It is somewhat ironic that having been in the USA at the time of the EU referendum and, therefore, fielding questions from many Americans about “why” the vote went the way it did I should this morning wake to the news that they now have their very own version of the same type of result. The similarities between the build ups to the two elections and the way in which it eventually played out are eerily similar – albeit driven by two completely different agendas.
Complexity
Grey Areas Everywhere
In two posts last month around the time of the Olympic Games I wrote about the difficulties that are presented when it is necessary to impose some set of rules and regulations to prevent ‘cheating’ – specifically with regard to so-called “performance enhancement”.
A Bit Of Speculation
My eye was caught by an article on the BBC website – as much as by the fact that it seemed to be reporting “old news” as by the headline itself. However, having navigated to the page I discovered that it was, indeed, a good piece – if slightly spoiled by being rather one-sided.
Seveneves
I was a bit surprised to find that it is three years since I last read anything by Neal Stephenson. So far this is living up to expectations.
Naturally Enhanced Performance
Just a few days after I was pontificating on the difficulties of defining what it meant to be a “drug free” athlete the headlines at the Olympics have once again swung towards someone who has an “unfair advantage” through no fault of her own.
Everything Changes
Although I have written many words in this blog (and elsewhere) that express my ideas on assorted subjects it would still be fair to say that my underlying mantra on what it all means is “I don’t know” – which perhaps is just as well as it reinforces the purposes of the blog. All of my ideas/thoughts/beliefs are – as far as I am concerned – interim ones which might be superceded tomorrow – or next week – or few years from now – or perhaps even before I finish writing this sentence.
Where Does Performance Enhancement End?
One of the things that you can guarantee when it comes to “big” championships like the Olympics is that there will be a few headline hogging drug cheats exposed. At this particular edition of the Games the issue has been made even more high profile (if that is possible) by the recent revelations regarding the fidelity of the testing process in Russia.
I’m NOT Going Back
Previous writings for this blog have addressed the issue of “regret” in terms of changing our past behaviours and decisions whether that be considering the different outcomes – if only – or looking at what would not have happened if we hadn’t done what we did – only if. This post returns to that but focusses on a new aspect.
On Avoiding Extreme Reactions
Its not the first time that I have been ‘inspired’ to post something in the blog as result of an idea planted in my head by the theme of a service at church. The last one was all about making mistakes – this time I am thinking about the way we deal with “Triumph and
Drama With A Hefty Dose of Reality
Whenever something dramatic happens there is a (very natural) tendency to treat it as “all bad” or “all good” – a mistake surely as it is extremely rare that any event hits either of those extremes, even more so when the event is far reaching either by dint of the number of people affected or due to the length of time involved. Rather there will be a mixture of good consequences and bad ones – all of which need to be taken account of to determine whether the event was beneficial or detrimental in the long term to the wider community.