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It’s a fact of American life that most all of us must face our day in court. I endured a lawsuit, and I neglected my blog during its course. The case is now over, and I am satisfied with the results. I have agreed not to blog about the specifics, but arguably much of the case involved one or more of my blog entries, and since I have truly hurt the other party, I have removed those entries out of goodwill.
Most bloggers never intend for their material to cause any harm, and I try especially to maintain this level of ethics on my weblog. My entries are overwhelmingly positive and spirited, and anyone who has read my entries should be able to attest to this. But there is an uncommon social risk involved with blogging, and two phemomena in the social sciences that affects us bloggers are referred to as social reflexivity and the Hawthorne effect.
There are several theories and other types of studies that apply to blogs, but in this instance, reflexivity seems to have prevailed. Reflexivity occurs when an examination or action bends back upon, refers to, and affects the entity instigating the action or examination. In other words, a blogger who writes an entry about a particular event and who then causes repercussions in his own life by posting that entry, has experienced reflexivity. I have now experienced this effect twice throughout my eight years of blogging. This lawsuit being a direct product of my weblog is a textbook example of reflexivity.
There is also another matter that comes into play in my case: The Hawthorne effect, where the act of observing or reporting may adversely affect the activity or events being observed. This is different than reflexivity in that a series of events that I have covered in my blog entries may have turned out differently had I not blogged about them.
These implications are perplexing, aren’t they! The complexity and uncertainty that all of these forces weave upon us bloggers seem to bleed into quantum theory. This is partially correct because some areas of quantum physics have indeed been applied to the social sciences. But, it’s a common misconception in journalism that reporters experience the famous quantum dilemma called the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. Often, simply the mere presence of journalists will alter the events being covered or broadcast, but this is not the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. This phenomena is actually a combination of observer effect and observer bias.
While all these laws of circumstance wreak havoc in every part of our lives, I was able to predict the worst outcome of all, and stop short of a disaster. Imagine if I blogged about every intricate detail of this lawsuit, thus exposing me to yet another lawsuit. I researched such a situation, but could find no comparable theory to describe a "perpetual" outcome like this. So even though it never happened, since there is nothing on record of such an event, I hereby dub thee... The Culveyhouse Effect!
Rather than churn up events passed and postulate on what could have happened, it’s time to add a little humanity to these inexplicable antics that the universe deals us: it is time again for me to forgive. As I discussed forgiveness in my blog last year, once again I renew that oath, especially to the thief that stole my credit card:
For the few people who have committed injustices upon me this year, you are forgiven.
Now that I have done this, I want my fellow bloggers (and hopefully all of my readers) to try the same personal exercise, right now. Choose one person who has wronged you gravely, and forgive them, completely and unconditionally. Once you have done so, please be sure to tell me about it. I always long for news of personal growth!
March 2006 was a month of personal trial. My credit card was stolen, I endured a very expensive lawsuit, I lost my Palm Treo, and to top it off, it rained perpetually for the entire month. The Romans named this month "March" because they thought that it was a lucky time of the year to begin a war.
Their legacy lives on.
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Forgiveness
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by Piet |
posted January 3rd, 2007 around 08:15 AM
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Someone who could be a friend decided he knew more about what papers and belongings I had were important than I. Even the bathmat I bought, because he didn't have any idea how they might be useful in the room/bath I rent from him, he decided to throw out. Even after I said "Let me pick up the stuff under the sink, give me a chance. All I could do this morning was scrub the tub on my way to work, due to time." He doesn't allow anyone else the grace he demands for himself.
I cannot respect him enough to consider forgiving him for such constant violations of my person and life. He even has a bloated idea of his intelligence and worth (as a classical musician, of course I am "not very good - how much do you earn?" - even though I have a large resume, and continuing contracts. I am still trying to beat some doors down, and it's coming along.)
I've thought of forgiving him, but it seems too good for him. Once I can leave, I can try to ignore him, even forget. awel.
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Inspiring
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by Smita |
posted April 11th, 2006 around 09:54 PM
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Your positive outlook in the midst of all the stuff happening is amazing. I love the term you coined - The Culveyhouse Effect :).....I certainly took your advice and forgave someone. Will tell you about this in person...
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Commendable
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by DD |
posted April 11th, 2006 around 02:15 AM
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Thanks for the insight, and I've been wondering about that difference too. Happy April, Dorotea Dorotuki
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