Somehow, our modern culture has embraced and deified the concept of absolute certainty. It’s a notion that you should be able to expect a guarantee on any particular outcome, with no room for error. If the item or service someone pays for is not 100% as they anticipated it to be, no matter how realistic these expectations are, they run for lawyers and boycott campaigns.

This idolization of the concept of certainty is really evident in the business world. I’ll speak specifically about the software industry, since that’s what I have experience with, but I suspect it’s the same in every big business. Millions and millions of dollars, and thousands of man hours are poured into the relentless pursuit of improving the process and product until it achieves heavenly perfection. Entire systems of quantification and certification are invented in this chase for perfect, ITIL and ISO and score of other complicated acronyms, and the high priests of this religion are the quality assurance staff. In fact, their jobs have really shifted away from actually finding serious bugs in the product, to creating their own arcane manifesto on how to achieve perfection.

The punchline is that perfection is entirely outside of the realm of humanity’s capabilities, and what’s more important, the idea of perfection stifles actual progress. Human ingenuity is fueled by trial and error. Trying to avoid all error is avoiding adaptive reasoning and creativity. And by expecting everything you buy to work forever and do everything, consumers force manufacturers to focus on preventing liability.

I am not in any way advocating an abolition of all standards and practices, because I like things that don’t explode or are not coated in melamine. But, it’s time to be realistic in our goals and set ‘good enough’ targets for success, with an understanding that the creator and the consumer will work together to find solutions to any unforeseen issues.

I must be brief for my time here is short. Soon, the mucusoid devils that rule the Sniffle dimension will return for me, dragging my poor immune system into their mire of goop, and robbing me of my higher reasoning (what little of it I possess). I warn all of you, gentle readers, of the march of the summer cold! It will overwhelm everyone you love! MY household, once so hale and hearty, is now a pit of runny noses, foggy heads, and sleepy grumps. Oh, nap time cannot arrive soon enough.

Well would you look at that-I have a phobia! Telephonophobia! I am reluctant and, at times, afraid to have a conversation on the telephone. I’m not usually someone who supports self-diagnosis (I am still not a doctor) but in this case it’s pretty obvious.
And it makes sense. It’s the last vestigial element of my general social anxiety that took me years of effort and determination to cope with and master for he most part. I don’t avoid large social gatherings, in fact I kind of like them now. I am very comfortable speaking in front of a crowd, because I love the sound of my own voice and my own opinions. It’s the Me Show, starring Me!

So what if  I have one more tiny social demon clinging to my heartstrings and whispering its fearful words into my ear. It’s actually a relief being able to isolate the stress into a single source, instead of worrying that I was just a big pile of awkward failing. Some people hate spiders, I hate telephones. I’ll beat it, eventually, but until I do I have to remember to draw upon the support and help of my loved ones (Hi Honey! I love you very much).

More Music Nonsense: Triumph just wasn’t a very spectacular band. They tried hard, sure, and I can believe that some people have been “rocked” by Triumph, but listening to any of their songs other than their few hits will leave most people underwhelmed. Adequate, but not inspiring.
Also, I have a surprising fondness for hardcore Techno, I think. It’s hard to tell what to call it, since even the aficionados of electronic music can’t agree on any kind of labelling system. Maybe I like breakbeat, or maybe its grime. Whatever it is actually called, I like percussion heavy songs with computer noisy noises. I put on the eclectic electronic music channel while I was cleaning the kitchen, and it was dad’s one man cleanup rave (glow sticks and hallucinogens not included).