The Tool and Trap

This Coursera track seemed to be exactly what I needed to get started. It packed a lot foundational basics, but there was a slight problem. When I try what I learn, paste it verbatim, it sometimes wouldn't work. Although that didn't happen so often, I soon realized that the track was made five years ago and, well, some things have changed, like my computer receiving updates and all.

Perhaps there'd be no such hitch if the track is regularly updated, but it brings me back to the traditional school system and what's really important today.

Now to think of the tens of subjects and courses that have not been updated in maybe a decade or more. While I like to think that no knowledge is a waste, there can be more empowerment when there's more enlightment that'll help one thrive here and now and build a future they'd like to live in. I say, for example, kids need a little more than just the same old curriculum that's been around before them.

Growing up in the boom of social media myself, I know firsthand how much of an advantage it was to have the internet in my hands. It's helped me over the years and still is. But at the same time, I have found myself in dark places and times, powered by this same technology. In all, I probably would have been able to better use the internet and social media if I had known exactly how to before I got started. Lemme explain...

Starting with the dark side: people are practically wasting their lives away every day, and the worst part is that they don't even realize it. When I sit for hours on end, watching brain rot, that's definitely not helping me grow. If we're being honest with ourselves, the essence of ourselves we waste on counterproductive things doesn't build us. It can be addictive, but it's crazy how there are many that don't realize how, and kids are the most vulnerable, sadly.

The bright side—phew—would be using these technologies to be faster and better. I mean, I really don't have to search for so long to find answers to my questions about a problem. I could just copy-paste on GPT and make life much easier for myself. Or as a business owner, more interestingly, there are ways—sometimes subtle—to 100x the prosperity of my business by harnessing the power of social media. But then again, people don't know or don't know how to.

Someone I know makes a whole lot more selling her books with her brand on social media than someone who's static with their bookshop, probably somewhere only a few people may know. Whatever she's doing, as far as I can tell, is really working.

Now imagine somehow integrating education on social media and how better people could live by first knowing how. Might sound ridiculous, but I think it's worth a shot, at least for the younger generations. A good illustration of how better or worse one could be with social media, for example, could do someone a lifetime benefit.