To Cause an Effect

Here's another TED Talk. Given what is going
on in the world economy, it is a very timely
topic. What Kevin Slavin speaks about has a
lot to do with the financial world, however,
what he speaks of transcends that world, and
can have application in other parts of our
life experience.

I am fascinated by the fact that there are
algorithms that are affecting our environment,
even creating it. Kevin speaks of a company
that you can run a movie script through to
see how successful it might be. One who uses
that would likely write to have the greatest
impact, based on what the algorithm says.

He points to how our world is becoming more
and more the result of an unseen - and perhaps
even unknown and not understood - algorithm,
one that could go awry and we'd never know,
and then what?

It seems due to these algorithms, people are
less and less creators of the equation, but
more likely to be at its effect. We are
doing more and more to give this unknown more
and more life and breath, even to digging up
and destroying parts of our world.

I wonder if people stood back and really looked
at what we were doing, if we'd still be doing
it. Wouldn't it be better to be at the cause
of something than at its effect? And yet, as
we seek to cause something (such as an action
taken in the name of money), and give it
importance, it would seem that it has more and
more possibility to have us in dilemmas we may
not realize we are in and/or in dilemmas with
far reaching consequences in which there is no
turning back.

I would have to guess there is some good in
there somewhere, but at the same time anything
that takes us away from ourselves and others
I can not imagine is - in the end - going to
be a good thing.

I wonder what we can learn from this.

I wonder what we can do to reconnect
to the core of who we are as people.

I wonder what questions we should be
asking.

Once again, here is a case where an
argument could be made for or against,
and and once again, I have to wonder
what exactly we are arguing for. Do
we even know, and therefore is it
really, truly worth it?

What we don't know that we don't know
can really mess with us when we come
to know it. Perhaps true promise and
success comes from discovering what is
within, and yet we spend so much time
focusing on what is without, finding
more and more diverse ways to distract
us from ourselves, adding complications
that further separate us from who we
are as individuals and as humans as
a whole.

How many of those who are reading this
actually know who they are? Maybe if
someone could explore the inner
algorithm, people would be more curious
to find out what's in there. It occurs
to me that even those who consider
themselves "spiritual," can even find
themselves more distracted than when
they started on their journey.

We may all be here on this planet, but
how many of us are truly HERE, truly
present, focused, aware,
or just think we are?

Hypnosis at its best.

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