Do the "Old" die young?
As death approaches the old amongst us, they do their utmost to subliminally re-live and re-experience their youth. Their first love, their first job, their first trip, their first everything. Not only is technology now stealing the youth from our young by placing them in digital prisons, but the politics of the day is stealing the youth of the old by having invoked a culture of death. The world has come to hate life. Abortion, euthanasia, eugenics, genocide and war serve as reminders that humanity is on the wrong path. The Old are dying without the joy of re-experiencing their youth.
I read an article yesterday of a young lady named Maria Rosa, she just turned 110. Maria happens to be Canada's oldest citizen. This is a remarkable life not because of what she may have accomplished but rather what she has experienced. A walking encyclopedia of history.
We often think and say, "I wish I knew what I know now when I was young". Time provides for experiences, challenges, wins, losses, love and wisdom. What time does not provide, is unlimited time. Is it not sad that while science has diminished the time in which a human may a complete a task, it has reversed course and now challenges why a human should even commence and complete a task.
Age is benchmark for many things, but ultimately it becomes a testament as to how much we care about one another. Prolonging someone else's life, prolongs our own. Someone's ability to love is the singular reason why someone lives a long life. Some people love enough in 30 years, while others exhaust love by living 110 years. But first, let's start with self-love and move the needle to include as many people as possible. Let's celebrate life, not death. Death is eternal life in an alternate realm.
Humanity's diminishing ability to love has been impacted by technology's impact on the mind. I've remarked many times that the biological brain interacts with consciousness (God) via ethereal software known as the mind. Let's look at what that means:
The Mind as "Ethereal Software"
Viewing the mind as ethereal software provides a functional framework for understanding the interaction between physical matter and subjective experience:
The Hardware (The Brain): The biological brain consists of roughly 86 billion neurons, neurotransmitters, and electrical synapses. It provides the raw computational substrate.
The Software (The Mind): The mind acts as an invisible, operational program running on the brain. It processes data, manages memory, dictates behavioral logic, and translates physical inputs into thoughts.
The Output (Consciousness): Consciousness is the user interface. It is the lived, subjective experience of the software running in real time.
Without the software (the mind), the hardware (the brain) is just inactive circuitry. Without the hardware, the software has no platform on which to execute.
Why the Mind Can Be Hacked
Because the mind operates as an information-processing system built on biological code, it is vulnerable to external manipulation, exploits, and rewrites.
1. Hardcoded Vulnerabilities (Cognitive Biases)
Just like software has zero-day vulnerabilities, the human mind relies on evolutionary shortcuts called cognitive biases. Because the brain prioritizes speed over accuracy to save energy, it is highly susceptible to specific exploits:
2. Input Manipulation (Sensory and Data Overload)
In computer science, a buffer overflow attack crashes a system by flooding it with more data than it can handle. The human mind can be similarly overwhelmed:
3. Protocol Hijacking (Neurochemical Exploits)
The brain uses chemical signaling protocols (dopamine, oxytocin, cortisol) to reward and reinforce behavior. External systems can hijack these delivery mechanisms:
Variable Reward Schedules: Social media platforms employ casino-style mechanics (likes, notifications, shares) to release dopamine bursts at unpredictable intervals, effectively rewriting behavioral habits.
Manufactured Scarcity: Artificial deadlines or social exclusion triggers cortisol (stress), forcing the mind into panic-driven compliance.
4. Social Engineering (Psychological Infiltration)
The easiest way to hack a computer is not through the firewall, but by tricking the user. Human minds are inherently social and optimized for group conformity:
Authority Exploits: The mind is conditioned to defer to perceived authority or consensus, which bad actors exploit using deepfakes, bots, or fabricated social proof.
Identity Hijacking: By tying an idea to a person's core sense of identity or tribe, the "software" will actively fight to defend a lie, viewing factual corrections as an attack on its survival.
Society must not abandon the Old - Thank you,
Joseph Pede