attention to the small things that occur in life, then progressed slowly, up the ladder until you can start something like a positive stories network, or organization with the same goals in mind. The modern person has been conditioned, not to look for the uplifting things and therefore we have many negative behaviours to deal with and resolve before we can tackle the big projects. However as any of my readers know, I am an optimist and I keep seeing the beauty and life intermingled with a little bit of magic.
Feel free to start a competition with your friends to see who can come up with the most positive experience of the week. It may sound a little corny, but you never know, such a simple start may ultimately lead to a big idea.
So there you have it, my retelling of a short little experience which happened to me. It might be in short but it sure wasn't insignificant for either the grandfather or myself. Things are always happening in the world and it is not always one-sided.
Have a great day Patrick
** NOTE: The picture "Welcome to Good News" is from the service Ideogram AI. As a layperson, I have read their relevant "terms of service"
and determined, to the best of my ability, that the image may be viewed
by the public. However before any reuse, please review fully their
terms and if necessary contact the company for more information.
The use of said image does not imply any affiliation or endorsement.
Imagine for a moment, that you are a sentient life form on another planet and just like human beings you live and die a certain amount of time. But you know for certain there is no afterlife. Would this affect how you approach your existence?
I ask this question because I find an ever-growing number of people don't take advantage of what their life offers. Put simply, that is that they are aware they exist; they can affect change in their environment and yet they do not alter their situation in a positive manner but instead reinforce negative behavior, and all the while completing bitterly about the situation. This is analogous to putting one's hand in very hot water and yet insisting that they do not want to take their arm out of the scalding liquid, because that would be a change. For years, this same group of individuals keeps stating that they are unhappy but they keep doing the very things that entrench their discomfort. Any change in the status quo is met immediately with negativity. Offer to give them empowering tools and they resist that too.
The only way I can rationalize this in my head, is that they must be waiting for some marvellous afterlife. But I'm willing to bet they would resist that change as well. This boggles my mind. Yet I know people just like this today, in the 21st-century. A time in human history when there are so many opportunities, regardless of your physical or mental situation. It does take a fair bit of work in some cases to utilize these opportunities. One may have to negotiate with funding sources for equipment, or take a field of study. In the situation where the person cannot do any of the things necessary to utilize opportunities, they can form a group which could assist them in reaching a goal.
To illustrate, the other day it occurred to me that anyone can create artwork. You can literally give one the many AI services like the online service IDEOGRAM a description of what you want and it will produce an image for you, this service has a free option so to create this image would cost the person nothing. Then they could dictate the text to go along with the image to their phone or computer. Again this is free to do. So basically you could write a book complete with images. You could then use this new book to mobilize others to assist you further. Perhaps form an organization which would then in turn qualify for funding. You could then pay your self a salary.... This is an oversimplification but you get the idea. The old axiom comes to mind "Where There's a Will There's a Way."
The older I get the more enthusiastic I get about what life has to offer. Because I now know that the opportunities are short and should not be taken for granted. I have also seen what "The other side of the coin" described above, looks like and to me that is mediocrity at best and indeed a waste of life at worst. I shall scream: "That Ain't Me, Baby!" Until the end of time.
Maybe things are too easy and the beginning of the 21st-century. When you think about it, it's the challenges in ones young life that build the skills of self-reliance and deeper understanding. Do any of my readers remember learning how to use a physical card catalogue at a library? If so leave me a comment. That one skill brought together many aspects of awareness and understanding.
Now you just go to your favourite search engine or A.I.(Artificial Intelligence) resource. There is no need to work out a solution, now one just tells the machine what you want and poof the answer is there. There is no need for the individual to change or evolve. Maybe that explains some of the behaviour I described above. These people are waiting for something else to do the hard work of finding a solution. Then again it is unlikely that the solution would work if the person was not willing to adopt alteration in their behaviour.
I was told of a similar situation earlier this year and involved a person on welfare. To be clear they were very poor and just getting by. This year the provincial government made available at extra $200 per month for people who also havw a disability. The person I am talking about would indeed qualify for the extra money in this case. But there was a catch, there was a separate application process. To this day they still have not filled out the one form in order to get the money.
I am so grateful that my life experiences have shaped me in a way that allows me to see the possibilities. Difficulty is not a problem, it is an asset, an opportunity to get creative, and thereby in solving the problem one gains a slightly deeper understanding of the world Add up these difficulties and their respective solutions and what you are left with is quite in the encyclopedia of understanding. The ultimate toolkit for life if you will 😀
This Christmas was particularly shocking in the supported living building I am a member of. Most tenants actively argued against Christmas celebrations or decorations. In the six or seven years that I've been here I have never seen it so bad. Yet as mentioned above by maintaining the negative status quo one only entrenches and makes worse the situation. Dr. Seuss's the Grinch could take lessons from this crew. However the staff were able to break out the ornaments and festivities that go along with them at the last minute. It did result in a mild elevation of the buildings' mood. So there is a way to improve the situation.
This pleasant turnaround in the atmosphere actually really surprised me. I was convinced that absolutely nothing would break them out of their "Ebenezer Scrooge mindset". As I have said before in this blog, I think mindset plays a major role in one's life. (Click this link to see all the articles dealing with mindset and motivation on the blog.) Much larger than it is given credit for. I would go as far as to say: "your mindset, not only affects how you see things currently, it can affect your long term health". And I don't suggest this idea likely. Since a person's mindset has an impact on their entire perception of the world, I don't think it is too much of a reach to suggest that it may have a health impact if the same mindset is held on over a longer period of time.
What I'm suggesting is that a profoundly negative mindset and open you up to a whole variety of health concerns. Maybe not biologically but definitely because you are not going to see the warning signs. I have noticed that many people in my facility have verily shallow inner awareness. Most of their stimulus comes from external sources like the Internet, various substances, all of which are just a form of distraction.
This reminds me of the old story I was told as a young child about the ostrich which would stick it's head in the sand so that it did not see the approaching threat. Or to put it another way, "Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind". Of course this behaviour doesn't do the ostrich any good at all except it is a virtual guarantee that the poor birds life will be shorter. The same holds true for anyone who holds on to a negative mindset or seeks constant distraction from a real-life.
It can be very difficult to break this pattern, but as the short Christmas experience positively by the tenant in my building has shown it is not impossible. So, since you are alive and reading this or watching the companion video, please take the time to do something large, or small, with your life right now. That step may be all it takes to change your perception and have a great new year in 2026.
Take care Patrick
** NOTE: The picture "Image generated by Ideogram AI" displayed at the top of this article is from the service Ideogram AI. As a layperson, I have read their relevant "terms of service"
and determined, to the best of my ability, that the image may be viewed
by the public. However before any reuse, please review fully their
terms and if necessary contact the company for more information.
The use of said image does not imply any affiliation or endorsement.
I was going to post a serious article today… And then I thought: "What am I doing? It's Christmas eve afternoon 2025. Time to lighten up" so out with all the heavy duty philosophies and opinions. I just want to wish everyone a great holiday season.
As you're reading this short little blurb of an article, stop and take a moment, allow yourself to let go of all the stuff going on in life right now either locally or globally. Put everything on hold I just relax into something… Have a chocolate bar if that's your thing… Stop working for a few minutes and just changed change gears. There will be time for all of this in the new year, right now think about something you haven't thought of in a long time that makes you feel good. Whatever it is don't apologize for it or quantify it in any way, just enjoy it. If you have children giggle with them over a really bad joke, something ridiculous 😆
One of my fondest memories was sitting on the floor with my father who had polio. Watching him explain some little gizmo or idea he had. The sheer glee which exuded from his expressions and excitement was contagious. For half an hour everybody in the house turned into a kid and just enjoy the moments.
I'm going to put together a little video for this hopefully I can dig up the Christmas hat I have kicking around somewhere in the apartment, and if so you will see it on my head as I exude playfulness and joy.
Even when it's not Christmas remember you can just take a few moments put a smile on your face for absolutely no reason. Other people may look at do a little strange but you shouldn't worry about it. Just enjoy the moment.
With that I'm going to wish to a very Merry Christmas and an excellent new year. I have a bunch of articles planned, I think I have three or four on the go right now in various states of preparedness.
"If your brain lives in a fish tank, you might as well make it a party!"
People have always said: "The environment affects you, and you affect the environment." Whatever context you consider that statement in, planet wide or just your immediate surroundings, it means that changing one aspect affects everything else. It also means that you see everything through many "layers of filtering". This view of life has always reminded me of an aquarium. One small change in any aspect of the water, temperature or inhabitants, massively alters everything. Similarly each one of these acts like a filter when you observe the animals and indeed the aquarium as whole; it's all layers of filtering. When viewing the world with this point of view we can all be considered to have brains that live in fish tanks. Reality is heavily dependent on the context as a whole.
Okay, so if that's the case, let's take it one step further. I suggest you that any one of these multitudes of layers can be adjusted at any time by you. If someone is playing music that is not to your liking, rather than asking them to change the music, consider for a moment, what "layers"you are interpreting the situation through and adjust those. Consider why you are paying attention to the music in the first place. Think about it, no one is forcing you to pay attention to it. In the moment, choose to pay attention to something else. The very process of realizing that this layer of filtering can be adjusted may be very empowering. You are using the aspects of your own fish tank to your advantage.
This is an extreme simplification of life, but the central idea remains the same and it just as valid. All the layers of your interpretation can be changed at will and usually at any time you want. It's just that we are usually too preoccupied to stop and take the time and effort in order to manually change gears.--Yes we're back to my favourite topic of turning off the mental autopilot. Perhaps in years past when life was slower people naturally and there autopilot turned off, and probably were more aware of themselves, that we normally have time to appreciate today. But dammit, if they could do it so can society and people do it today.
That's it for this short little post. I hope it gives you something positive and perhaps wonderful to think about. Feel absolutely free to act on it. If your brain lives in a fish tank, you might as well make it a party!
Take care have a great day. Patrick
** NOTE: The picture "Image generated by Ideogram AI" displayed at the top of this article is from the service Ideogram AI. As a layperson, I have read their relevant "terms of service"
and determined, to the best of my ability, that the image may be viewed
by the public. However before any reuse, please review fully their
terms and if necessary contact the company for more information.
The use of said image does not imply any affiliation or endorsement.
I find it very strange, that I keep running into people who emphatically tell me they don't like change-they like routine. These aren't elderly people either, their ages run the gamut. If this article has one point, it is that I believe the unexpected is it very necessary component of a full life.
The best creativity comes about when something unanticipated is thrown into the mix. Which can result in an "Aha!" moment. Indeed, I think the whole concept of the unexpected is underappreciated. Some people will avoid the uncertain situations at all cost. This is the wrong way to approach life. One needs to embrace the opportunity that potentially comes from the unexpected. From the discovery of X-rays by Wilhelm Röntgen to the creation of WD-40 Which actually stands for "Water Displacement formula 40" lubricant, the "unanticipated"has always played a role in the creative process. (For an in-depth article in the creation of WD-40, see this wonderful article "Who Invented WD-40?" on the "Today I Found Out" website.)
Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen looking into a fluoroscope (X-ray screen) placed in front of a
man's body and seeing the ribs and the bones of the arm. Chromolithograph Date:1896/1900
Wilhelm Roentgen's Realization of the practical application of x-rays wasn't the focus of his 1895 experiments. However, when he saw that they could permeate solid matter and cause a chemically treated paper to fluoresce, it was definitely an "Aha!" moment. His mind was open to unexpected ideas.
Have you ever had an idea not work out, but that very failure inspires you in a new way to solve the problem?
An unexpected situation can have the benefit of shaking you off of a limited train of thought, that is by injecting something new into your experience . In computer science especially when generating random numbers, there is the concept of a "seed value" it is a random number you pick to start the program going and it can dramatically alter the results you get. This is not the part of the day I where you ask a question this is on a more fundamental level that affects how the program initially approaches the problem. This would be equivalent to giving it something unexpected. Therefore the results are completely different.
So whether it be random numbers or an unexpected situation the influence of the unpredictable cannot be understated. I would go farther and argue that it is necessary to keep an unpredictable component in your life just so that one does not suck. I once had a friend who was great for doing this,"being random", he would burst through my door at all times of the day or night with some of the craziest ideas or adventures. Everything normal would occasionally go right out the door and I had more adventures and meant more unique people than I would've ever imagined if this person had not been part of my life. Sadly, they passed away a long time ago, but I still remember the lessons learned. Which can be summarized as follows:
"Be thankful for the unexpected. This is where life grows."
Having said this however underscores just how important the "unexpected and surprising" is. Without them it can be difficult to go beyond your boundaries. One tends to stay with what they know and you can't just say "Okay The Unknown, surprised me was something new."Probably because you can't anticipate what is outside of your own experience. The random conditions have to combine in order to create the unanticipated. One might be able to engineer part of but there always must be a random component.
I have spent the last few days wandering the Internet and books in order to add some unique items to this article. Things that would really underscore the usefulness of the unexpected.
At the beginning of this article I mentioned WD-40. It is without a doubt one of the most well-known products for, lubricating, cleaning, and rust removal. With an endless list of uses. (See the WD-40 Blog.) The thing is though that is not why it was created. It was supposed to be a water repellent used on the Atlas rockets to reduce rust while they sat in their silos. It was a accidental discovery about the lubricating aspect and fortunately the developers realize this. Again the unexpected played a role. While I was reading up on the history I decided to ask my local AI software to draw me a picture. I told it to "Draw a can of WD-40 in the style of Atlas rocket." What it came up with was totally unexpected.
Output from an AI when asked to combine an Atlas rocket with a can of WD-40.
A few weeks ago I bought myself a 360° camera. The device captures everything around you and converted into an MP4 video file.See the companion YouTube video for several examples of the 360 camera in use. There's also 15 second long example video on this post.
If you are unfamiliar with this type of camera here is a very short, 15 second video clip. It should be noted that the camera uses two lenses mounted on either side of the device and I am not moving the camera at all. The panning affect is done with software. It's a little crude I am still learning, but you will get the idea.
The 360 camera used in the clip and longer video. Insta 360 X4
Here is the companion video to this article. There are a few much longer clips from the new 360 camera. What became immediately clear to me in reviewing the footage was how much is missed as one proceeds through their day. I was surprised by how much was going on that I was completely unaware of. This is the "unexpected" again and it gives my creativity a real boost.
The lesson to be learned here it is then, when you noticed your creativity beginning to dry up start in on something new. Whether that be learning a new skill or exploring some terrain. Also be prepared to go back and reevaluate your daily life, there are most likely many things that you just haven't noticed. Being in the moment can be great for focusing and and calming oneself down, but don't get in the habit of defaulting to a particular mode of living life. Experience in the world are very diverse. Indulge in the mysterious and unexpected opportunities they afford.
Take care and as always feel free to leave comments.
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