Molly speaks up...#7

...It all depends — on what..?

it depends...

I'm in a philosophical mood at the moment, and dependencies are intricate relationsships well worth some soul-searching. I'm leaving out dependencies between web files at the moment. No need to complicate things.

Ok, whenever something is a little too big to handle for one, single, soul, these dependencies come into play. We become more or less dependent on others help and support, in order to reach our goals.

If these dependencies are based on choice, then all is well. However, if we're given no real choices, then such relationships may not be any good at all.

freedom to choose...

Once we've lost our freedom to choose, then we've also lost our independence. We have also lost our independence if none of the available choices are somewhat in line with our wants and needs.

As the number of (almost) identical choices are on the rise, the number of real choices are dwindling, so our freedom to choose may be more of an illusion than anything else.

"They can choose any color they like, as long as it's black" Henry Ford said.

So much for freedom to choose, and it hasn't become any better even if he has stopped speaking. On the other hand: he created his own freedom to choose – on behalf of others. He simply left them no choice...

Are there any choices left for us?
Miao — yes!

the illusion of independency...

No one is completely independent in this world. Those who say they are, are just playing "the game of pretending". Few are as dependent on others as those who think they are independent. They need all others in order to stay independent amongst them.

It all depends on what we are depending on and what we are independent of, and most don't want to look very far into such relationships. Most can't see the need to look anywhere, so they don't care to look at all. Life's too short, and they don't have time to think about it – or even live it, beyond the moment. Many don't even notice the moment before it's gone and lost forever.

Note that I didn't write "who we are depending on / independent of".
The "who's who" is accidental – as someone just happen to be around and have a name. Some, or most, are completely nameless – or their names aren't noticed by others, but they are around.

a free spirit on the web…

You see: I've made choices. These choices are not set in stone, so they may not last. That's the good thing about being independent: the freedom to choose is the only real dependency there is – for me. I'm a free spirit.

I'm growing more and more independent as I learn more and more about dependencies. Knowledge is the road to independence, which some see as the road to ~~he..~~ disloyalty. Loyalty works best when it's based on ignorance, so that may be why some prefer to keep it that way.

I'm only loyal to whatever, or whoever, meets my wants and needs, and I'm the only judge of what that, or those, might be. This may not be to everybody's liking, but I'm a cat, you see.

My loyalty is not for sale, and can not be claimed by anyone – it has to be earned. Once it's earned it stays until the base is broken or left to rot. This happens all too often, as words and deeds are easily separated once power-hunger and shortsightedness takes over. What isn't maintained will eventually break apart and rot away. Every good cat knows that!

My loyalty is quality-dependent, so for the time being my choice of browser is Opera. I'm basing my choice on what Opera can do for me – now. Everything else is irrelevant.

free – everywhere…

I've also chosen to stay close to this place on God's good earth, so I can drink warm cow-milk every day. This dependency is my choice to make, you see. I think most of you may agree on this being a good choice – for a cat.

In return I'm doing my part in the fight against rodents of all kinds, and I'm really good at it. No wonder they have made me Chief Inspector and Master bug-hunter on the web too, since there's no end to something to hunt on out here.

Here I am, and ready to play ball.
Now, where is that blue 'e' hiding its bugs…

Don't think for a moment that a few patches and a new version-number makes a difference. The browser with the blue 'e' is depending on its bugs, and will probably never get rid of them.

Most of its bugs will become part of the next “HTML standard”, and will probably stay with us for as long as we are in need of a mark-up language.
So much for independence…

I'll have my work cut out for the foreseeable future – and probably beyond. Good thing I can choose to leave when I like, since I'm not caught up in any dependencies.

sincerely molly 'the cat'