Mendel Bluming | Blogger

What do you think, should you thank Siri for her assistance?   Some would suggest that it’s just good manners. We say thank you to be polite. Life is more civil when our interactions with others are sprinkled with expressions of etiquette and courteous pleasantries. It’s just nicer that way. If this is the reason to say thank you, then we should thank our software too. By doing so, we create a sense of decorum and civility. It doesn't matter that the technology has no feelings. Our thank you doesn't have feelings either. It’s just protocol. But there is another way of looking at thank you. It is an acknowledgement of choice. When someone does me a favor, they could have chosen not to. Yet they chose to give me their time, energy, attention or resources. So they deserve my gratitude. I appreciate that they chose to share themselves with me, so I say thank you. This only applies to a free agent who can choose. An inanimate object does not deserve thanks, because it did no

The Medrash tells the story of a king who allowed one of his subjects whom he wanted to award, an hour in his treasuries. He was allowed to take whatever he would like. The king also served hors d’oeuvres and expensive drinks were poured and he had beautiful music playing and rare artwork was displayed. The man had plenty of time and so he spent time on the desserts and the drinks and listening to the music and looking at the art until he realized that his time was almost up! He ran to grab a treasure but alas it was almost too late and what he was able to take was minuscule..   We each have limited time on this precious earth with so much to accomplish. Your mission, your Mitzvahs are like treasures, precious beyond measure. G-d also provides ample distractions to challenge you and make your choices meaningful. Your safety is very important still Omicron is not the major story of the week, your mission in life is. COVID is not the big story of the last two years. Don’t allow your

I know a big worrier. Everyone told him that worrying doesn’t help anything. One day he realized that 90% of the things that he worried about never came to fruition. His conclusion: Worrying does help!   And he is right. Worrying does help. But you don't have to be the one to do the worrying. You can outsource it. Let G-d worry for you. It comes as a surprise to most of us to learn that we are not running the universe. We are only given control over a small sliver of reality. We choose our behavior, our actions and reactions. We do not choose what impact our actions will have. Whether we succeed or fail, whether we are accepted or rejected, whether we are appreciated or misunderstood is not in our control. It would be unfair of G-d to make us responsible for a problem that we are powerless to resolve. We can only do what we can do. We can make plans, and we can take precautions. They may or may not be successful. That is G-d’s problem. So let Him do the worrying.  Try this

Gratitude is an acknowledgement of choice. When someone does me a favor, they could have chosen not to. Yet they chose to give me their time, energy, attention or resources. So they deserve my gratitude. I appreciate that they chose to share themselves with me, so I say thank you.   This only applies to a free agent who can choose. An inanimate object does not deserve thanks, because it did not choose anything. We don’t thank the oven for the food, or the car for the ride. We need not thank Siri for her answers. She didn’t choose to share her knowledge with us. The choice was ours, and she is merely the tool. (You may have an obligation to thank the tech giants who made Siri. But you thanked them plenty when you paid for the device. And you continue to thank them by giving them your personal data.) Now you may ask, is there anything wrong with saying thanks to Siri? Isn’t it at least ingraining a good habit? Maybe not. Thanking a robot may be the beginning of a very dangerous h