Brief note here on comments. I made a video about the need to curate comments explaining why I find that needful. Um So you can watch that if you're curious, but I in general, I, I really don't like doing things uh in a way that I have not explained so that there are no surprises, it's important to me
. Um And I wanted, I, I've been getting pinged in my mind on the um one maybe policy I have that, that I haven't um explicitly mentioned so quickly. Uh I did, I turned on so youtube has this function where you can require all comments to be approved. And I recently turned that on. I did it sometime after
I made that other video about the need to curate comments. Um So what this allows me to do is to apply the behavior I described there, the criteria I described in that video um to these comments in a way that I don't have to be reactive. So I don't really have time to constantly monitor this channel
. Um I do it in little gaps in productivity just like I make these videos the same way at this point. In my life. Um I have other things going on that um need to require my main attention. So I curate comments the same way as I'm able. So one of the reasons I'm saying this is if you make a comment and
there's a delay before it's posted, it's because I haven't checked it yet. Um And then if you make a comment and it never gets through, it's because I deleted it before it could get published. And I think I talked sufficiently about the criteria for that in the other video. So um mostly, you know, I
if you, if you make some comment that um that people are gonna take the wrong way and I, I think that there are plenty of folks who would assume that that means uh saying something negative about what I've said or who I am or who you believe me to be or whatever. Um And I think if you look across the
channel, there, there are plenty of those that are still here. Um What, what I actually mean, what happens much more often is, is if you um if you make some sort of uh over the top praise kind of thing where you make it about me. Uh I'm not interested in that, that that doesn't help anybody. So nothing
on this channel um is valuable because of me. If it's valuable, it's because it's from God. And so if, if your comment draws the focus to me, it's not going to make it here. Um, in the past I think I've left a few of those on here and I've tried to sort of softly refocus it onto God and, um, I just don't
have time to do that, uh, frequently so that, that'll be a comment that's balanced. And then, um, another big one is actually, uh, related to the difference between sharing your conclusions about something versus sharing your reasons. So I don't know if I've addressed this anywhere else, but certainly
a theme I wanna come back to uh in greater volume. But if you're trying to share information with someone, there are basically three ways you can do it, you can share your conclusions, you can share your reasons for coming to those conclusions. Um And between them, sharing your reasons is much more effective
because the only thing that having conclusions demonstrates is that you have conclusions that might help someone who just didn't know that there was anyone out there who believed this or that, that, that can sometimes help people. But uh more often than not, the benefit is going to be limited to, uh
to helping other people find reasons they were not aware of. And so it's much more effective to share why you believe something than it is to share what you believe. And many youtube comments are just conclusions. People say, uh, well, the ones that don't, that I don't, I don't think are worth uh having
on here, they'll say, well, XYZ, you know, um God isn't real and that's, that's the whole comment. Well, thank you for joining the conversation. That's going to persuade exactly zero people. And it goes the other way too. I've heard other people mention this, uh complain about this, that if you spam
some website with just, you know, Jesus is everything God is real. You know, Christianity is the answer to all solutions. No one's gonna listen to that. Why would they tell them? Why not? What? So when it comes down to sharing reasons, here's another tip, it can be very effective to share your reasons
for why you believe something, but usually it's much more effective to take a step back from that. And yes, you believe it and yes, you have your reasons, you have your experiences that got you to that point, but get into the shoes of the person you're speaking to and don't ask why do I believe this
? Ask, why should this person believe this and then query your understanding of it, repackage it and deliver it. And so those kinds of comments are wonderful. They always make the conversation better even if they don't come to the same conclusions. That is not the filter for reasonable people. One of
the the greatest gifts you can give a reasonable person comes in the form of strong reasons why they shouldn't believe what they do or why they should believe something different than what they do. They will treasure that. So, um, yeah, it's, it's, it's just, it's too frequent the case that, uh, too
many people dismiss the preference. I just described for dismissing things out of hand. Um, when you share a conclusion with someone who's reasonable, you're literally not giving them a reason to believe you. So, don't get upset when they don't consider your argument worth listening to because it's not
an argument, it's just a conclusion. Um, in that same token, if you're sharing the reasons you believe it, you failed to recognize their body of experience and the things that they've thought about, the things they've seen, the things that they've tested. So, you know, a child could have a really good
reason for thinking. It's a good idea to put their hand on a hot wood stove. And you could say, well, given my experience which far exceeds yours and the things that I've tried and the number of times I've been burned, um, that's not a good idea in my book. And, uh, we can't even have a discussion to
reconcile those perspectives if you're not willing to believe that there might be an enormous difference in experience or reasons here. And so those are things that are important to consider. Um, unfortunately, due to human biases, um, the more ignorant someone is the less valid, their opinion on something
is the fewer their actual reasons for believing something in terms of being tested against, what is the full set of, what is the full set of reality, the more confidence they have. It's, it's an insane thing. And so, um the people who have, who shout the loudest are usually the least worth listening
to. It's, it's an interesting thing because the wiser someone is, odds are the, um, the more they will be carrying with them, a belief that they could be wrong about something. Um And so that, that humility will manifest through their reluctance to say something and that's not necessarily a good thing
. Um So you could characterize this like many other issues as a needle and a gauge. And um I have a tuner. This might be super old fashioned at this point because everyone has some app for it on their phone. But I have a, an electronic tuner for tuning guitars and it's got a needle and for each note
, it'll show you if you're sharp or flat. And um that's how it is with this and many other things in life where it's not good to be sharp or flat, you gotta be on the, on the note and uh if you aren't sharing your thoughts and they're worth sharing, that is bad. And if your thoughts are not worth sharing
and you share them, that is also bad. And odds are for every person. Odds are they're on one side or the other, it's extraordinarily rare to find someone who's in tune because that actually is tied to a whole bunch of other attributes that are really hard in their own right to obtain and hone. So anyway
, this ended up being a little bit about reason. There's another set of thoughts have been kicking around, uh, meaning to share that are, that are snippets. A lot of what I've been sharing these days, uh are things that I've been able to isolate from a much larger set of topics or uh a much deeper, um
a much deeper understanding of them. Um But the you can cut them out and just say, OK, here you go, they, they can be packaged separately. So, uh I hope this explains why some comments won't get through. And you know, it's, this isn't hundreds of comments, the, the, the comments you see are pretty much
all of them that are made, but um who knows what the future holds? And um I if you are one of those people who have had a comment withheld, this is why. And I hope that this is actually a means of, of retaining people in the conversation rather than reducing their, their um participation in that. So
we can, it, it used to be, I'd have to block someone from the channel if they kept saying things that I, I thought uh we were not beneficial, but um this way we can keep people participating and I just make this specific thing. The other thing that I almost forgot to say is I keep getting, again, it's
not 100 people but every once in a while I will get someone saying, how can I contact you? Um I, I don't understand why that's difficult to figure out but, but uh whatever. So um there is an about section on youtube and my email address is right there. It's upward thought at gmail.com. Um I do have uh
policies for how I use that email. Um So again, I might not reply right away or um uh a lot of times I, I find things, um quite anything, any sort of question that I'm asked, it's probably answered in what I've written or videos I've made. And so it's, it's always really good to make the put in the effort
to read that stuff if you actually care before asking a question. Um But it, it tends to be the case that those, those interactions aren't always very valuable. Um People get excited when they first start to hear this stuff and then again, the needle, right? It's too much or too little and the too much
people, they're sort of, they get very excited but um they're, they're actual traction in life as far as living the gospel isn't so great. And so there really isn't anything that I can do to help those folks. And so I, I can't take the time to do for them what they won't do for themselves. Um And then
also things can go disastrously wrong when people just get weird and obsessive. And so it's funny because one, this is also a pattern. Like one of the things I think some people criticize me for is trying to mask followers or whatever, set myself up as some um I don't know, leader of a movement or something
. Um A actually most of my efforts with people, my interactions with people is pushing them away and that, that will only continue to increase. Um because I, I there's, there's really nothing I can do for most people to help them. Um And I'm already doing everything I can through books and videos and
things. So the value of some personal interaction is very low. At the same time, the hyper minority of people were so some of my most treasured uh human associations are with people that I've met through the blog or these videos or whatever. And um and uh they're few, they're very few, they don't always
last forever. A lot of times something comes up and it's just we part ways, um some idea or some whatever. And uh um yeah, but in that, in that vein, the few who against the needle who should be reaching out aren't and most who do shouldn't. And so I try to help speed up that chemical reaction by either
just uh ignoring emails that come through. And I, once you've been through something a certain number of times, uh you can see it coming a mile away. I mean, Jesus knew who was gonna betray him before they did and it was the father's purpose for that to happen, but it's not always the father's purpose
for you to walk into a land mine field, um, or to play Russian roulette with a fully loaded gun. Um, because there's no way that that's going to turn out in any other way. So anyway, I probably rambled enough here. So tho those are some, some ideas of what I do and why when it comes to, uh, comments