Ideas & Open Forum is a place to think out loud about ideas, questions, and things worth discussing.
Some posts begin with articles I’ve read.
Some come from things that catch my attention.
Others are ongoing conversations, like the series on living with artificial intelligence.
Explore these discussions:
Living With AI | On My Mind | Articles
Living With AI
Artificial intelligence is beginning to reshape many kinds of work, often quietly and unevenly.
This series is an attempt to watch that process unfold and think about what it might mean for the way people work and live.
This has been and is continuing to be quite a learning experience for me; one that I want to share with you.
The Series
- 1. The First Jobs AI Is Learning to Do
- 2. The Pattern Most People Miss
- 3. When One Person Can Do the Work of Five
- 4. How Fast Could This Happen?
- 5. How Many Jobs Could Change?
- 6. The Jobs That May Grow Because of AI
- 7. Why This Technological Shift May Be Different
- 8. The Quiet Places AI Is Already Showing Up
- 9. Learning to Work With Intelligent Tools
- 10. The Turning Point We May Be Living Through
Recent Post
#10 – The Turning Point We May Be Living Through
Living With AI Looking back at history, certain moments stand out as turning points. When electricity began spreading through cities, it transformed industry, transportation, and daily life. The arrival of personal computers changed how offices functioned. The internet reshaped communication and information access across the world. At the time those changes began, they were not…
#9 – Learning to Work With Intelligent Tools
Living With AI For most of history, tools extended physical abilities. A hammer amplifies strength. A telescope extends vision. Artificial intelligence introduces something different: tools that help with thinking tasks. That doesn’t mean the machine does the thinking for us. More often it means people work alongside systems that can rapidly analyze information, generate possibilities,…
#8 – The Quiet Places AI Is Already Showing Up
Living With AI Much of the public conversation about artificial intelligence focuses on dramatic possibilities — self-driving cars, humanoid robots, or futuristic assistants. But the more interesting story may be happening in quieter ways. AI is already appearing inside tools people use every day, often without much notice. It helps filter spam, recommend music, detect…
On My Mind
Our Me Society
4/3/26 A few days ago I was driving to town. I pulled out of our road onto Old Biloxi Road and headed south. It’s a three-lane road — a northbound lane, a southbound lane, and a center left turn only, no passing lane. I had my cruise control set at 41 miles an hour; the speed limit is 40. On the way south, car after car passed me in the illegal center lane. The third car was a sheriff. I got to the light just before I-10, traffic was backed up in the right lane, I moved to the left… Read more…
“You’ll see it when you believe it,”
The Psychological Aspect: In modern contexts, it often refers to confirmation bias or the law of attraction. Authors like Wayne Dyer popularized the phrase “You’ll see it when you believe it,” suggesting that our internal beliefs and mindset act as filters that shape how we perceive and experience external reality. Rich’s thoughts; A lie is a lie! Dishonesty is Dishonesty! Deception is a Lie: maybe of a greater magnitude! The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool. Richard P. Feynman Read more…
Why, On My Mind
This is a space I am creating for discussion around random subjects, subjects motivated by things I read, thoughts stirred by emotions, something I see or hear, something I feel, or a question. There is a form attached to the page where anyone can contribute, ask, or speak; just choose a topic if you want to follow an existing thread or start a new one. Read more…
Articles
What is the average wage in the US?
Updated monthly About $1,275 per week in January 2026, 1.9% higher than a year before. The average weekly wage, the typical earnings that employees bring home for one week of work, is a valuable indicator to assess economic conditions, labor market health, and wage trends. $1.27K average weekly earnings, January 2026 1.9% higher than a year before (adjusted for inflation) Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics The Bureau of Labor Statistics releases monthly statistics tracking the wages of all non-government employees. In January 2026, the average weekly wage was $1,275. That represents the average wages of 135.3 million workers in different industries (excluding the… Read more…
Axios Finish Line: U.S. not them
I am reading and nearing the end of These Truths – A History of the United States by Jill Lepore, a one-volume Non-fiction (non-propaganda) History, an amazing telling of what it has taken to get to this day. This article was very timely for many reasons; I think we sometimes need to be reminded of what America is and who we, as Americans, are. It is a short read; please take a few minutes with a clear mind and read this. Read more…
“A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.”
Mark Twain