SO YOU ARE NOT VOTING

I posted this in October of 2020. I still believe it today, so I'll post it yet again:

I heard that someone said after the recent presidential debate, “I will not vote for either of them.” Why would you not want to place your influence behind the better of what seems to you two bad options? Why do you not want to influence the future in a way that, if not positive, at least is not so damaging? Not voting means you are allowing others, who like the one you most dislike, to have your vote.

You don’t like either candidate. You think one is directing your ship into the rocks while the other is directing your ship onto a sandy beach. But you will not do anything to avoid the rocks. In effect you are ignoring the destruction of your ship.

People died so you could vote the way you wanted. People died to protect you from those who would prevent you from voting. By not voting you shun thousands of people who have lived and died for you to have a safe place, a safe country, to live.

If you protest by not voting, who’s going to know about your protest? There is nothing to show for it. You could vote for an independent candidate if there was one running. I suppose your vote could be seen then. But realize an independent candidate will not win and you will have lost your influence

THE CARELESS INTERJECTION, “LIKE”

I recently saw a headline to an article that said: "Why Do We Say "Like," Like, All the Time?" I have not yet read the article, but I believe because it is a careless interjection as using “er” or “uh”.

Why do we people use this interjection? They might not have a firm idea of what they intended to say. They are not comfortable speaking in public. They have a low self-esteem. They are careless. They very much want to fit in with their peer group: all the others use "like" (like it's cool, the in thing). “Like if you want to fit in with us you must use the word, “like”.

It's a bad habit as feeling you have to start the answer to a question by starting the first sentence with the word "So, ".

FREE TO GO EITHER WAY

On this day the weather showed mostly clear skies. Clear, sunny, or rainy, God controls all. Happy or sad, God controls all. Whatever various people think, whatever they think there is, or is no God; God controls all.

God could have made you so that he controlled every one of your thoughts, but he did not. He gave you the option to believe in him, or not. He wanted your mind to be a free agent, even able to select the option of, “there is no God”. Moreover he gave you the option to switch your opinion. You can go from “there is no God’ to “there is a God” -- at any time.

But he did not leave us at loose ends. He gave us a book telling us his preference: the Bible.

“…[F]or he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” [Heb 11:6]. He cares that you believe the right way but lets you choose wrong. If he wanted machines, he would have made machines. But he wanted persons, like you.

UNAWARENESS

I see so many people unaware of their surroundings as they interact with their electronic devices. They look at them as they walk and do not see what is around them. They look at them when they are with other people in restaurants.

It is easy to be persuaded by them (the thing, not the nearby person). While involved they are not aware of their situation.
What is ahead of them?
What is behind them?
What is to the right of them?
What is to the left of them?
What is above them?
What is below them?
Are there any flowers, what color of flowers, what kind of flowers?
Are there any trees, what kind of trees, is it a healthy tree?
Is the retention pond full or drying up?

They are listening to music or a radio broadcast, or an audio blog. Are the people in it real or fictional? Is it possible they have an agenda? Is it possible you are listening to opinions and not facts?

If they were engaged in business would another place or time have been better? Would it be better to see them in real time, in real life, in real space?

We should be full of care about how and when we use our electronics.

THE AI GATEKEEPER

I became frustrated with trying to give information to a website. For many minutes (notice the word, “many”) I tried and waited for some sort of response. I tried my best to avoid the “Chat” option. After many minutes (notice the word, “many”) I finally pushed it. I was allowed to “chat” with a robot. The robot, after many minutes, allowed me to “chat” with a real human who could, and did, solve my issue. At least I guess it was a human.

I hate “Chat” sessions. Do you hate “Chat” sessions? You are not “chatting” with a person, you are interfacing with software on a machine. This software is otherwise known as “Artificial Intelligence”, or AI. There is no “intelligence” about it, though it is very much artificial. What was intelligent was the person or team of persons who wrote the software. These had to guess what questions you might ask and upon what various tracks the answers might lead. Once the software is devised, coded and loaded onto a machine the human intelligence is completed. There is no humanity left. There is only the software and the machine that contains it. You type to a machine which receives the electrical signals form the internet and processes them through the software to formulate an “answer”, untouched by human hands.

We are getting accustomed to being used by machines. We often do not think about it, we even want it in some cases. We need to be jealous of our humanity, or we may be imprisoned in a software/mechanical/electrical world.