Month: September 2025

In Utah, it is a phrase you will hear from time to time. And the follow-up question I have is this: What signs are you paying attention to?

This is true of anything. When we seek to prove a hypothesis or prediction true, we look for evidence to reinforce our ideas, while disregarding inputs that contradict our beliefs.

The adage that a broken clock will still be right twice a day. The same thought process can be applied: with enough time to pass, sure, anything is possible—we have to keep waiting to see.

Douglas Hofsteader touches on this in his essential book, Gödel, Escher, Bach. A computer solving for Pi would continue trying to solve it forever. Humans, on the other hand, can reasonably assume that it will never be solved. And with that information, you can go ahead and make different assumptions instead of spending your time to find out for sure.

We can’t know anything for sure since we don’t live long enough to see how it truly fits in the universe. But this isn’t any way to live either.

We have to pick something—a direction. Using a compass helps us navigate to our desired destination. The temptation is to wait when things appear to be getting worse. To lead and initiate, to inspire the rest of us to get moving in creating a future that will make us all proud.

Communities only exist when we participate in them. When we are unwilling to participate, the absence of the community in our lives is noticeable.

In our digital algorithm-driven world, the shift we see today creates binary distinctions in our community: this or that, us and them, Republicans and Democrats, Liberals and Conservatives, mainstream and the edges, and on and on. What is different in today’s discourse is that each side tries to beat the other, not coexist. Social media and the internet have made sorting so easy. But this is the wrong approach. We have to learn to live with our differences, not sort them out of our lives. After apartheid ended, South Africa tried to heal itself through The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which gave victims and former government officials a chance to tell their stories. The goal was not revenge but truth and healing. Social media isn’t The Truth and Rrconciliation Commision. And if we spend all our time in digital spaces, the world can feel so noisy. Take a break.

Revolutions have been hard-fought throughout history. Replacing social structures, remaking institutions, fixing broken systems…can be done—sometimes through violence, sometimes through collapse. When change is inevitable, it means we can rely on one thing: there’s always hope. The arrow may not appear to be going in the right direction, but over time, it can. Until one day, generations from now, someone stands on the fruits of our labors.

Once you see that pro wrestling is fake, the whole thing looks different. You see the choreography, that there is a predetermined winner and loser, you see the ketchup packets, etc. And you start to understand that it is a form of entertainment. There are lots of things that are fake and entertaining. I would argue that this is most of the politics that we consume. What we watch from the algorithm (which is also a form of pro wrestling) is to entertain us. Not to inform us or change our minds. Unfortunately, we like to believe that pro wrestling and politics are not in the same category but the two rhym more than we realize. 

Sometimes the hardest places to look, the hardest material to read, the hardest subjects to grasp are precisely the places we should be looking.

We already know what we know. And to drive the point home to others is insisting that your point of view is complete. (Which it isn’t.)

No one “needs” a $100 T-shirt, but we get one for the story it tells about ourselves. It informs the people around you.

So much of what we do is about who we are trying to be accepted by.

Systems are not living creatures. But they are much more understood as such.

Curiosity is the best bridge to understanding why someone came to their conclusion. We are too quick now; we judge which conclusions are wrong and right. The alternative: when we are curious, ask questions, and are willing to change our minds, we open the door for learning and connection. But when ideology comes in the way, we close the door. I think it’s helpful to understand that, in the setting you’re in and the person you are talking to, it’s worth asking, Is this a space where everyone is willing to change their mind? If not, your ideas are unlikely to spread. Change course.

Another note:

Mysticism will get us into trouble when we refuse to learn how things work.

And, at the same time, if we are trying to demystify everything, we leave no room for magic to occur. I’m not talking about pulling rabbits out of a hat but the magic of awe, surprise, and wonder.

“How did you do that?” is a good question. The magician deciding to reveal their secrets is a choice.