doors known and unknown

 

 “In the universe, there are things that are known, and things that are unknown, and in between, there are doors.”

 

William Blake

 

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“First of all, we must face the truth, and then we can change our course.

We simply must have faith in each other, faith in our ability to govern ourselves, and faith in the future of this nation.

Restoring that faith and that confidence to America is now the most important task we face.

 

It is a true challenge of this generation of Americans.”

———

 

Jimmy Carter

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growing up life challenge resilienceI sometimes believe the biggest challenge we face today, as humankind, isn’t climate change, or terrorism, or the decline of civilization … but rather “truth.” Or maybe better said … discerning truth and who to trust with the truth.

 

In Blake’s terms … I think we have forgotten how to open the doors between the things that are known and the things that are unknown.

 

And I think that because I believe Trust is no longer a viable measure of … well … anything. Uhm. That includes things known.

 

I am sure we people have always been cynical with regard to who and what we trust but I would suggest that the larger deeper recessions we have faced off & on since 2001 or so have steadily chipped away at trust.

 

In addition I would suggest the world wide web and its access to anything and everything … truth, partial truths, semi truths & non truths … has created a massive blurring of ‘what is known.’

 

Think about it. In the not too distant past we trusted doctors, banks, business leaders, teachers and even some brands or companies.

 

There were actually people or institutions which could, frankly, do little wrong.

 

There were actually, role models for success & leadership and those same people were often seen as the trusted sage advisors to troubleshoot whatever societal woes we faced.

 

But bit by bit, crisis by crisis <whether it was actually a real crisis or not> trust was undermined. And while I could point to the larger effect of the financial crisis as undermining trust with almost everyone in some way …  it di not just erode financial leadership trust but rather made everyone questioning & challenging all supposed trustworthy people & institutions.

Bit by bit the subtle beginnings of a wider trust crisis spread to impact pretty much everything.

 

But this is solvable.

And it is not solvable by running around like a fucking chicken with its head cut off trying to “how do we get people to trust us.”

 

I think there are two aspects to this.

One to be done now and one to become the responsible of the youngest digital native generation.

 

Now?now right-here-right-now1

 

Do what you say you are going to do.

Be consistently & reliably competent.

Do not assume simply because you are an expert and no more about something than most other people that you have earned anyone’s trust in what you will be offering as ‘truth.’ Don’t be defensive but don’t be complacent.

 

We need to focus on some basic blocking & tackling type stuff.

 

I think in the here and now those who really know their shit and truly are the purveyors of truth need to hunker down and become more articulate about what they have to say.

I think we need to consistently remind people that some things are ignored because they should be … not because we wouldn’t like how they would impact the final conclusion but rather because they wouldn’t impact the final conclusion in any meaningful way.

 

In the here & now we need to become significantly better at articulating exceptions are everywhere and associated with everything … and, yet, an exception doesn’t disprove the real truth.

 

In the here & now I think we have an opportunity to get better at explaining logic and basic critical thinking <and, please … please … don’t anyone suggest that we were better at these things in the past and that ‘education has become dumbed down’ … don’t do that because it isn’t true. We sucked at logic an critical thinking in the past it is just that now we have access to so many more tidbits & fragments of knowledge we never had to become proficient as assembling fragments into some truth>.

 

Does any of his sound sad? It really shouldn’t.

 

It is the world we live in and it provides an opportunity to better everyone if we address this well.

 

If we teach people how to open the doors between what we know and what we don’t know.

 

connect future internet words thoughtsIn the future?

 

This is in the hands of those who have only grown up with what they see on the internet – truly the digital natives.

When I am looking at trust scores for anyone and anything today … it is … well … too fucking depressing. Even the most honest, straight shooting and high integrity people & institutions are most likely viewing a relatively cynical opinion of who and what you are.

 

And this is me.

 

Imagine growing up in a world where the adults cannot even tell them what is truth and what isn’t … and who they can trust and who they cannot.

 

That is fucking depressing.

 

And I imagine the young have no desire to be depressed for the rest of their lives and I imagine even more so that they have no desire going through an entire life trusting no one and nothing.

 

They will figure this out.

I don’t know if someone comes up with some algorithm which filters out nonsensical conspiracy crap.

I don’t know if someone develops an accepted library of encyclopedic truth which everyone will trust as a viable resource.

I don’t know if someone develops a rating system so people can see a ‘trust them’ rating whenever you view what they are sharing.

I don’t know.

 

But what I do know is that no one wants to go through Life not knowing who to trust and not knowing what is truth and what isn’t.

 

I certainly don’t.

 

I certainly don’t want our young growing up in that environment.

 

I will do my part in my small corner of the world in the here & now.

 

Mostly I am in the debunking business. Maybe I am simply n the ‘thoughtful contrarian’ <which is different than just being an ‘irascible naysayer’> business.

 

But I kind of feel like it is my job to try and keep the doors open between what we know and what we don’t know. And keep them open until someone smarter than I in the younger generation comes along and helps change the course of truth & trust.tinker faith pixie dust trust

 

‘Restoring that faith and that confidence in trust is now the most important task we face. It is a true challenge of this generation.”

 

Trust.

 

The fate of trust is in our own hands.

 

We will live a life of torment if we do not trust enough.

And I have faith that all people have no desire to live a Life of torment.

 

 

 

 

 

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Written by Bruce