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AdventOfProgress Day 10
from 
Build stuff; Break stuff; Have fun!
This day, I focused on the language switcher and added persistence to it. Now the chosen language (for now only programmable) can be persisted between app restarts. I've used the @react-native-async-storage/async-storage for it.
That's it for Day 10. Small incremental changes.
Sorry for being late with this one. :D
68 of #100DaysToOffload
#log #AdventOfProgress
Thoughts?
THE WORLD ISN’T RUN BY SHADOWS — IT’S RUN BY BILLBOARDS
By Logan Miller, Columnist of the Apocalypse
Let me tell you something that’ll curl the hair on your Bible’s ribbon marker: We keep looking for smoke-filled rooms and cloaked conspirators whispering in Latin behind oak-paneled doors… but the truth is louder, brighter, and wearing a smile wider than a Procter & Gamble ad campaign.
You don’t need a shadow government when you’ve got George Soros turning $30 billion into a global mood ring. You don’t need a secret cabal when the Rothschilds and Rockefellers still move capital like sorcerers commanding tides.
Why hide in the shadows when you can shape nations in broad daylight?
Listen… while everyone’s chasing boogeymen in the vents, the real puppeteers are sipping espresso in conference rooms with panoramic views of Manhattan — and they’re writing the scripts your elected officials memorize word for word.
Forget cloaks. Forget daggers. Forget whatever’s in the basement of the Pentagon.
The real operators wear designer suits and own half the news cycle.
They don’t plot in the dark. They buy advertising time. They buy influence. They buy political futures the way you buy dish soap at Walmart.
Money is their vote. Money is their veto. Money is their voice. And buddy, it never whispers. It roars.
Look around.
Black Lives Matter didn’t become a cathedral of cultural power by magic. It became a monument because billionaires shoveled coal into its furnace while corporate media gave it the prime-time spotlight. Same faces. Same donors. Same boardrooms. Same “accidentally synchronized” narratives.
The left, the right, the Zionists, the Moral Majority — everybody’s throwing money like grenades. Lobbyists aren’t lobbyists anymore — they’re elected officials’ personal trainers, shaping ideology one legislative rep at a time.
And AIPAC? Not a foreign agent, they say. So their emails get the invisible ink treatment while they spoon-feed policy positions like a mother bird with a vested interest in the chicks’ future military contracts.
Corporate giants do the same thing. Procter & Gamble. Caterpillar. Betty Crocker. Monsanto. The grocery aisle is basically Congress printed in color-coded packaging.
Every one of them polishing their halos with PR cloths soaked in selective truth. Every one of them presenting their best face, best smile, best curated social-media sainthood while the machinery hums underneath — the real machinery — the kind that churns public opinion like butter.
You want psyops? Forget Langley. Check TikTok. Check Instagram. Check the fifteen-second distortion chamber known as “social media influence,” where billion-dollar corporations cram five-minute lies into quarter-minute sugar packets and sell them as inspiration.
This isn’t a shadow government. This is a spotlight government — a Broadway production where the actors shake hands backstage while pretending to be mortal enemies onstage.
America’s not being run by ghosts. It’s being run by storytellers with checkbooks. By advertisers with agendas. By billionaires who know that truth has a subscription fee and influence runs on autopay.
And the public? We’re just the audience, clapping for whichever performer bought the most ad space.
You want conspiracy? Here it is: It’s not hidden. It’s televised. It’s sponsored. It’s algorithm-approved.
And the punchline, the tragedy, the whole cosmic joke? We scroll right past it — because the next commercial is starting.
Absolutely no sarcasm in that last line, my friend.
from 
Silent Sentinel
Hearing the Signal: Finding God in a World Full of Noise
The world is louder than it has ever been.
Noise pours in from every direction — the TV shows we keep on for company, the movies that fill the silence, the endless scroll of social media, the curated lives of strangers, the opinions of people we’ve never met, the stress we carry from work, the pressure we absorb from family, the expectations we place on ourselves.
But the noise is not only external.
There is emotional noise, spiritual noise, internal noise — the kind that fills the mind, fractures the heart, and blurs the soul.
And somewhere in the chaos of it all, we have lost the most precious thing:
the signal beneath the noise — the voice of God.
“Be still, and know that I am God.” — Psalm 46:10
Stillness is not the absence of sound.
It is the space where the signal becomes audible.
The Age of Noise
Every generation has faced pressure, but ours faces something more dangerous: constant stimulation.
Everywhere we turn, something demands attention — content, alerts, messages, updates, reactions, opinions.
Noise doesn’t just speak to us.
It shapes us.
We grow so accustomed to being overstimulated that silence feels uncomfortable, and distraction becomes a lifestyle.
We mistake constant activity for purpose and perpetual noise for life.
And slowly, quietly, invisibly — the signal fades.
The Numbing Effect: When Constant Stimulation Becomes Silence
Noise has a strange paradox: the more it fills your life, the less you actually feel.
We think noise keeps us connected, but what it really does is numb us.
It creates:
emotional dullness
fragmented attention
shallow relationships
inner exhaustion
People scroll through their phones to feel less lonely, but the scrolling deepens the loneliness.
People fill their schedules so they don’t feel broken, but the busyness fractures them even more.
We hear so much that we eventually hear nothing.
“They have ears, but they do not hear.” — Psalm 115:6
If everything is speaking at once,
how do we hear what matters?
Chasing the Illusion: What the World Tells Us to Value
Noise isn’t neutral — it has an agenda.
It trains us to chase:
money
image
performance
possessions
comparison
approval
productivity
curated “best moments”
People post their happiest photos while drowning in private grief.
People show their strongest moments while quietly breaking inside.
People project confidence while living in fear.
The world teaches us to appear whole while feeling fragmented.
“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” — Mark 8:36
What we present to the world is often the opposite of what we live.
The Lost Connection: How Noise Drowns Out the Voice of God
The greatest danger of noise is not distraction.
It is disconnection — disconnection from ourselves and from God.
When the noise gets loud enough:
discernment weakens
peace evaporates
wisdom grows distant
emotions become confusing
prayer becomes cloudy
truth becomes hard to detect
We begin confusing God’s silence with His absence — when in reality, we simply can’t hear Him above the static.
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” — John 10:27
The voice of God never stopped speaking.
We stopped noticing.
The Turning Point: Choosing to Stop Emulating “Success”
Eventually, life reveals the truth:
Noise cannot heal you.
At some point, every person faces the collapsing moment — the moment when:
performance isn’t enough
success tastes hollow
self-sufficiency runs out
distraction can’t numb the pain
pretending becomes too heavy
This is where humility begins.
This is where God begins to whisper.
“Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” — Matthew 11:28
Stillness is not passive.
It is the act of turning toward God.
Hearing the Signal: What Becomes Possible in Stillness
The signal — the voice of God — is not loud.
It is steady, clear, precise, and gentle.
It becomes audible when:
we slow our frantic pace
we stop trying to earn our worth
we face the pain we’ve been avoiding
we release the need to perform
we create space for God to speak
God does not shout over the noise.
He waits for us to turn down the volume.
The signal is like a scalpel —
not a blunt force, but a precise, healing cut.
“After the fire came a gentle whisper.” — 1 Kings 19:12
God’s voice has always been quiet — because truth doesn’t need to be loud to move mountains inside you.
The Healing Work: What God Does When We Listen
When the signal returns, everything changes — not externally at first, but internally.
God begins to restore what noise has scattered:
clarity
identity
emotional balance
spiritual sensitivity
discernment
peace
Grief becomes integrated instead of buried.
Pain becomes a teacher instead of a tormentor.
Your sense of self becomes anchored instead of fragile.
“He restores my soul.” — Psalm 23:3
Nothing outside you has changed.
But everything within you has.
A New Way of Living: Moving Through the World Quietly Changed
When you begin hearing God again, the world doesn’t grow quieter — you grow clearer.
You move differently:
slower
steadier
less reactive
more grounded
more intentional
Silence becomes spiritual oxygen.
Stillness becomes strength.
Discernment becomes instinct.
The goal is not to escape the world,
but to move through it without losing yourself to the noise.
“In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” — Isaiah 30:15
Quietness sharpens you.
Stillness strengthens you.
Listening restores you.
Conclusion — The Call to Return to the Signal
Noise is inevitable.
Disconnection is not.
In a world that thrives on distraction, choosing stillness is an act of rebellion.
Choosing discernment is an act of courage.
Choosing God is an act of clarity.
The signal never stopped speaking.
We simply forgot how to listen.
But when we return to Him —
in silence, in humility, in honesty —
healing begins.
Because the voice of God doesn’t compete with noise.
It cuts through it.
This is where our healing comes from — because the voice of God cuts through the noise like a scalpel.
© SilentSentinel, 2025. All rights reserved. Excerpts may be shared with attribution.
Escuchar la Señal: Encontrar a Dios en un Mundo Lleno de Ruido
El mundo está más ruidoso que nunca.
El ruido llega desde todas las direcciones: los programas de televisión que dejamos encendidos para sentir compañía, las películas que llenan el silencio, el desplazamiento interminable en las redes sociales, las vidas cuidadosamente editadas de desconocidos, las opiniones de personas que nunca hemos conocido, el estrés que cargamos del trabajo, la presión que absorbemos de la familia, las expectativas que colocamos sobre nosotros mismos.
Pero el ruido no es solo externo.
Hay ruido emocional, ruido espiritual, ruido interno—el tipo de ruido que llena la mente, fractura el corazón y nubla el alma.
Y en medio de todo ese caos hemos perdido lo más precioso:
la señal debajo del ruido—la voz de Dios.
“Estad quietos, y conoced que yo soy Dios.” — Salmo 46:10
La quietud no es ausencia de sonido.
Es el espacio donde la señal se vuelve audible.
La Era del Ruido
Cada generación ha enfrentado presión, pero la nuestra enfrenta algo más peligroso: estimulación constante.
A donde voltees, algo exige tu atención—contenido, alertas, mensajes, actualizaciones, reacciones, opiniones.
El ruido no solo nos habla.
Nos moldea.
Nos acostumbramos tanto a la sobreestimulación que el silencio se vuelve incómodo, y la distracción se convierte en un estilo de vida.
Confundimos actividad constante con propósito, y ruido perpetuo con vida.
Y poco a poco, silenciosamente, de manera invisible—la señal se desvanece.
El Efecto Anestésico: Cuando la Estimulación Constante se Vuelve Silencio
El ruido tiene una paradoja extraña: mientras más llena tu vida, menos sientes realmente.
Creemos que el ruido nos mantiene conectados, pero en realidad nos adormece.
Produce:
entumecimiento emocional
atención fragmentada
relaciones superficiales
agotamiento interno
La gente se desplaza por el teléfono para sentirse menos sola, pero el desplazamiento profundiza la soledad.
La gente llena su agenda para no sentir dolor, pero la actividad los fractura aún más.
Escuchamos tanto… que al final no escuchamos nada.
“Tienen oídos, mas no oyen.” — Salmo 115:6
Si todo habla al mismo tiempo,
¿cómo escuchamos lo que importa?
Persiguiendo la Ilusión: Lo que el Mundo Nos Dice que Valoremos
El ruido no es neutral—tiene una agenda.
Nos entrena a perseguir:
dinero
imagen
rendimiento
posesiones
comparación
aprobación
productividad
momentos “perfectos” y editados
La gente publica sus fotos más felices mientras se ahoga en su duelo privado.
Muestran sus momentos más fuertes mientras se quiebran en silencio.
Proyectan confianza mientras viven con miedo.
El mundo nos enseña a parecer enteros mientras nos sentimos fragmentados.
“Porque ¿qué aprovechará al hombre si ganare todo el mundo, y perdiere su alma?” — Marcos 8:36
Lo que presentamos al mundo suele ser lo opuesto de lo que vivimos.
La Conexión Perdida: Cómo el Ruido Apaga la Voz de Dios
El mayor peligro del ruido no es la distracción.
Es la desconexión—de nosotros mismos y de Dios.
Cuando el ruido se vuelve demasiado fuerte:
el discernimiento se debilita
la paz se evapora
la sabiduría se distancia
las emociones se confunden
la oración se nubla
la verdad se vuelve difícil de percibir
Empezamos a confundir el silencio de Dios con Su ausencia—cuando en realidad simplemente no podemos oírlo entre el estático.
“Mis ovejas oyen mi voz, y yo las conozco, y me siguen.” — Juan 10:27
La voz de Dios nunca dejó de hablar.
Nosotros dejamos de notar.
El Punto de Quiebre: Elegir Dejar de Imita el “Éxito”
Eventualmente, la vida revela la verdad:
El ruido no puede sanarte.
En algún momento, todos enfrentamos el momento de colapso—ese instante en el que:
el rendimiento no basta
el éxito sabe vacío
la autosuficiencia se agota
la distracción ya no anestesia
fingir se vuelve demasiado pesado
Aquí comienza la humildad.
Aquí es donde Dios empieza a susurrar.
“Venid a mí todos los que estáis trabajados y cargados, y yo os haré descansar.” — Mateo 11:28
La quietud no es pasividad.
Es un regreso deliberado a Dios.
Escuchar la Señal: Lo que se Vuelve Posible en la Quietud
La señal—la voz de Dios—no es fuerte.
Es constante, clara, precisa y suave.
Se vuelve audible cuando:
bajamos el ritmo frenético
dejamos de intentar ganarnos nuestro valor
enfrentamos el dolor que habíamos evitado
soltamos la necesidad de desempeñarnos
creamos espacio para que Dios hable
Dios no grita por encima del ruido.
Espera a que bajemos el volumen.
La señal es como un bisturí—
no un golpe violento, sino un corte preciso que sana.
“Tras el fuego, un silbo apacible y delicado.” — 1 Reyes 19:12
La voz de Dios siempre ha sido suave—porque la verdad no necesita ser ruidosa para mover montañas dentro de ti.
La Obra de Sanidad: Lo que Dios Hace Cuando Escuchamos
Cuando la señal regresa, todo cambia—no externamente al principio, sino internamente.
Dios comienza a restaurar lo que el ruido había dispersado:
claridad
identidad
equilibrio emocional
sensibilidad espiritual
discernimiento
paz
El duelo se integra en vez de enterrarse.
El dolor se convierte en maestro en vez de tirano.
Tu sentido de identidad se vuelve firme en vez de frágil.
“Confortará mi alma.” — Salmo 23:3
Nada fuera de ti ha cambiado.
Pero todo dentro de ti sí.
Una Nueva Forma de Vivir: Caminar por el Mundo Cambiado en Silencio
Cuando vuelves a escuchar a Dios, el mundo no se vuelve más silencioso—tú te vuelves más claro.
Te mueves de manera diferente:
más despacio
más firme
menos reactivo
más enraizado
más intencional
El silencio se vuelve oxígeno espiritual.
La quietud se vuelve fortaleza.
El discernimiento se vuelve instinto.
El objetivo no es escapar del mundo,
sino caminar por él sin perderte en su ruido.
“En descanso y en reposo seréis salvos; en quietud y en confianza estará vuestra fortaleza.” — Isaías 30:15
La quietud te afila.
El silencio te fortalece.
Escuchar te restaura.
Conclusión — El Llamado a Regresar a la Señal
El ruido es inevitable.
La desconexión no lo es.
En un mundo que prospera con la distracción, elegir la quietud es un acto de rebelión.
Elegir el discernimiento es un acto de valentía.
Elegir a Dios es un acto de claridad.
La señal nunca dejó de hablar.
Simplemente olvidamos cómo escuchar.
Pero cuando regresamos a Él—
en silencio, con humildad, con honestidad—
la sanidad comienza.
Porque la voz de Dios no compite con el ruido.
Lo atraviesa.
Aquí es donde nace nuestra verdadera sanidad—
porque la voz de Dios corta el ruido como un bisturí.
© SilentSentinel, 2025. Todos los derechos reservados. Se pueden compartir extractos con atribución.
Week 48/49: InTune, WW2 and Winter
from 
TechZerker
November 23 – December 6, 2025
For my second round of weeknotes I managed to skip a week, the pace of life I suppose and building up the writing habit. My notes this past two weeks felt more sparse, it is a work in progress.
Continued during TV watching time preparing my✱Forever Notes✱ style index card dividers as part of my archiving. It’s not fancy or flashy writing the date on 366 cards, but only needs to be done once!
Office 365 InTune continued to haunt me these past two weeks, I hit a wall with two systems in a row where Windows 11 won’t reset, cloud download has no impact, the usual DISM and SFC commands had no impact, and the systems even say on console that systemreset command does not exist...back to the drawing board as our staff are work from home, so USB based re-installs are out! (And adding InTune to the machines as-is with our MSP built image has been temperamental...but is likely the only route)
I shifted my work notes and workflow back to eMacs (on Windows), because after wandering elsewhere, it is still what works best for me, mainly with Org-Mode, plus Org-Journal for daily notes, and Org-Agenda to pull it all together. I keep my Org directory on my work OneDrive, and on this return, added a pair of 365 Power Automate jobs to:
Twelve hours before a meeting starts, add well formatting meeting details to my Inbox.org file, including proper date and time stamp to keep Org-Agenda happy.
Watch my mailbox for e-mails of support tickets assigned to me, and write those details to my Inbox.org file.
For the previously mentioned FiiO Echo Mini, I didn’t make much progress on my playlists, but it’s moving up my priority list, as I really want to use this little player daily with the better IEMs purchased with it.
Oh, and Winter arrived in full, still only a few inches deep (yes, inches in Canada...our weird mix of metric and imperial is a whole post on its own!), but enough to break out the snowshoes to start packing some trails.
Reading
Not a huge volume of reading this past week, but I managed at least better consistency than in the past:
- Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations – Continued through most of the June pages, with just a few to go. From this weeks reading notes, the one that stood out:
Calm is contagious. (Navy SEALs) Instill calm — not by force, but by example. – A good example for what has served me well in my IT career, be the calm in the storm.
Your Head Is A Houseboat – This arrived near the end of these two weeks of notes, so I have just started to read it, but I am enjoying what I’ve seen so far. I have followed Struthless videos on YouTube for a few years, so this was on my list since it was released.
Mastering eMacs – There was a decent brief discount on this, so I finally picked it up, which is partially was pushed me back to my eMacs workflow for career work. The difference compared to previous times I used it, is this time I’m trying to learn eMacs keys, instead of going straight to evil mode and VIM keybindings!
Gaming
Gaming this past two weeks was focused fully on the Switch, play several full length rounds of a few Mario Party games with my wife, none of which I won...
Mario Party: Jamboree
We had a great couple games in Jamboree, all 30 turn long games with two AI players. Enjoyed time in the Mall course, then Race Track course, and finally later in the week, the Old West (Train) course. None of them disappoint.
Mario Party Superstars
We had all but forgot about the second Mario Party game that came to the switch. We were aiming to play Super Mario Party (with all the crazy allies), but the ‘Virtual Game Card’ was giving us issues, so we ended up having a blast on Superstars with Woodsy Woods.
Movie & TV
I don’t know to what consistency I’ll keep this section, but currently I sometimes capture what I’ve watched, in which case it has a place.
Grand Tour
I continued some fun re-watching of Grand Tour, closing in on the final episode that I have yet to see. But worked through Scandi Flick, Euro Crash, and most of Sand Job (not quite done). Among that set, given how much snow I live in through the winter (at how much I grew up in), I have a strong preference for the antics of Scandi Flick.
Ice Pilots: NWT
Initially as background while working via one of the Roku live channels, I ended up being drawn into a set of episodes I had not seen before, all from mid-Season 6 (last season) when in 2015 they helped do a re-enancment/remembrance D-Day Jump from one of Buffalo Airs planes that was actually in D-Day dropping paratroopers. It was great fun to watch!
Band of Brothers
Inspired of course from the Ice Pilots episodes above, in my evenings and note taking time, I rapidly worked through a re-watch of Band of Brothers, making through episodes one through seven. That series never fails to be good to watch.
Around the Web
Articles & Blogs
I clearly watched a little too much television the last week or two, so while I read a few short articles captured in my Instapaper (pushed to my Kindle), I don’t have anything noteable... time to work on that.
Videos
proof you were here: The Ash Files – This was a neat video essay, really covering the modern difference of digitally capturing a million things, with no organization and likely no one else to ever see them if not made physical. The line that caught my attention the most: > “Capturing a moment takes you out of living that very moment.”
Six Habits That Make Life Feel Lighter: Seve – Sunny Kind Journey – For the past year I have really been drawn to minimalism (not the extreme own nothing type), as portrayed by creators like Seve. As I’ve found with all of his content, this one had several solid reminders, these are a few to close this week:
“Don’t make every problem your responsibility.” (To solve)
“Priorities that live only in our words aren’t really priorities.” (They are wishes)
“Clarity comes from action, not before it.” (Small steps, just start!)
That about wraps it up for this second set of weeknotes, granted it spans over two weeks and I’m still posting a bit later than planned as life became busy. I am going to keep working on my notes and consistency, as I enjoy this process.
Tech Hiring and Neurodiversity: Escaping AI Bias Into Human Prejudice
from 
Human in the Loop
The software engineer had prepared for weeks. They'd studied algorithms, practised coding problems, reviewed the company's tech stack. What they couldn't prepare for was the fluorescent lighting that felt like needles in their skull, the unexpected background chatter from an open office that fragmented their thoughts, and the overwhelming cognitive demand of writing code whilst simultaneously explaining their reasoning to three strangers who were judging their every word. Twenty minutes into the pair programming interview, they froze. Not because they didn't know the answer. Because their autistic brain, overwhelmed by sensory chaos and social performance demands, simply shut down.
They didn't get the job. The feedback cited “communication issues” and “inability to think under pressure.” What the feedback didn't mention: their GitHub profile showed five years of elegant, well-documented code. Their portfolio included contributions to major open-source projects. In their actual work environment, with noise-cancelling headphones and asynchronous communication, they excelled. But the interview measured none of that.
When Amazon scrapped its AI recruiting tool in 2018 after discovering it systematically discriminated against women, the tech industry collectively shuddered. The algorithm, trained on a decade of predominantly male hiring decisions, had learned to penalise CVs containing the word “women's” and downgrade graduates from all-women's colleges. Engineers attempted repairs, but couldn't guarantee neutrality. The project died, and with it, a cautionary tale was born.
Since then, companies have fled AI-assisted hiring in droves. Following New York City's 2021 requirement that employers audit automated hiring tools for bias, every single audit revealed discrimination against women, people of colour, LGBTQ+ candidates, neurodivergent individuals, and non-native English speakers. The message seemed clear: algorithms cannot be trusted with something as consequential as hiring.
Yet in their rush to abandon biased machines, tech companies have doubled down on interview methods carrying their own insidious prejudices. Pair programming sessions, whiteboard challenges, and multi-round panel interviews have become the gold standard, positioned as objective measures of technical skill. For neurodivergent candidates (those with autism, ADHD, dyslexia, anxiety disorders, and other neurological differences), these “human-centred” alternatives often prove more discriminatory than any algorithm.
The irony is stark. An industry built on innovation, celebrated for disrupting ossified systems, has responded to AI bias by retreating into traditional interview practices that systematically exclude some of its most talented potential contributors. In fleeing one form of discrimination, tech has embraced another, older prejudice hiding in plain sight.
The Numbers Tell an Uncomfortable Story
Researchers estimate there are 67 million neurodivergent Americans, representing 15% to 20% of the global population. Yet unemployment rates for this group reach 30% to 40%, three times higher than for people with physical disabilities and eight times higher than for non-disabled individuals. For college-educated autistic adults, the figure climbs to a staggering 85%, despite many possessing precisely the skills tech companies desperately seek.
A 2024 survey revealed that 76% of neurodivergent job seekers feel traditional recruitment methods (timed assessments, panel interviews, on-the-spot coding challenges) put them at a disadvantage. Half of neurodivergent adults report experiencing discrimination from hiring managers or recruiters once they disclosed their neurodiversity, with 31% seeing their applications abandoned entirely post-disclosure. A Zurich Insurance UK report found even more troubling statistics: one in five neurodivergent adults reported being openly laughed at during job searches, and one in six had job offers rescinded after disclosing their neurodivergence.
Within the tech sector specifically, nearly one in four neurodivergent workers recalled instances of discrimination. A 2024 BIMA study surveying 3,333 technology workers uncovered significant discrimination related to neurodivergence, alongside gender, ethnicity, and age. More than a third of respondents in a Prospect union survey reported discrimination related to their neurodivergent condition, whilst four in five faced direct workplace challenges because of it. A third said their workplace experience negatively impacted their mental wellbeing; a fifth said it harmed their ability to perform well.
These aren't abstract statistics. They represent brilliant minds lost to an industry that claims to value talent above all else, yet cannot recognise it when packaged differently.
The Evolution of Tech Interviews
To understand how we arrived here, consider the evolution of tech hiring. In the 1990s and early 2000s, companies like Microsoft and Google became infamous for brain teasers and logic puzzles. “Why are manhole covers round?” and “How would you move Mount Fuji?” were considered legitimate interview questions, supposedly revealing problem-solving abilities and creativity.
Research eventually exposed these questions as poor predictors of actual job performance, often measuring little beyond a candidate's familiarity with such puzzles. The industry moved on, embracing what seemed like better alternatives: technical assessments that directly tested coding ability.
Whiteboard interviews became ubiquitous. Candidates stood before panels of engineers, solving complex algorithms on whiteboards whilst explaining their thought processes. Pair programming sessions followed, where candidates collaborated with current employees on real problems, demonstrating both technical skills and cultural fit.
These methods appeared superior to arbitrary brain teasers. They tested actual job-relevant skills in realistic scenarios. Many companies proclaimed them more objective, more fair, more predictive of success.
For neurotypical candidates, perhaps they are. For neurodivergent individuals, they can be nightmarish gauntlets that have little relation to actual job performance and everything to do with performing competence under specific, high-pressure conditions.
What Happens When Your Brain Works Differently
Consider the standard pair programming interview from a neurodivergent perspective. You're placed in an unfamiliar environment, under observation by strangers whose judgement will determine your livelihood. You're expected to think aloud, explaining your reasoning in real-time whilst writing code, fielding questions, reading social cues, and managing the interpersonal dynamics of collaboration, all simultaneously.
For someone with ADHD, this scenario can severely impair short-term memory, memory recall, and problem-solving speed. The brain simply doesn't have the bandwidth to handle spontaneous problem-solving whilst maintaining the social performance expected. As one industry observer noted, coding interviews with whiteboarding or code pairing become “excruciating” when your brain lacks the speed for instant detailed memory recall.
Research confirms that adults with specific learning disabilities who have low sensory thresholds tend to notice too many stimuli, including irrelevant ones. This sensory overload interferes with their ability to select relevant information for executive functions to process. When cognitively overloaded, sensory overload intensifies, creating a vicious cycle.
For autistic candidates, the challenges multiply. Studies show neurodivergent employees experience disproportionate stress in team interactions compared to neurotypical colleagues. Whilst pair programming may be less stressful than large meetings, it still demands interpersonal communication skills that can be emotionally draining and cognitively expensive for autistic individuals. Research found that autistic people felt they had to hide their traits to gain employment, and many worried about discrimination if they disclosed during hiring.
During whiteboard challenges, candidates often stand before groups ranging from two to sixteen interviewers, facing a wall whilst solving complex algorithms. For autistic candidates, this setup makes concentration nearly impossible, even on simple questions. It's an experience they'll never encounter in the actual job, yet it determines whether they're hired.
The physical environment itself can be overwhelming. Bright fluorescent lights, background noise from open offices, unexpected sounds, strong smells from nearby kitchens or perfumes, all create sensory assaults that neurotypical interviewers barely notice. For sensory-sensitive candidates, these distractions aren't minor annoyances; they're cognitive impediments that dramatically impair performance.
Timed assessments compound these difficulties. Pressure intensifies anxiety, which for neurodivergent candidates often reaches paralysing levels. Research shows autistic job applicants experience significantly more interview anxiety than neurotypical candidates and worry intensely about how potential employers perceive them. This anxiety can cause candidates to freeze, unable to think on the spot regardless of their knowledge or experience.
The phenomenon called “masking” adds another layer of exhaustion. Eighty-five percent of neurodivergent tech workers in the Prospect survey reported masking their condition at work, consciously suppressing natural behaviours to appear neurotypical. This requires enormous cognitive effort, leading to mental and physical fatigue, increased anxiety and depression, and reduced job satisfaction. During interviews, when cognitive resources are already stretched thin by technical challenges and performance pressure, the additional burden of masking can be devastating.
Štěpán Hladík, a technical sourcer at Pure Storage who has disclosed his neurodivergence, feels “truly privileged to have been around colleagues who are willing to understand or actively try to learn about biases.” But he notes previous experiences at other companies left him feeling misunderstood and frustrated. Many neurodivergent workers don't disclose their conditions, citing “fear of discrimination as well as ignorance of colleagues” and concerns about career progression. In one study, 53% said potential outcomes of disclosure weren't worth the risk, 27% cited stigma concerns, and 24% feared career impact.
When candidates attempt to request accommodations, the consequences can be severe. Industry reports suggest that when candidates gently ask about available disability accommodations during interviews, they're dropped “about 60% to 70% of the time” as companies “freak out and wash their hands of it to keep things simple.” One tech worker shared observations about Meta: “I've seen a lot of neurodivergent people really struggle” there, having heard “you can be immediately rejected by asking for accommodations.” They noted that “the tech industry has always been rife with discrimination.”
The Research on Interview Bias
Whilst tech companies abandoned AI tools due to proven bias, research reveals traditional interview methods carry substantial biases of their own. A 2024 study published by IntechOpen found that interviewing processes are “inherently susceptible to human bias, which can adversely affect the fairness and validity of outcomes, leading to discrimination and a lack of diversity.”
Interviewers make decisions based on extraneous elements like age, gender, ethnicity, physical attributes, and other personal traits instead of professional qualifications. They succumb to confirmation bias and the halo effect, distorting assessments and creating less diverse workforces. These biases stem from subconscious prejudices, stereotypes, and personal preferences, including entrenched notions about gender, race, and age.
Unstructured interviews, despite receiving the highest ratings for perceived effectiveness from hiring managers, are among the worst predictors of actual job performance. They're far less reliable than general mental ability tests, aptitude tests, or personality tests. Yet they remain popular because they feel right to interviewers, confirming their belief that they can intuitively identify talent.
Traditional interviews test whether candidates can perform interviews, not whether they can perform jobs. For neurodivergent candidates, this distinction is critical. The skills required to excel in pair programming interviews (simultaneous multitasking, real-time verbal processing, social calibration, tolerance for sensory chaos, performance under observation) often differ dramatically from skills required for actual software development.
What Neurodivergent Talent Brings to Tech
The tragedy of this systematic exclusion becomes even sharper when considering what neurodivergent individuals bring to technical roles. Many possess precisely the capabilities that make exceptional programmers, data scientists, and engineers.
Pattern recognition stands out as a particular neurodivergent strength. Many autistic and dyslexic individuals demonstrate extraordinary abilities in identifying patterns and making connections between seemingly unrelated information. In scientific research, they excel at spotting patterns and correlations in complex datasets. In business contexts, they identify connections others miss, leading to innovative solutions and improved decision-making. In fields like design, architecture, and technology, they perceive structures and patterns that might be invisible to neurotypical colleagues.
Attention to detail is another common neurodivergent trait that translates directly to technical excellence. JPMorgan Chase found that employees hired through their neurodiversity programme into tech roles were 90% to 140% more productive than others, with consistent, error-free work. Within six months of their pilot programme, autistic employees proved 48% faster and nearly 92% more productive than neurotypical colleagues.
Hyperfocus, particularly common in ADHD individuals, enables sustained concentration on complex problems, often resulting in innovative solutions and exceptional outcomes. When provided with environments that support their working styles, neurodivergent employees can achieve levels of productivity and insight that justify building entire programmes around recruiting them.
Technical aptitude comes naturally to many neurodivergent individuals, who often excel in programming, coding, and computer science. Their analytical thinking and affinity for technology make them valuable in fields requiring technical expertise and innovation. Some possess exceptional memory skills, absorbing and recalling vast amounts of information, facilitating faster learning and enhanced problem-solving.
Deloitte research suggests workplaces with neurodivergent professionals in some roles can be 30% more productive, noting that “abilities such as visual thinking, attention to detail, pattern recognition, visual memory, and creative thinking can help illuminate ideas or opportunities teams might otherwise have missed.”
Companies Getting It Right
A growing number of organisations have recognised this untapped potential and restructured their hiring processes accordingly. Their success demonstrates that inclusive hiring isn't charity; it's competitive advantage.
SAP launched its Autism at Work initiative in 2013, creating an alternative pathway into the company that maintains rigorous standards whilst accommodating different neurological profiles. The programme operates in 12 countries and has successfully integrated over 200 autistic individuals into various positions. SAP enjoys a remarkable 90% retention rate for employees on the autism spectrum.
Microsoft's Neurodiversity Hiring Programme, established in 2015, reimagined the entire interview process. Instead of traditional phone screens and panel interviews, candidates attend a multi-day “academy” that's part interview, part workshop. This extended format allows candidates to demonstrate skills over time rather than in high-pressure snapshots. The company runs these sessions four to six times yearly and has hired 200 full-time employees spanning customer service, finance, business operations, and marketing.
JPMorgan Chase's Neurodiversity Hiring Programme began as a four-person pilot in 2015 and has since expanded to over 300 employees across 40 job categories in multiple countries. According to Bryan Gill from JPMorgan Chase, “None of this costs a lot and the accommodations are minimal. Moving a seat, perhaps changing a fluorescent bulb, and offering noise-cancelling headphones are the kinds of things we're talking about.”
The business case extends beyond retention and productivity. EY's Neurodiverse Centres of Excellence have generated one billion dollars in revenue and saved over 3.5 million hours through solutions created by neurodivergent employees. A 2024 study found that 63% of companies with neuro-inclusive hiring practices saw improvements in overall employee wellbeing, 55% observed stronger company culture, and 53% reported better people management.
These programmes share common elements. They provide detailed information in advance, including comprehensive agendas and explicit expectations. They offer accommodations like notes, questions provided beforehand, and clear, unambiguous instructions. They focus on work samples and portfolio reviews that demonstrate practical skills rather than hypothetical scenarios. They allow trial projects and job shadowing that let candidates prove capabilities in realistic settings.
Environmental considerations matter too. Quiet locations free from loud noises, bright lights, and distracting smells help candidates feel at ease. Ubisoft found success redesigning workspaces based on employee needs: quiet, controlled spaces for autistic employees who need focus; dynamic environments for individuals with ADHD. This adaptability maximises each employee's strengths.
Practical Steps Towards Inclusive Hiring
For companies without resources to launch comprehensive neurodiversity programmes, smaller changes can still dramatically improve inclusivity. Here's what accommodations look like in practice:
Before: A candidate with auditory processing challenges faces a rapid-fire verbal interview in a noisy conference room, struggling to process questions whilst managing background distractions.
After: The same candidate receives interview questions in writing (either in advance or displayed during the interview), allowing them to process information through their strength channel. The interview occurs in a quiet room, and the interviewer types questions in the chat during video calls.
Before: A candidate with ADHD faces a three-hour marathon interview with no breaks, their cognitive resources depleting as interviewers rotate through, ultimately appearing “unfocused” and “scattered” by the final round.
After: The interview schedule explicitly includes 15-minute breaks between sessions. The candidate can step outside, regulate their nervous system, and approach each conversation with renewed energy. Performance consistency across all rounds improves dramatically.
Before: An autistic candidate receives a vague email: “We'll have a technical discussion about your experience. Dress business casual. See you Tuesday!” They spend days anxious about what “technical discussion” means, who will attend, and what specific topics might arise.
After: The candidate receives a detailed agenda: “You'll meet with three engineers for 45 minutes each. Session one covers your recent database optimisation work. Session two involves a code walkthrough of your GitHub project. Session three discusses system design approaches. Here are the interviewers' names and roles. Interview questions are attached.” Anxiety transforms into productive preparation.
Replace timed, high-pressure technical interviews with take-home projects allowing candidates to work in comfortable environments at their own pace. Research shows work sample tests are among the strongest predictors of on-the-job performance and tend to be more equitable across demographic groups.
Provide interview questions in advance. This practice, now standard at some major tech brands, allows all candidates to prepare thoughtfully rather than privileging those who happen to excel at impromptu performance. As AskEARN guidance notes, candidates can request questions in writing without disclosing a diagnosis: “I have a condition that affects how I process verbal information, so I would like interview questions provided in writing.”
Offer explicit accommodation options upfront, before candidates must disclose disabilities. Simple statements like “We're happy to accommodate different working styles; please let us know if you'd benefit from receiving questions in advance, having extra time, taking breaks, or other adjustments” signal that accommodations are normal, not problematic. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Rehabilitation Act, employers are legally required to provide reasonable accommodations during hiring.
Implement structured interviews with standardised questions. Whilst unstructured interviews are biased and unreliable, structured interviews predict job performance with validity of 0.55 to 0.70, outperforming traditional approaches requiring up to four rounds for comparable accuracy.
Consider alternative formats to live coding. Code walkthroughs of recent projects on-screen, where candidates explain existing work, can reveal far more about actual capabilities than watching someone write algorithms under pressure. Portfolio reviews, GitHub contributions, and technical writing samples provide evidence of skills without performative elements.
Ask direct, specific questions rather than open-ended ones. Instead of “What can you bring to the table?” (which neurodivergent brains may interpret literally or find overwhelming), ask “Can you talk about a key project you recently worked on and how you contributed?” Open-ended questions cause neurodivergent minds to flood with information, whilst direct questions work better.
Reduce panel sizes. One-to-one interviews reduce anxiety compared to facing multiple interviewers simultaneously. If panels are necessary, provide clear information about who will attend, their roles, and what each will assess.
Train interviewers on neurodiversity and inclusive practices. Research found that bias dropped 13% when participants began with implicit association tests intended to detect subconscious bias. Forty-three percent of senior leaders received some neurodiversity training in 2025, up from 28% in 2023.
Create employee resource groups for neurodivergent employees. Ubisoft's ERG has grown to over 500 members globally, helping employees connect and thrive. Dell's True Ability ERG pairs new hires with experienced mentors for ongoing support.
The Deeper Question
These practical steps matter, but they address symptoms rather than the underlying condition. The deeper question is why tech companies, confronted with algorithmic bias, responded by retreating to traditional methods rather than designing genuinely better alternatives.
Part of the answer lies in what researchers call the “objectivity illusion.” Humans tend to trust their own judgements more than algorithmic outputs, even when evidence shows human decisions are more biased. When Amazon's algorithm discriminated against women, the bias was visible, quantifiable, and damning. When human interviewers make similar judgements, the bias hides behind subjective assessments of “cultural fit” and “communication skills.”
AI bias is a feature, not a bug. Algorithms trained on biased historical data reproduce that bias with mathematical precision. But this transparency can be leveraged. Algorithmic decisions can be audited, tested, and corrected in ways human decisions cannot. The problem isn't that AI is biased; it's that we built biased AI and then abandoned the entire approach rather than fixing it.
Meanwhile, traditional interviews embed biases so deeply into process and culture that they become invisible. When neurodivergent candidates fail pair programming interviews, interviewers attribute it to poor skills or bad cultural fit, not to interview design that systematically disadvantages certain neurological profiles. The bias is laundered through seemingly objective technical assessments.
This reveals a broader failure of imagination. Tech prides itself on solving complex problems through innovation and iteration. Faced with biased hiring AI, the industry could have invested in better algorithms, more representative training data, robust bias detection and correction mechanisms. Instead, it abandoned ship.
The same innovative energy directed at optimising ad click-through rates or recommendation algorithms could revolutionise hiring. Imagine interview processes that adapt to candidates' strengths, that measure actual job-relevant skills in ways accommodating neurological diversity, that use technology to reduce bias rather than amplify it.
Some experiments point in promising directions. Asynchronous video interviews allow candidates to answer questions in their own time, reducing pressure. Computer-based assessments provide instant feedback, helping autistic individuals improve performance. Structured digital platforms ensure every candidate faces identical questions in identical formats, reducing interviewer discretion and thus bias.
The Intersectional Dimension
For neurodivergent individuals from ethnic minority backgrounds, challenges compound. Research on intersectional stereotyping shows these candidates face layered discrimination that adversely affects recruitment, performance evaluation, and career progression. The biases don't simply add; they multiply, creating unique barriers that neither neurodiversity programmes nor diversity initiatives alone can address.
Women who are neurodivergent face particular challenges. Amazon's AI tool discriminated against women; traditional interviews often do too, filtered through gendered expectations about communication styles and leadership presence. Add neurodivergence to the mix, and the barriers become formidable.
This intersectionality demands more sophisticated responses than simply adding neurodiversity awareness to existing diversity training. It requires understanding how different forms of marginalisation interact, how biases reinforce each other, and how solutions must address the whole person rather than isolated demographic categories.
The Legal Landscape Is Shifting
Companies ignoring these issues face growing legal exposure. Disability discrimination claims from neurodivergent employees have risen sharply. In fiscal year 2023, 488 autism-related Americans with Disabilities Act charges were filed with the EEOC, compared to just 53 ten years earlier and only 14 in 2003.
Remote work has become the most commonly requested accommodation for neurodivergent employees under the ADA, precisely because it provides control over work environments. Companies that eliminated remote options post-pandemic may find themselves defending decisions that disproportionately impact disabled workers.
The law is clear: employers must provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities unless doing so would cause undue hardship. Many accommodations neurodivergent employees need cost little to nothing. Companies that refuse face not just legal liability but reputational damage in an industry claiming to value diversity.
What We're Really Measuring
Perhaps the most fundamental question is what interviews actually measure versus what we think they measure. Traditional interviews, including pair programming sessions, test a specific skill set: performing competence under observation in unfamiliar, high-pressure social situations requiring real-time multitasking and spontaneous problem-solving whilst managing interpersonal dynamics.
These capabilities matter for some roles. If you're hiring someone to give live demos to sceptical clients or debug critical systems whilst stakeholders watch anxiously, interview performance may correlate with job performance.
But for most technical roles, day-to-day work looks nothing like interviews. Developers typically work on problems over hours or days, not minutes. They have time to research, experiment, and iterate. They work in familiar environments with established routines. They collaborate asynchronously through well-defined processes, not impromptu pair programming. They manage their sensory environments and work schedules to optimise productivity.
By privileging interview performance over demonstrated ability, tech companies filter for candidates who excel at interviews, not necessarily at jobs. When it systematically excludes neurodivergent individuals who might outperform neurotypical colleagues in actual role requirements, it becomes both discriminatory and economically irrational.
Rethinking Progress
Tech cannot claim to value objectivity whilst relying on subjective, bias-laden interview processes. It cannot champion innovation whilst clinging to traditional hiring methods proven to exclude talented candidates. It cannot celebrate diversity whilst systematically filtering out neurological difference.
The flight from AI bias was understandable but incomplete. Algorithmic hiring tools reproduced historical discrimination, but retreating to equally biased human processes isn't the solution. Building better systems is. Both technological and human systems need redesign to actively counteract bias rather than embed it.
This means taking neurodiversity seriously, not as an HR checkbox but as a competitive imperative. It means redesigning interview processes from the ground up with inclusivity as a core requirement. It means measuring outcomes (who gets hired, who succeeds, who leaves and why) and iterating based on evidence.
The tech industry's talent shortage is partly self-inflicted. Millions of neurodivergent individuals possess precisely the skills companies claim they cannot find. They're filtered out not because they lack ability but because hiring processes cannot recognise ability packaged differently.
The companies demonstrating success with neurodiversity hiring programmes aren't being charitable. They're being smart. Ninety percent retention rates, 48% faster performance, 92% higher productivity, one billion dollars in revenue from neurodiverse centres: these are business results.
Every brilliant neurodivergent candidate filtered out by poorly designed interviews is a competitive advantage surrendered. The question isn't whether companies can afford to make hiring more inclusive. It's whether they can afford not to.
Amazon's biased algorithm taught an important lesson, but perhaps not the right one. The lesson wasn't “don't use technology in hiring.” It was “design better systems.” That principle applies equally to AI and to traditional interviews.
Tech has spent years agonising over AI bias whilst ignoring the bias baked into human decision-making. It's time to apply the same rigorous, evidence-based approach to interview processes that the industry applies to products. Test assumptions, measure outcomes, identify failures, iterate solutions.
Neurodivergent candidates aren't asking for lower standards. They're asking for fair assessment of their actual capabilities rather than their ability to perform neurotypicality under pressure. That's not a diversity favour. It's basic competence in hiring.
The paradox of progress is that moving forward sometimes requires questioning what we thought was already solved. Tech believed it had moved beyond crude brain teasers to sophisticated technical assessments. But sophisticated discrimination is still discrimination.
In fleeing AI's biases, tech ran straight into human prejudice hiding in hiring processes all along. The industry faces a choice: continue defending traditional interviews because they feel objective, or measure whether they're actually finding the best talent. The data increasingly suggests they're not.
Real progress requires acknowledging uncomfortable truths. “Culture fit” often means “people like us.” “Communication skills” sometimes translates to “neurotypical presentation.” The hardest technical problems in hiring aren't algorithmic. They're human.
The question isn't whether neurodivergent candidates can meet tech's standards. It's whether those standards measure what actually matters. Right now, the evidence suggests they're optimising for the wrong metrics and missing extraordinary talent.
That's not just unfair. In an industry built on finding edge advantages through better information and smarter systems, it's inexcusably inefficient. The companies that figure this out first won't just be more diverse. They'll be more competitive.
The problem was never the algorithms. It was the biases we fed them, the outcomes we optimised for, the assumptions we never questioned. Those same problems afflict traditional hiring, just less visibly. Making them visible is the first step. Actually fixing them is the work ahead.
References and Sources
Neurodivergent Employment Statistics
- Creative Spirit. “Understanding Neurodiversity and Employment: 22 Key Statistics.” https://www.creativespirit-us.org/22-statistics-about-neurodiversity-and-employment/
- MIT Sloan Management Review. “Building the Neurodiversity Talent Pipeline for the Future of Work.” https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/building-the-neurodiversity-talent-pipeline-for-the-future-of-work/
- Neurodiversity Directory. “Neurodiversity Statistics & Research Data.” https://neurodiversity.directory/neurodiversity-statistics/
- Work Design Magazine. “Lost in Transition: Why the Workforce Fails Neurodivergent Graduates.” https://www.workdesign.com/2025/02/lost-in-transition-why-the-workforce-fails-neurodivergent-graduates/
- My Disability Jobs. “Neurodiversity in the Workplace: Statistics, Update 2025.” https://mydisabilityjobs.com/statistics/neurodiversity-in-the-workplace/
Interview Challenges and Discrimination
- Medium (Sorrel Harriet). “Supporting neurodiversity in pair programming.” https://sorrelharriet.medium.com/supporting-neurodiversity-in-paired-programming-8b250d2b5cab
- LinkedIn (Avik Das). “How tech interviews fail those with hidden disabilities.” https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-tech-interviews-fail-those-hidden-disabilities-avik-das
- WorkLife. “How companies like Microsoft, EY and Bank of America are hiring more neurodiverse staff.” https://www.worklife.news/talent/neurodiversity-autism-adhd-hiring-interview-microsoft-ey/
- SHRM. “Creating the Ideal Interview Setting for Neurodivergent Candidates.” https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/inclusion-diversity/creating-ideal-interview-setting-neurodivergent-candidates
- Medium (Mike Kureth). “Autism Awareness Day: How to Improve the Software Engineering Interview.” https://medium.com/@mkureth/autism-awareness-day-how-to-improve-the-software-engineering-interview-4ff9911145c7
- PMC. “Autism and the Case Against Job Interviews.” https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11090822/
- PMC. “Barriers to Employment: Raters' Perceptions of Male Autistic and Non-Autistic Candidates During a Simulated Job Interview.” https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8992918/
- The Conversation. “Why people with autism struggle to get hired and how businesses can help.” https://theconversation.com/why-people-with-autism-struggle-to-get-hired-and-how-businesses-can-help-by-changing-how-they-look-at-job-interviews-254658
- PMC. “Access to employment: A comparison of autistic, neurodivergent and neurotypical adults' experiences.” https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10375005/
- Creative Spirit. “The Interview Process Desperately Needs an Overhaul to Include Neurodiverse Employees.” https://www.creativespirit-us.org/the-interview-process-desperately-needs-an-overhaul-to-include-neurodiverse-employees-heres-how-it-can-happen/
- People Management. “Fifth of neurodivergent workers have experienced workplace discrimination.” https://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/article/1862106/fifth-neurodivergent-workers-experienced-workplace-discrimination-report-finds
- HR Brew. “Disabled workers deal with unreported discrimination, denied accommodations.” https://www.hr-brew.com/stories/2024/12/04/disabled-workers-deal-with-unreported-discrimination-denied-accommodations-deloitte-survey-finds
AI Bias in Hiring
- American Bar Association. “Navigating the AI Employment Bias Maze.” https://www.americanbar.org/groups/business_law/resources/business-law-today/2024-april/navigating-ai-employment-bias-maze/
- The Conversation. “When AI plays favourites: How algorithmic bias shapes the hiring process.” https://theconversation.com/when-ai-plays-favourites-how-algorithmic-bias-shapes-the-hiring-process-239471
- University of Washington News. “AI tools show biases in ranking job applicants' names.” https://www.washington.edu/news/2024/10/31/ai-bias-resume-screening-race-gender/
- BSR. “AI in Hiring.” https://www.bsr.org/en/emerging-issues/ai-in-hiring
- Nature. “Ethics and discrimination in AI-enabled recruitment practices.” https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-023-02079-x
- Phys.org. “AI bias in hiring decisions is often copied by human reviewers.” https://phys.org/news/2025-11-people-mirror-ai-hiring-biases.html
- IMD. “Amazon's sexist hiring algorithm could still be better than a human.” https://www.imd.org/research-knowledge/digital/articles/amazons-sexist-hiring-algorithm-could-still-be-better-than-a-human/
Inclusive Hiring Best Practices
- AskEARN. “Neurodiversity Hiring Initiatives & Partnerships.” https://askearn.org/page/neurodiversity-hiring-initiatives-and-partnerships
- AskEARN. “Including Neurodivergent Workers: Job Descriptions and Interviewing.” https://askearn.org/page/neurodiversity-job-descriptions-and-interviewing
- Microsoft. “Neurodiversity Hiring.” https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/diversity/inside-microsoft/cross-disability/neurodiversityhiring
- Dice Hiring. “Neurodiversity in Tech: Inclusive Interview Process Tips.” https://www.dice.com/hiring/recruitment/neurodiversity-in-tech-inclusive-interview-process-tips
- World Economic Forum. “How employers are addressing neurodiversity needs at work.” https://www.weforum.org/stories/2023/05/neurodiversity-employers-workers-jobs/
- Joveo. “The Ultimate Guide to Neurodiversity Hiring [2025].” https://www.joveo.com/neurodiversity-hiring-the-ultimate-guide/
- Indeed. “Best Practices For Hiring With Neurodiversity In Mind.” https://www.indeed.com/hire/c/info/workplace-neurodiversity
- MIT Sloan Management Review. “Helping Neurodivergent Employees Succeed.” https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/helping-neurodivergent-employees-succeed/
- Mentra. “Top Ten Accommodations for Neurodivergent.” https://www.mentra.com/top-ten-accommodations-for-neurodivergent
- Life Skills Advocate. “Neurodivergent Interview Tips.” https://lifeskillsadvocate.com/blog/neurodivergent-interview-tips/
- SmartRecruiters. “Interviewing Neurodiverse Candidates: 9 Important Keys.” https://www.smartrecruiters.com/blog/interviewing-neurodiverse-candidates/
Sensory Processing and Executive Function
- PMC. “Relationships between Sensory Processing and Executive Functions in Children with Combined ASD and ADHD.” https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11201769/
- PMC. “Relationships between executive functions and sensory patterns among adults with specific learning disabilities.” https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8989333/
- CNBC. “People with ADHD, autism, dyslexia say AI agents are helping them succeed at work.” https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/08/adhd-autism-dyslexia-jobs-careers-ai-agents-success.html
- Neurodivergent Insights. “Sensory Overload in ADHD: 10 Hidden Impacts.” https://neurodivergentinsights.com/sensory-overload-in-adhd/
- Relational Psych. “The Link Between ADHD and Sensory Processing.” https://www.relationalpsych.group/articles/the-link-between-adhd-and-sensory-processing-how-to-manage-sensory-overload
Neurodivergent Strengths
- Harvard Business Review. “Neurodiversity as a Competitive Advantage.” https://hbr.org/2017/05/neurodiversity-as-a-competitive-advantage
- Boost Neurodiversity. “The Unique Advantage of Neurodiverse Thinkers: Pattern Recognition.” https://boostneurodiversity.com/the-unique-advantage-of-neurodiverse-thinkers-pattern-recognition/
- I AM Autism. “30 Strengths of Neurodiversity: Part 1.” https://i-am-autism.org.uk/30-strengths-of-neurodiversity-part-1/
- Medium (Nathan Organ). “Neurodivergent pattern recognition.” https://norgan.medium.com/neurodivergent-pattern-recognition-eb84e8a8f1ff
- BetterUp. “Neurodiversity in the Workplace.” https://www.betterup.com/blog/neurodiversity-in-the-workplace
- Alludo Blog. “5 strengths neurodivergent employees bring to the workplace.” https://blog.alludo.com/5-strengths-neurodivergent-employees-bring-to-the-workplace/
Company Success Stories
- CNBC. “JPMorgan Chase, Microsoft among growing number of companies turning to neurodiverse workers.” https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/20/-neurodivergent-workers-help-companies-meet-the-demand-for-talent.html
- BestColleges. “10 Companies Leading the Neurodiversity Movement in Tech.” https://www.bestcolleges.com/resources/companies-leading-neurodiversity-movement-tech/
- MindShift. “Creating Impact with Autism Hiring Program.” https://mindshift.works/transforming-workforce-hiring-autistic-employees/
Traditional Interview Bias Research
- IntechOpen. “Enhancing Inclusivity in Interviewing.” https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/1175019
Work Sample Tests and Structured Interviews
- PMC. “Best Practices for Reducing Bias in the Interview Process.” https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9553626/
- Harvard Business School. “Actively Addressing Unconscious Bias in Recruiting.” https://www.hbs.edu/recruiting/insights-and-advice/blog/post/actively-addressing-unconscious-bias-in-recruiting
- Harvard Business Review. “How to Take the Bias Out of Interviews.” https://hbr.org/2016/04/how-to-take-the-bias-out-of-interviews
- Harvard Business Review. “7 Practical Ways to Reduce Bias in Your Hiring Process.” https://hbr.org/2017/06/7-practical-ways-to-reduce-bias-in-your-hiring-process
Workplace Discrimination
- CIO. “Unlocking the talents of neurodivergent IT pros.” https://www.cio.com/article/4094678/unlocking-the-talents-of-neurodivergent-it-pros.html
- Wiley Online Library. “When Neurodiversity and Ethnicity Combine.” https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/hrm.22286
- Diversity in Tech. “Neurodiversity in the workplace.” https://www.diversityintech.co.uk/neurodiversity-in-the-workplace/
- Prospect. “Survey highlights need for better support for neurodiverse tech workers.” https://prospect.org.uk/news/prospect-survey-highlights-need-for-employers-to-provide-better-support-for-neurodiverse-tech-workers
- Bloomberg Law. “'ADA Generation' Fuels Rise in Neurodiverse Employee Bias Claims.” https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/ada-generation-fuels-rise-in-neurodiverse-employee-bias-claims
Tim Green UK-based Systems Theorist & Independent Technology Writer
Tim explores the intersections of artificial intelligence, decentralised cognition, and posthuman ethics. His work, published at smarterarticles.co.uk, challenges dominant narratives of technological progress while proposing interdisciplinary frameworks for collective intelligence and digital stewardship.
His writing has been featured on Ground News and shared by independent researchers across both academic and technological communities.
ORCID: 0009-0002-0156-9795 Email: tim@smarterarticles.co.uk
In The Beginning
from 
The Conifer Guy
Greetings,
I’m The Conifer Guy. This blog exists to document my journey into growing conifers in my small yard. Space is limited, so the trees will need regular pruning to ensure that they remain within the bounds of the property. However, this makes things more interesting, as I have plans on addressing this.
Currently, the plan is to grow four trees on the property as follows:
- Two balsam fir trees
- One white spruce tree
- One red spruce, or a red/white spruce hybrid
I ordered white spruce and balsam fir seeds from my favorite seed supplier, The Ontario Seed Company. The seeds are expected to arrive by Friday, and I will begin stratifying them when they arrive.
For the red spruce, I intend to grow it from a cutting. Living in southern New Brunswick, I expect that there will be many places where I can go to get a cutting. I intend to get this in March, after my seeds have had time to stratify.
If you’re unfamiliar with terms like stratifying, cuttings, or the differences between these species—don’t worry. That’s exactly what future posts will cover. For now, this is where the project begins. Once the seeds arrive, I’ll post photos so you can follow along from the very start.
Carl Jung's five factors of happiness
from 
Reflections
A quick disclaimer: Carl Jung has become popular with some right-wing commentators. Please don't take this blog post as evidence that I have any affinity whatsoever for those commentators. It's sad that so much has become political these days, but I don't believe in guilt by association, and Jung was doing his thing long before anyone had heard of Jordan Peterson.
With that out of the way, I recently stumbled across Jung's five factors of happiness, and I find it to be very interesting. This isn't the first set of guidelines I've come across in my life, the first list of ten rules or eight practices one should follow to find salvation, but I find it to be a bit more modern and understandable than some of those.
His five factors of happiness are:
- Good physical and mental health
- Good personal and intimate relationships, such as those of marriage, the family, and friendships
- The faculty for perceiving beauty in art and nature
- Reasonable standards of living and satisfactory work
- A philosophic or religious point of view capable of coping successfully with the vicissitudes of life
I would point out that this list may not be complete. A murderer or spoiled child might check all of these boxes, but would they be happy? I don't think so. Perhaps that's why we need multiple perspectives, after all.
#PersonalDevelopment #Philosophy #Wellbeing
Wednesday
from 
Roscoe's Story
In Summary: * Two high points of this Wednesday in the Roscoe-verse: First – This morning I used my new little washing machine for the first time, and was pleased with how it worked. I'm thinking now that using it for about an hour or so, three or four mornings per week, that should allow me to keep up with socks, underwear, and shirts. I can live with that. :) Second – I've got a Big Ten Conference men's basketball game to follow on the radio tonight. This game should take me up close to a comfortable, old guy bedtime.
Prayers, etc.: * My daily prayers
Health Metrics: * bw= 222.67 lbs. * bp= 157/96 (59)
Exercise: * kegel pelvic floor exercise, half squats, calf raises, wall push-ups
Diet: * 06:45 – 1 peanut butter sandwich * 11:00 – crispy oatmeal cookies, home made meat and vegetable soup * 16:00 – more crispy oatmeal cookies, more home made meat and vegetable soup * 16:50 – 1 fresh apple
Activities, Chores, etc.: * 05:15 – listen to local news talk radio * 06:30 – bank accounts activity monitored * 07:00 – read, pray, follow news reports from various sources * 08:00 – do laundry * 10:00 – read, pray, follow news reports from various sources * 12:30 to 14:00 – watch old game shows with Sylvia * 15:15 – read, pray, follow news reports from various sources * 15:30 – listening to The Jack Riccardi Show * 17:00 – listening to The Joe Pags Show * 18:00 – listening to a Big Ten Conference men's basketball game, the (5-4) Minnesota Golden Gophers vs. the (8-1) Purdue Boilermakers
Chess: * 15:10 – moved in all pending CC games
Unitarian Universalist Pessimism
from 
fromjunia
I’ve been exploring philosophical pessimism lately. It’s not all Schopenhauer and his misery; it’s actually a pretty interesting angle. The dominant strand of philosophical thought suggests that the application of human reason, through pure reason or through technological advances, will lead us to better places. This includes in politics. Pessimism tells us to expect nothing in particular, or perhaps to expect anything. Things can always get better, or always get worse. We have no reason to expect either to occur in the long-term. We have no reason to think that we’ll ever pull ourselves up, or that any effort at pulling ourselves up will last, because we aren’t beings that can make things better reliably, or we live in a world that won’t let us make things better reliably, or both.
This seems kinda bleak. But pessimists sometimes argue this is pretty liberating and refocuses us on the right-now. We can’t trust that reason or technology or any other natural trend in human behavior or “arc of the universe” will save us. If we want a better world, we have no option other than to stand up and try to win it. We might very well fail, but the cost of trying is the possibility of failing.
I’m a Unitarian Universalist, and philosophical pessimism doesn’t slot neatly into that. As a liberal religion, it retains a certain hope for the future of humanity, a faith in our ability to improve. It commonly speaks of an “original blessing,” a belief that every soul is a sacred good in the world. That doesn’t naturally mesh with the pessimist idea that we are constitutionally incapable of reliably making things better.
But I’ve been playing with an alternative, almost “shadow” version of Unitarian Universalist theology that in many ways mirrors and complements more traditional presentations, drawing on philosophical pessimism.
The First Principle: The Inherent Worth and Dignity of Every Person
Unitarian Universalism teaches the inherent worth and dignity of every person. In fact, this is the first principle. While most Unitarian Universalists interpret this as seeing every person as a positive imprint upon the world, I understand it through seeing consciousness as the capacity to do wrong. Rocks are not conscious; rocks do not make decisions; rocks do not make mistakes. Rocks are perfect at being rocks. Humans are conscious; humans make decisions; humans make mistakes. We have the distinctive capability to do things wrong, and that is what makes us inherently valuable, and gives us dignity even when we aren’t at our best.
The Third and Fourth Principles: Communal Growth and the Free and Responsible Search for Meaning
We exist in a world that does not provide easy meaning, and we are not even provided a guide on how to find meaning. We are all in the struggle together. Because of this, we have a reason to accept one another while still helping each other grow. This growth will probably look different in each person. Our shared predicament provides the opportunity to bond over the lack of easy meaning and the process of responding to that.
The Seventh Principle: Respect for the Interdependent Web of All Existence of Which We Are a Part
This is most immediately an ecological idea, but it’s even more so. In pessimism, we find that we all share vulnerability. Every conscious being lives in a world that is not altogether friendly to consciousness, and every conscious being shares vulnerability to this world and to each other. What impacts one of us impacts the web widely; our vulnerability ties us together. The unpredictability of the world comes for us all, and impacts us all. We’re in this together.
The Second and Sixth Principles: Justice, Compassion, Peace, and Liberty for All
The fact that we’re in this together, intimately vulnerable in a world that is not altogether kind, gives us an imperative to act. The world will not get better on its own. Our only chance at improving it is if we try—and we may fail, but we have to try. Our actions constitute our reason for hope.
The Fifth Principle: The Right of Conscience and the Use of the Democratic Process Within Our Congregations and in Society at Large
And, lastly, democracy. Because if we’re in this together and our actions are our only hope for a better world, let’s act together. Hoping in individual action is self-deception about our place in the web.
This is a quick summary of my thoughts, but you can go deeper. For example, Unitarian Universalism contains a fascinating two-step between the individual-as-individual and individual-as-constituted, individual-as-process. You can find this in thinkers like Kierkegaard and Sartre, who felt similarly, and also found that this duality creates the potential for intense difficult emotions. Kierkegaard said, to simplify, that the misplacement caused by being both self-as-being and self-as-becoming creates an ontological condition of despair, because we can’t stabilize ourself between the two without an existential anchor. Unitarian Universalism might suggest, with Love at the Center, that love is our existential anchor. And so through Kierkegaard, a “shadow” Unitarian Universalism might discuss the difficult facts of being a person in the world, and how the path through involves love. (Not to say that no one does this; they just usually do it in quite cheery terms.)
I find pessimism healing. It returns me to the here-and-now by reminding me that the future is uncertain and says that, if I give a damn, I better do something. It tells me that I’m only human and will make mistakes, and that being only human is beautiful, even as it’s hard. It tells me that my dark moods don’t do a thing to negate my worth, and every dark thought I have is itself proof of my value.
Pessimism might not be for everyone. But I bet there’s a few souls out there that, like me, could use it. I hope they find it.
Are you with me now?
from Micro Dispatch 📡
Still working on the endpoint I mentioned in yesterday's journal entry. The song for the day is a gem from Sixx: A.M. I feel like this is such an underrated song.
#Status #MusicVideo #SixxAM #Rock
from 
Brand New Shield
It's been awhile and I apologize for that. I have been dealing with some health stuff. Enough about me, let's get to some football talk. Specifically, this post is going to get into league/team ownership structures. Why has the current model lasted so long when it only benefits the few? What changes can be made to fix the current model? Lastly, are their other models that are vastly superior that aren't used.
To answer the first question, the current model of team/league ownership has lasted so long because that is what works for the very few people wealthy enough to own professional sports teams. The owners own the teams and the teams own the league is the simplest way of explaining how the current model works. Each league has its own by-laws regarding majority ownership, voting on league matters, so on and so forth. However, who really wins in this model? It's the owners of the teams, that's it. The few make all the decisions the many have to live by. Players only really get paid at the highest levels of professional sports (NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL). The fans continually get asked to pay more and more so owners can maximize profits and then when new stadiums get built, the taxpayers are on the hook for usually a portion of it as well. Everything revolves around the owners when you really look at it, and to me, that is simply not the way it should be done.
To answer the second question, can the current model be fixed? Honestly, I don't think so because that would require accountability by the people who reap the benefits of the current model. There could be some league level by-law tweaks here and there to make things a little bit better if we're being honest, but they won't fix the real problem, which is the structure itself. No matter how much certain owners complain, the current landscape of major professional sports solely benefits the owners and maybe a few players with extremely large contracts.
To answer the third question, yes, there are other ways to do this. A single ownership model is my personal favorite because it puts the teams all under one umbrella instead of different entities with competing interests all trying to outdo each other. It is also much easier to set standards that equally apply to everyone when using a single ownership model. It has been tried in the US to varying degrees if we're being honest, but it hasn't worked because of implementation (see the current issues with the UFL). So, how can a single ownership model work? It takes putting the right entity together from the start. It then takes putting teams in strategic markets (which is where I believe the USFL/XFL/UFL failed). Essentially, instead of repeating the same few cities over and over again in sports, let's try to do some much better market research and see what alternative locations could really work. Instead of creating just another league, create the “Major League For Everybody Else”.
This is one of the reasons why I strongly believe the indoor route is the way to go. The venues are in place even in these lesser explored markets because they have some type of hockey team or basketball team or a vacant building that with some updating could very well work. By using existing infrastructure, you're lowering the costs of operation, which will keep the costs down for the fan. You combine lower operating costs with proper media rights/distribution, you can create a situation that is a win for the fans, players, and league alike. Of course, there's a whole lot of math that goes into this and of course some expectation management as well. No, we can't pay NFL salaries, but if we can't pay in the range of what many basketball players in Europe make or even some CFL salaries, then the Brand New Shield shouldn't exist. The players deserve good compensation and benefits, the fans deserve value for their hard earned money, and if these both happen, everyone wins.
from Faucet Repair
25 November 2025
Today is the first time I've been aware of a creative cycle seemingly closing its loop in a way that feels akin to releasing an album. Or maybe an EP is more accurate, as the by-product was only four paintings. And the first of those was resolved around October 18th, so they're from a relatively short window—less than two months. In that time I completed ten paintings that I at least considered sharing at one point or another, but six of them ultimately didn't have the legs. A body of work...
What is important to note is how those two months feel more fully formed as a period of inquiry than any other period of artistic output that I've been through. This probably has to do with a number of factors, but protecting and maintaining my attention within my privacy seems chief among them. I've plotted out my points of material, aesthetic, and conceptual research regularly here, so I won't get into all of that right now. I mainly want to notice what it feels like to have been fully engaged in the natural stages of making and showing, from the seeds of a set of ideas to their resolution to sharing them with a wider audience.
Since that sharing, (first via my open studio and then to my community via online channels and outreach to interested parties), I've been pretty unsatisfied with what I've made since getting back to work in the past few days. I think that has to do with how hardened my understanding of my work feels in this moment; as much as I try to put what I'm doing into words here, the time developing my work in my studio before sharing it is not explainable, rational, or logical. The best choices made in my own painting are focused, yes, but not on coherent thought. They are made from a lightness, a delighted joy in the what-ifs that swirl around in the mind during a state of play-centric flow. So the time spent exporting the work into digestible language (in public conversation, grant/art prize applications, etc.) is basically the opposite state. It's an unavoidable part of the process of course, so this is not a lament. It's just a way of telling myself how much more can be done to sharpen the ability to toggle between those modes. Thank you for your patience.
from sun scriptorium
honey silver, at long last windswept barrow we wash over moss, gathering
[ ]acorns and perhaps the spin cycle through, we now can — what have you...? [ ] jump shale-footed clatter into the deep ...starlight
[#2025dec the 10th, #fragment]
Debian
from Reflections
I'm interested in using Debian on my next laptop. The releases are slow, of course, but not much slower than Ubuntu LTS. For a few years now, I've been using Ubuntu LTS, anyway. I've found that many non-LTS releases introduce problems on my machine. Besides, these days, it's not hard to install newer desktop applications using Flatpak and newer CLI programs using… I don't know, Homebrew?
Debian's commitment to free software would have appealed to me more as a younger person, but these days, I want a laptop that just works, and I do see the value of proprietary software. Apple creates great software, for example, and it very often has higher usability and user experience standards than open-source software does. (Liquid Glass and the iPhone setup process are notable exceptions over at Apple. Signal, WordPress, and GNOME, among others, are notable exceptions in the open-source community. Also, I really hate the way Apple behaves as a company, but I think that's largely a separate issue.) Thankfully, with Debian, it's easy to work around the free software guardrails and install proprietary software. So easy, in fact, that the FSF faults Debian for it.
What's wrong with Ubuntu LTS? Not much. I like it, and my gripes are pretty minor. Ubuntu does have a habit of force-feeding their users unpopular software that was built in-house, though, like Unity, Snap, and lots of other stuff. I would prefer a pure GNOME experience with Flatpak and Homebrew as alternative package managers. Plus, I think it would be fun to learn Debian. That's the biggest reason I'm interested in switching, honestly.
Maybe some additional thinking will change my mind, but at the moment, I'm interested in giving Debian a shot. I probably don't have enough energy or interest to do it now, though. I'll wait until I buy a new laptop. (I remember installing Arch Linux mid-way through courses at RIT and being unable to use my laptop for one week while I figured out how to properly configure full-disk encryption with LUKS and dm-crypt. Yeah, those days are gone.)
#Technology #Usability #UserExperience
My Writing Strategy: Is Yours Similar?
Ernest Ortiz Writes NowI’m chaotic when it comes to daily tasks, generating ideas, and writing. It’s a constant battle in a world seeking order. My writing strategies are no different. I’ve used many writing tools and techniques throughout the years with successes and failures. Here are some of them.
Writing Tools:
Wooden pencils (Blackwing, Musgrave, Tomo 100, USA Gold, and USA Titanium)
Pens (UniOne, Zebra)
Notebooks (Decomposition, Mead, and Moleskine)
Electronics (Laptops, Smartphones, Typewriters, and Freewrite (ugh!))
Apps (Apple Pages, DeepSeek, iA Writer, LibreOffice, Scrivener, and UpNote)
Writing Strategies:
Longhand writing first before typing (My go-to)
Outlining (With AI, it’s easier)
Pantser (Always have been)
Even though I always prefer writing on paper, the past few years I’ve adopted my writing strategies from writers such as Robert Caro, Scott Scheper, and others and refined my techniques. And it works for me. So, what is my actual writing strategy?
I’ll first write longhand on a notebook (preferably on Decomposition notebooks) with pencil. I can focus solely on writing without any electronic distractions. Then, I’ll type what I’ve written on my laptop (usually on LibreOffice) or phone (UpNote). Writings larger than a blog post (notebook then the WriteFreely app) I’ll print it out, edit and proofread, and type out the final draft before publishing. It sounds simple but the key is consistency.
Is your writing method similar to mine? If not, how do you do your writing? Let me know.
#writing #strategy
Is it Good to be Alone?
from Dallineation
As part of my responsibilities as a lay minister in my church, I help lead the youth age 12 to 17. We have weekly youth activities and yesterday we went Christmas caroling in a 55+ community in our neighborhood.
We split into two groups and each group had a list of elderly people to visit – mostly widows and single ladies. At each home we sang a few carols and presented them with a little gift bag of treats.
A few of them asked us to come inside and they were all so sweet and appreciative of our visit.
And you could also sense the great loneliness that these sweet ladies experience every day – especially around the holidays. Some of them don't have any close family around. One even said she was going to be alone for Christmas.
AARP recently published an article about how the number of older Americans living alone is growing. In fact, they say 21% of Americans age 50 and older – 24 million people – live by themselves.
From the article:
In 1950, just 9 percent of all U.S. adults lived by themselves. Now 1 in 5 Americans ages 50 to 54, about 1 in 3 ages 55 to 74 and half of those age 75-plus are aging on their own, according to U.S. Census data. By 2038, the majority of people age 80 and older — about 10 million — will be solo agers, Harvard University experts estimate.
The article goes on to explain the different factors at work behind these numbers, but it looks like this trend isn't going to be reversed any time soon.
Is this a good or bad thing? It's a mixed bag. Many elderly folks who live alone seem to enjoy the freedom, autonomy, and independence, but many are also lonely, anxious, and overwhelmed.
My 75-year-old father lives alone 1,600 miles away from me. I'm fortunate enough to be able to visit him a few times a year because the company I work for is based where he lives. He seems to be happy enough, and he has a part-time job that he loves, but he is slowing down and is having more health challenges. He has nobody visiting or checking in on him regularly. His knees are getting so bad that if he fell, he'd likely not be able to get back up without help.
Dad knows that he'll eventually need more assistance – that he will likely need to relocate to be closer to family. But even then, he'd probably be living by himself and someone would be checking in on him.
I'm a pretty introverted person. I value my alone time. I need a lot of it. But I also need people. If I didn't live with my wife and son, I know I'd feel terribly lonely.
Every one of the sweet ladies we visited and sang Christmas carols to last night – they were overcome with emotion. They were very open with us about how our visit made them feel: loved, appreciated, seen. None of them wanted us to go away so soon. It broke my heart.
I don't think living alone is a bad thing. But we all need people in our lives so that living alone isn't lonely.
Is there someone you know who lives alone? A family member, loved one, neighbor? Stop by for a visit sometime. Just to say hello. Ask them how they are doing. It will make their day – and yours – a little brighter. Especially around Christmas.
#100DaysToOffload (No. 116) #Christmas #life #loneliness