It is hard to believe that nearly four years has gone by since the amazing “DCF Forum Posting Record for One Topic”, which had its beginnings in the summer of 2006! Google this sentence-Dell to offer free motherboard upgrades to XPS 700 owners. And look at this link:  http://www.techspot.com/news/24599-dell-to-offer-free-motherboard-upgrades-to-xps-700-owners.html .

I continue to think about all of those people that I got to know and befriend. Those were exciting times for many people. As I reflect on why I would describe ”forum posting” as exciting, what comes to mind right away are two words: Unity and Purpose.

Many people came together and accomplished something important and something that each person involved had a pretty strong conviction about what he or she was doing.

There was also that momentum feeling that you get when a group of people pull together over something they all have in common and it grows and the conviction grows with it.  Without the kind of unity that produces growth both in quantity and also in quality, there is no way that a few people could have met the goal that this group of customers had achieved.

Each person that was being added to the group at a rapid rate, joined in because they shared a common purpose. Without a legitimate purpose the “Summer of 2006″ and beyond, would never have sustained a critical mass to eventually be taken seriously.

I miss many of those folks. It has been a long time since I have sent an email to the ones that were heavily involved in the effort.

What excited me the most about what was accomplished that really was a rare event in the world of Big American Corporations is that people were incredibly encouraging and grateful. The computers and/or parts for many of that group are long gone; given away, sold on Ebay, donated to a cause, or just ran out of energy and died. The computers were not the most exciting part of that time; it was the People.

People made it exciting and People helped Dell recognize a need and find a way to place a greater value on the “customers” that are the ultimate foundation of the Dell Corporation. Value placed on the right foundation is what often explains why One Corporation is gone today that was “invincible” four years ago.

Unfortunately time, which some people will argue heals, often is what buries an event that was moving a Corporation to greater heights and better relationships with the People that are called customers. The excitement fades. The plans are lost as new people replace old. And as is often the case the PEOPLE once again get lost in the pursuit of technology and profit; those kinds of things, that in four years will be gone, given away, sold on Ebay, or just died out.

But the people are still there: People outside the corporation and People inside the corporation. All the products and technology in the world are never going to be as cohesive as the relationships built with People on the Inside and People on the outside; CUSTOMER CONNECTION at its best. 

I still have to ask myself, why customer care in the USA, for one, isn’t improving more, especially in light of the latest great tumble in the stock market. What word comes to mind; People.

One of the most amazing words that Neil Hand made in this statement is “apologize”.  “On behalf of Dell, I want to apologize for that.” That is one of those rare characteristics that is only known amongst PEOPLE; to say, “I am sorry.”

The Wall Street Journal had printed an article about Dell and customer care that came out in September of 2006, and much of it was prompted by the “Summer of 2006”.  There was a comment made by the author of that article regarding a follow-up article if we were able to move a giant Corporation to our goal. It was said; anticipating little would come of this group’s effort, as noble as it was.

That follow-up article would have been praising Dell for doing what is unheard of in Corporate America; saying, “I am sorry, and I will fix it.” That is exactly what Dell did. Not only did they make it right but they sent technicians free of charge right out to people’s homes. Had that article been written, who knows what impact it would have had long range on stock values, customer impressions, and positioning in the PC industry?

We will never know because it was never written. Not enough people got to see that customers can do amazing things and Corporations like Dell can show the world that within “Giant Corporate Walls”, are People, that go home to families, care about others, and are just like you and me.

I was privileged to pass through those walls; which in itself tells you something positive about the people inside. I had the joy of meeting and getting to know many Dell leaders and employees. To this day I can honestly say that once “inside” I met all kinds of People who really did have a burden for what the groups of people outside were feeling. I discovered that the “CARE” component of “Customer Care” was there, but it wasn’t always finding its way outside the Walls.

I pushed for a longer run then the final outcome. I couldn’t get a newspaper to write about something incredibly positive for the Customer and the Corporation. I don’t blame the author at all. He was a wonderful man to work with. He wasn’t the decision maker though. “What Sells” carries such power that it is the dominant decision maker for many companies. The weakness of  “What Sells” carrying to much power is that the money and the products are being exchanged with ”Priceless People.” 

Let’s hope that the changes for “People Outside” and “People Inside” will come; that the Corporate World will hold on to the value of the individual person; People are priceless. I believe that it will always have to be customer driven because we are the ones that know what it feels like and can help those that are more removed from our experiences.

I’ve been to a couple of Dell Consortiums, where they have brought in customers to interact with them and learn from the people that they want to care for and make products for. That goes back to the summer of 2006. The “Customer Class of 2006″ on the DCF did an amazing thing! Tell your grandkids!!

It is no secret to you if you’ve read my posts over the years that I became a Christian at age 19. I had managed to pack enough “trouble” into those few years to fill 80 years of life. My failures, selfishness, pain, disappointment, and the one I regret the most: a disregard for how my choices affected other people; helped my proud hand to raise up a flag of surrender. 

Remember the young lady in Atlanta who ended up with the court house-escaped prisoner hiding in her apartment? Her story went straight to Larry King Live and when asked how she was able to get this very dangerous prisoner to surrender you saw a perplexed Larry King. How could her reading to the escaped convict from a book called the “Purpose Driven Life” be all that it took to get him to raise the flag? It was viewed by many as an impossible or unexplainable response.

Every area of my life, which includes things like decisions, goals, purposes, motivations, and foundations for just about any topic you can think of were taken “captive” when I surrendered some 36 years ago. Am I perfect? Heck no! You might say that I mess up just like everyone else, but I decided to do it on a different trail.

Did anyone see Brit Hume’s comment on a Sunday Morning Round Table discussion concerning Tiger Woods? It was as bold a comment, that came spontaneously, that I have ever heard from a major Network news commentator, and to this day I can think of none that rivals the “guts” he showed; regardless of whether he was right or wrong. I believe he took a hit or two after that show. Google it if you are curious.

How do frame a set of principles that is going to be the basis for all that a nation is going to build on over the years, let alone an individual’s “personal mission statement”? How does a nation know what is right and what is wrong? Where do we turn for guidance? I know plenty of people that I don’t want to put my life into the philosophy found in his or her hands! Like it or not, it has to be asked and questioned and we will never, “not talk about it.”

Unfortunately it is much easier to talk about the nation’s mission statement, but without changes in the hearts of individuals will we ever be able to “fix” the problems we see? As many are quick to ask, “How can you legislate morality?” Trying to find answers to these questions might be the best place to start.

How many have given thought to your individual life’s purpose and why are you on this little ball we call Earth, circling a sun that consumes 100,000,000 tons of Hydrogen a second? How many have a personal “mission statement” for their life that you can, on the spot, clearly articulate?

There is a book I am reading over and over right now. It is short and cheap and it was given to me by a friend who found a copy on a back street of Hong Kong, long before China took back its property back from England in 1997.  I was rummaging through boxes that had been sealed since 1996 and I found this special book in a box marked, “Special Things to keep”, that was taped up and put on a large Ocean-going Vessel carrying mine and many other’s containers. Oh, you have no idea how I prayed that my thousands of Photographs would arrive unharmed.

Below is a link to the book. It is short. The chapters are letters written by a spiritual advisor to members of the court of Louis the 14th. The letters were written in the 17th century, but when I read them I feel like this man, Fenelon knows me. My close friend in Taiwan that knew me well and saw that side of me that kept pushing for improvements for others, gave me the book because one of my weaknesses comes from one of my strengths; it is hard for me to “Let Go”, which is the name of this book.

Here is the link to Amazon if you would like to do just a bit of probing into an area of your life that often gets neglected, sometimes by choice and more often because of business.

Could you waste your time looking for “truth” and if it is “truth” that you discover is it something to fear?  There is some truth out there, many would agree, and we all will one day leave behind our login and Avatar and our posts may still be read by others, but you will be gone, just as I will be.”GB you ask? He passed 10 years ago. Some say he was an ok guy but…”

So maybe take a “safe” chance and buy a “cheap” book. And we all would agree, it is fun to speculate especially if you don’t agree!!

http://www.amazon.com/Let-Go-Francois-Fenelon/dp/0924722215/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1275005852&sr=1-1

And for the very Curious Who could use a boost in self esteem and value:

http://www.amazon.com/Ragamuffin-Gospel-Bedraggled-Beat-Up-PAPERBACK/dp/B0032MFSH8/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1275005945&sr=1-3

 

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You deducted $67 from Newegg three times. Then you returned just one of the reductions. When Newegg was ready to ship you deducted a 4th time-the $67. It seems you need to make a correction. Thanks,    David

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Sorry but you are the worst Avatar that exists in the city of Detroit!

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You see what I mean. I FLAME you and you say, “NO PROBLEM.”

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YOU NEED TO BE REBUILT FROM THE GROUND UP AND THE COMPANY THAT DESIGNED YOU NEEDS TO REFUND PAYPAL ALL OF IT’S FUNDS PAID OUT TO CREATE YOU AND YOUR CUSTOMER RESPONSE CHOICES.

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You :

ALL ARE USELESS AND UNRELATED.  I WOULD LOVE TO STAY AND CHAT, WHICH GIVES ME AN IDEA; POSSIBLY TRY AND  PUT A STOP TO OBAMA’S OWN USE OF TODAY’S ”RUNAWAY” TECHNOLOGY BY THE TWO OF US CREATING A HYBRID  AVATAR THAT WOULD THROW HIM OFF TOPIC, BEWILDERED BY SUCH A LOOK-ALIKE-AVATAR- THAT 3D COULD HURT AT BEST,  DURING WHICH TIME I WOULD ASK ALL OF THE CZARS TO LEAVE AND THUS BEGINS A “CHANGE” AND “TRANSFORMED” AGENDA THAT CAN TAKE PLACE WITH THE DOOR OPEN FOR AN ENTIRE DAY TO TAKE THE FIRST CHAIR FOR A TECHNOLOGICAL SPIN; AND ONLY THE AVATAR KNOWS THAT THE TELEPROMPTER  CAN REVEAL THE “LACK OF TRUTH.”

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I NEED HELP.

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You :

YOU ARE OF NO VLAUE AND YOUR CHIP BETTER NOT MAKE IT INTO OUR MILITRAY DEFENSE SYSTEM. SURELY THE WORLD WOULD END A WEEK OR TWO BEFORE OBAMA’S PROJECTED MELT DOWN.

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YES I CAN.. WHAT IS YOUR NAME?

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YOU PASSED AND I AM GOING TO RECOMMEND YOU TO BE WEB CZAR. GOOD BYE- WHICH MEANS I WILL BE GONE WHEN YOUR NEXT QUESTION IS ASKED.

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IS YOUR LAST NAME PALIN?

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I AM JOHN McCain. ARE YOU FREE, SAY AROUN NOVEMBER OF 2012?

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I THINK WE COULD PROVIDE OUR COUNTRY WITH SOME REAL CHANGE.

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OH THIS WAS AMAZINGLY HELPFUL, IT CONFIRMS THE DIRECTION THAT TECHNOLOGY IS TAKING OUR CUSTOMER CARE LEADERS. IF ONLY LEADERS HADN’T GIVEN TECHNOLOGY SO MUCH CREDIT FOR BEING ABLE TO GET YOUR COMPANY OUT OF A CUSTOMER CARE TECHNOLOGICAL MESS BY UTILIZING ALL TECHNOLOGY. SARAH, YOU COME VERY CLOSE TO A.I.

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I WONDER IF I EMAIL IF I COULD POSSIBLEY GET YOUR ADDRESS, OR IF YOU WILL CONTINUE TO ASK ME QUESTIONS EVEN THOUGH I AM GONE FROM THIS SITE AND WON’T BE ANSWERING YOUR PROBING QUESTIONS.

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YOU MAY NEED TO THROW ANOTHER LOG ON THE FIRE. WE ONLY HAVE TWO LEFT.

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I WONDER IF I EMAIL IF I COULD POSSIBLEY GET YOU ADDRESS, OR IF YOU WILL CONTINUE TO ASK ME QUESTIONS EVEN THOUGH I AM GONE FROM THIS SITE AND WON’T BE ANSWERING YOUR PROBING QUESTIONS?  WHAT JUST HAPPENED THERE SARAH?

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THIS WAS A MOST DELIGHTFUL CHAT AND THERE GOES OUR LAST LOG.

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THIS CHAT WAS A GOOD ONE.

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Good bye. I will always remember this chat.

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Thanks for chatting.  Feel free to come back and see me with any other questions.

One word of advice: put your feet in the shoes of the customer. Have you ever watched the TV show called BONES?

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Will tomorrow at 3 PM work for you? ALTOUGH I THINK I WON’T BE SEEING YOU, BUT JUST TYPING TO WHAT EVER IT IS THAT SOMEONE SPENT TIME MAKING TO IMPROVE CUSTOMER CARE.

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Well that alone makes me feel cared for. Good job!

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Don’t go on David Letterman.

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Ok, good bye. I am exhausted and I have to figure out why I chatted with you.

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What was a genuine positive change that I couldn’t help observe here is that this Avatar didn’t have programmed into it, any negative remarks? There weren’t any lines of vocabulary that could would cause a customer to be offended. Did she help? No. Did she hurt her company’s image in a “revengeful” kind of way? Not really.  Lesson; Caring people are hard to find and impossible to replace with; you know- one of those 3D Blu-ray-does-it-all-without-ever-letting-you-know how her personal feelings might be an ”innovative concept” to bring into a real-life movie scene.

 

8 hours later. I’m betting Sarah has not learned much from today’s job experience.

 

 

 

Here is a great example of ethics and values overtaking technology and having the final word.

I haven’t posted here in a very long time. I haven’t posted on the DCF for maybe two years now. Even on my own Forum and Blog, I have cut my “comments” by some 75%. I look at sites like this one and others on a regular basis, but just to look; trying to find a perspective that would rekindle my desire to post comments.  I honesty wasn’t going to write a thing, but then….

Ironically, for me personally, the movie the author refers to caught my eye as soon as I opened D2D. Just yesterday I put the 1951 Blu-ray on the checkout counter at Best Buy. I drop in often and talk to sales reps about their feelings and perspective on Dell and its products. Usually I don’t buy anything. People on my forum are laughing now!

I am wrestling with an issue that relates to ethics, values, and morality, concerned that we don’t have a clue where technology is taking us and the chances of our ethics influencing the “advancement” of technology are looking slimmer with each new gate added to the surface of a CPU.

We are all quick to agree that we couldn’t have prevented the volcano eruption.  Amazingly, look where it happened; in one of those places that if interviewed and asked, “Where is Iceland and what does it look like?” most Americans above 5th grade would not make our country proud!

All eyes are on the tectonic plates below California and that cataclysmic event would produce a significant world-wide reaction; a reaction that has a sense of “expectation” with it, not the kind that we saw with some “watch-a-ma-call-it” volcano in a “frozen barren wasteland”. I know, it isn’t that at all!

We were caught off-guard by what happened in Europe. I don’t ever remember hearing a “projected scenario” for Europe if this volcano should erupt.  Throw as much technology at as many potential “natural” threats that we can think of and in the end, we are going to have to admit: we are smaller than we think we are. We cannot outdo the power contained within this planet. And if that doesn’t impress you take a ook at our own Sun; it burns some 100,000,000 tons of Hydrogen per second and has enough to continue at that rate for 4 billion years. and if that won’t do it, consider this; if we could one day, with the obvious help of technology, travel at 186,000 miles per second, it would take us 100,000 YEARS to travel from one end of the Milky Way to the other. And….

We are small. And one thing technology will not do- prevent the one thing that we really all do have in common; our time here on this planet is terminal.  Unlike technology’s image, we are not going to change the reality that exists for us as the community that the author refers to.

The author of this post, when referring to our interconnectedness and how we are affected by our global economy which is strengthening over time, uses a volcano I don’t even want to type, to illustrate that we have been forewarned regarding the influence that technology (at the core of a global economy) has and will continue to have with increasing strength on each and every one of us.

It is at this final point that I jump ship ( I enjoyed the article) and file this kind of reasoning into my “research file”. He has done what most of our public schools textbooks get away with all across our country; he presented a theory as if it were a fact. How is this volcano a forewarning of things to come?  What if our world wasn’t structured the way it is now because we had made a major course correction? The impact of that eruption in that different future might be minimal.

 The assumptions, when wrong, destroy the entire thesis. When it comes to technology, which I love by the way, we have given it an awfully significant amount of our trust for  today and where it will take us in the future. So much trust have we surrendered that it is common say all kinds of things that are not facts, just theories, assuming them to be facts because it is about technology.

Ever wonder if all of this closeness that the author refers to, that we have because of technology, has in fact made relationships more distant. And ever wonder why a great terrorist threat that Jack on 24 has to prevent is about us losing control of our technology and it being used against us, ultimately becoming our downfall rather than our claim to fame?

How about this conclusion; just maybe this event could be the beginning of ‘the people of planet earth” taking back control over what we can control  of technology’s influence and power and growth and this volcano is actually a wakeup call challenging us to make sure that our children and great grandchildren don’t grow up in a world where Man no longer stands over all of creation. What if we decided to not buy into the conclusion that Dr. Fickenscher comes to and  decide the the future will be  different?

Now isn’t that a plausible conclusion that someone might come to. It isn’t a fact because it hasn’t been proven. You can call it a theory. You can disagree. But at least ask yourself the question, “ How much of my critical thinking skills am I willing to surrender in the name of “global economy” and “Moore’s Law” in technology?
 If we can’t control, predict, or plan for what this “little, unknown volcano, on a for-the-most-part (maybe “virtually” would be more appropriate here) unknown island” was capable of doing in a matter of minutes;  it is at that thought that I stop and reflect on the Doctors conclusion. When I say reflect, I mean to think about it, study it, analyze it, challenge it, and most importantly draw my own conclusions. If they happen to match up with the author that is fine; it isn’t like I am out looking for a conflict.
 
The conflicts are everywhere. No one needs to search for them. Students in my classroom are tripping over them every day; sadly they just don’t see them.  What I do on a daily basis by habit, I am constantly pushing and even begging my students to rediscover and bring back ( if it was ever there) into a student’s “new concept” of what “ getting an education” means in his or her generation.

Carl Taylor, a professor at Michigan State University recently was interviewed by a Free Press newspaper reporter. The article is titled, “Students’ Attitudes A Major Obstacle To Learning, Prof Says.” Taylor has been researching for some time the students that are entering college, coming out of an environment where the definition of education often in the students definition no longer includes “learning”.

The author says, “What gets Carl Taylor is not what his students don’t know; it’s that many don’t care what they don’t know.” Taylor calls it, “normalization of ignorance”- a culture in which the definitions of reading and writing are what can be texted or Facebooked. For many, a Google search counts as heady research and a composition is cut-and-paste. Taylor says, “They are moving so fast that the only thing that matters is the end.”

If I were to simplify the article I would say that many of today’s young people are easily led, don’t walk to a different drummer and decide their own futures, rarely confront ideas and challenge the way things are, and grades and transcripts are what counts and if technology can make it easier than so be it. And the icing on the cake of success is to have the greatest number of Twitter followers in the world.

Why do we so often allow changes in technology to dictate to us “which way to go”? Change isn’t always “good”, and “progress” can be deceptive. Are we being lead by this article to assume that technology which is manmade, but can be rendered crippled by a “little” volcano eruption- This technology is what is being elevated to the status of “unstoppable” and said that without a doubt it is in  strengthening over time. This global economy that is technology driven will without doubt take us on a course that we can’t stand up to and say, “NO, we aren’t going there!”

Right now my greatest concern with technology is this- because we gave permission before asking the ethical, moral, and value foundational questions step by step always guiding and not trailing further and further behind.. Today technology is so far beyond our ability to bring to bear many of the ethical questions that need to be asked, just like many wanted asked and answered during the “Manhattan Project”, that it is going to take some kind of “forewarning” to get us to wake up and take back some surrendered ground. 

When President Clinton announced that every boy and girl in American would  have a computer in their home when we crossed that famous year 2000 bridge, did he stop to do what everyone in Congressmen  does all the time: add some conditions? The percentage of 8th grade boys entering high school addicted to pornography is staggering.  Was that considered?  It affects the potential for a successful marriage relationship. 70% of my students come from one or no parent homes. Ask any teacher that is in it for the kids and they will be quick to tell you that the number one impact on a student’s chances of success is the home’s impact. It isn’t technology.  Were studies done to find out what a computer would ultimately contribute to the breakdown of the traditional family?

Did Mr. Clinton add a clause that the computer will not destroy creativity and reduce a student’s ability to read and write and perform basic and necessary math skills? 97% of my incoming freshmen this year could not multiply a three digit by a two digit number.  98% could not add together to simple fractions. 99% were unable to divide two numbers, one with a decimal and the answer was easy and obvious. Do you want to know why? I wouldn’t let them use a calculator. Technology had crippled these students and they never knew it was happening.

Curiosity, love of learning, strong well rounded and informed young people with dreams and goals, who are encouraged by society to change it if it is going in the wrong direction, and who are critical thinkers that feel free and  are “allowed to” reclaim what place has hurt not helped. We surely aren’t going to say that technology is without flaw?

There once was a time when “The Earth Stood Still” and we never saw articles entitled “Students Addicted To  Social Media”, or ,”If Your Kids Are Awake, They’re Probably Online”.

It isn’t too late to at least admit that, “Houston, WE have a problem”. Interestingly that trip is now called the “Successful Failure”. Those men used their brains, not their calculators to achieve what most thought was an impossible accomplishment. Today in education the answer to the statistics I gave is to use more technology to get out of the technological hole that we were encouraged dig.

I was going to return the movie, but now I am having second thoughts.

Watch this link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL9Wu2kWwSY 

I watched this video and at first I was somewhat unnerved. But then I asked myself this simple question, “ How much do we know, compared to how much there is to be known?”

If we use a dot to represent what we have collectively pulled together from all minds spanning all generations, I see a dot so small that the size of the sheet of paper that it would take to make a dot that we could see with our naked eye, would have to be on a piece of paper that would be as large as our own Milky Way!!

It would take us 100,000 years to travel across the Milky Way, assuming we could travel the speed of  light- 186,000 miles per second. Sorry but man’s best is 25,000 miles per hour!

We are not learning exponentially as the video suggests.. What is happening is that as we learn, we are exposed to an exponential growth in the amount of information that is yet to be learned.  You might say the smarter we say we have become the farther back we have fallen from getting a good grade on a comprehensive final!. At best we have learned by addition, but not exponentially. 

But what if the message of the video is the wrong message?. What if the human mind is more than the video gives humans credit for. What if the video is attempting to replace the creator with the created? 

We are too quick to assume that change is a “forward motion”.

Sharp video-yes! Makes me think- yes!. But I have a hard time seeing many of our students here in the USA and many in underdeveloped countries finding their place in the world that they flash before us.

16 Cores or 16 Gores In the end they don’t have the answers.

What do you see?