Welcome
Introduction to join the dots blog
The purpose of this blog is to update regularly on how we join the dots on so many things that are going on around us in our lives and in the world. Much is connected in so many ways, and global events impact all of us in some form. Seeing the bigger picture can help us to understand things better and where we are heading. We will also look at where there is joined up thinking and the disconnects.
An underlying theme will be the universal and human connections. Understanding what unites us and what divides us, with an emphasis more on the positive of unity.
The word join is shown all as lower case at the top to show the two dots in “join”.
In the US, the blog title phrase is better known as “connect the dots” and this blog is very much about connections as mentioned above. The reason I prefer the word “join” is that it can also be about joining a likeminded community and also links to the idea of joined up thinking. Where it exists and where it doesn’t.
I would say that this is a place which better relates with open minded thinkers, rather than those with a fixed perspective, opinion, or ideology that will never change, come what may. That also includes “conspiracy theory” believers and non-believers. Why the quotation marks? Because I’ve often seen the term misused as a way of dismissing anything, which may have various degrees of substance and truth to it, that are cast aside along with the more extreme and far fetched theories.
As I write this in April 2025, and we follow the news of the tariffs and trade wars, and other major shifts in US policy under President Trump, it strikes me as even more important to add my perspective on what I see and hear, from a wide range of sources. I am not ideologically driven, or aligned to any political party, or to the left or the right. More of a pragmatist, also recognising how things are constantly changing. As I am British, and see everything from where I am based, I will write in British English, as it may appear confusing sometimes on an observation if writing in US English.
AI is another revolution that is shaking up how so much is done and I will be commenting often on that too. I can see how much good it can be and do, if used in the right way, while also aware of the flip side, which can be bad. Of course, it is how we as humans choose to use and engage with it. And for governments to legislate for protections. As with so much in science, and technology, just because it can be done doesn’t mean it should be allowed to be done.
I will cover AI, technology, social media, science, business, commerce, politics, economics, human nature, characters, lifestyle, health and wellbeing, and communication, among other things.
A note on the use of AI and human input. I believe that AI is a great tool as a virtual assistant to a human, not as a human replacement. Yes it can save a lot of time and create greater efficiency but it still needs human checking and editing, or personalising. The presumption should be that my blogs are wholly, or mostly human composed, where sometimes AI assistance may be used, usually for research purposes.
Trevor Clarke
You can contact me at query @ actrovert.com (spaced to avoid the spam bots)