1/ On why an edit button on Twitter may be a bad thing
When my son Patrick was born in 1985, I started writing letters to him (and also his sisters who followed) and I was recently rereading them and the 2nd one I wrote struck a chord on why we might not to edit
When my son Patrick was born in 1985, I started writing letters to him (and also his sisters who followed) and I was recently rereading them and the 2nd one I wrote struck a chord on why we might not to edit
2/ Here it is:
April 28, 1985
Dear Patrick,
You’ll notice that I wrote “original” on the title page of this book. When I read my first entry, I decided it was not exactly the way I wanted it, thus I thought that I would treat this collection as an original rough draft, which
April 28, 1985
Dear Patrick,
You’ll notice that I wrote “original” on the title page of this book. When I read my first entry, I decided it was not exactly the way I wanted it, thus I thought that I would treat this collection as an original rough draft, which
3/ I would edit, correct and rewrite before passing it on to you.
I’m really not sure if that’s the best thing to do. It’s fine for poetry, and literature, even for Industry with its bench models. But in the transformation from original to finished product, much is lost.
I’m really not sure if that’s the best thing to do. It’s fine for poetry, and literature, even for Industry with its bench models. But in the transformation from original to finished product, much is lost.
4/ Indeed, perhaps most of what I want to tell you might be tossed out as not well written, awkward, or seemingly inconsequential. You see, many of us seek perfection without wanting to understand the ingredients which go into the ends we are seeking.
5/ It’s the inconsistencies, the rough edges that make each of us unique, that give each of us our own nature, our own special way. It would defeat the purpose of these letters if I rewrote them, making my every utterance exact, of perfect form and consistency, because I am not,
6/ nor will you be, nor is your mother or anyone in this world.
Many times, all too many of us with our imperfect minds attempt to see only the ideal, forgetting the real, and in the process muddle both.
Many times, all too many of us with our imperfect minds attempt to see only the ideal, forgetting the real, and in the process muddle both.
7/ We also edit so as to protect ourselves. We edit to finely tune our “public face,” the one we want to present to others, so as to appear clever, intelligent, and wise. In other words, we try to reduce the risks of what others will think when we present ourselves to them.
8/ Indeed, in much of life, people spend much of their time trying to reduce this risk or that risk, always seemingly unaware that in the end, they all face a crisis which always defeats them, for all of us, rich and poor, plain and pretty, intelligent and dense must die.
9/ Thus, what you should focus on is how best to live, really live, a life that you will not regret at its end. That’s why we have ethics, and values, and mores, so that when we face Death, we can do so having led an examined, full and rewarding life on Earth.
10/ Also remember, as you face life’s many unknowns, its many risks, do so head on and with courage, for all of us—from the weakest to the strongest have (have to have) the courage to face life’s greatest risk, its greatest uncertainty, Death.
Love,
Dad
Love,
Dad
11/ Yet another reason to write letters to your kids--you get to see what a younger you had to say about things (in this case, I was 25)
Thus, 25 year old Jim convinces 59 yer old Jim that he was wrong about an edit button for Twitter. You are right @jack, and I was wrong.
Thus, 25 year old Jim convinces 59 yer old Jim that he was wrong about an edit button for Twitter. You are right @jack, and I was wrong.
See? "we might not want an edit button"
