AUGUST 17, 2016

Hey there, 
​
 
I have had a quite contemplative state of mind today mostly wondering where the human kind is going.
The odds don’t seem too good, at least in my mind. Along the history, there have been great civilizations to rise and then to fall once they reached the peak of their development: the Sumerians for instance, Phoenicians, even the ancient Greeks.
You start asking yourself questions when you see real sportsmanship, as the one proven by Jack Sock in his match with Lleyton Hewitt, labelled as stupidity.
(see: https://www.facebook.com/sbnation/videos/10153187777826536/) . It’s like the only things that can be applauded today are cheating, besting someone through illegal means, making your money through nefarious ways and so on.
I, for one, don’t care for such things. I salute Mr. Sock. He’s one of the few that still bear the flag of sportsmanship. I think he thought he’d live better with himself by doing the right thing even if he’d lose the match, than having to live with the thought he didn’t say something to help correcting an erroneous decision.
However, the fact that Mr. Sock was labeled stupid wasn’t the only thing that set me off.
I read about a cat called for duty jury. Even though the owners tried to prove with papers that it was a cat and not a person, the court didn’t accept any excuse and asked for the cat to come to court. I wonder what the judge would think seeing a jury formed by eleven people and a cat. By the way, no one bothered to label those people stupid for decreeing that the cat was good enough for jury. What does that say about the American juridical system? Or what does that say about people, in general?
Progress has its advantages and disadvantages. Smartphones became our daily and nightly companions, taking over relationships, either in the family or love relationships.
I saw a young couple taking their baby for a walk in the park this evening. Both parents were on the phone all the time, checking messages or God knows what, and the baby was trying desperately to make them pay attention to him. Not a chance for the little one.
If you get on a bus, everyone takes out their phones and start writing texts or checking Facebook or whatever.
Five months ago, we gave up our cell phones. By that time, every conversation in the house was conducted through text messaging. Since then, there have been daily conversations, more interaction and it seems that a little more understanding. Just a thought.
Well, just a little food for thought: in what kind of world do you want to live? 
Any ideas, anyone?