I could have entitled this Unreal People in an Unreal World but using two words Not Real, instead of Unreal, made what I wanted to say, more explicit.
These are people who have gone through a strange metamorphosis, the strangest ever - that they are completely unaware of.
And are determined to be unaware of - because this is crucial to their identity - and, in their opinion, to their success, as a group.
This change began back in the middle of the 19th Century - when they were overwhelmed by a flood of new inventions, and new organizations - the Railroads, the Steamships, and the Factories. All of which were more important than they were. And which functioned better, if they did not exist.
So they ceased to exist! And considered this their finest achievement.
This the world I was born into, in 1936. That I did not like at all. It was ignoring me! And I thought I was important!
But I was getting a different message "The Organization was important, not the people in it!" And this message was brought home with brutal efficiency. Anyone who who stood out, was squashed like a bug!
But lately, since about 2010 - the world has been organized around Software. And Software has a different attitude towards People. It thinks they are important - if they can contribute to its development. Which is not hard - even I have made my feeble contribution!
Wednesday, September 6, 2017
Tuesday, September 5, 2017
Rahm Emanuel creates ‘Trump-free zone’ for students at Chicago schools
Washington Times
Chicago is a place to itself - somewhere the rest of the Midwest regards suspiciously. Kansas City is more typical, and I doubt if its Mayor would make a statement like this!
I grew up halfway between the two, in Ft. Madison, Iowa. I went to school with Black kids, and even a few Mexican kids and thought nothing of it.
Almost everyone in town, including my father's family, were poor immigrants. But the schools welcomed them all.
Chicago is a place to itself - somewhere the rest of the Midwest regards suspiciously. Kansas City is more typical, and I doubt if its Mayor would make a statement like this!
I grew up halfway between the two, in Ft. Madison, Iowa. I went to school with Black kids, and even a few Mexican kids and thought nothing of it.
Almost everyone in town, including my father's family, were poor immigrants. But the schools welcomed them all.
ModPo Penn
Introductory Video: Modern Poetry - Al Filreis - University of Pennsylvania
This is a MOOC, an online class - about Poetry. I am taking it for the second time.
Many of the additional videos, shown to the right on YouTube - are about software. Is there a connection between these two activities?
YouTube seems to think so, and so do I!
This is a MOOC, an online class - about Poetry. I am taking it for the second time.
Many of the additional videos, shown to the right on YouTube - are about software. Is there a connection between these two activities?
YouTube seems to think so, and so do I!
Being Well-Adjusted
This morning, my mind went back to my first years of college, in 1954. I concentrated on getting good grades - while most students concentrated on their social advancement - making themselves better in the eyes of their fellow-students. To put this another way - I concentrated on my inner goals, and they concentrated on their outer goals.
And this conflict continued throughout my life - unbeknown to me. I insisted on being me - even if that meant I would be undesirable to others - especially to the young women everywhere around me.
I inherited this conflict from my family - who were ambivalent about the world around them. They were religious, and saw the world as full of sin - but they also wanted to be esteemed by that same world.
They were not aware of this conflict, which they never solved, and resulted in the failure and disappearance of their little church - the most important thing in their lives.
Meanwhile, I ended up in the Computer Industry, in the Eighties and Nineties. Where I had the same problem - I could see how incompetent they were - just as my parents could see how sinful they were. I did not fit in - I was not well-adjusted.
I left in 2001, when things were beginning to change in the Computer World - especially in Software. Software developers were becoming more competent at building software - and better at understanding themselves also.
I am now reading Why Greatness Cannot Be Planned: The Myth of the Objective - that I learned about from a software site.
My world and their world seem to be merging!
And this conflict continued throughout my life - unbeknown to me. I insisted on being me - even if that meant I would be undesirable to others - especially to the young women everywhere around me.
I inherited this conflict from my family - who were ambivalent about the world around them. They were religious, and saw the world as full of sin - but they also wanted to be esteemed by that same world.
They were not aware of this conflict, which they never solved, and resulted in the failure and disappearance of their little church - the most important thing in their lives.
Meanwhile, I ended up in the Computer Industry, in the Eighties and Nineties. Where I had the same problem - I could see how incompetent they were - just as my parents could see how sinful they were. I did not fit in - I was not well-adjusted.
I left in 2001, when things were beginning to change in the Computer World - especially in Software. Software developers were becoming more competent at building software - and better at understanding themselves also.
I am now reading Why Greatness Cannot Be Planned: The Myth of the Objective - that I learned about from a software site.
My world and their world seem to be merging!
Monday, September 4, 2017
Socially Unaware
I am still trying to understand Americans - because I still am one - even though I have moved out of the country.
I wanted a simple description of them, and this is the best I have come up with, so far. They are Socially Unaware.
This even applies to professional people-watchers, who should know better. Such as Paul Bloom, who wrote Just Babies: The Origins of Good and Evil. He is an academic, and has never had a real job - where he would have been exposed to adults, who are not innocent little babies.
By contrast, I can recommend the NY Times article Is Houston Still a Model City? Its Supporters Aren’t Backing Down.
I have to ask myself "Are both of these groups, members of the same species?" The answer has to be "They are members of different subspecies - that hardly recognize each other."
What I am saying here, is nothing new - people have been this way for a very long time - probably forever. We know what group we belong to - and this affects all our social interactions.
In our time, two groups have evolved - those that think, and those who do not think - the larger group, by far. Among their other traits, it can definitely be said that - they are not socially aware.
I wanted a simple description of them, and this is the best I have come up with, so far. They are Socially Unaware.
This even applies to professional people-watchers, who should know better. Such as Paul Bloom, who wrote Just Babies: The Origins of Good and Evil. He is an academic, and has never had a real job - where he would have been exposed to adults, who are not innocent little babies.
By contrast, I can recommend the NY Times article Is Houston Still a Model City? Its Supporters Aren’t Backing Down.
I have to ask myself "Are both of these groups, members of the same species?" The answer has to be "They are members of different subspecies - that hardly recognize each other."
What I am saying here, is nothing new - people have been this way for a very long time - probably forever. We know what group we belong to - and this affects all our social interactions.
In our time, two groups have evolved - those that think, and those who do not think - the larger group, by far. Among their other traits, it can definitely be said that - they are not socially aware.
Some People Enjoy Being Bad
Perhaps I should say "Many people Enjoy Being Bad!" Or in some situations: "Most people enjoy being bad!"
In any case I can say, with complete confidence: "Most people do not want to think about this."
This is quite a change from the Enlightenment, when people thought about this a lot, What happened, to effect this huge change?
I am not smart enough, to answer this question. I can only say "It happened!" People changed drastically - but were not aware of this change. And were determined to not notice it.
Let me rephrase this - people changed, for the worse - but were determined to not notice this.
This change was not entirely for the worse - there was a lot of good mixed in with it. But it was clearly not good for people. And was not intended to be good for people - other things were more important. But no one wanted to say what these other things were.
But whatever they were, they arrived in the period between the middle of the 19th Century and the middle of the 20th. And little old me (who was born in 1936) was plopped down in the middle of them.
I didn't understand what was going on - who did? But I sure as hell didn't like it.
I wish could say, I responded correctly - but I didn't. I made wrong decisions right and left - but I did make a few correct ones - and ended up, badly battered, in a small town in Costa Rica.
With this laptop, and a fast Internet connection. Both of which are a good thing.
In any case I can say, with complete confidence: "Most people do not want to think about this."
This is quite a change from the Enlightenment, when people thought about this a lot, What happened, to effect this huge change?
I am not smart enough, to answer this question. I can only say "It happened!" People changed drastically - but were not aware of this change. And were determined to not notice it.
Let me rephrase this - people changed, for the worse - but were determined to not notice this.
This change was not entirely for the worse - there was a lot of good mixed in with it. But it was clearly not good for people. And was not intended to be good for people - other things were more important. But no one wanted to say what these other things were.
But whatever they were, they arrived in the period between the middle of the 19th Century and the middle of the 20th. And little old me (who was born in 1936) was plopped down in the middle of them.
I didn't understand what was going on - who did? But I sure as hell didn't like it.
I wish could say, I responded correctly - but I didn't. I made wrong decisions right and left - but I did make a few correct ones - and ended up, badly battered, in a small town in Costa Rica.
With this laptop, and a fast Internet connection. Both of which are a good thing.
Sunday, September 3, 2017
The Google Cloud
I have been scared of this - but now I am playing with it, I see it is easy to use and understand. It is well-designed and user-friendly. What more can I say?
I also have downloaded all the packages used by the Go language from golang.org. And installed the gogland IDE - so I can program in Go to my heart's content. I think it is the best language out there.
Using gogland with the Google Cloud will be easy - compared to using Visual Studio with Microsoft's Azure Cloud.
I also have downloaded all the packages used by the Go language from golang.org. And installed the gogland IDE - so I can program in Go to my heart's content. I think it is the best language out there.
Using gogland with the Google Cloud will be easy - compared to using Visual Studio with Microsoft's Azure Cloud.
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