Unintended Consequences

Look before you leap. Think before you act. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The English language has no shortage of phrases, which encourage one to evaluate the possible consequences of our actions. But truth be told, this is a nigh impossible task. With each choice we make, we simultaneously create and destroy innumerable possibilities. It's inconceiveable that we could anticipate all of them.

Things get infinitely more complicated when we contemplate human interaction. Even if we lived on a desert island, the actions of people thousands of miles away, could affect the quality of the fish we feed on to survive our solitary existence.

Most of us don't live on a desert island, so things are even more complex. When the web of our choices combine with those of others, they form a structure so complex, that there will always arise an unintended consequence from an innocuous act. And sometimes the consequence will affect others, more than ourselves.

Worst Invention Ever!

Speaker phones are the worst invention ever! They are immensely dangerous in the hands of complete idiots. Why would someone create such a device? No one should be subject to the torture of overhearing your boring meeting, or your sappy conversation with your lover. Sure, they may be useful for having a conference call, so restrict them to conference rooms! Don't put them on cell phones, in the hands of the same people who text and drive. It's a recipe for disaster.

Worse yet are the absent minded morons who put you on speaker phone, without telling you. They aren't the ones who suffer the unintended consequences when you blurt out something meant for their ears only. Not the ears of your girlfriend and her best friend who you think is hot. Certainly not the ears of your boss who was in the same room. And not the ears of the friend whose surprise party you're planning.

A word to the wise: do you see that convenient speaker phone button? The correct answer is no, you don't see it. Forget that it's there!

You Addict You!

Why do people like to bandy around the term 'addiction', attaching it to anything that achieves popularity and mass appeal? There was computer addiction, then Internet addiction, then Facebook addiction, BBM addition...well maybe that last one is real.

The word addiction has a negative connotation, and expresses disapproval more than anything else. When people see a behavior that they somehow disapprove of, they label it an addiction and the media takes it and runs with it. I can just picture some psychologist who is annoyed that their child is spending too much time on Facebook, writing the first article on this new 'addiction'.

Now if this child were busy reading books, psychologists wouldn't label them as a book addict would they? Nope, instead it's their peers who would label them a book worm, with the same negative connotation. There is something to be learned here.

The label isn't about the activity, it's about acceptance. Your fellow Facebook users aren't going to call you an addict, because its an acceptable behaviour within your group. Your parents aren't going to dissuade you from reading because that's an acceptable behaviour for their generation.

The problem here is the gap between those who accept new ways of doing things, and those who don't.  Someone who is 'addicted to the Internet' may really be craving knowledge; they may be no different from someone who loves reading.  Someone who is 'addicted to social media' may just love connecting with people - virtually or in real life.  And BBM addicts just love conversation, and probably used to get run out of class for talking too much.

What some fail to realize is that as the world moves forward, there are new ways to do old things. Reading books was about learning, keeping current, building the mind, and even entertainment and adventure. As new means of accomplishing all of this were developed and became popular, some dinosaurs couldn't adapt. They disdain what is new, often because they don't understand it, and sometimes because they don't care to.

I wonder if any of his contemporaries called Gutenberg a book addict?

How Do You 'Steal' 'Credit'?

What all started as a broadcast message, which I ignored like everything else, has now turned into a headline news item.  Here is the 'under the rock summary' (you know, in case you have been living under one):  A broadcast message has been making rounds on BBM claiming that answering calls from certain phone numbers (with overseas area codes), would result in your credit being stolen.  The only reason I've paid this any attention is that it was reported by TVJ news, and corroborated by an acquaintance (who is still unsure, but had an experience which left him suspicious).

However I'm still not buying this story as it is told.  Something is amiss.  You can't 'steal' credit, when such credit exists only in the Digicel system.  When you make a call, you don't transfer credit to Digicel, or to anyone.  You simply get an allotment of minutes equal to the money you spent.  If someone calls and depletes your minutes, all they have accomplished is just that - they have depleted your minutes.  They have in no way enriched themselves in the process.  This is not a financial transaction of any sort.  It just doesn't add up.

Now let's assume for a minute that some clever person, has figured out a way profit in someway from depleting your minutes.  Many years ago, there were issues in the landline telephone system which 'crossed' telephone lines (how is that for a technical term) and allowed people to make calls which were charged to someone else's account. Let's say that someone has figured out a way to do the same thing on a mobile network- somewhat like making a 'collect call' (pun maybe intended).  In this scenario, they have not stolen any money, instead they have used your purchased minutes to make calls. As complex a scenario as this would be, it's still a more plausible explanation than is being offered right now.

If the foregoing is in fact the case, then the perpetrators must be local, since these calls would be limited to being initiated within the Digicel network.  As we established, 'credit' is not real money, so it's not like they could transfer it outside the country and use it.  While the numbers indicate calls from overseas area codes, they could be spoofed to apear that way.

Alternatively (and most likely), the purported scammers could be trying to get you to call them back (by promising prizes and money), thereby generating a call to a pay per call (or pay per minute) number - like those psychic hotlines or phone sex lines they advertise on late night TV.  The same could apply to getting text messages from them - they may be trying to prompt a response, which would earn them money when you text a premium number.  This is my favourite explanation as the simplest answer is usually the truth - and the truth is that people usually get scammed because they want something for nothing.  The only problem is that this explanation doesn't cover the cases of people, who report losing credit from just receiving the call.

If this is indeed a scam that initiates outbound calls, it smacks of an inside job, and should be easily traced to the source.  But I think that is an unlikely scenario.  Applying Occams razor, this is most likely a case of people falling for a scam, and calling back the numbers.  Having being suckered, and conned out of their credit, they are not likely to admit that they initiated calls to the numbers in question.

Simple vs. Easy

There is a difference between something being simple, and something being easy. That was a very simple statement, but it may not be easily explained. Perhaps it's best explained by examples, like my previous sentence. See how all of those flowed? Simple.

It's simple to meet people, but it may not be easy. Perhaps you are introverted, and it takes considerable effort and loads of energy to talk with others. It may even be hard for you to be in social settings where this is possible. It may just not be your natural milieu; it's kinda hard to breathe being a fish out of water.

Starting a relationship is easy, but relationships aren't simple. Humans are too complex, and our complexity grows exponentially when we add more people - couples, families, communities, countries; that might as well have been the fibonacci series.

Follow your gut. Simple idea, easier said than done. We sometimes rush headlong into things we know will end badly.

The less we confuse the simplicity of an idea, with the effort required to execute it, the more understanding we become - of ourselves, and of others.

So What If They're Having A Baby?

Three hundred and seventy one thousand, one hundred and twenty four babies are born each day.  For those babies to be born, lots of women had to get pregnant.  How many of those make headlines?  Not many, because you know what, we don't care about the vast majority.  We only care when it's us, someone close to us, or a celebrity.

Here is another statistic for you: the percentage of births to unmarried mothers has been increasing worldwide, and is nearing as much as 50% in some countries.  Religious and social mores aside, the fact is that this is a growing trend, but you don't hear a big hullabaloo until it's someone famous.

With the foregoing in mind, I'd just like to say this : so what if Jennifer and Mike are having a baby?  It's none of your business!  Jennifer and who?  Exactly!  There has got to be a Jennifer and a Mark having a baby somewhere, but you don't care.  So why should you care about anyone else, who you don't personally know, that's having a baby?

Healthcare Professionals?

A professional cares about their work, goes above and beyond, and get's the job done. But how do you define professional work, when your job involves more than completing a task? When more than just checking a box is required, being a true professional takes effort.

Nowhere is this more pronounced than in health care. Doctors, nurses, and other health care workers have a difficult job, that requires consistent accuracy, attention to details, a hatred of sleep, and is unrelentingly stressful. Oh and there is the little fact, that on a daily basis, they make life and death decisions.

In addition to getting it right in this high stakes game, they also have to make people feel good. Patients need to feel cared for, and family members want to know that their loved ones are in good hands. Sadly, not everyone is good with people. While they may not be obnoxious to House-like proportions, some leave you wondering why on earth they chose health care as a profession. Didn't they realize that they would have to be nice to people, and not just on their good days?

When hiring, many organizations screen people for skills considered essential, for carrying out their jobs? Should healthcare workers be screened for attributes such as empathy, self-sacrifice, and bedside manners? Or is it enough that they keep people alive?