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“Not a question of being censored but of being amplified.” (head of TED talks Chris Anderson – June 2020 video)

That was one speakers thought on controlling the spread of misinformation or untruths.  But is that really an answer?

Censorship requires a person/entity that knows truth.  Anything that is outside the truth is thus deleted or at least repressed – censored  Thus we must know the truth in order to censor.

What about the idea of just turning down the channel (turn off the amplifier)?  Turning channels into least or less heard  is also a form of censorship – a subsection of that activity we call censorship.  This, in theory, allows for an inclusive agenda to be achieved while minimizing the effect on an enlightened population. 

And we are back to understanding truth.  Neither outright censorship or turning down the volume work unless we know what truth is – what is right.  Even then, what we do with the truth (and untruths) is the bigger question.

A Roman official once asked, “What is truth?”.  A leading religious leader claimed “I am the truth”. 

Sounds like 2000 years hasn’t changed the swirling conversations that populate our world. 

I’ve found experientially what I have known for some time.  Paperwork in our current world is dependant on the “digital”.  Note the anachronistic use of the word “paperwork”.

Yesterday I wished to withdraw some investments.  I went directly to the storefront shop and was told that I should have set up an appointment on-line and that no one was available to undertake the investment withdrawal for a few days.  My hope had been to deal directly with the customer service representative that day.  Live and learn!

Then my phone was acting weird (no reference to current memes in the political world – this is only a phone after all).  Perhaps a scammer or a spoofer was using my phone number.  I immediately went in person to the local phone provider’s shop – which I now understand is more of a sales centre than a support centre.  I was told to dial a contact number and expect to be online for an hour or two before I could finally talk to a support person (or get a direct contact for that support person).  I went back home and tried this approach with a limited amount of patience – hanging up after a few minutes of number punching and message referrals.  I then independently went online and checked my ongoing account stats.  Nothing appeared out of sorts (OK, the three calls from earlier and that was all).  No further indications of trouble today so I’ll just let this one play out. Live and learn!

Finally, I needed some documents to sign a form.  I checked directly with a person who could help obtain them free of charge.  They did some checking which led to a referral to an online source for downloads.  I checked that out – what should have been immediate in downloading was going to take at least a few days – I could pay more for a rush delivery but even that would take three days.  And the online site didn’t have all the documents I needed.  Live and learn!

By now, I want back into the local small town bureaucracy where you see someone at the grocery store, enquire about an issue that they might have knowledge about and are given an immediate answer that leads to a quick path to circumvent slow-to-answer bureaucracy. 

Of course that is ideal – and nothing is that simple.  So . . . Live and learn!

Not that I don’t like to write.  I do.  And my head is full of text, ideas and narratives.

But, . . . what happens when life happens?  Years ago I decided that would be the title of a blog I would write daily.  My mentor, Randall Friesen, was using the internet as a communication tool.  He stressed that a regular, daily routine would garner readers, but would also provide an opportunity to increase writing skills and communication adventures.

That edict lasted for almost twenty years.  Somehow I broke off the daily routine these past few years. 

I like to think I became involved in the various tasks of life.  Daily life as life goes on.  Somehow I like to think my own thinking evolved.  Not everyone cares what you write.  Somehow I like to think I was too old school.  New generations see things in new ways. 

But . . . maybe to do is to be.  To be able to think through life, to be able to allow others into my life, to be able to connect with others in such a way that I hear them and they hear me. 

No promises. 

But . . . I do want to write more.

These words arrive in your presence.  A present present to you.  Enjoy, interact, shelve, interpret, like, disconnect, set aside.

Yes, we are now in Calgary. I went out and got a paper map of the city – trying to visualize all the places we will end up travelling to in the next while. Somehow my mind still works with a picture rather than just listening to someone (something?) tell which way to turn and when to reverse course.