Does Caring About the Past Matter? Anyone Have Answers? Oreo’s + Reese’s. Uncontrollability. College Football. We Can Finally Move On. Sam Donald.
- Quote of the Week: “If we don’t care about our past we can’t have very much hope for our future.” – Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
The more I thought about ‘Jackie O’s’ quote, the more questions occurred to me:
- How does our past determine or influence our future?
- Is learning from the past important for your future?
- How do past events and experiences affect our future?
- Does our past behavior predict future behavior?
- Does the past…good, bad, or ugly, prevent us from achieving great things?
Various schools of thought surround the question of the past determining the future. According to a publication by Taylor & Francis there are discernible perspectives to consider:
Determinism proposes that every event, including human actions, is completely caused by prior events and the laws of nature. In this view, the future is essentially predictable if one had perfect knowledge of the past and the governing laws.
Free Will (Libertarianism) This view argues that individuals have the capacity to make genuine choices and are not entirely determined by past events. In this view, the future is not solely determined by the past but also by individuals’ free choices.
Compatibilism Compatibilists argue that free will and determinism are compatible and can coexist. They typically redefine free will not as the ability to choose completely independent of any prior causes, but as the ability to act according to one’s desires and reasons, even if those desires and reasons are themselves ultimately determined.
An example, according to MIT: A person choosing chocolate ice cream over vanilla is still exercising free will, even if their preference for chocolate can be explained by past experiences and brain processes.
Past Experiences and Decision-Making
Law of Past Experience: The brain recognizes patterns and makes associations based on previous encounters. These past experiences influence how new situations are interpreted and how decisions are made, even subconsciously.
Influence of Success and Failure: Past successes can build self-efficacy and motivate future actions. Failures can lead to beliefs about a lack of ability, hindering future attempts.
Emotional Associations: Memories tied to strong emotions, positive or negative, greatly impact future choices. For example, a negative experience with a particular brand might deter future purchases from that brand.
The degree to which the past dictates the future will always be a subject of debate with every perspective having relative credence. Where do you sit with Determinism, Free Will, Compatibilism, and Past Experiences/Decision-Making?
- Thank you everyone who answered last week’s Question of the Week regarding the most impactful life decision you have made. Here are some of your answers:
- Wife…49 years and counting.
- Having my boys will always be the most impactful events in my life. BEST decision ever X3.
- Leaving Europe and moving to the US was by far the most impactful and the best decision I have ever made.
- Life partner, Diana.
- I would say marrying my wife. We celebrate 40 years next year.
- Toss up – To pursue working with college students and having back surgery.
- By far the most impactful, overarching, far reaching decision of my life, continuously, is trying to live as the Bible teaches. Falling woefully short, it remains an eternal goal and a grand foundation from which to function, to live. Selah
Here is this week’s Question of the Week: Not considering shedding, food cost, or reckless abandon, what is your favorite dog breed?
Regarding ‘Reckless Abandon‘ – here is Morgan James fantastic rendition of the same name.
Questions for the 1st Sunday of August 2025
- How is it possible for someone to walk into a Class-A office building in Manhattan with an M4-style semiautomatic rifle and not be intercepted by more than one security officer?
- Regarding last week’s tragedy in Manhattan, do the “in-office” naysayers now have more leverage to work from home?
- Why is the Jeffrey Epstein saga wrapped around politics? If someone is complicit with sexually assaulting anyone, none the less underage children, they should be arrested. This is not a political situation; this be a criminal investigation.
- How is it possible that champion swimmer Katie Ledecky has not lost a 1500 meter freestyle race in fifteen years?
- A complex question that must be answered: What is the g0-forward with Gaza and specifically Hamas? Some pundits call for Israel to reoccupy the Gaza Strip. Some feel that the United States should take over, own, and rebuild the Gaza Strip. What do you say?
- New Product Announcement of the Week: Oreo Reese’s Cookies will feature Oreo chocolate sandwich cookies filled with a Reese’s peanut buttery creme. The Reese’s Oreo Cup will combine milk chocolate and white creme peanut butter cups with Oreo cookie crumbs. An Oreo + Reese’s mash up does not match the significance of the mobile phone or artificial intelligence, but it is close.
- I am not trying to have everyone hit the panic button nor am I anywhere close to being a conspiracy theorist. My take on artificial intelligence (AI), for the most part, has discussed both the upside and downside of this technology. My take tries to provide insight into both the benefits of AI, which there a many, and the areas of the technology where we should have concern. Here is one viewpoint from technology ethicist Tristan Harris, who co-founded the Center for Humane Technology. Harris raises some concerns I have been writing about for three years.
- Three weeks from yesterday. Yes, the 2025/26 college football season is within sight starting off with the August 23rd game in Dublin, Ireland between Kansas State and Iowa State, followed by a slate of games on Thursday night, August 28 and Friday night, August 29. On Saturday, August 30, your plans may include more than twelve hours of college football:
- 12 p.m. | Syracuse at Tennessee | ABC
- 12 p.m. | Mississippi State at Southern Miss | ESPN
- 12 p.m. | Texas at Ohio State | Fox (both preseason top-five ranked teams)
- 12 p.m. | Northwestern at Tulane | ESPNU
- 3:30 p.m. | Marshall at Georgia | ESPN
- 3:30 p.m. | Alabama at Florida State | ABC
- 7:00 p.m. / LIU at Florida
- 7:30 p.m. | LSU at Clemson | ABC
- 10:30 p.m. | California at Oregon State | ESPN
- 11 p.m. | Utah at UCLA | Fox
Those are just ten of many games I selected for that Saturday, with two other great games on Sunday, August 31:
- 3 p.m. | Virginia Tech at South Carolina | ESPN (in Atlanta, GA)
- 7:30 p.m. | Notre Dame at Miami (FL)| ABC
I respect that not everyone is into college football, but if you are, three weeks from yesterday gets very good. https://www.ncaa.com/news/football/article/college-football-tv-schedule-game-times-preview
- For weeks I have been complaining about tariffs and President Trump’s fluctuating diatribe. I should have kept quiet for a couple of weeks as it looks like the U.S. is locking in the tariff rates around the world. Agree or disagree with the tariff rates, but at least it is a done deal (for now).
Trading partners with an agreement (as of 7/30/2025)
| Country | Date announced | Tariff rate after trade agreement | Tariff rate before agreement |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK | May 8 | 10% | 25% |
| Vietnam | July 2 | 20% | 46% |
| Indonesia | July 15 | 19% | 32% |
| Philippines | July 22 | 19% | 20% |
| Japan | July 23 | 15% | 25% |
| EU | July 27 | 15% | 30% |
| South Korea | July 31 | 15% | 25% |
| China* | May 12, talks still ongoing | 30% | 145% |
- Pure Talent. Sam Donald has that unique blend of country with a bit of grunge. He brings a versatile voice with hints of soul and rock. Below is his cover of a great song by the ’90s band Live. Sam Donald and his Jackson, Mississippi roots are definitely Pure Talent.