draft
It is a fundamental
tenet of western civilization that one must present oneself with
confidence and style. No signs of weakness are permitted as it
causes the other biped mammals to see you as a potential meal, or the
other bipeds, whose support you need, to ignore you or dismiss you.
There are those I
suppose who benefit from being so pathetic that it attracts a certain
kind of person who likes doing rescues, but I don't think one wants
to count on that as a strategy.
I have become more
aware this year that my goals for the future are impractical based on
my current status, how I am perceived, the resources that I have, and
the competition.
Part of the problem
here is that in the past I worked with energy and what is, I hope,
talent and skill but was also nearly completely unaware of the odds
against me. And these efforts all led to great success and total
failure, accomplishment yet contempt from my peers, personal attacks
that are quite astounding, and generally everything that one would
expect from being poor in America, where talent and accomplishment
means nothing, only money matters and certain credentials as one gets
by being approved and anointed by those with power.
Why then, would I
expect things to be any different in the future, when in fact the
odds are only worse then they have ever been? They are worse
because in the past I was part of a community, now I am alone. They
are worse because in the past I had access to resources, now I have
no resources. They are worse because now this is an established
field and this implies both more competition, as well as competition
with access to both resources and those affiliations that I wish I
had but do not.
Not only may fools
go where wise people fear to tread, but in fact the earlier success
of the fool may not only be a result of their energy, talent and
ignorance but also because times were different.
There are deeper problems as well. A fundamental and well-reasoned concern that major elements on which we base our lives and our society are based on lies, or false premises. Not all, but many of them. And that our public servants know this and do nothing to correct it either because they feel they can't or because they do not care. I have become convinced that our government does not have our best interests at heart and that they are quite capable of cynically exalting the rich at the expense of the rest of the country. I have looked at some of the evidence, evidence that The Economist says does not exist, but it does exist. Too many lies, too much hypocrisy, too much swept under the rug, too much misery.
On the other hand, what is the alternative. Perhaps talent, hard work and experience and maybe a sense of humor about the situation, all of our situations, can make a difference. I guess I have to try again.
These are the
thoughts that occur to me on the occasion of a birthday and the
annual trial of Siggraph.
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