April 14th 2010 - Releasing Blame - Part 2

In order to clarify my last post, I want to use the analogy of an operating system. There are hackers all over the world that make a hobby of trying to infect our computers' operating systems with malicious software. In order to do so, they exploit weaknesses or vulnerabilities in our operating systems. In order to protect ourselves, we buy anti-virus software, which is constantly updated to protect against the newest threats. This software monitors any process happening in our operating system, at any time, for suspicious behavior. Running an operating system without anti-virus software these days is considered irresponsible and foolhardy. Hackers are working 24/7 to find new vulnerabilities to exploit, and constantly looking for operating systems with their guards down. It seems there is always some new weakness to exploit. Anti-virus software makers must be vigilant on our behalves - constantly watching for the newest vulnerabilities and threats - to help us protect our operating systems. If there are no vulnerabilities to exploit, the hackers are harmless to us.

Our minds are like the operating system. In our minds, we have all these memories, emotions, habits and automatic responses stored. A lot of this software is vulnerable to being exploited by certain people who know how to push our buttons. Some of these buttons are right on the surface, and easy for anybody to find. But some of them are buried deep in the subconscious, and are not found until the more evident ones are uncovered. If we walk around with these buttons exposed long enough, someone is going to push one. It's just a matter of time. It's the nature of life.

How do we protect against our buttons being pushed? What anti-virus software can we use to protect us from our own vulnerabilities? The first step, again, is to take responsibility for our vulnerabilities. We need to understand that our weaknesses are our own, and it is only because of our weaknesses that anyone can hurt us. If we did not have vulnerable programming within us, no matter what anybody would say or do to us, we would not need to react with anger, frustration and blame. We could keep our operating systems running smoothly, despite the probing of others for our vulnerabilities. Remember, if there are no vulnerabilities, these probes are harmless.

Taking full responsibility for our vulnerabilities is crucial to securing our operating systems. Taking responsibility doesn't mean we have to do it alone. We can employ the help of those who have been successful in securing their own operating systems, and often that is the more responsible route to take.

Let's continue this discussion tomorrow.

Taking Responsibility,
Alan