A Day in the Life Of ...
So many little bits and pieces of the last day or so that I wanted to discuss, but the epiphanies never seem to come all at once and they most assuredly never stick around long enough for me to jot them down. In fact, like many things in this modern world, they don't stick around past looking at anything electronic.
I'm starting to believe modern electronics are thought-thieves.
So, let's see if I can remember all of them - or at least enough to make this post interesting.
The morning started off as many mornings do: I woke, showered, got dressed and then checked social media and the news just to make sure the #GlobalIdiot, Donald Trump, didn't inadvertently, or purposefully, bring us to war. A woman I'm connected to on Google+ had made a post about something idiotic the current American president had done recently and some guy comes in and comments, that's not how the Right Wing will interpret the findings. They thing everything the FBI does is a witch hunt.
So, no attacks, no insults, nothing to indicate anything other than a normal discussion taking form.
The original poster then comments with a quote from somewhere (she doesn't give the source): "There there. Just keep repeating Fake News. Witch Hunt. Fake News. Witch Hunt."
To which the commentor replies, I'm not Right Wing. Pay attention.
The original poster then becomes defensive, excuse me? My comment did not imply you were. ... but you're blocked anyway for being a rude, presumptuous ass.
I read this exchange and couldn't for the life of me figure out why the commentor was being blocked and said so, "As an objective viewer I see you as being intolerant of his views, not the other way around. He just said that a whole section of our population is going to disagree with your original premise."
The original poster came back and said I was reading it wrong. I really don't think I did. It read like any conversation anywhere: someone says something, someone else pops in and either expands the discussion or calls the original claim into question.
The point of this is, this woman, the original poster, blocked a guy from even having a conversation with her because she misinterpreted the discussion. Instead of talking it out she went straight to the "I don't want you to know I exist" function of the social media network. And I told her that: there was nothing that had transpired yet that was a blockable offense; that if she and others like her continued to just willy-nilly block anyone and everyone who disagreed with them then they would be enclosing themselves in algorithmic echo chambers, or as I like to call them, bubbles.
And there is the crux of this entire discussion: search algorithms, social media algorithms, everywhere our digital footprints might go increasingly regulate the ideas and opinions we're exposed to. This isn't good for anyone. Not for personal development, not for professional development and not for society. When people block themselves off from differing ideas they tend to want to dismiss those ideas as being ill-informed or they fail to give the other ideas any consideration. Essentially, they end up surrounding themselves with yes men who only reinforce their notions as opposed to allowing dissenting views.
Dissenting views, or disruptors, are an essential part of any group of people. Someone somewhere always has to point out the logical errors or possible negative repercussions. Doing so helps keep everyone in line and prevents one idea or ideology from going off the deep end.
Now, don't get me wrong. There are reasons you might actually want to block someone on social media or from your life. Maybe they're legitimately out of line. I spent last night with from friends where the wife said repeatedly she didn't care for the boyfriend of one of their other friends. She didn't say why at first, but then later she let it slip: he was too handsy; he didn't respect her personal space and kept touching her when she didn't ask him to. Essentially, he creeped her out.
That's a reason to block someone from your life. Or, if they're threatening or physically violent. But to remove someone from your life altogether just because you have a different opinion or there was some perceived slight? Now, if there's a series of overt slights, that's a different story. I have a Facebook friend who is so deep into conspiracy and far-right websites and FB pages that he's incapable of having an independent thought. We all know the sort: everything out of their mouths is "you don't have the facts" when what they mean is "you don't have the facts I want you to have" as opposed to objective empirical data. I've thought about blocking, or at least unfriending, him multiple times. But then I start thinking: if I remove myself from his life because I disagree with his politics, how can I ever hope to educate him? And, if I remove myself from his life because of his alt-right beliefs, how am I ever going to know how to talk to people with such beliefs?
And that was just the beginning of my day. A walk, a few things around the house, then off to meet some friends who were in town. Funny story there, I was supposed to meet them a t a bike night, but I decided to stop and have lunch on my way to meet them. They texted me and said they would be at bike night about 5:30PM and I said I'd hang out until then, that I ws only about a mile away from the restaurant that was hosting the bike event. As it turns out I was just a couple of blocks away from where they were using a coffee shop's wifi. But, per Google Maps, I was further away so I spent an hour in rush hour traffic, wearing a black leather jacket in 95 degree heat riding back and forth until I finally met them.
At a bike night, where I was the only person on a sportbike and there was only one other Japanese manufactured bike there, I saw a woman try to maneuver a bike that was too large for her and she dropped it in front of everyone; another guy tried to speed out of the parking lot, but he hit some sand and skidded out of control; and yet another guy walked up to the restaurant with a bloody face. To be fair, he might have been the one who went down, but I'm not sure. I met some woman I don't remember meeting a few years ago. Nothing about how they described us meeting made any sense to me. I don't remember the place or the circumstances, but everyone was sure I'd met her before. I met another woman who has a cruiser bike and tows a teardrop trailer around the country. She was interesting as she just moves from town to town and picks up odd jobs to pay for the next leg of her trip.
Then there was the other woman, the friend of my friend who thinks I'd met her before and who had the boyfriend my friend thought was too creepy. She is talking to us and over her shoulder I see her boyfriend making out with this other woman. "Uh, that's your boyfriend, right?" She turns, "Yeah." Her non-nonchalant attitude made me realize she's in a polyamorous relationship. As the pieces clicked together someone else said, "They're in an open relationship."
"Oh," I said. "I didn't know and when I saw that, I didn't know if you knew." I felt like I was the only person who wasn't in on the secret.
Another anecdote before I go: at this restaurant/bar I kept ordering water because I was hot and dehydrated. The bartender/waitress asked me if I wanted a Blue Dolphin. I'd never heard of this drink before but immediately flashed back to being 19 and showing up for orientation in Germany when the Army sent me there. One of the things we were warned about was going to the local bars and having pretty German girls ask you to buy them a drink. "Never let them order," the warning came. "Always order for them or they'll order a drink called [I can't remember] and it'll cost you about $50."
All I could think of was this woman was trying to get me to order a ridiculously expensive drink because I looked out of place: more like a yuppie and less like a Harley biker.
The things that stick with you, huh?
I arrived home at just about 10PM after almost dying twice. Okay, once, but the other time would have resulted in, at least, serious injury. The near-death time was when a van in front of me and one lane to the right decided to just come over with no regard for my existence. I had to slam on my brake and even then I thought I was going to ram into the van's panel.
But, I made it home: safe enough. I also spent a few minutes yesterday verifying my new helmet fits.I stopped at a bike shop and tried on a size smaller thinking the size I bought might have been just a tad too large, but the smaller size was nearly impossible for me to fit the helmet on. In fact, I couldn't get the helmet to come down below my crown.
And, sorry this post isn't more exciting.
I'm starting to believe modern electronics are thought-thieves.
So, let's see if I can remember all of them - or at least enough to make this post interesting.
The morning started off as many mornings do: I woke, showered, got dressed and then checked social media and the news just to make sure the #GlobalIdiot, Donald Trump, didn't inadvertently, or purposefully, bring us to war. A woman I'm connected to on Google+ had made a post about something idiotic the current American president had done recently and some guy comes in and comments, that's not how the Right Wing will interpret the findings. They thing everything the FBI does is a witch hunt.
So, no attacks, no insults, nothing to indicate anything other than a normal discussion taking form.
"I don't like the cheese flavor in Cheetos."
"Well, some people love it. They like the artificial cheesiness."
The original poster then comments with a quote from somewhere (she doesn't give the source): "There there. Just keep repeating Fake News. Witch Hunt. Fake News. Witch Hunt."
"I don't like the cheese flavor in Cheetos."
"Well, some people love it. They like the artificial cheesiness."
"Just keep repeating Artificial is good. Fake cheese is good. Artificial is good."
To which the commentor replies, I'm not Right Wing. Pay attention.
"I don't like the cheese flavor in Cheetos."
"Well, some people love it. They like the artificial cheesiness."
"Just keep repeating Artificial is good. Fake cheese is good. Artificial is good."
"I'm not in favor of artificial cheese. Pay attention."
The original poster then becomes defensive, excuse me? My comment did not imply you were. ... but you're blocked anyway for being a rude, presumptuous ass.
"I don't like the cheese flavor in Cheetos."
"Well, some people love it. They like the artificial cheesiness."
"Just keep repeating Artificial is good. Fake cheese is good. Artificial is good."
"I'm not in favor of artificial cheese. Pay attention."
"You're blocked for being an ass."
I read this exchange and couldn't for the life of me figure out why the commentor was being blocked and said so, "As an objective viewer I see you as being intolerant of his views, not the other way around. He just said that a whole section of our population is going to disagree with your original premise."
The original poster came back and said I was reading it wrong. I really don't think I did. It read like any conversation anywhere: someone says something, someone else pops in and either expands the discussion or calls the original claim into question.
The point of this is, this woman, the original poster, blocked a guy from even having a conversation with her because she misinterpreted the discussion. Instead of talking it out she went straight to the "I don't want you to know I exist" function of the social media network. And I told her that: there was nothing that had transpired yet that was a blockable offense; that if she and others like her continued to just willy-nilly block anyone and everyone who disagreed with them then they would be enclosing themselves in algorithmic echo chambers, or as I like to call them, bubbles.
And there is the crux of this entire discussion: search algorithms, social media algorithms, everywhere our digital footprints might go increasingly regulate the ideas and opinions we're exposed to. This isn't good for anyone. Not for personal development, not for professional development and not for society. When people block themselves off from differing ideas they tend to want to dismiss those ideas as being ill-informed or they fail to give the other ideas any consideration. Essentially, they end up surrounding themselves with yes men who only reinforce their notions as opposed to allowing dissenting views.
Dissenting views, or disruptors, are an essential part of any group of people. Someone somewhere always has to point out the logical errors or possible negative repercussions. Doing so helps keep everyone in line and prevents one idea or ideology from going off the deep end.
Now, don't get me wrong. There are reasons you might actually want to block someone on social media or from your life. Maybe they're legitimately out of line. I spent last night with from friends where the wife said repeatedly she didn't care for the boyfriend of one of their other friends. She didn't say why at first, but then later she let it slip: he was too handsy; he didn't respect her personal space and kept touching her when she didn't ask him to. Essentially, he creeped her out.
That's a reason to block someone from your life. Or, if they're threatening or physically violent. But to remove someone from your life altogether just because you have a different opinion or there was some perceived slight? Now, if there's a series of overt slights, that's a different story. I have a Facebook friend who is so deep into conspiracy and far-right websites and FB pages that he's incapable of having an independent thought. We all know the sort: everything out of their mouths is "you don't have the facts" when what they mean is "you don't have the facts I want you to have" as opposed to objective empirical data. I've thought about blocking, or at least unfriending, him multiple times. But then I start thinking: if I remove myself from his life because I disagree with his politics, how can I ever hope to educate him? And, if I remove myself from his life because of his alt-right beliefs, how am I ever going to know how to talk to people with such beliefs?
And that was just the beginning of my day. A walk, a few things around the house, then off to meet some friends who were in town. Funny story there, I was supposed to meet them a t a bike night, but I decided to stop and have lunch on my way to meet them. They texted me and said they would be at bike night about 5:30PM and I said I'd hang out until then, that I ws only about a mile away from the restaurant that was hosting the bike event. As it turns out I was just a couple of blocks away from where they were using a coffee shop's wifi. But, per Google Maps, I was further away so I spent an hour in rush hour traffic, wearing a black leather jacket in 95 degree heat riding back and forth until I finally met them.
 |
| Only Sportbike There |
At a bike night, where I was the only person on a sportbike and there was only one other Japanese manufactured bike there, I saw a woman try to maneuver a bike that was too large for her and she dropped it in front of everyone; another guy tried to speed out of the parking lot, but he hit some sand and skidded out of control; and yet another guy walked up to the restaurant with a bloody face. To be fair, he might have been the one who went down, but I'm not sure. I met some woman I don't remember meeting a few years ago. Nothing about how they described us meeting made any sense to me. I don't remember the place or the circumstances, but everyone was sure I'd met her before. I met another woman who has a cruiser bike and tows a teardrop trailer around the country. She was interesting as she just moves from town to town and picks up odd jobs to pay for the next leg of her trip.
Then there was the other woman, the friend of my friend who thinks I'd met her before and who had the boyfriend my friend thought was too creepy. She is talking to us and over her shoulder I see her boyfriend making out with this other woman. "Uh, that's your boyfriend, right?" She turns, "Yeah." Her non-nonchalant attitude made me realize she's in a polyamorous relationship. As the pieces clicked together someone else said, "They're in an open relationship."
"Oh," I said. "I didn't know and when I saw that, I didn't know if you knew." I felt like I was the only person who wasn't in on the secret.
Another anecdote before I go: at this restaurant/bar I kept ordering water because I was hot and dehydrated. The bartender/waitress asked me if I wanted a Blue Dolphin. I'd never heard of this drink before but immediately flashed back to being 19 and showing up for orientation in Germany when the Army sent me there. One of the things we were warned about was going to the local bars and having pretty German girls ask you to buy them a drink. "Never let them order," the warning came. "Always order for them or they'll order a drink called [I can't remember] and it'll cost you about $50."
All I could think of was this woman was trying to get me to order a ridiculously expensive drink because I looked out of place: more like a yuppie and less like a Harley biker.
 |
| Old to the Left, New to the RIght |
I arrived home at just about 10PM after almost dying twice. Okay, once, but the other time would have resulted in, at least, serious injury. The near-death time was when a van in front of me and one lane to the right decided to just come over with no regard for my existence. I had to slam on my brake and even then I thought I was going to ram into the van's panel.
But, I made it home: safe enough. I also spent a few minutes yesterday verifying my new helmet fits.I stopped at a bike shop and tried on a size smaller thinking the size I bought might have been just a tad too large, but the smaller size was nearly impossible for me to fit the helmet on. In fact, I couldn't get the helmet to come down below my crown.
And, sorry this post isn't more exciting.
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