Uncertain Certainty

I observe everything I come in contact with. That includes what I sense. The stuff I see, hear, read, touch, taste, smell all gets processed and judgments form. Based on those judgments, I act.

But what has me thinking today is stuff I sense. Sensing something is altogether different. Sensing is more about intuition and gut feeling. I might not bet a paycheck on my gut, but if my senses are right, I wouldn't be surprised if that thing came true.

So what am I sensing? Events in this world are shaking the foundations of our assumed stability and security. I don't have to go into the world and national events that have dominated the headlines for the last several months. I specifically don't want to do that.

I won't because that's what the media does. They sensationalize and dramatize everything from the tragic to the mundane. Every where you turn someone gives their opinion on the "why's" and the "who's to blame" and the "what doom is next". I get the First Amendment and those in the pulpit or the anchor desk are by law free to say what they will.

What I sense is that people simply parrot what they hear in a sound bite or a youtube clip and adopt it as their own thinking. The media, both televised and Internet can be damn persuasive. It suddenly saddens me that newspapers are fading toward their inevitable death. Maybe it's nostalgia speaking but didn't it seem like both sides of an issue were represented in the papers? Ah, maybe not. I'd like to think it was so.

Back to what I'm sensing. People's ability to think is dying. It's "I'm right, you're wrong." It's "You're so wrong I'm going to ruin your reputation so no one will ever listen to you again and you'll never earn another dime in this line of business." How did we get to that?

I say that there are as many opinions as stars in the sky. They can't all be right and they can't all be wrong. And if you think yours is absolute and above inspection, well you're just wrong. We don't have enough information. We're not that smart and they're not that dumb as Mark Horstman states in his laws of great management http://www.manager-tools.com/docs/Horstmans_Laws.pdf.

We're so busy that we don't stop to think. Our minds are bludgeoned on all sides by our fabulous technology. It shouts at us from every corner, every second of our waking existence.

When was the last time you drove your car for more than 15 minutes without listening to the radio, iPod, talking on the phone, checking twitter, facebook and e-mail or talking to the people in the car? I bet you can't remember.

We don't think. We feel compelled to be stimulated or say what we're thinking. The funny part is that when we talk without some forethought, we don't make sense. We repeat, change our minds, wordsmith the idea until we get it right. No? Does this sound familiar?

Ever listen to someone talk so much it sounds like they're debating a subject all by themselves? We actually don't talk most of the time. We chatter, like gibbering monkeys. Don't agree? Read most social media posts. Between the spelling, grammar and incomprehensible garbage people write, you can't convince me that much thought preceded the keystrokes.

The answer is that we want it all so fast. So fast that we don't have to think for ourselves. Let someone else do it and I'll just hit the like button or star it or whatever it. Blow it all up I say. Even though I use it regularly, I like my life better without all this connection.

I was flying around last week, attending a busy conference and didn't use electronics much. And you know what? I didn't miss a damn thing.