Hindsight is 20:20

Gary went onto the hospital ward to visit his friend Anne. As they spoke, her grace and animation, made up for the signs of memory loss and repetition.

Reality is harsh. Anne’s husband had just died. She drank too much at the wake and fell. Her sister visiting from across the country and her brother -in-law put her in the hospital for dementia testing. Reality is not for the faint-hearted.

The recent best practise was to institutionalize the dementia patient and isolate from familiar company to reduce distress. So many best laid plans, intended to do good, have led to unimaginable problems. Informed choices, guided by best practises, hide truth and lack thereof. In the early 1960’s children were told that it was absurd to think that the continents once fit together. Handicapped individuals were placed in institutions, put on birth control schedules and left to fend for themselves with minimal supervision.

People make choices using facts based on ignorance, false pretenses or wishful thinking. This has led to global, economic and social polarity. Over his lifetime Gary had observed some countries encouraging population control, literacy, and open computer use to others forbidding these liberties. The aftermath was still being determined.

At this stage of his life, Gary was watching the end of an era, not only of his life and that of many other baby boomers, but of ideals. The pendulum was not swinging smoothly. In fact, it was a multiple pendulum, swinging on an off-centered spinning surface and seemed ready to collapse.

He looked at Anne sitting across the hospital table. Her eyes were quivering and she sought to connect the dots of thought during this lucid period of her day.

He asked, “Do you remember when we worked in the Red Room? The room, three stories high, housed a giant series of machines that whirred and transported punch cards, holding programs created with Boolean parameters that could solve mathematical problems.”

Anne replied,“ In spite of opposition, we were instrumental in bringing in the computer age. Do you remember how Will said that there were no laws controlling it and the future would have to figure out how to close this new Pandora’s box?”

Gary reflected on Anne’s memories. Computers had entered society slowly. Google quickly became the preferred search platform. It was exciting to stand on the edge of the future and imagine all that could be. He said to Anne, “We embraced the essence of the computer like Charlie Chaplin imagined the possible good that television could promote.”

Anne’s eyes gleamed as she traveled back to a time when dreams were pure and naïve. “Making information more accessible was to help humanity.”

Gary sat quietly as she spoke. He dared not say what was on his mind. “What a lark. The promises of how computers would help were broken. Paper waste increased as reams of paper of careless copies filled recycling boxes, that were often tossed into regular trash."

Anne’s eyes held erratic sparks. “ Computers were to streamline data collection and increase efficiency.”

Gary’s ire rose. Companies were concerned with increasing profit, not helping the consumers. Efficiency was defined as decreasing consumer demand, reducing staff and increasing profit to the company. The frustrations of pushing 1, 2, 8, 4, before finally be able speak to an agent irritated him.

Anne held her hands together in a prayer position. “It was so exciting to realize the potential of being able to assemble large volumes of data .”

Gary said, "I respected the idealism of the era, when baseline information was slowly and meticulously put into the system, but," (his inner voice would not quiet) “Something good can become evil. Large data collection had many unexpected uses and abuses. Maps provided efficient routes and alternatives. Ranking products and opinions based on data could be biased and manipulated.”

Anne laughed. “Television manufactured false stories about lemmings following each other off of a cliff. Humans have come to depend on Google reviews to make their informed choices. They are ignorant about how algorithms can transform data and skew data and act like the imaginary lemmings.”

Gary said, “True enough. One of the side effect of computers is over information, where true and false meld into a mix where the forces battle. The instant gratification from addictive vagus stimulation by the thumb hitting the keypad has unexpected effects. Short term retention being the most challenging.”`

Anne looked at him, obviously thinking clearly, and said, “ Tell me about it.”

They laughed.

Gary asked, “Did you notice your thinking changed when you worked on programming?”

Anne was in form. “My ability to identify intuitive thinking was altered.”

Gary voiced his inner thoughts. “Ask any 7- to 18-year-old with a cell phone. They navigate programs faster than I can. But do I really want to depend on juvenile intuition without experience?”

Anne spoke. “Computers are a manifestation of anarchy. Who would have guessed how the state of chaos and disorder resulting from an absence of governmental authority would evolve. Hindsight is 20:20.”

Gary, tried to normalize what he was hearing. “Government control of freedom of speech and information on the internet is considered a violation of freedom of rights .”

Annes’ gaze suddenly changed. “ I cannot make this work.” she said as she handed him her iPad.

Gary took it and asked, “Do you know your Password?”

Anne looked around “ I wrote it down somewhere.” She began to get frantic. Gary said, “Remembering passwords for different devices then needing to change them regularly is a curse.” They began to chat of other things. A nurse came in and sedated her.

This was the time for Gary to leave.

As he got in his car Gary was glad that he had visited Anne on a day when she was so clear headed and well-spoken. She had not repeated herself much, and if and when she did, it only served to prove a point. Too bad things went south.

They had voluntarily joined to test laws of logic and policy. Like those who follow high protein, high fat diets in spite of health warnings, they were ready to prove the warnings wrong. The future would have much to contend with. True or false, futuristic wishful thinking and hoodwinking was leading to a polarity.

Now computers were used as AI. Many people had a freeze response.Doing nothing was a better option than jumping into a potential solution that was bound to have problems.

He recalled an adage engraved in the hearts of mankind. “ You only win big if you risk big.” Many leaders in all fields of life have an addictive gambler’s mentality and are prepared to exhibit the arrogance of supposed knowledge that reveals the ugliness of ignorance.

Gary laughed to himself. He and Anne were once a part of the voice of the people that created a tipping point for society. Now, the future voices would have to contend with the Pandora’s box they had created and watch to see how it closed.