How to Connect Dots
Posted: Sunday, January 10, 2010
by Joel Hirschhorn
http://www.delusionaldemocracy.com
You hear so much these days when it comes to fighting terrorism about the need by government agencies to connect the dots. Ordinary people also need to connect the dots if they are to accurately understand what is really going on in the world. So here are guides on connecting dots. Something that our education system does a terrible job of teaching these days. Dot dumbness abounds.
At the beginning this is like the proverbial herding of cats. Open your eyes as wide as possible and clear you head of the many usual distractions. Look closely at all possible dots, even the many that you might have a tendency to ignore. Dots are dots. Forget temptations to impart different sizes or colors to dots. Keep thinking: Dots are dots, until they are connected I do not really know how important each dot is. Beware of misleading information, news and propaganda about specific dots. Dot bias is all around. So is dot distortion. Do not assume that anything anybody tells you about specific dots really matters. The more dots you examine, the better. Look for dots that are subversive, counter conventional wisdom, unpopular, not in the mainstream media, from whistle blowers, evidence of political corruption, and not being pushed by corporate interests.
2. Making connections
When it comes to dots, connections and patterns are what matter, not merely the individual dots themselves. The real story is in how the dots connect, how you connect them. It is almost always possible to make different kinds of connections among dots. There is always more than one story. Dot connection is more of an art than science. Trial and error must be part of the process. Different connections produce different patterns, different messages. Make the wrong or no connections and you miss what could be crucial. Connecting dots requires a creative mind, which may explain why so many government people who are supposed to fight terrorism seem to fail at their jobs. And it takes time, which explains why so many Americans do not independently make dot connections.
3. Reaching conclusions
Beware, anyone can end up choking on dots. Dots can be suffocating, even frightening. The world is, after all, ultimately nothing more than a seemingly infinite array of dots. We live in a dot universe. Dot paranoia, dot indulgence, and dot depression pose inevitable threats to our health and sanity. Yet, in the end, perhaps the true meaning of being human is accepting the responsibility to connect dots. Maybe other living creatures have some ability to connect some dots, but clearly our brains have been wired for dot perception and connection on a grand scale. Even if there is some joy in observing, collecting and connecting dots, what really matters existentially is reaching conclusions that come to us by seeing connections among dots and, when necessary, acting on the patterns we see. To avoid this is to dismiss our responsibilities as sentient beings.
Here are some recent fact-dots I found fascinating: according to Gallup just over 40 percent of white Americans support President Obama’s job performance but over 90 percent of blacks support him (higher even than among Democrats); Obama has done nothing to benefit blacks who are surely suffering disproportionately in this Great Recession with black unemployment 50 percent greater than overall unemployment and much worse for young blacks. I connect the dots to see racial bias for our black president among blacks despite more talk about racial prejudice against Obama.
In sum, individually and collectively we cannot right wrongs, fight evil and injustice, and make the world better unless we open our hearts, eyes and minds. Dots are dynamic, coming and going in inscrutable ways. This requires constant vigilance, steady attention and never-ending critical thinking. Powerful people and interests do not want us to be independent dot observers and collectors, reaching our own conclusions. Dots can give us power, if we acknowledge that their connections provide new insights. Dots can set us free. But becoming free can be painful. When we ignore dots we ourselves are disconnected, as if our own dotness has been lost. See and be seen for dot reciprocity. Don’t be dot dumb.
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