The Curmudgeon Speaks

Tom Friedman is one of those writers I follow consistently. I have read all of his books and specific opinion pieces in the NYTimes when a title seems related to my interests. With a few exceptions (his position that government regulation is often too cumbersome and limits innovation), I find our personal values are very similar. These commonalities would include globalism, immigration, healthcare, science, and education.

A recent opinion piece did catch my attention and is a position I feel is necessary. My interpretation of this opinion is that while Friedman wishes we as citizens should generally discuss our various positions on specific political issues, present times require a different approach. The Trump administration is so corrupt and oppressive and Republicans in general ignore what they likely understand to be an abuse of power because Trump is a key component of the lack of balance across judicial, legislative and executive branches of our government. It amounts to “ignore what goes on” because we are getting what we want.

The solution would seem to be to reject all Republican candidates in the 2018 elections as the only remedy to restore some balance in government.

I was surprised recently to spend some time examining old blog posts and find that I had written on political topics. I had the sense that I only recently became aggressive in expressing political opinions. Like Friedman, I would rather write about specific issues rather than express my outrage over the behavior of specific politicians. Like Friedman, I hope to get back to being less “party oriented” after this next election. Like Friedman, I think that things are bad enough that these are priorities that must be put on hold.

Finding content for my posts can be a challenge. Sometimes I find a news item I want to write about. Sometimes I want to describe a book I have read. Often, something happens to me and I feel I must share.

I spent my career trying to explain the findings of psychology to freshmen and future teachers. Often, what I had to offer is the way psychologists understand the experiences of daily life. For example, some might describe certain personal experiences as due to stupidity or distraction, but this is not always the case. The language of psychology can sometimes offer an alternative. I have this alternate way of viewing the world and I can not only excuse my own behavior but generate a blog post as well.

Retroactive interference occurs when new learning interferes with an older behavior. Since we purchased our Dodge Durango, I no longer have to use a key to start my car. I can just keep a fob in my pocket to open the locked door and I can push a button to start this car. I have been messing with my grandkids whose parents do not have this type of entry to their vehicle for a year or so. I keep telling them I can open the locked door without a key because I know the magic words. They have yet to figure this out. It is kind of fun to demonstrate and to explain when they try the same thing that they are not saying the magic word correctly. After a couple of tries, if I stand closer to the car, their effort works.

The joke is now on me. We needed my pickup to haul dirt for various gardens in “the cities” so I drove it down from the lake. After arriving at my home, I took the keys out of the ignition and threw them on the seat. I exited the car and locked the door. I have no other explanation for this sequence of behaviors than retroactive interference. I was able to take a photo of my keys through the windshield. Without this blog, I would never have thought to do so and I would have no way to justify the $145 I had to pay the locksmith for the 40 seconds it took him to open the truck door and retrieve my keys.

So, remember the meaning of retroactive interference in case you have the need to explain some of your own irrational behavior.

I understand the investment that so many have made in Facebook and the connections for them that exist on this platform. Despite what they know about the personal data and the data of their friends they are giving to Facebook and companies collecting data from Facebook, they have decided they cannot leave. Here are some thoughts about how you minimalize the signals you send and thus reduce the data you are providing in exchange for your access.

1. Do not complete surveys on Facebook. This is how you provided data to Cambridge Analytica.
2. Do not use the “like” button (or which ever version of the like button you decide indicates your reaction). The “like” button is used too easily. If you really want to respond, offer a comment. This will be a signal too, but in a cost/benefit way at least you will be offering some information.
3. Do not share the posts of friends or links to online content UNLESS you add your own introduction and analysis to the shared material. Again, any of these actions will associate you with the content, but allow this connection only when the content is important enough you are willing to invest some effort in explaining why.
4. Use Facebook for a specific purpose. If you use Facebook to interact with family members, use Facebook for that purpose. If you use Facebook to argue your political position, use Facebook for this purpose only. Diversify where you have your online presence. You might also try “Disconnect Facebook” if you use Chrome as your browser. This extension is supposed to limit Facebook’s ability to track your activity when not in Facebook.

I read a lot of things others might find unusual and obscure. A recent book that probably fits this description would be the Red Web. This book was written by Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogran – Russian authors that write about Russia since the end of the Soviet Union.

This book chronicles the opposing forces of control and surveillance versus freedom as applied to communication. My interest was in the control and concerns about the role of the internet, but the book offers a broader focus including newspapers, radio and television, and telephone communication. The book shows how citizens used a given communication avenue for expressing themselves often to voice their concerns about the government and then how the government pushed back through monitoring, blocking, and other more direct means. The book ends with the role of Russia in the U.S. election of 2016, but leads up to this analysis by showing it stems from similar tactics employed in Russia and against other countries Russia has had the motivation to manipulate.

Did Russia interfere in the election. Absolutely. They stole and shared information. They created false communications from U.S. citizens promoted as authentic. They engaged in a disinformation campaign designed to reduce support for Hillary Clinton. Did these actions determine the outcome of the election. The authors say they have no way of knowing, but the results were consistent with the intent of the actions taken by Russian actors. This was not a book about collusion or interactions with Republican operatives. This was a book about the communication-oriented forces at work in Russia and how these forces have also been turned outward to influence what happens in other countries.

While there was considerable red meat here for those interested in the political implications, the focus of the author is more generally on the role communications opportunities and the likelihood of the survival of these opportunities. The authors remain optimistic:

Does this mean we should accept the concept that the Internet carries more threats than benefits? The creators of the Internet supported the opposite concept. Unlike Putin, they believed in people and built the global network under the assumption that it would be used for sharing something good. They may look naïve these days, but we got our modern linked-up technological world thanks to their concepts, not Putin’s. The Internet—and the concepts behind it—are still full of potential.

Here is the review from The Guardian – interesting that no mention is made of the section of the book that deals with the U.S. election. Maybe the reviewer did not have time to read the last part of the book.

Ah, it’s tough out there, a good muse is hard to find
Living one word to the next, one line at a time
There’s more to life than whiskey, there’s more to words than rhyme
Sometimes nothing works, sometimes nothing shines

Do you have something you turn to when the creative process seems stalled? Here is my new favorite – Hemmingway’s Whiskey by Guy Clark

We are probably late to the cruising experience among those our age we know. Much of what I describe is likely a discovery for me, but old hat for many others. Here is one experience I can guarantee you past cruisers have not had. This is a combination virtual reality / 5 course meal. This was explained as the third such facility in existence and the first on a ship. You sit at a tables with a special top with dishes that must be in exactly the right position. The lights dim. Before each course a special projector system fires up and a miniature chef appears on your table and prepares a course from the meal. This is not a cooking show in the sense that you see the preparation of an actual meal. You see more of a comedy routine which the chef capturing a lobster from the sea, lighting a barbecue grill, making ice cream from snow, etc. Here are some images of the VR displays and actual pictures for several of the courses.

Boilie Base

Lobster

Filet mignon

Rice pudding

Ice cream sundae

We had this experience at half-price as Celebrity cruise line wants to make certain the experience will be well received and to work out the kinks. This had to be very expensive to create – a room with very carefully placed tables, special furniture and plates, and projection systems over each table. The cruise line gave each attendee a one-hour courtesy wifi access code ($9) to encourage images and promotion of the experience. This does not apply to us as we purchased a wifi plan, but it does allow for both of us to be online at the same time this evening.

There must be plans for more than this one “performance”. It was an interesting experience and for we techie types, it promises more to come.

For more posts from our travel blog, see Grabe Travels.

In his book, Lifelong Kindergarten author Mitch Resnick promotes the value of making thinking visible. He focuses on the importance of generating products, primarily the wide variety of products that can be generated within the Scratch programming environment.

This has been a perspective I have tried to adopt for years. I started blogging and posting web content in the late 1990s. I called the site offering my content learningaloud because the title had an ambiguous meaning when heard and because it allowed me to explain what I was learning from my study of educational psychology and educational technology. My multi-decade journey has included more topics than one might imagine. At one point, I functioned as a webmaster for the educational efforts of Game and Fish in North Dakota mostly trying to support schools that adopted the department’s OWLS (outdoor wildlife learning sites) project. Later, I began sharing tutorials and commentary for future educators in support of my wife and my educational technology textbooks for future teachers. This has been an ongoing process now for approximately 20 years. More recently I felt the need to use Facebook to comment on the state of U.S. politics. Over this entire span of online activity, this was the first time I felt the need to discuss my political opinions so my motivation for becoming more openly political is likely obvious.

I endorse the process of externalization (making thinking visible) no matter your age or purpose. Producing a product is a great way to clarify your own thinking and to engage others. I pay for the server space I use for most of my writing projects, but a service such as Blogger or Facebook is available to anyone. I now write as a nearly 70-year old individual in his retirement years, but the processes of reading, thinking and writing are important for all.

If there is a project others outside of education might find interesting, it would probably be the writing I have done while traveling. My wife and I have had the opportunity to travel the world and I have tried to provide commentary to share these experiences.

My earliest efforts were included in a blog I call Curmudgeon Speaks (posts from travels in Russia), but in recent years I have used blogger to provide descriptions and images of the trips we have taken in retirement.

[on the Celebrity Reflection about half way across the Atlantic]

I am easily intimidated in this environment. So much sophistication:

• People who speak multiple languages and who have been to so many places.
• People who recount stories from the dozens of cruises they have taken.
• People who can keep which is a white and which is a red wine straight.
• Even people with those giant wrist watches.

What is the deal with those watches anyway? Perhaps they are suited to people with poor eye sight or people who do not like to carry a phone. I know they are expensive, but there must be easier ways to show off. Buy a current season Twins baseball cap and a jersey with a player from the present roster. This would be a better and more subtle way to show folks just how cool you are.

Whenever I am feeling particularly intimidated, I head to the iLounge – a place where I can be around people I understand and I can fit in. This ship has a combination computer lab and Apple store. If you purchase an iPad on the ship you get free access to wifi for a day or so. I must say that wifi access is better than I expected. Cindy and I take turns connecting to the account we purchased. Each time one of us logs in the other individual gets shut down. So far, this has not become an issue between us, but there is the possibility of an altercation always on the horizon.

You can tell how tech savvy these folks are. I heard one such gentleman complaining that a speedier wifi would be appreciated as he had purchased the 90 minute plan and he wasn’t getting his money’s worth.

All of that rhetoric about digital natives aside, I don’t see any of them in the iLounge. This native stuff is all hype as far as I can tell. So, me and several of my over-70 friends can check Facebook without competition from the younger crowd. They are probably still sleeping off last nights glow in the dark dance party.

Here is to hangin’ with my peeps.

I will say this one more time. When you use a free service, you must assume that you are paying for the cost of operating that service and some profit for those responsible by offering information about yourself that has value to others. This was acceptable to me when it resulted in ads for things my data suggested might inform me. Of course, this personal information had other uses. Personal information offers a mechanism by which personal biases can be used to manipulate.

Tech folks seldom started by finding a way to manipulate, but others with such inclinations quickly understood what was possible. I am uncertain if this situation can be salvaged. Solutions require either payment or a willingness to accept responsibility for what we ignore and what we promote. Sharing and favoriting are especially important as these are actions under our control. These actions signal your priorities which I do not necessarily see as bad AND offer the opportunity to promote information from trusted sources.

Read what you promote? If I could, I would also require social media users to add personal comments when favoriting and sharing. This would slow down sharing and would hopefully result in more reasoned positions. Use of the favorite and share buttons is not engaging enough.

I am also a fan of federated social media services that do not collect user data. I have offered some recommendations in previous posts.