Category: This is all a test

is a term often referring to bluesman Robert Johnson’s meeting with the devil at the old intersection of US Highways 49 and 61 in the state of Mississippi.

To become the best blues player of them all, he decided that selling his soul to the devil in order to achieve his dream of fame and fortune was the way to go.

More importantly, the crossroads is a point of decision or a critical juncture, a deeply rooted metaphor where one meets, mingles, and makes choices. (not my definitions)

No matter which definition or story one chooses, we have all visited our own personal crossroads when confronting a major decision or embarking on a certain direction.

When we think of having to ‘sell our soul,’ even metaphorically in making certain decisions of whatever sort from a “failure is not an option.” or “do or die” kind of thinking, we seem to put ourselves in a more difficult position than is necessary.

A position that may put us on defense where we delay the decision for another day, hide a bit longer, and “think about it” a little more until we have all the requisite facts and figures.

When we realize that many decisions are not that momentous and can be revoked, changed, or reworked, even the really large ones, the pressure comes off. As we don’t have to confront the devil, and he isn’t going to be coming for our soul at any time soon, a decision can be made more easily and whatever it is can get done.

In making those big decisions, even the crossroad ones, we’re as likely to make as good a decision today as we’ll make tomorrow or next week. Just making a decision, no matter how it turns out, is actually progress and a step forward.

And if the decision proves to be wrong, or not as effective as we thought it might be, we can make a new decision about the old decision and again make progress and move forward.

So, in the final analysis, it turns out that Robert Johnson more than likely didn’t meet the devil at the crossroads but spent a year learning how to play the guitar from an Ike Zimmerman in a local graveyard.

Unfortunately, the reality doesn’t live up to the story, as it rarely does, and these stories, both the devil at the crossroads and the ‘do or die’ decision situation continue to circulate, entertain, and dismay even though they may not be true.

But we can all take heart and work at moving one step beyond the stories by practicing a habit of better, and maybe slightly quicker, decision-making so they don’t continue to pile up as they may have in the past.

And we don’t even have to travel to Mississippi to do it.

Written while listening to a blues anthology by the MCCall Brothers Band,

One of the best things I’ve come across this week is Marc Andreesen’s piece on the emergence of AI.

This blog post was thought of and written by me, no AI here, and is a mosaic of my experience, reading, and learning.

…require extraordinary evidence, an idea popularized by Carl Sagan, a rewrite of Pierre-Simon Laplace’s principle, “The weight of evidence for an extraordinary claim must be proportioned to its strangeness.’

I kinda like Carl Sagan’s comment as it’s a bit easier to get at.

Extraordinary claims, or disinformation and fake news, have been around since the printing press was invented somewhere around 1436 because sensationalism always sells.

It had a role in catalyzing the Enlightenment. Early American colonial newspapers ran fake stories about France’s Louis XIV. And some late 19 Century American newspapers competed for audiences by reporting rumours as though they were facts.

Though our present-day disinformation seems to be supercharged through the internet and social media platforms, these same platforms, especially the internet, provide us with the means to locate the extraordinary evidence required to validate or discredit certain claims.

In a Noam Chomsky interview, the interviewer asked Mr. Chomsky how anyone can really know the truth of statements being made about a certain subject that was under discussion. Mr. Chomsky in reply simply pointed to his head.

All we have to do is take a bit of time and do a little digging to find some other sources or, as an early mentor suggested, triangulate the information. Then, as Noam Chomsky indicated, use our own intelligence.

I’m not sure whether either Carl Sagan or Pierre-Simon Laplace were actually referencing disinformation in their comments but it sure does seem to rhyme a bit.

Written while listening to Erik Satie’s Gnossiennes.

This blog post was thought of and written by me, no AI here, and is a mosaic of my experience, reading, and learning.

…I saw first-hand how surfacing withheld conversations opens other communication channels.

The initial brief was to be present and keep discussions on track or, as one partner mentioned, to stop them from crawling across the table and strangling someone.

As the main issue at hand was being resolved, a few long withheld conversations began to surface.

The slated one hour lasted close to three hours with a number of long-range discussions ensuing resulting in some forward planning and action steps being outlined, all of which hadn’t happened for quite some time.

As the withheld conversations were surfaced and explored, the space they were taking up was cleared so new ideas, possibilities, and discussions had a place to live and grow.

Oh! And BTW, no one was strangled.

Written while listening to Russian Folk Music.

One of the best things I’ve come across this week:

“As we look back on the failed civilizations of the past, we can see that they were so poor, their technology was so feeble, and their explanations of the world so fragmentary and full of micconceptions that their caution about innovation and progress was as perverse as expecting a blindfold to be useful when navigating dangerous waters.”

From, The Beginning of Infinity by David Deutsch.

This blog post was thought of and written by me, no AI here, and is a mosaic of my experience, reading, and learning.