I don’t know if this is a good or a bad thing, as it puts a timeline on my age.  Well, of course, I have nothing to hide about my age—not like some people do. And, in fact, I’m very happy and surprised to have made it this far in life, as I never expected to. But, I’m getting way too far off subject here…

Anyway…
 
I’m one of the OG’s on the internet. I was one of the early people to partake of what was to become, long before it was even called the internet. No, I wasn’t using it in the 1960s when it was called, ARPANET, and basically used for the military. But, I was there when it was first opening up to the wider public.
 
I got on it at a time when I was in Grad School and doing research for my Ph.D. It opened up so many more options. I was able to read research papers and articles from newspaper from afar, right in my own home, which was my apartment in Hermosa Beach. It was great. This was long before personal websites, social media, and the like.
 
I watched it evolve. I was there as it evolved. And, I have often found its evolution curious, while also witnessing the very negative aspects of it. We all know about those.
 
As the evolution has moved to AI over the past couple of years, I have become very enthralled with what has taken place. The level of information that can be had, is so much more haveable. Though, through my own research, what is presented, in many cases, is very biased.
 
I mean, at least in the Right Now, AI only grabs from what is already out there. So, if a lot of one side of the argument is being propagated across the web, that is what AI picks up on.
 
I’ve spoken about this is the deep past, here in this blog, about search on Google, (which is obviously the main search site across the globe). But, back in the day, when someone wanted info on Hapkido for example, articles on my site would be some of the first to come up. All Good. Happy to be of service. Now, that’s not the case. But, why? What changed? Even in the search of and for Scott Shaw, I have fallen by the wayside.
 
In some ways I find that very interesting, in that, (and I’ve told this story in the past), back in the day, not all that many years ago, the cartoonists Scott Shaw, (who I've never met), did not even come in the search for Scott Shaw, even though he had produced massive amounts of products. I was the one who actually contacted Google, back when you could do such things, and suggested they put him into their search. Which they did. Now, he is there and I am gone. Well not gone, but not near as prominent as I once was.
 
And, please know, this is not a thing about ego or anything like that, it is just a thing about life and the reality of the age in which we live.
 
In a moment I am going to show you what Google AI has to say to about me and this situation. But, before that, I want you to take a moment and to think about how you interact with the information that is provided to you on the internet. Of course, as the old joke goes, "The internet never lies," when we all know that to not be the case.
 
I mean, just last weekend, I wanted to check and see if this flea market I like to go to was going to be open, as it has been raining really hard here in L.A. over the past few days. Google said, "Yes," it would be open. I get up early, drive all the way over there, and nana, it was closed.  While driving away, I decide to check again. This time Google said, "No, closed." Annoying! That's just an example about the truth of the internet.
 
Really, think about this, how much information that you find on the internet do you instantly believe? I'm not even going to go into the whole deal with Content Creators and Trolls and all of the people who have nothing better to do than to spout their opinions, as wrong as their opinions may be, but just the internet, just Google for example, how much do you instantly believe? And, maybe the better question should be, how much should you believe?
 
Really think about this… Think about this the next time you ask a question of that Wizard of Oz, hidden behind the veil of Google.
 
As for Googles definition of me… Here it is, as they title it, as Google titles me, Niche Subject Matter.

Scott Shaw: Niche Subject Matter
 
·  Niche subject matter: The Scott Shaw who is an author is primarily known for writing numerous books and articles on Eastern philosophy, Zen Buddhism, Yoga, and martial arts, particularly Hapkido. While he has published extensively with reputable publishers like Simon & Schuster and Tuttle Publishing, these topics appeal to a specific audience, which results in a less “prominent” general public visibility compared to a mainstream fiction author.
 
·  Diverse publication types: His writing career includes poetry, literary fiction in journals, and non-fiction books, which can make it harder to categorize him as a single, highly visible “author” of a breakout bestseller in general searches.
 
·  “Zen Filmmaking” focus: He is also an actor and filmmaker who created a unique, free-form “Zen Filmmaking” style, a niche pursuit that further diversifies his profile away from traditional authorship. 
 
In essence, his online presence is a reflection of a prolific career spread across numerous specialized fields, rather than a lack of achievement. He is well-known within his specific communities (martial arts, niche philosophy, classic animation history) but not a general “author” in the popular cultural sense.