Cocooning And The Tendency To Resist New Experiences.

It is a common belief that as a person ages, there is a tendency to pull back from society and resist new experiences; this is often called "Cocooning".

Part of me wonders if that belief is true and another part of me screams loudly that it is not. I just turned 66 years old and I seem to be doing more than I ever did earlier in my life. Now, I do find that there is a resistance to being involved in "everything". And "everything" in this context represents the things that others feel I should be involved in. Maybe there's a tendency to misinterpret one's desire to focus on what matters to them personally rather then to be involved with all the other activities society normally expects a person to be involved in.

I truly have a better understanding now of some of the great researchers throughout history that were knowen to lock themselves in their study to deeply focus on their chosen field of interest. Nothing is more disconcerting than being interrupted randomly. (That was this morning's adventure. I had planned to write this article at about 8 AM and here it is 1:15 PM.)

Now let me be clear, there is a distinction between healthy Cocooning and someone who was isolating themselves for other reasons. People must develop the social emotional awareness skills to tell the difference. If I'm truly honest with myself my personality destined to be a bit of a loner but that is because I like to focus deeply. My moods are always fine when I'm in the state and I can easily converse with whoever comes by. Sometimes I get a little too caught up in the conversing as a matter of fact. I must've been a storyteller in a previous life 😁.

Contrast that with someone who is normally social but starts to slowly withdraw from friends or just become less involved with their growth. One of the telltale signs that this is not healthy is that there mood goes down and they become fatigued. If you see this happening it is most definitely our warning sign. Frequently persons in such states tend to really resist help. Usually it is also true that the more aware they are emotionally the more they can manipulate and hide.

You may wonder why I am choosing to talk about this particular topic now. It is the end of summer and the beginning of full it's not too far away. For myself this means I must be extra vigilant because the winter months sometimes bring that negative cocooning  behaviour. So this is my way of reminding myself to pay attention. As luck would have it, my local health department just started up a pilot program focused on the elderly and mental health. Specifically a cognitive therapy group, so I hustled to my butt and got down there to sign up. The more tools I can have at my disposal, the better. Also others may be feeling the same urges. To you I say make appropriate early preparations, what ever that may be, and a do not fool yourself into thinking: "I can do this all by myself." If you need help ask for it.

But also looking at this behaviour from a larger perspective, I find it fascinating. It is indeed a message to society understand the differences and benefits involved in allowing someone to focus deeply on their field of choice, be it a hobby or something more formal, and recognizing the difference when the behaviours are not healthy.

Of course one of the things it gets in the way of detecting the differences is that we are also busy and distracted. People multitask like they are the main programmer in the movie The Matrix. Even if you don't know what the matrix movie, is you get the idea. There's a message here for those super multitasking people, "they to need to take stock of where their emotional and physical well-being is." You cannot and should not even try assuming that your body is indestructible. As everyone ages, they inevitably find this out and it is usually a surprise. Because our society does not test to be that aware to focus on checking in with yourself from time to time. However it is something you really should do. Put down the cell phone, or your favourite device of distraction and just ask yourself how you're doing.

Well, that's my little article for today. I really have no idea what the next article will be. But rest assured there will be something that pops into my mind 😃. I'm debating at the moment whether I want to dedicate a video for this particular posting. We are getting close to the weekend, so I think I will have some time.

Take care Patrick

IndexNow and Blogger are they compatible?

 

Like anyone who runs a service or website on the Internet I am always interested in providing good content and of course getting better rankings in the search engines. The following article, even though it is a little bit technical, may serve as a cautionary tale to not believe everything you see or read on the Internet.

I have been running a short advertising campaign with Pinterest, something I doabout once or twice a year to get my rankings and viewership a little boost. It is during these campaigns that I also usually discover something I didn't know about the Internet before. This time around the discovery is a relatively recent method to get your website material submitted to engines qhickly. It is a protocol called "IndexNow" which was established by Microsoft and utilized by their search engine BING.  If you're someone who maintains a website where the content changes frequently you can go to IndexNow.org to find all the details on how to set this up. The concept is simple, once set up. Your website will automatically notify a search engine of your choosing, whenever the content is updated. Moreover as part of how the IndexNow works, initial search engine receiving the update will let related search engines know. (I think my fellow geeks, just got excited.) This is the positive part of my article and the downside has nothing to do with the IndexNow protocol, it is how unscrupulous individuals are abusing the concept. But first a little more back story:

This blog, notesintheleftmargin.com is hosted by an old and reliable service called Bloggerand there are a few things it does not support, one of them being to do above mentioned protocol for search engines. So I went on a safari, so to speak, though the Internet to explore whether this problem had been addressed. Before I got to the true answer I ran into the "dark side" of information. There are tons of YouTube videos (you won't find any linked in this post) and articles pretending to give you instructions on how to implement the IndexNow feature on Blogger hosted websites. In reality however these instructions would result in spamming the search engines if followed blindly. Not only would it not help the website rankings it would probably have a very adverse effect.

It just goes to show that when reading or seeing something on the Internet you must be hypercritical. Maybe one day water will implement the ability to add the IndexNow feature into hosted sites, but not as of this writing. It needs to also be noted that IndexNow Is only useful if your site updates frequently. In the meantime blogger hosted sites can still use "Google's Search Console" or "Bing's Webmaster Tools"

Patrick

Is the Internet becoming less user-friendly?

Image generated by Ideogram AI.

Is the Internet becoming harder to use?

I was collaborating with the volunteer yesterday, making minor visual adjustments to a new website and that got me thinking about whether or not we are making the Internet easier or harder to use. This thought could also be applied to technology in general. Admittedly ease-of-use is a highly subjective consideration, but still overall when you look at the broad perspective I have the sneaking hunch if we are not making things harder for people there definitely is a trend toward making the experience more convoluted.

Think of the plethora of icons that are now used in place of text descriptions on websites. While we all understand some of them to represent services like Facebook etc. many of them don't give you a clue as to what they represent and if you use the old trick of hovering over them with your mouse pointer there is usually no further embedded text description displayed. (If you hover over the graphic at the top of this article you should see some text appear describing it.) So your only alternative is to click on each one to see what it does. This is just inefficient. Yes, it saves valuable screen space and if the symbol is universal it gets around the language barrier. But if it's something the designer just made up then again it just slows people down.

The other issue I see occurring a lot online in general and with various apps is that you are constantly being interrupted in one way or another. My Pixel 6a 90% of the time it displays a notification about something right after I put in my PIN even if I have just cleared all the notifications. This occurs so often, that I am forced to conclude it was a design choice. Again this can impair one's ability to do something because you are momentarily distracted, and that is just annoying.

Graphical User Interface design (GUI) as a complementary component called User-Experience design  (UX) which is focused on the experience of using the product or device itself so one would think the goal would be to remove the above mentioned problems. But we are now trying to pack so many features into every web application and devices that there is simply no universal way to organize. So you end up with a real disjointed mess, unless you happen to know the brand or manufacturer well enough to understand their design philosophy. 

This may well be an area in which artificial intelligence can be a benefit. A user experience focused AI could learn how a particular user works best with the device or service and then automatically adjusts as needed. For example, I find that most pop-up notifications disappear far too quickly in this case particularly on android devices for my liking. I have another friend however that finds them too slow. 

However, until we get to that stage where artificial intelligence is sufficiently ubiquitous enough to do per device user experience adjustments. I would like to hear what you have to say. Let's start a broad discussion and see where it goes.

Now, I know this topic is diverse and some people's "features" are others "impediments" particularly if for considering the various disabilities. However for this discussion let's keep it to the broader picture. A strict technology becoming easier to use or do you find it getting in the way more often than not? 

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.

 

In the shadow of AI: The Future of Websites

Will websites still exist in 10 years?

With the incredible speed at which artificial intelligence (AI) is developing, I have my doubts. Most if not all search engines offer automatically generated snippets to your search query right at the top of the page. Meaning that you don't have to go to the original website.

Content will still be generated by people and organizations for inclusion on the Internet, but the specific actual information may not be in the forefront of the user experience.

Think about it this way, it's analogous to a librarian. You go to your favourite search engine and asking a question. Rather than it providing discrete books (think websites) and their location in the library, the AI would do all the research and provide you with a well-documented answer. Therefore there would be no need for a fancy website because only the, data the information is important.

Websites might be viewed as historical items, analogous to looking at through a history book. They would be considered part of the history of the Internet. In much the same way we now view early websites from the 80s, with simple layouts and loaded with animated GIFs.

There are a number of new technologies coming online that could greatly enhance what semiconductors (integrated circuits) and hence AIs are capable of:

• Instead of copper traces within the circuits, light transmission as a method of sending information (video by Anastasiia Nosova ) is being worked on. This means less heat and faster computation. Which ultimately of course results in better artificial intelligence.
  
  
• The classical way of computing that we all know and love may be on its way out. Not just because of quantum computing but due to the potential of hybrid approaches, borrowing lessons from a wide variety of fields, the idea of classical ones and zeros may indeed come to an end.

The Internet will change with all these developments. As a matter of fact the Internet as we know it may ultimately fade into the background, in much the same way as landline based telephones have. We all know about them but everyone uses cell phones. I haven't had a landline phone in years. The only vestige of that in my apartment is the "phone" which is used only to open the front door. It came with the building and doesn't cost me any money. Even though it has a phone number officially associated with it I would have to look it up.

Where we're headed for is a service which we will just ask a question to. It will do all the research and present us with the answer. Of course we can research if we want to but it is unlikely many will do that. Remember when everyone had to remember phone numbers?… Now no one does. Simply because they don't have to. You look up your friend's name in your phone and tap.

Who knows, the world-famous "Internet Archive" may turn into a museum of the past. If you've never used this resource, you should check it out. They continually scan the Internet and archive snapshots of websites as they currently are. The Internet archive calls this archiving service their Wayback Machine Even my very first website is in their collection. 

Just a thought I had today so I thought I'd write this quick post. What do you think let me know.

Patrick

Creativity And the Unexpected

 

The unexpected is the catalyst for creativity.

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

Licence: NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Source: Wellcome Collection.

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.

Image created using Vector FX 1.0  software 
by Distinct AI.

 
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.

Patrick

Find Some Time to Disconnect from All the Chatter.

 

Click to download larger image.
Created with Vector FX 1. 0 and CorelDRAW 2025

"You have to give yourself a break from all the Connected Chatter". Take some time to do only what you want to do.

On the weekends I disconnect. All the technological goodies and all the notifications on the various devices get turned off. I have only a few things on an emergency list that can get through. Aside from that, the world can wait until Monday.

This does not mean that I put down all the technology, rather I focus on what I want to do, and I mentally let go of the rest of the world. Funny thing is, I did this mostly by accident. One day I discovered that I didn't have my phone with me as I was wandering around, and it was really no big deal. I also noticed that once I knew it wasn't there the psychological relief of knowing it wouldn't ring was profound. 

I am now quite comfortable with leaving it in my bag even when it's on and I'm out and about on the weekdays. That's how things started with a single device, namely "The Phone". With that change I also noticed that I didn't need other things as well. My computer pretty much goes on hiatus for large chunks of the weekend or if I am using it is to create something because I want to create it. For example the image of the rows at the top of this page. (There is also an animated version here, but be forewarned it is very large and may not display on older devices. This is why it's on its own separate page so someone doesn't accidentally load it 💣

Click here to see the animation

 

"You have to give yourself a break from all the Connected Chatter". Take some time to do only what you want to do.

This is a very short post for the simple reason that there is not much when needs to do to achieve this little piece of mind. Just put down all the distractions. It is okay to do that you know :-)

A little bit about the Rose. It was created on a Saturday by using a little bit of off-line, not connected to the Internet, AI. I was so impressed and I just had to find a use for it and who knows it may end up as a " Displate" someday. I'm not sure the colours would reproduce properly but will see. I am convinced that I by hand disconnected from all my responsibilities for that weekend I may not have come up with the idea for the rows. But it sure was fun making it.

Take care Patrick

PS: If you love graphics and photos, over the years I have added many articles to this blog featuring the images here is one such article. Many of the photos can be downloaded in their original hi resolution for printing or whatever you like.

Summer Photos 2012 to 2023 

To do a general search, just use the keyword "photos" in the search box at the top of every article if you're viewing the site on a laptop or tablet.

Can Depression Become a Habit?

 

Author of this article, Patrick Clark.

Can the depressive state some people fall into become a habit? --That is can it become the default behaviour when facing something the individual does not want to deal with. My initial answer to this question is a gut feeling of "Yes, it can become an automatic reaction." Over the course of the coming days and months this article will expand as I find related documents and topics either disproving or proving this question. In actuality it probably will be somewhere down the middle of the road, but we shall see.

My family, especially the males in my family, have all suffered bouts of serious depression, occasionally becoming clinical. So I'm very familiar with the question above. Currently I'm going through a mild depressive state and it annoys me because there are things I must do in life. Yet I have noticed that whenever I approach the actual task my emotions tend to tank. Today is no exception, and I have a large amount of paperwork waiting for me on my other desk. I really feel of resistance yet and I will get this done today. But it does annoy me having to go through this mental brick wall. Even five shots of pure espresso to didn't help the matter.

Just a thought on the spur of the moment... I decided to ask Chat GPT this question. Can Depression Become a Habit. Here is its response verbatim. Note remember this response is generated by an AI. To make it clear in the text is a different colour.

 Depression is a complex mental health condition influenced by a combination of genetic, biological, environmental, and psychological factors. While it's not accurate to characterize depression itself as a habit, certain behaviors and thought patterns associated with depression can become habitual over time. For instance, persistent negative thinking, social withdrawal, and avoidance of activities once found enjoyable can reinforce depressive symptoms, creating a cycle that's challenging to break.

Understanding these patterns is crucial in addressing depression. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is one therapeutic approach that focuses on identifying and modifying negative thought patterns and behaviors. By recognizing these habits, individuals can work towards developing healthier coping mechanisms and breaking the cycle of depression.

If you or someone you know is struggling with depression, it's important to seek professional help. In Canada, resources such as the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) offer support and information. You can visit their website at https://cmha.ca/ for more details. Additionally, consulting with a healthcare provider can provide personalized guidance and treatment options.

Remember, reaching out for help is a vital step towards recovery, and support is available.

The following is most definitely my personal opinion. Depression can become a habit. A knee-jerk reaction, if you will to any sufficiently distressing situation. After all is the ultimate disconnection a method of letting go of all issues and responsibilities. Your subconscious doesn't care however if this hasn't any negative impact on your conscious mind. The subconscious just knows this is one way of immediately resolving the situation. Especially if it is something you truly don't want to do. Your mental circuit breaker has just blown wide open and you stop and so to speak.. Even if that means falling into the sea. You have changed things.

If an hypothetical "Operations Manual for the Human Brain" was ever written, it most certainly did not take into account the current environment the human brain and mind are currently in. It may be, trite to say but, life and society are moving so fast and there is so much information needed to be filtered and processed that evolutionarily it is just not prepared. Like a Commodore Vic 20 compared to a current smart phone it has not yet acquired the processing power meeting to keep up with things. Yet, in society's race to discover new things we have not considered this fact. Now, I am not saying we should slow down progress, what I am saying is we need to consider the impact before we bring something new to the party.

By not considering the impact of new technology and social change we end up overwhelming our minds and brains collectively. I remember many years ago I was working with a gentleman who was very excited to look up a new laser printer to his computer. Initially I got a phone call from him saying that the print out from the brand-new printer was very slow. When I took a look at the computer it was obvious what the problem was, the machine was ancient I think it actually might've been an early Pentium and of course whenever it needed to produce his company logo the amount of data he needed was just beyond what the old computer could produce at a reasonable pace. To be clear it worked, but you could have a coffee break in the time it took to print a single page.I believe this is the situation some people find themselves in now and it is no wonder that depression appears more frequently in modern society.

A partial solution to this is then not so much to slow down, rather it is to realize the impact life is having on the individual and make appropriate adjustments. Depression can show up when one least expects it but in my experience that means that things in one's life need to be paid attention to. "Timing is everything." as they say. 

An Aside: Artificial Intelligence Does Something Interesting with a Photograph. 

While trying to think up an image for the top of this article I decided to use a photograph of an atomic bomb exploding and render it through some AI software I have. What it came up with is so unusual that I just have to posted here

Image created using Vision FX 2.0  software 
by Distinct AI.

 I did give the AI a little direction saying that I wanted it rendered in a comic book style with saturated colours. My idea was to create something which depicted the "explosion/implosion of the mind" a person sometimes feels with depression.

Unfortunately I cannot display the original photograph due to copyright restrictions. Of course the above picture has no such restrictions, so feel free to download it and use it as you wish.

 

Even though that the feeling of depression can become a reaction to any sufficient the negative situation, this does not mean it set in stone. Reactions can be altered by changing a routine and the first step to that is to recognize that something has become a routine. Sometimes this is not the easiest thing to do in the moment, so we visited when the situation is different, perhaps later in the day. There are always ways to alter one's interpretation.

As always, feel free to leave comments. 

Take care, Patrick.

 

 

When Nothing Matters… Find Something That Does.

Imagine, that you are in the life situation where all your basic needs are met. All of the following items are optional, work, buying groceries, medical care, a place to live and money to spend. From my point of view, 99% of the people on earth would be overjoyed to have such a situation. When you think about it it would be the solution to most of life's problems. You would be absolutely free to do what ever you wanted, and let your creativity fly!… 

But what if a person was born into this situation? I have met people recently who are in this exact situation, and to be clear these are bright people, but they seem lost. These are adults in the ranges of 27 to their early 30s, who at the slightest problem will blow it out of proportion and are unable to conceive of the way to begin to address the issue. They just don't know where to start. They have no faith in themselves and there is a tendency to panic immediately. With all the free time available to them instead of taking advantage of the multitude of opportunities out in the real world they have become reclusive and overthink everything. I find myself saying to people in this situation:. "Just start. Don't try to be perfect in your analysis of the issue. Just begin with what you think might work. If it doesn't, try a different approach."

Human beings I fervently believe, need legitimate challenges and problems. To be clear, this is not a negative. By overcoming and going through the process of understanding what works for oneself the person inevitably grows. For this to work however, one must have some procedure for dissecting and understanding parts of the issue. This comes usually early in life dealing with small problems and slowly over time tackling bigger ones. If it all occurs at the correct time the individual is not even aware they are learning the skills to coping with life's "curveballs". People who learn these lessons later in life tend to be very resistant because it does take effort and getting used to coming out of one's comfort zone. To some degree everyone has to learn to be somewhat comfortable with being uncomfortable. That is not adverse to challenge. While I was thinking about this the simple statement in the poster below occurred to me "To Benefit From Challenge, Is The Meaning of Life."...

 

Click the picture to download a printable
version on your computer.

 

Please feel free to download and print out the image if it inspires you. If you would like a unique hard copy version of this printed on steel as a poster it can now be purchased at "Displate" in several sizes. Full disclosure, I do receive a percentage of every sale.

Click here to view the versions available on my Displate page 

... You may have discovered though that depending on the person, as they get older their resistance to breaking routines becomes entrenched. This is the situation I find these people in. To be honest it has driven me to my own distraction, as the same issues come up over, and over again. It really makes me appreciate what my parents and others in my early life did. They made sure I faced challenges. Most of them want planned, I think my parents just really resisted the urge to over protect me. I am not perfect and of course have many foibles but being fearful of challenge is not one of them. To be honest I actually like a good bit of difficulty now and then thrown at me. Nothing reminds you you are still alive and engage with the world and an unexpected issue you must resolve! 😀.

I am reminded of one of the early "Matrix" movies, in which everyone is living in a simulated life, here the protagonist Nero, asks (paraphrasing) "Wy did you make the simulation, so dystopian, why not make it pleasant?" The answer he receives is that without challenge people just give up. -If you haven't seen the movies by the way they are well worth the watch. I believe they are available on YouTube as a rental.

If you have difficulties in your life, try to reframe them, they may not all be problems, you may get some benefit from dealing with issues. People are always learning, but not always aware of what they are learning. Just understanding that can change your outlook. Reality is not perfect and that's probably a good thing because it always means there's an opportunity and a chance to grow.

For all the negativity that the words Problems, and Challenges receive we must all remember that without a problem, in the first place people would not be inspired to create a solution. It is frequently that very process which results in positive discoveries. Human race initially needed to find a way to generate heat to avoid freezing to death and that resulted in the understanding of fire and which way down the road led to the steam engine and the industrial revolution. So make sure something in your life matters and don't take anything for granted. Life goes in one direction and it cannot be rewound. 

If you find yourself in a situation where "Nothing Matters" and it is time to extend your boundaries and explore a little of your unknown. But to get out there and continue to sample whatever you find. Below is the companion video for this article.

This article was written in pieces over a lengthy amount of time so I apologize for it being a bit of a patchwork but I think the general idea still comes through. If there are any typos in the text I will address them shortly but I am bound and determined to get this post out today! 😄

I am so in several thankful to have the life I have had and continue to have.

Feel free to leave a comment and have a great day.

Patrick

Sorry, You Must Adapt to the Machine

This article has been written over a few weeks, and therefore has changed direction slightly from beginning to end. The core of the article still remains intact and he is very much about people losing the ability to be flexible and insightful in their thought and actions. Choosing instead in many cases to go for the quick fix even though it misses a lot of the detail and depth. It doesn't matter what the topic of discussion is about people just want the answer quickly.

Personally, I love understanding the details and find it rather sad that we are going through this, faster, shallower time. From my perspective it is working through the details to gain greater understanding where a person really grows. It is not enough to know the answer, to really benefit one must understand how the answer was arrived at. The current buzz phrase is "Artificial Intelligence" and I have seen article after article praising it in this application or that application. Let us be clear, even if A.I. has some spectacular uses, people must not forget how to understand and ultimately learn so that indeed you can benefit the most from the use of artificial intelligence. It is not just the answer that matters, it is the details that make up the answer.

Take for example the photo at the top of this article: at first glance it is an old rusting truck but there are many other details contained within the photo that tell the story. Depending on your interpretation of the image the story can be dramatically different but as you examine all of the items and aspects your understanding will grow. A side note to this photo is it was taken many years ago but my father. He had a habit of just taking a photo of something that caught his eye and I think this is one of those cases. I came across it in a collection of old slides about 20 years ago when I had the presence of mind to scan it. We can be fairly certain that the photograph was taken in Canada and that's about all I know. Still something about it caught my father's attention… We will never know what it was… Perhaps the time of day the colours and shadows in the image. In the next few days I will post to this article the full size original scan. For now though consider the thought that went into not only the photograph but the actual creation of the vehicles depicted. There was absolutely no AI back then involved. The truck itself looks like it's from the 1950s which would mean that only be designs would be and calculated and drawn up. Think of the mental process that the people had and employed to make it all come together. It is truly inspiring to know that throughout history the human race has been able to repeatedly achieve remarkable things. Yes we still have to adapt… That is a good thing. There will be a time however when we have a choice in regards to artificial intelligence, however at this time...
 

Like it or not, we are still in an age where we must adapt to the machine.

 People are loosing their ability to adapt to new situations and they are doing so willingly.

In the last five years I have noticed a real degeneration in people's expectations.

• They are self-centred and usually quite extreme regardless of context.
  
  
• There appears to be a real lack of the amount of time or effort involved.
  
  
• There is an assumption that technology or someone else's work will take care of any aspect of their idea they don't want to address
  .
• They believe that using AI means that everything will be done perfectly.

Boy do I have news for them. More than ever, people need to improve their adaptability and social IQ. We are not living in a small cloistered community anymore. Unlike previous generations, all the benefits and issues are going to require people to be flexible and more aware. With greater achievement always comes greater responsibilities and it's not the other way around.

Society is going to have to begin to look at it entirely new paradigms. As I write this the USA is going through some very, very turbulent and destructive events. This is largely due to old attitudes and ways of perceiving the world. In a way this is the late 1960s all over again except that the upheaval is being caused by a very small group of old guard individuals.

These individuals are unwilling to adapt and what I see is that many people are being swayed emotionally to at least some of their ways of thinking. This is dangerous. The world is not what it was 100 years ago or even 50 years ago. You cannot go back because what you recall is a "simpler time" never existed. Every step in human history was and will be complicated and require the individuals of the society to be involved. When you invoke the idea of a simpler time you are just cherry picking the pleasant parts of the past.

This trend toward being more inflexible and one's attitude also has other side effects. If we approach one's lifestyle with such an attitude we may not only ignore danger signs but impact the quality of one's life as well. I mention this in the video when someone I know insists on drinking 11 cancel the pop per day and regardless of the health consequences. True that is an extreme situation but it is an extreme example worth mentioning because settler behaviours are occurring in society. People adopt a perception about the world and stick to it blindly. This is not a good way of getting the benefits from life and is ultimately extremely self limiting.

Anything worth doing well, takes time and this is the other component that I see people shying away from. Don't look for the quick fix. It doesn't exist. You must be involved in whatever endeavour you undertake and if it is a large event in your life by the time you are through it you will have changed. Usually this is a positive change because to encompass a great idea means you must understand things to a greater detail than you did when you started your endeavour. But again this takes time and a great deal of effort.

Don't assume that technology will come to the rescue and do all the things you don't want to do. You want to do as much as you can because this is how you broaden your horizons. Doing anything less leaves you at a risk of not understanding a part of your endeavour. It would be like learning only the rudimentary parts of a language and not understanding the subtleties involved in the phrasing which might lead you to some very unexpected results.

"For best results, be prepared to adapt to the machine, and in this case the machine is life itself."

Stay involved everyone. Stay flexible in your outlook and critically consider all that you hear and read.

Take care Patrick

The Exploration Afforded by Learning

This is most definitely going to be an opinion piece, but I just have to articulate how much joy I get out of real understanding. Or even not understanding and learning in the process that I have to open up another way of looking at things. It is a real joy, and in a strange way I like it when it is most difficult.

It is not the challenge that drives me, it is knowing at the end of the day I will be a little different and I won't be able to say what that difference is until I get there. There is also a distinct feeling of building something. Not in the physical sense but in the sense of growth. The potential however for creating something real down the road based on the knowledge I have gained is most certainly there however. The barn door has just got a little more open 😀.

When I was younger the prevailing perception of getting older was that you slow down. Imagine my surprise then in the present day when I have discovered that things get faster and although sometimes I can't keep up I enjoyed the chase. Like "Wile E. Coyote" chasing after the Road Runner.

Obviously due to my current age, 65, I learned the skill of manually gaining knowledge a very long time ago. So it is more than challenging for me to understand the thinking and perceptions inherent in a "new model year brain". Do people today process reality in the same way and do they clean as much information as I think I do. Consider this there are adults out in the world right now who may have had not only the Internet available to them for their entire lives but to technology that goes along with it. So for example let's say they have always used a search engine for their research. Imagine if that wasn't available. The challenge of not only finding physical material but knowing where to look and how to piece things together, these activities might be completely new to them. I am intrigued as to how the problem would be approached by different people.

 

One of my memories when I was 12 or 13 was receiving for Christmas the hardcover version of "The Radio Amateur's HANDBOOK' which I absolutely adored and wore it out by the time I was 15.yes, I was an absolute nerd, quite content to spend hours with the book or work on a project. Guess what, I still am. Recently I found an original 1970s addition of the exact book online and in so attempted to spend $100 Canadian just for the sake of memorabilia. I fondly remember going through Ohm's law with my father while we discussed the latest chapter. I don't know whether I will get the book or not, but finding the exact copy online and available in good condition, sure makes it tempting.[Note: There were two completely different books published under the exact same name. The one I refer to is the one from the publisher Crowell, New York ]

The Radio Amateur's Handbook
by:A. Frederick Collins,
Robert Edward Hertzberg

WorldCat.org listing:
The radio amateur's handbook

Authors: A. Frederick Collins, Robert Edward Hertzberg
Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0690667736  

ISBN 13: 9780690667738

Year: 1970
Edition:12th rev. ed.
Publisher: Crowell, New York
Physical Description: vi, 374 pages illustrations 22 cm

Here's an idea: resolve for one day, or longer if you like, to find solutions to anything that comes up in your life without using the Internet. Even though the idea is simple do most people now days have the skill set to so the problem, by lack of a better phrase by doing it "the old-fashioned way of physical research"? This could be a lot of fun if taken in small steps. You could pose a question to a friend and go on an adventure to find the resolution. If you're going to play the game I would suggest keeping it simple at first, but not so simple in that it is boring. The question must be enticing enough to make you and your friend want to find the answer. Then you could pick another topic to solve. It could be a lot of fun and I would really be interested in knowing if it made any changes in your life or outlook.

The idea could be expanded upon for example: How would people in the 1960s find the answer. You could then set limits to use only the tools and technology that were available then. This could actually be very exciting. Debating teams used to be very popular in high schools and colleges. While this thought is not exactly on topic the idea of explaining your point of view is again an adventure in learning. Sometimes will explaining something you inadvertently learned something about yourself. Debating teams by the way are when a group of people ticket topic and have to group takes one point of view and the other usually takes the opposite. Then they begin to develop their rationales as to why their point of view is the better one. They debate this until one of the teams wins. Of course frequently when you do this you find out things you never considered. Which is one of the great payoffs to really learning something. It is usually not the end goal where most of the learning and experience a curse it is the trip toward the end goal that provides the benefits. Sometimes you might even completely change your mind on an idea.

Now days ideas tend to be polarized. Take a look at any set of videos on YouTube, pretty much on any issue. There won't be discussion between the various groups, there will be sensationalism and polarization of the topic. This is not a good way to learn about knowledge because it mixes far too much extreme emotion into the issues. To really consider the pros and cons of anything you must at least be willing to keep your emotions from overwhelming the issue and becoming more important than anything else. Many times I have set on this blog "Don't take anything personally." I would like to add to that statement "Frst consider what the issue is based on the information you have available to you" and then don't take anything personally." In this way you learn to think before you feel and that gives you the ability to make choices when the emotions do come into play.

 If you would like to download the original untouched full-size photo, just click on the following image. 

Original full-size photo of a close-up Hydrangea macrophylla bloom with shades of violet and white. Three flowers from a Crocosmia are poking right out of the Hydrangea macrophylla. The protruding Crocosmia flowers are a brilliant orange. Set against a background of naturally occurring large green leaves. This photo is completely untouched and natural. I ran across these flowers by accident. Clicking on this image will download the full resolution photograph. It is the same image as the one at the top of the article minus that headline embedded in the graphic.

 

IMG_2189.jpg

Date	2012-07-25 6:11:50 pm
Model	Canon PowerShot SX120 IS
Width	3648
Height	2736
ISO Rating	100
Shutter Speed	1/50 sec
Aperture	f/4.3
Focal Length	60 mm
Exposure Bias	0 EV
Metering Mode	Multi-Segment

Consider the tremendous benefit over once lifetime understanding how to acquire knowledge (learning) as well as apply it in new and interesting ways. The development of that skill has brought us creative people throughout the centuries. People who think, and feel, and then apply what they understand to the world and society. What a gift! The human race can simply not forget how to learn new things through effort and challenge. Not only does the person grow in spirit and ability ultimately the greater society benefits. The very technology we use every day is a clear demonstration of this. Information is now simpler to access than ever before, but in order for it to be fully used we must develop the skills only achieved by true understanding and learning.

So make a commitment to regularly put down the easy way of doing things and revisit some of the learning traditions that have helped humanity evolve.
 

This has been a very short but hopefully inspiring and thoughtful article.
Take care and as always leave comments.

Patrick