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INTERNET GRANDFATHERŽ
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Temper, Temper [I've been ill and have failed to keep my normal schedule for my columns. I'm starting to feel better and hope to get things back to normal in the near future.] I've written many times about anger and the destructive quality of the emotion. I continue to read arguments that anger can be beneficial but I am not convinced. I count my defeat of anger as my proudest accomplishment and whenever I see anger in others I see failure: failure to achieve the best results, failure to improve one's own feelings and failure to help anyone else. I still see it in all sorts of situations, on the street, in business, in social situations. I refuse to stop my small efforts to help people avoid anger, to stop saying "temper, temper" to the angry people I see. The more I watch the more I believe the self-imposed stress of artificial deadlines is the root of the increased anger I see. Because machines are faster, because we have computers and cell phones, because communications are quick, people believe their brains and bodies must also work faster. Speaking for myself, my brain still works at the same pace, my ability to learn and reason from what I learn continues at the same pace and the time it takes me to complete projects with pride is the same as it was fifty years ago. Yet we push ourselves to work faster, to get more done in the available time, even to accept knowingly that our results are not as good, that speed trumps quality. The answer is obvious, if people will simply recognize the problem. Slow down, look to quality rather than speed as a goal and accept the limitations of the human brain and body. You won't get angry, you'll be proud of what you do and you'll help others eliminate their anger. 12-18-06 2006 Archives 2005 Archives 2004 Archives 2003 Archives 2002 Archives 2001 Archives |