I struggle with the world of information technology (IT) if only because it is so pervasive. Each time we click on a button, millions of things are happening behind the scenes. Apart from information gathering (our personal details and our interconnections with others and how to monetize that knowledge), there are things that occur that have no explanation. For example, my website. To the entire world, my website was working but I was unable to view it in my computer. I called the help desk at my hosting company and they said it was my internet service provider (ISP). This didn't make sense but it was the same conclusion everyone said--the difficulty being that everything else on my computer worked just fine. This morning, I tried to view my web page and it worked! It was a miracle. Most likely, it was a reboot or clearing of the cache of the provider of wifi I have been using these last few days. Whatever the reason, I am pleased.
But it reminds me of how much we do is limited to how people receive and process it. We can do everything correctly and still fail. We can get the best education, get the best job and make all the applications to further our dreams. But if those applications fall on deaf ears or, worse, malicious ears, our trajectory or levels of success will be seriously hindered. I touch on this in my book The Art of Wealth.
We have generations of people who go to school, learn what they are told to learn but are never able to break through the glass ceiling impossibly imposed on them by society. We are becoming increasingly immobile as a society and I fear that this lack of social mobility will dampen the entrepreneurial spirit necessary to take chances. When we take chances, we fail; it is part of the process of success. If we feel doomed to fail regardless of our efforts, we will cease to take chances. In that scenario, everyone loses.
Not to equate my IT issues with social mobility issues, but my thoughts were that we must constantly be aware of forces beyond our control or understanding. For many of us, we don't even know the questions to ask with the result that there are never any answers.
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