...And you can quote me on that!

Have you noticed that when someone gets famous, their words from the past get dredged up from the depths of anywhere they can be found? Even fake quotes like the heavily shared Trump one in TIME magazine with his words about running as a republican because of their stupidity get traction. In that case, a lot of traction.

Now the blockchain is going to store all of our words for posterity forever, or until the lights go out forever at least. This means a reporter or anyone else for that matter doesn't have to trawl through old magazines or creep around yearbooks to get quotes. Our words are here for effectively eternity.

Words of the past are not a new problem and it is going to be interesting what kind of information is going to surface for world leaders over the next twenty years. Snapchats to ex-partners, drunk facebook posts and a whole lot of Sometician posts and shares made in youth will no doubt be pulled from the darkness. And these days, it is easy to turn on a light.

Have you ever thought about your own quotes? What would they look like listed and how could they potentially be used against you? Could someone cherry pick them to portray you in different perspectives. Would your words as an eighteen year old be a good representation of you now or, if you are eighteen now, you in 20 years?

Freedom of speech is one thing and I am an advocate for responsibility of speech, but for how long are we liable, is there a statute of limitations on our words?

For most of us, each day we grow in different ways and shift our overall view of the world. In time, these can change our understanding a great deal. I have changed major perspectives on issues across unions and religions, education, environmental policy and how I see money and many, many more areas. I don't think one view I have had when I was 18 has remained intact (other than, find out who I is).

We see these quotes from the past in the media and we often pass judgement on how someone has changed. They are obviously a flag in the wind with little integrity if they have had large shifts in perspective and stance, changed political affiliations, religions (or left them behind completely) etc.

Several years ago I started catching myself passing judgements on quotes like this and began admonishing my simplicity. Wouldn't I want a leader (since in the media they are often politically motivated) to be someone to change their views from the past? Isn't that possibly the kind of person that may be able to adapt to a volatile future?

If I held my views from 20 years ago still, I think I would have some quite large problems to deal with. It is not that my views were necessarily terrible, but they were definitely limited and in some cases, very naive. Just about every twenty year old thinks they are wise, and every 30 year old looks back and knows better, but looks forward as a wise person again.

When it comes to my past quotes, these days my memory doesn't hold much past a few minutes and when it comes to what I write, it can pass from mind, through my fingers and never touch a recording brain cell it seems. So how valid is it to quote me as a representation of me? Sometimes people remind me of things I wrote or said to them and tell how it helped them and affected them deeply. And I have no memory of it.

It is not that past quotes are invalid of course, it just may not be a good representation for a present understanding of someone. Kind of like those people that use 10 year old photos on dating websites. Yes, technically still the same person but not practically.

But now, here it is, my quotable self in digital format for ease of use.

What happens if I become unfortunately famous, what kinds of quotes will they pull out from my articles? From the 20,000 words per week that look at a hundred different topics, the future, politics, education, satire and bad humour, social issues, psychological and philosophical arguments and an endless supply of questions that surround authority and the established institutions, what do they choose?

Will I get a fair quote trial?

I think that we are going to have to learn to rethink how we receive supplied quotes as they rarely tell the whole story of who someone is. We have to learn to be objective and understanding when so much content is recorded and available over such a long period. We will need to become more compassionate with someone's past and charitable with their earlier views and words. In some cases, it is probably more useful to think critically and disregard past words completely.

Imagine an uneducated flat-earther from 600 years ago explaining their view of the form of the world. Imagine taking them out to space so they can see the curve, taking them further so they can see the entire ball of blue and green. Imagine their wonder and instantaneous shift in understanding.

And then we represent them to the world by quoting them from before the journey.

Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]