Projections of Confidence

Deception in a nutshell

Contrary to popular belief, there are enormous benefits that comes with ageing. Those who are wise, also recognize false perceptions more accurately. As one goes through the ageing process they can appreciate the fact that just like computer memory, that as one becomes older, ROM, Read Only Memory, becomes more complete, but RAM, Random Access Memory, becomes less efficient. It is also important to understand that one is better equipped to understand both ROM and RAM more effectively the more that these two memory devices are accessed. Some may live many years and never evaluate the difference between the two, but those who do, and do it for many years, possess what is called wisdom. We must indulge this wisdom to grow.

Friendships are Different

A few weeks ago my wife and I asked our son to do us a favor. We were relying upon the way things were done in the past, and we asked him if he had friends that could verify our signatures on a Will and Trust, as relatives were not allowed to verify our signatures. Taking into consideration my history, I was of the opinion that what I was asking was not an issue. We were out of touch with the way things are now done, however. Since my wife and I have been blessed with longevity we have lived longer than most of our old friends. Verification of our signatures would have been of little consequence in past seasons.

We previously asked our neighbors that we have known for about eight years, if they would be so kind to verify our signatures on our Will and Trusts. Since two people were required to view us signing the documents at the same time, however, to our misfortune, one of our neighbors were unable to sign the documents as he was also a senior citizen and was hospitalized, therefore they were unable to assist us when we asked.

Signature verifications on a Will and Trust do not require a Notary, only for one to trust that the signatures that they are verifying are authentic. It is simply a signature confirmation. We viewed obtaining one, to be a matter of trust, but we were only acquaintances of our neighbors, not friends, and did not wish to place them in a precarious position. Therefore, we did not request them to verify our signatures later even after they were able to do so. Therefore, we requested our son to do what we believed was an honest favor. We asked him to have our signatures authenticated by a couple of his friends by vicarious trust exclusively. After discussing the matter with him, however, we were embarrassed and felt guilty. We were still processing things as we once did with our friends in seasons long gone. We truly understood his concerns. Later, we called a company that specialized in signing documents of this type to authenticate them for us. After thinking about it we really appreciated his honesty.

In past seasons, we could have signed the documents, and friends would have verified our signatures by word of mouth exclusively, sight unseen. They knew us and trusted us. Trust was a valuable commodity in seasons past. We were not ignorant of the consequences of one's verifying such a document, but for some reason we got the impression that we were ignorant of the liability of one's verifying a "friends" signature. In my past dealings, and professions, I have prepared many documents to be signed and verified, and later thought nothing about it. Nonetheless, we noticed that people no longer have friends as before. They only have acquaintances, and these acquaintances are not as close as in the past.

Different Priorities

Last night I was talking with my son discussing what we had done on Valentines day. My wife and I had gone out to dinner. My son asked me where did we eat. Memory of places that I have dined were latent in my RAM at that moment, although it was very present in my ROM. At 81 years of age, the importance of where I had dined was one of the things that I had placed deeply in my ROM and had forgot about it, as there had been many places that I had dined in my past. I just did not place much emphasis upon remembering it. Therefore, I was hesitant in remembering where we had dined. Later, it was obvious to my son that I was not as responsive as in past years about such things. After pondering it for a moment, I was able to access the information quite effectively. Nevertheless, I could see the look on my sons face. The look revealed that he believed that I was slipping. It was easy for me to observe. He kind of looked at me askant.

Some have not reached a point where they can understand what is occurring when they evaluate the actions of elderly people. Nonetheless, once they become older they will understand that an elderly person's operating system prioritizes things much differently. Some things are placed in the ROM for some strange reason, instead of the RAM. The ageing process can be cumbersome for those unfamiliar with it. In due time all of us will have our time in the barrel, and understand the process much better as time goes on.

Effects of Sordid Projections

It is also amazing how some people are tethered to the projections that have been cast upon them throughout their entire lives, regardless of race, creed, color, or religion. Some still believe that a person's, age, height, or even skin color determines their intelligence. The American system constantly reminds us of this misinformation. Big is better, and white is right. After many years of observing it, however, we tend to forget that younger people have not been observant of it as do older people that have been seriously advanced, defamed, or damaged by it.

I am lucky, or either "smarter than the average bear", as I have never been a very tall man, nor have I been of a fair complexion. Still, I have never believed that because a person was taller than me, or had less skin melanin than I that they possessed some kind of advantage over me. I have proved my point on many occasions. When I see people that believe these things, it is very comical for me to observe, and it has always provided me leverage. I often play dumb and watch others look foolish when they underestimate my abilities.

Still, Just John