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In the last article, I was waxing on esoterically about being humble. Here, I’ll wax off to reveal the dirty reality underneath.

Reality

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Someone on Quora asked:  What are ways the universe has humbled you? So am I now accountable for humility?

Humble at an early age

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Kindness and connection

At times, almost all of us do acts of kindness. Our empathy gets the better of our inner fearful curmudgeon.

Some people seem to have an easier time connecting with love. Many of them have worked hard to tame the fears, insecurities and selfishness that separate us from love. Some of them simply keep putting in the effort.

The first challenge of life- reaching love

Perhaps that’s most of the work of the first part of life- mastering reaching out to love. Most of our parents try to teach us this, as do most religions and philosophies. But few parents have truly mastered the lessons. They teach as best they can.

I like to think I’ve mastered it. But it’s not true. I hope by now, nearing age 60, I’ve developed at least some mastery. Being committed to truth, I must admit that I, too, am merely a work in progress.

What’s next? Making a difference

Illusions. A Facebook page called Birds Gallery has a video of a huge flock of birds creating illusions in the sky.

There’s no flock, just illusions

There’s really no “flock.” That’s just a pattern we name and an illusion we think we see. Really, there are just individual birds flying next to each other. Each bird knows nothing about the overall pattern, yet the pattern forms. Is God willing the “flock” into existence? Are we seeing something that doesn’t really exist? Things exist- but is there “a flock”?

How many are there in this pattern? Ten thousand birds, a hundred thousand, a million?

Imagine 40 trillion things dancing and moving together

Imagine 40 trillion living things dancing and moving together, being born, growing, doing the work they’re shaped to do, and then dying and being replaced. Constantly, and over decades. The flock is an illusion, a cloud-like mass that seems to move and change shape. What kind of illusion could 40 trillion cells create?

There are about 40 trillion living cells in the human body. Their dance creates each us.

In your mind, you’re a person, a thing. But that’s just an idea. You’re the result of trillions of cells simply doing what they’re shaped to do. 

And those cells? Each one is an illusion in itself, the dance of trillions of molecules which are also just doing what they’re shaped to do.

In the right conditions, complexity emerges

In the blackness of space, there’s too little matter and energy for very interesting things to arise. In the heart of a sun, there is too much energy and matter. Yes, it creates a sun, a huge energy source in space. But there seems to be too much energy inside it for stable patterns to form.

Somewhere in between, there’s enough matter to be interesting and about the right amount of energy that patterns of things form and break apart. There’s flux, but also relative stability. The most stable patterns persist. And when there are enough interactions and yet enough stability, replicating patterns appear. And when patterns replicate, their numbers grow. When there are enough of these replicating patterns, they interact with each other and can form new patterns of patterns.

With the right range of conditions, complexity increases. Animals emerge. Humans emerge. Even consciousness.

Politics and accountability

What does this have to do with politics and accountability? Not too much.

Both are patterns we see, illusions. Is government wonderful cooperation that creates civilization? Or a horrible font of oppression and theft? Neither. It’s an illusion that we create.

We really do have the power to design and create the government of our dreams. If we do it together. And it’ll require at least a few people and some backing. Join me.

In a small forum I read, the conversation about the name “Redskins” arose again.

What’s in a name? Pride?

I find it strange how attached people are to names. As if there’s really any meaning in them. If you’re offended by it, just say so, so people will either opt to appear offensive or change.

I try neither to be ashamed, nor proud of my ancestry/lineage/race/religion. Isn’t pride a sin? Supposedly they’re over-represented in fields of accomplishment. What does that have to do with me?

How many find it offensive?

One listed some stats (this, this and this. Just FYI– I didn’t look at them…) Apparently they attest that about 90% or more of native Americans are not offended by the term “redskins”. Does that mean the term offends 10%? This wikipedia page says about 1.7% of Americans identify as Native Americans, about 5.2 million people. Are we okay with offending 520,000 of them?

One person said that in some predominantly Native American high schools, students “wear the name with pride”? Is that pride in the school, pride in their community, pride in their tribe, pride in being Native American?

Sports are primitive

Let’s face it, sports are primitive. They’re great in many ways, but they’re all about distraction, entertainment, and exercising our emotions, including our violent sides.Often they’re experientially rich- letting us explore lots of emotions connected to our physical sides. They create a drama for us to get wrapped up in. They’re even more shallow than TV, though, which at least gives us new looks at life. They’re fun for many. We should keep them.

Sports are primitive. And their team names are arbitrary, and appropriately primitive. Perhaps we should give them special license for primitive names.

Maybe we should vote on it

My personal opinion is that we should get rid of the name “Redskins” as it perpetuates stereotypes and the significance of race. But I don’t feel strongly about it. It only becomes important when enough people feel it’s important. Maybe native American descendants aren’t there yet. Or maybe they have moved past it, so caring about the name is beneath them.

How about we vote on this every 2 years? Maybe that would get more people out to the polls. And it would provide a tiny bit of accountability, so we can take responsibility for this part of our culture.

And play with it

It’d be great if there were a team called the Christians. And they played the Lions… Maybe we should move the names Democrats and Republicans to teams, too…

Of the many types of interesting thinking, this article is about forward thinking and backward reasoning, about the future.

First of all, keep in mind that as humans, our understanding is limited. In particular, our view of the world is limited and biased. God might see all, but none of us do, even our leaders. In particular, many of our elected leaders were elected precisely because they see the world with limits similar to our own. While God has no fears, our leaders expressed fears and worries similar to our own.

Future forward reasoning

This begins with our understanding of the world of today, the world we live in. We look into the future and see changes we want. Then we take actions toward those changes.

A common example of this is solution-based-thinking. We look at a current problem, imagine a world without that problem, and design a solution, a way to achieve it.

Future backward reasoning

This isn’t just backward reasoning. In fact, that is a pretty common mistake, when used about the present. We want to assert “America is great” or “America is headed in the wrong direction.” So we think it and, given that view, find consistent reasoning. Future backward reasoning is different.

Imagine a future we desire. Imagine standing in that future, with all of its differences from the world today. Look back in time- how could we have gotten here? (Of course, there’s much more to being a futurist…)

This is what I did with PeopleCount. Imagine a future where politicians are accountable to people? Where are representatives truly represent us? What does it look like? How do we get there?

Future ass-backward reasoning

We figure the future will be mostly like it is today. We want something a bit different, but we fear a few things, and are cynical about improvements. We feel like we can’t commit to a particular future, but we’re willing to try hard to avoid the things we fear. So we imagine a future of the things we fear most and try to avoid them.

I did this with wealth. I wanted a more financially secure future. “More” means it was based on what I had today. So I was frugal and saved. I payed my bills on time. When my wife suggested expensive vacations and home improvements, I dragged my feet.

Future head-up-our-ass-backward thinking

We figure the future will be mostly like it is today. And we forget that, being human, we have a limited, biased view, one full of errors. In particular, we forget that our fears and worries are mostly due to our limited view.

I did some of this in the area of wealth, too. It was okay. It was a normal life. I kept busy avoiding expensive things I didn’t value. What I didn’t realize: I didn’t really value much about the life I had. I didn’t ask myself, “What would make life worth living?”

Notice your thinking

Think about: What’s going to happen next year for you? Will you have a job? What job? Will you be living with a partner, a friend, a spouse, a cell-mate? Who will that be?

What kind of thinking did you use to think about all that? Did you start with the future you wanted, or something mostly like today’s world? Were you concerned about avoiding certain dangers or failures?

Did you remember to take into consideration that your view of our current world is limited, biased, probably wrong?

This has nothing to do with PeopleCount, just about food. I’m just writing. Though to add a keyword, I could say: There’s no accounting for taste…

My family is weird about food, starting with me. In general, food was plentiful and good when I was a kid.

Food Background – from nothing to desserts

My parents fled Nazi Germany. They escaped when they were 8 and 12, their families a few weeks apart in November, 1938, landing in NY. They grew up poor, in Brooklyn. They never had desserts. My mom said that once in a while they’d go out to a place to have an ice cream soda.

When Dad left the navy, he went to college on the GI Bill, and even got a masters in electrical engineering. Then Mom and he got married and the next day took a train to Seattle where Dad started work at Boeing.

I grew up with a brother 15 months older, then a second brother almost 4 years younger, and my youngest brother 6 years younger than me. Mom decided her upbringing was wrong. Kids should have desserts. My parents started out with nothing, but Dad had a decent salary. I helped my mom clip coupons and label prices on packages at the box store to save money, and we bought only the cheapest ice cream. But we always had sweets, and often wonderful pastries and fresh rye breads.

The worst – coffee and tuna fish

I don’t like coffee. I even dislike its smell. I love sweets and chocolate, but I won’t eat mocha- not even if it’s baked in a cake!

I remember disliking coffee as a kid- the house had a bitter smell. Here I am, age 59, and it just occurred to me: I was 4 or 5 when I stopped letting my parents kiss me. I’ll bet it was due to the smell of coffee on their breath…

Tuna fish smelled even worse. When my mom made tuna sandwiches for my brothers, I couldn’t even stomach going into the kitchen in the morning. She’d leave my lunch next to the front door. I’d shower, dress, grab my lunch and head out.

Vegies, wheat and milk

Vegetables turned me off. When Mom boiled brussels sprouts, spinach or cauliflower, I’d almost gag. Luckily, they didn’t force me to eat them. In fact, I almost never ate vegetables as a kid, except in stew or spaghetti sauce (though the mushrooms felt gross.)  Grudgingly I’d choke down a bit of salad with a vinaigrette dressing. (I began eating vegetables in college, after discovering stir-fry, and now eat most…)

In my 20’s I had a health problem that was cured by giving up sugar (for a while) and wheat. I stopped eating wheat for a long time, and now eat it rarely. I became lactose intolerant sometime in my late 20′- I never eat milk or cheese.

My wife and kids

My wife also doesn’t like coffee, but had no problems with food. But after pregnancies, my wife was allergic to wheat, milk and eggs! My kids, too, were allergic, but the older one was okay with eggs. So we never have milk or wheat in the house. My younger son seems to have gotten over it.

He has always had this weird habit of leaving a bit of food on his plate- like 1-2 more bites. It always bothered me that “he wasted food.” And my dog‘s a bit similar…  More about him next time…