is there information which ought not be shared ... ?
Very early this morning, we had our second "significant" snowfall here this winter - still nothing to "write home about" ...
Certainly nothing to complain about either - it will be gone (melted away) by mid-afternoon, while parts of this country are dealing with sub-zero temperatures and deep snow, under which in some cities fire hydrants are inacessible under five or more feet of snow.
We will have a drought year, while Washington State to the north has above average snowfall.
Some say time seems to be moving faster, stress is more intense than ever, things seem to be changing and people do not understand why.
Clearly the planet we live on in this physical life is going through some changes, and some of us see those changes as part of something larger, yet something we do not quite understand and for which we have yet no particular proof.
As long as I can remember in this life, I have been possessed of a "feeling" (a knowing, a sense - not sure what is the right word) that I would live to see some "great change" for which I should "be prepared" ...
... but how does one prepare for "something" so unspecific ?
For that reason I have always been interested in the *physical history* of Earth - what it tells us of past events on this planet.
Learning to understand weather patterns was prompted by more immediate concerns when my work was in the woods every day.
Some of us do not rely so much on science, however, as we do on religion - putting our "faith" in being spiritually centered and thus *prepared* for whatever God or Creator has *planned* for us, without seeking to "know the details" as it were.
Religion is thus a refuge for some - a safe place where one does not have to "know the details" or consider them at all: Simply pray for guidance.
Our society as I see it is not polarized as some would have us believe - that is, we do not all live in one or the other of those two "worlds" of science or religion, but most likely the majority of us are somewhere between them, leaning perhaps toward one or the other.
Being neither a scientist nor adherent to any organized religion, I suppose I live somewhere between those two "worlds" in a place where curiousity has continually driven me to find "details" if they can be found at all, to satisfy that "calling" to "be prepared" by better understanding what it is I am preparing for.
That "quest for details" has led me to some strange places, but most of all it has brought me to a point where I have to ask myself (and I share the question with you - not so much for you to give an answer, but to contemplate):
-- "is there information which ought not be shared ... ?" --
Lately I have had occasion to better understand how important that question is to anyone in a position of leadership.
When disaster such as storm or tidal wave is imminent, a leader has responsibility to warn, and responsibility not to cause panic.
In a larger sense I can see possibilities / probabilities for which *informing* would not as much cause *panic* as it would cause despair.
To explain that, for instance there are things I do not mention to my Dad at all - at 87 there is nothing he can do about them except think about them, worry about them, and I do not see what good it would do him to even consider them.
Likewise, a child needs to be "sheltered" from certain knowledge in order to simply have a *childhood* - might otherwise see no point in "growing up" looking at the future with such dread as to not want to live to meet it (and I wonder how that contributes to teen suicide rates these days).
At the same time, I see any "environment of secrets" as an unhealthy place to live, which leads me to think there is a certain "healthy exchange" of knowledge between individuals, for which we have to be concerned about the effect what we share will have on another individual, while at the same time not withholding knowledge from others which may be beneficial to them.
.
Certainly nothing to complain about either - it will be gone (melted away) by mid-afternoon, while parts of this country are dealing with sub-zero temperatures and deep snow, under which in some cities fire hydrants are inacessible under five or more feet of snow.
We will have a drought year, while Washington State to the north has above average snowfall.
Some say time seems to be moving faster, stress is more intense than ever, things seem to be changing and people do not understand why.
Clearly the planet we live on in this physical life is going through some changes, and some of us see those changes as part of something larger, yet something we do not quite understand and for which we have yet no particular proof.
As long as I can remember in this life, I have been possessed of a "feeling" (a knowing, a sense - not sure what is the right word) that I would live to see some "great change" for which I should "be prepared" ...
... but how does one prepare for "something" so unspecific ?
For that reason I have always been interested in the *physical history* of Earth - what it tells us of past events on this planet.
Learning to understand weather patterns was prompted by more immediate concerns when my work was in the woods every day.
Some of us do not rely so much on science, however, as we do on religion - putting our "faith" in being spiritually centered and thus *prepared* for whatever God or Creator has *planned* for us, without seeking to "know the details" as it were.
Religion is thus a refuge for some - a safe place where one does not have to "know the details" or consider them at all: Simply pray for guidance.
Our society as I see it is not polarized as some would have us believe - that is, we do not all live in one or the other of those two "worlds" of science or religion, but most likely the majority of us are somewhere between them, leaning perhaps toward one or the other.
Being neither a scientist nor adherent to any organized religion, I suppose I live somewhere between those two "worlds" in a place where curiousity has continually driven me to find "details" if they can be found at all, to satisfy that "calling" to "be prepared" by better understanding what it is I am preparing for.
That "quest for details" has led me to some strange places, but most of all it has brought me to a point where I have to ask myself (and I share the question with you - not so much for you to give an answer, but to contemplate):
-- "is there information which ought not be shared ... ?" --
Lately I have had occasion to better understand how important that question is to anyone in a position of leadership.
When disaster such as storm or tidal wave is imminent, a leader has responsibility to warn, and responsibility not to cause panic.
In a larger sense I can see possibilities / probabilities for which *informing* would not as much cause *panic* as it would cause despair.
To explain that, for instance there are things I do not mention to my Dad at all - at 87 there is nothing he can do about them except think about them, worry about them, and I do not see what good it would do him to even consider them.
Likewise, a child needs to be "sheltered" from certain knowledge in order to simply have a *childhood* - might otherwise see no point in "growing up" looking at the future with such dread as to not want to live to meet it (and I wonder how that contributes to teen suicide rates these days).
At the same time, I see any "environment of secrets" as an unhealthy place to live, which leads me to think there is a certain "healthy exchange" of knowledge between individuals, for which we have to be concerned about the effect what we share will have on another individual, while at the same time not withholding knowledge from others which may be beneficial to them.
.
posted by JamesB at 11:11 PM
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