AGE AND WISDOM DON’T NECESSARILY CONFLATE
Having recently once again cheated the Biblical wisdom “The days of our years are threescore years and ten…”, I have found myself wondering why it is that the wisdom that is supposed to come with age continues to be overtaken by an increasing number of things that bemuse, amuse, sadden and often as not, irritate me.
Maybe it’s because journalists tend to be people who know a little about a lot of things but not a lot about any one thing, that I’ll never achieve the Socratic definition: “The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.”
But then, the great Greek philosopher never had to consider things like the war in Gaza.
A Hamas presence among civilians in one of the most overpopulated enclosed pieces of land in the world earns them the denunciation of using civilians as human shields, which is true. So when a Washington Post column on the war noted that “Most of the interviews took place at the military compound known as “the Kirya,” in central Tel Aviv, where young soldiers and reservists stream through the gate day and night”, would it have been justified in saying the Israeli Defence Force was emulating Hamas?
If a Hamas rocket were to hit the compound, I wonder if the inevitable casualties among passing civilians would be described as “collateral damage” or “terrorist victims”. How would the compound have been described if the interviews had been with Hamas commanders?
I’m not defending either Hamas or the Israeli Defence Force. I’m simply trying to figure out the wisdom of when standards become double standards.
The news business, where I toiled for what at this point is three quarters of my life, which of itself is now more than three quarters of a century, seems to rely as much if not more on pundits as it does on reporters.
The perceived wisdom that drives the practice is summed up by my long-time colleague (and Full Disclosure loyal “perch” follower”) Larry Doyle:
“Pundits are picked, or should I say “cherry-picked”, not so much for their subject knowledge but for their appearance and long-windedness. Ever see an Addams Family pundit on your TV? Or hear one short of breath? In a world of people with some REAL expertise, why do the same pundits make repeated appearances?…because they fit the requirements of the broadcaster or publisher. Print media is a lot better at presenting opposing punditry. TV sticks to the script. Have you ever heard a pundit give a coherent answer to an uncomfortable direct question?. Have you ever found punditry without prejudice? It’s as likely as a menu featuring bangers without mash.”
As a certified older person I take umbrage at the conceit of the pundits, thumb suckers and bloviators of the American media who rate an occasional oral glitch or gaffe by President Joe Biden as more worthy of their critical attention and approbation than an hour’s worth of ungrammatical self-promotion and vulgar vitriol from Donald Trump.
Ditto when Biden’s age is deemed to matter more than the prospect of his successor being a serial liar with demagogic aspirations.
IDIOTIC SAVANTS
Not being of the technology generation, I’m baffled by AI. Depending on one’s level of gullibility or paranoia, it’s either going take over the world, or be the answer to everything.
The recent performance at ChatGPT made it another synonym for farce. How else to explain that the wonder tool didn’t figure out in advance that firing the CEO would outrage his staff to the point where he’d be reinstated before a week was out?
The wisdom of whether not we can trust AI’s “gurus” is best summed up by the writer and scientist Isaac Asimov, who used the “Three Laws of Robotics” to explore the unintended consequences of technology, and how humanity could overcome them: “The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.”
Further proof is the number of politicians who combine unwillingness to find and navigate the middle ground, with social media posts, speeches and ad lib remarks that are a collection of words and barely formed disconnected thoughts in search of an idea and a coherent sentence, to reach their full potential on the pinnacle of mediocrity and then get re-elected.
It’s as big a mystery to me as why the last week on my beloved lake, wind and waves required multi- layers of cold weather gear for paddling…and the day the kayaks were stowed and the cottage was being shuttered up for the winter…the morning broke like this…
Maybe it’s life’s way of telling me to make an effort to cheat the numbers again next year.
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3 thoughts on “AGE AND WISDOM DON’T NECESSARILY CONFLATE”
Quote of the week, referencing AI:
“The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.”
Isaac Asimov
Thanks for that gem Alan.
Pizz in my mind you’ll always be somewhere in your dashing fifties.
Dream on