Illusion of Truth

January 2, 2023

Good morning! It’s a new year, a clean slate, a fresh start, a reboot:  don’t look back — look ahead.

This is kinda scary.  I just erased all of my favourite stuff from last year — which means I’ll need to find new favourite stuff.

At the end of the day, there is nothing new under the sun — but, it’s fun finding new words to communicate not-new ideas.

If you stir a pot with no remaining chunks of tender meat you will sooner or later surface a tasty morsel theretofore unknown.

• Last year’s smart money was in Campbell’s Soup (+~30%) and/or Cheerios (+~25%).
• I’m among that vast minority of people who enjoy fruitcake.
  • Some recipes are better than others, but it pretty much all falls into the category of palatable for me.
  • A few days ago a friend — and a faithful reader — delivered two morsels of fruitcake, one fresh (a 2022) and one a couple years old (a somewhat rare 2020).
  • The careful aging  resulted in the 2020 being more flavorful, succulent, and delicious when compared to the fresh one, but…
  • … the best part of the deal is I suddenly recalled a ten-years-old remaining slice of cake lost somewhere in the darkness of my refrigerator.
  • I went hunting… and found it.
  • Years ago it had been carefully set aside with an equal amount of bourbon to assist in its preservation
  • Delicious!  I savored a few nibbles and will now maybe wait another decade to taste twenty-years-old fruitcake.  Thank you!
• If you are reading this from anywhere near Minneapolis, give yourself the treat of a trip downtown to see the Dayton’s renovation.
  • If you are as old or older than I you’ll be thrilled with the faithful preservation of this iconic building’s architecture, design, and vibe.
  • And, if you love Santa Bear as much as I, you’ll go down memory lane happier and healthier.
• Jack Uldrich is an author (13 books) and a futurist; I don’t know what certification is required to be a futurist, but he is one — and he is a good speaker.
  • Here are eleven (11) predictions from Jack for 2023:
    • Heart attacks will be largely cured as a result of gene technology eliminating coronary plaque build-up;
    • A giant CO2 sucking machine will be built in Wyoming and it will significantly reduce the world’s carbon footprint by removing CO2 from the atmosphere;
      • This one scares me just a bit… CO2 will be stored “safely” underground in huge tanks…
    • A new plasma boring robot will construct tunnels much faster and way cheaper (read sewers, roads, Etc.);
    • Space cannons will shoot rockets and satellites into orbit at Mach 20 without needing fuel;
      • Think those t-shirt shooting machines at the ball games.
    • There will be a widely available and effective birth control pill (Rx) for men;
    • Solar panel look-alikes that work in the rain;
    • Hearing loss will be ameliorated with biology rather than by external devices;
    • Hair loss will be reversed at a low cost;
    • ZOOM will be upgraded to a 3D version;
    • A new (small) house will cost as little as $27,000 — manufactured via 3D printing;
    • Flying cars will begin to fill the skies IF regulations can be established and implemented.
• Not to be outdone, Without A Vision Consultancy offers the following prediction:
  • The consequences (opportunities) associated with the tsunami of the aging population in the United States will become increasingly and exponentially prevalent and relevant.
  • Hardly anyone is ready.
• “Flexibility is here to stay.”  (Sinek on the future of work for 2023)
• “I’m an expert at listening — but I sucked at listening when it came to my family and friends.”  (Sinek)
• (From M.I.T. Sloan, 2022) —
  • “We live in a time of unprecedented access to information… Even when we don’t actively seek out opinions…, we are constantly subjected to them.
  • Simply processing all of this information is difficult enough, but there’s another, more serious problem:
  • Not all of it is accurate, and some is outright false.
  • Even more worrying is that when inaccurate or wrong information is repeated, an illusion of truth occurs.  People believe repeated information to be true — even when it is not.”
• “I’m irrationally optimistic.”  (Brooks on 2023)
• Among the top ten buzzwords of the last several months is resilience.
  • Exactly what is resilience?  Work on your personal definition and application(s).
  • Over the next several weeks these Musings will provide you with a few quotes from people other than YT which might help you to better understand resilience — and your development of it, or more of it.
  • This week’s:  “Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are.”  (Forbes)