text:
- Jason Pontin
- Cambridge, MA
- United States
Editor in Chief/Publisher, MIT's Technology Review
This conversation is closed.
"Why Can't We Solve Big Problems?"
I'll be giving a TED U Talk in Longbeach at the end of the month. I'll be asking "Why Can't We Solve Big Problems?" I think that blithe optimism about technology's powers has evaporated as big problems that people had imagined technology would solve, such as hunger, poverty, malaria, climate change, cancer, and the diseases of old age, have come to seem intractably hard.
I'd love to know what the TED Community thinks our difficulties are - or, even if the idea is true at all.
Here's a URL to the story I wrote in MIT Technology Review on the subject: http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/429690/why-we-cant-solve-big-problems/
Feb 23 2013: Because technology is just a tool, not an intelligence in itself. Technology is a very poor innovator, has no intuition whatsoever and is not cognizant of the human sensibilities it is supposed to serve.
We seem to have lost sight of the notion that humans are supposed to be the master intelligence - not the technology we ourselves have created.
In short, the bright sparks of imagination, intuition and innovation required to come up with solutions to big problems have got hopelessly lost in a thick fog of technology, administrative procedures, lawsuits, health and safety legislation and politics - to name but a few.
Marc J
Feb 23 2013: Hear, hear! To borrow a phrase, "the mind is a terrible thing to waste!"
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Feb 23 2013: I remember when they started installing "smartboards" in our school.
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I thought to myself, what the school needs is more "smart teachers"....not another techy toy which half the faculty will just let hang around collecting dust.
I second Marc's statement!!Feb 24 2013: Did you miss Pontin's point here, "technologists have diverted us and enriched themselves with trivial toys."?
If technology is just a "tool" what work is be being used for? My guess is that it is busy keeping us pacified and entertained, perhaps "distracted" from the real problems is the best way to put it..
But these tools can and are being used in innovative new ways in areas of the world where survival depends on them. Charles Leadbeater describes this in his TEDTalk:
" Because actually radical innovation does sometimes come from the very best, but it often comes from places where you have huge need -- unmet, latent demand -- and not enough resources for traditional solutions to work -- traditional, high-cost solutions, which depend on professionals, which is what schools and hospitals are."
Education is one of these areas where as Leadbeater says: "Our education systems all work on the principle that there is a payoff, but you have to wait quite a long time. That's too long if you're poor. Waiting 10 years for the payoff from education is too long when you need to meet daily needs, when you've got siblings to look after or a business to help with. So you need education to be relevant and help people to make a living there and then, often. And you also need to make it intrinsically interesting."
He adds, "....science has opened up successively different vantage points from which we can see ourselves, and that's why it's so valuable. So the vantage point you take determines virtually everything that you will see. The question that you will ask will determine much of the answer that you get."
Feb 24 2013: Hi Theodore. Yes, I guess I did miss that, and it's a good point about diverting 'trivial toys'
Thanks for the Charles Leadbeater link!Feb 14 2013: I've been noticing a pattern. In your article with MIT Technology Review and in the comments of a number of people are lines similar to the following: "We could solve this problem if only such and such group thought or behaved differently than they do." Well, there's your answer. Focusing just on technological developments as the means of solving the world's ills is insufficient. There needs to be much more focus on how do we change people's thoughts and behaviors. These problems are best solved by behavioral scientists. Allow me to provide a more extreme example for clarity: Science is a double-edged sword. What can be used to help can also be used to harm. Eventually, people will have access to the means to do tremendous harm to other people, the environment, etc. This is a byproduct of technological advancement. If these people are malevolent, this is of tremendous concern. While it's certainly a good idea to develop vaccines and radiation detectors and other technologies to help keep us from being harmed by these malevolent actors, these technologies are insufficient when it comes to stopping the threat. Again, I suggest the solution is with the behavioral sciences. One problem is that people do not really understand or appreciate the benefits of the behavioral sciences. If a radiation detector stops a dirty bomb from entering a nation at a port, the benefits of this technology are very obvious. If a psychologist's research leads to policies that lessen extremism, causing group members to rule out using a dirty bomb in the first place, the world may never make the connection. For reasons well beyond the scope of my comments, the behavioral sciences are under appreciated in terms of their utility to help solve some of the world's biggest problems. Unfortunately, what's required to change this isn't just a funding increase in behavioral science research---it's an absolute sea change in how people view the utility of the behavioral sciences.
Jason Pontin
Feb 14 2013: Yes, I think that's right: the main reasons why we can't solve big problems with technology is that we either don't want or our institutions have failed. In other words, it's a human failure more than anything else.
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Feb 15 2013: Actually we can solve poverty with technology and capitalism , would you like to know how?
Jason Pontin
Feb 15 2013: Yes, sure. I mean, if it's science fiction (that is, involving technologies that don't yet exist, or couldn't plausibly exist), I'll take it with a grain of salt - but, by all means, solve poverty.Feb 15 2013: Ok, so the fundamental part of Capitalism is that people have to make less money so other people can make more. This can be seen in today's current economy as the 99% vs. the 1% in America. What most Americans don't realize is that the 99% of Americas are also in the top 1% of the world.
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Because I am able to run my business in a free market, my plan is to limit my employee's salary, as well as my own, to an amount no greater than $100,000 per year for life. I already have 3 business ventures that I am currently working to get off the ground. These businesses are as follows; One in Marketing, one in 3D printing, and one that can be best described somewhat as a Jiffy Lube for nail salons. As I've previously stated, my employee's and I will never make more than $100,000 a year in income. Furthermore, I plan to automate the jobs completed by my employees and create machines that will complete the work for them. However, I will still pay them their annual salary. I will be able to accomplish this with the capital received from the automated services my businesses will provide. As an employer, I don't really care who or what does the work as long as it gets done. With the future IT companies I plan to establish, I will be able to spread Wi-Fi coverage to everyone in the country, cheaper than it's already being done. In addition, I will also have the ability to offer more coverage in more places. I will show those employees how they can outsource their job to 3rd world workers, where they can basically double that person's income by only paying them a tenth of what I plan to pay my employees. This will allow my employees to semi-retire and still complete all the necessary job requirements. Essentially, this method will enable me to rescue my employees as well as the 3rd world workers from a life of poverty. This can be seen as a trickledown effect, which current businesses like to pretend they already accomplish.Feb 15 2013: The best part about this plan is that my "semi-retired" employees will have the buying power. Therefore, they will buy from my company instead of from my competitors. Much like a lobbyist, I will be "bribing" my employees for their loyalty in the form of the semi-retired salary, which they will make for the rest of their lives. My employees will know the more they buy from me, the more people we can rescue from poverty.
Once I educate my employees on how money actually works, they will realize it is a juggling act and my enterprise will be the ultimate juggler. This will also allow the removal of government welfare programs, thus lowering everyone's tax rates. This will be effective simply because I will be paying people for doing nothing. From then on they can volunteer or spend their time completing more hospitable and fulfilling activities while having job security.
If 25% of the world companies and charities used this model instead of our current model how fast do you think we can end poverty?
Matt Smith
Feb 17 2013: Well said, as a mental health professional I cannot stress how limitless the benefits could be for the human civilization, if we apply it appropriately.
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Feb 17 2013: Thank you,
What do you think it will take for us to apply this method? Do you think we really want to end poverty or is it just talk?
Feb 17 2013: " ... do we really want to end poverty ...?
Good question !
Maybe people want to end poverty but not for the sake of their own prosperity.
If we solve a little problem with our big ego, big problems will become little :)Feb 17 2013: Wouldn't ending poverty add prosperity?
Feb 17 2013: Yes, if you think globally.
Government as an institution is meant to protect interests of the country. Its strategy is to keep poverty at a distance. As an implication, the prosperity becomes ours and poverty theirs.
And it doesn't want to end their poverty at the expense of our prosperity.Feb 18 2013: Lets rephrase the question to ask the much more empowering question how HOW CAN WE SOLVE BIG PROBLEMS? Then we may come up with the big solutions needed to do so.
Feb 18 2013: I agree Michelle, that focusing on what we CAN do is more energizing and empowering than focusing on what we cannot do....excellent point!!!Feb 18 2013: i think you might be missing something here.
it is important to keep a positive perspective, yes, but it is equally important to seek out and identify anything that might hinder us (the human race) from achieving progress.
the fact of the matter is that we are capable of solving world hunger, equalizing global economy, and reversing environmental damage. however, these endeavors are not profitable to the entities that are capable of setting them into motion. if, by "Big Problems", we are referring to problems on a global scale, than i think the answer is capitalism. the world as a whole is obsessed with ownership, competition, money, profit, etc. and as a result, moralistic goals will always fall short of our need of luxury. we can solve the problems, but only by sacrificing capitalism.
we all want to solve world hunger, but nobody is willing to question how it's possible in America to find braised Eel in countless restaurants that are thousands of miles away from the ocean, yet in Ethiopia it is almost impossible to eat enough to survive.
Feb 19 2013: William,
I agree that it is "equally important to seek out and identify anything that might hinder....achieving progress".
My interpretation of Michells's comment, and reinforcement of the idea is "FOCUS". Once we know what might be hindering progress, it may be good to focus our attention on solutions. Sometimes, it feels like we (humans) go round and round complaining and evaluating the challenges in our world, without genuinely seeking solutions. I agree with you that we (humans) are often obsessed with ownership, competition, money, profit, etc, and we are very good at theorizing!
"One of the great difficulties in the new order of thought is that we are likely to indulge in too much theory and too little practice."
(Ernest Holmes - "The Science of Mind")
Feb 19 2013: Ms. Steen,
I truly agree with your statement, and believe that the development of effective courses of action is just as important as their implementation.
the one thing i seem to observe, however, is that good ideas are not something we are in short supply of. everything is opensource, now. people are connected all across the world on a level that we've never seen. the progress of infrastructure in Africa is beginning to advance to the level of continent-wide casual internet access, which will make for a 20-30% increase in size to the global think tank.
the problem that i see is that the decision of what the general effort of the human race will be is in the wrong hands. i think it's important for people to realize that there is something wrong with our governments, and that no matter what political stance you take, or activism you promote, no agenda is going to supersede that of the corporations, banks, etc. that own this planet, and that agenda seems to explicitly demonize individual aptitude, self reliance, peace, and pretty much anything that can fall under the broad definition of "a solution to a global problem."Feb 23 2013: You make some good points William. Good ideas are not something we are in short supply of....people are connected throughout the world. WE are the governments...WE elect and appoint the leaders. When/if enough people take back their own power to think, feel, share ideas respectfully and genuinely work together, we may see some changes. Actually, I believe change is happening right now.
Because of our advanced communication systems, (including TED), which facilitate more awareness, we are uncovering corruption in politics, corporations, religions, etc. Corruption and abuse of human rights thrives in isolation.
What we focus on expends. I prefer to spend time and energy focusing on what we CAN do that will move us toward solving our global issues, rather than spending time and energy debating why we think we cannot Solve Big Problems.
Jeff Nikaido
Feb 19 2013: I agree with your idea to re-focus the question. I also believe that the term "solve" can also be misleading. As others have asserted once a "problem is solved" then another one will take its place. It is an unending cycle to continually "solve" problems. Rather taking steps in the name of progress and expanding knowledge have no definitive "end", so there is not the disappointment/frustration that can come with a solution-based strategy.
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Feb 19 2013: Good point Jeff! I believe that as evolving humans, there may always be challenges, so if we know and understand this, we begin to look at the life experience in a different way? We can continually progress and expand with knowledge and technology without a definitive end result. I agree with you that this practice gives us (as individuals, AND as a global community) more freedom, time and energy to move forward and improve life circumstances, rather than spending time and energy with disappointment and frustration that can come with a solution-based strategy:>)Mar 1 2013: I see that you have given your TED U Talk. Hopefully I'll see it here, as the question is provocative. Provocative in many different ways and levels. It appears to me that I am not alone in the belief that we are solving the problems and yes, the big ones but, its not technology that's doing it. Apologies to those taking offense at that remark. I am fully aware that at MIT the "T" stands for technology and having spent my youth in Malden I take great pride in things on both banks of the Charles.
We are the big "problem". The technologies we develop may give insight to some of our goals and desires but we are not our technologies. Things not achievable are not necessarily problems. Desires unfulfilled are just that, not problems. Mankind dramatically progresses, in the Shakespearean sense. We explore the skies beyond the scope of imagination and yet, our degree of ignorance for that within arm's reach is numbing. Communities within and surrounding MIT, people in India and Japan, motivated by their compassion for mankind, they go on to solve the "big problems", at times flying possibly to Mars, other times getting food and clothing to those who need it most.
I was very happy, yet not the least bit surprised, to see similar sentiment expressed or hinted at by others. Is hunger a problem for technology today? Do current technologies not suffice to solve the problem ten times over? "We" are the big problems. "We" are the big solutions. Looking forward to your talk.
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Feb 16 2013: What sort of design do you do, Carolyn, if you do not mind my asking?
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Feb 16 2013: How wonderful, Caroline, to have such DIY energy! The security guards at the local art museum often are engaged like this outside of their paying work and some show and sell some of their creations now and then, but not as their steady income.
My neighbor went to RISD and she too can make anything..Feb 16 2013: Wholeheartedly agree with you !
We've talked ourselves to belief that nature is mute, but in fact, nature is the only evaluable statement.
We are deaf and blind and we should do something about it. The question is What and How.
Jared Kent
Feb 15 2013: Big problems is a wide ranging issue. Our main issue with technology is: instead of wisdom we are gaining knowledge. Knowledge is a piece of what makes wisdom, but we need to have the other parts of wisdom as well. Love, compassion, higher thinking.
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I think maybe once you attempt to solve all the "big problems" you may be left chasing your own tail. Why is this? That is the biggest problem of all! Why does attempting to solve "big problems" end in a logical tail chase?
My personal opinion on our problems is that we are living by an outdated system of life, a.k.a. society, a.k.a. economic system, a.k.a. government, a.k.a. Overall thought process. As a manufacturing engineer my life centers around finding root causes to problems (as any optimist knows a problem is really just an opportunity)
In a root cause analysis of our problems I come down to needing large systematic changes. In other words as human beings we need to be enlightened to a higher thinking. Logically from an engineering standpoint our system is set up incorrectly. If I created a car that lasts indefinitely and could sell for $5 that ran on water....everyone from our government to the guy on Ford's assembly line would hate me and stop me from making said car. Our economic system is set up to create garbage. Garbage in, garbage out. The garbage in is our logically backwards thinking that less jobs is bad, long lasting products are bad for business, and money is all life is about.
With less pointless work we can spend more time enjoying life, creating, and researching how to solve REAL human "big problems"
Lionel Leigo
Feb 15 2013: The problem with a problem is that it is problematically labelled as a problem, a negative focus or a negative impacting design, which is affecting or will be affecting a positive.
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To first enable a problem to become a non-problem it may first need to be relabelled.
e.g. there is no such thing as a "problem", there are only opportunities to improve.
Hence the opportunity which was previously mislabelled, the mislabelling is the problem, the question should be, "Why does it take so long to make significant improvements"?
Therein lies the problem solved, improvements develop over time with greater shared thinking and input/commitment.
The bigger the required improvement, the bigger the stakeholder input is required, man is selfish, therefore, the improvement is still lacking.
Fritzie -
Feb 15 2013: I do like the idea of focusing on opportunities for improvement.Feb 16 2013: I agree Lionel....once we label something a "problem", we sometimes fail to see the opportunity.
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As long as we say it is "hard", "difficult", "impossible", etc., that is the reality we create for ourselves.
"It's not a problem....it's a feature"!
As thinking, feeling, evolving, creative human beings, we have the tools to improve many situations in our global communities. When we look at all the issues we could be dealing with, it sometimes seems overwhelming, and I think that feeling often causes people to think/feel that any action is too small to make a difference.
I believe it helps to focus on one step at a time, and each step, by every single individual in our global community is valuable. Every journey begins with a single step, and if we can focus on how the steps add up, we are on our way to change. With each new step, we improve and develop with greater shared thinking, input and commitment. One thing our communications technology is facilitating, is connections around our world:>)
Fritzie -
Feb 16 2013: What you say- that people tend to under-invest energy in problems when they believe their actions will be too small to make a difference has been demonstrated in experiments. This is also, interestingly, one reason so many solicitations for funds for worthy causes feature individuals one can sponsor and so forth rather than offering big picture numbers for people at risk in various ways.
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I am absolutely with you that everyone can make a difference (the Drew Dudley talk immediately comes to mind) and I too live that way. In fact, I am a strong believer that figuring out how we can best contribute and then doing it consistently is a valuable way of life.
Feb 16 2013: In addition to varified experiments Fritzie, I unfortunately, hear it all the time...
Some people do not recycle because they do not feel that their effort makes any difference. I get kidded a lot for saving and reusing plastic bags.....because some folks say my effort doesn't make any difference. Can you imagine how much of a difference it would make if everyone in our world participated in these seemingly "small" efforts?
I'm sometimes told that conserving electricity and water doesn't make any difference because we have "plenty" to use. Some folks do not look beyond the switch on the wall, or the faucet, to realize that conserving our resources IS important!
BTW.....I am SO excited to have had a meeting this week with a company that is working with power companies in this state, installing solar panals on individual homes for NO upfront cost. It will reduce my electric bill, put energy into the grid, and reduce my "footprint"......win/win/win! I'm really excited!Feb 16 2013: Around here, the city is vehement about recycling. The price structure for garbage collection provides incentive to recycle and separate recycling. Picking up recycling is free but garbage costs, depending on the size of can.
Stores are not permitted to give you groceries in plastic bags and must charge for paper bags, so everyone brings their bags back to refill or uses a tote of some kind.
There are also incentives for energy retrofits.
Ross G
Feb 14 2013: And are they profitable? ie. The treatment tends to be substantially more profitable than the cure.
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Gail .
Feb 14 2013: Succinctly put!Feb 14 2013: as soon as there is a cure, it is infinitely more profitable than a long treatment. because nobody will choose the long treatment anymore. its market shrinks to zero.
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Kunal Shah
Feb 13 2013: I admire your willingness to address the areas that have been largely ignored such as hunger, poverty, malaria, climate change, cancer, and the diseases of old age, have come to seem intractably hard.
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Hunger and poverty can be changed easily, its just that there is no political will. I am an Indian who was born in Kenya, and I noticed that the Israelis helped us learn farming in the desert and they did also set up a farm for the hungry and poor too. Once it was handed over to those who it was created for, the minister who was in charge of the area simply stole the money it was generating thereby destroying the farm.
The leaders prefer the hungry stay hungry and poor so that they can attract donor aid that they simply steal and stash in Swiss bank accounts. The poor are used as bait to attract money and assistance that does not go to those who need it, last time the food purchased to feed the hungry was sold in the local markets and the starving and hungry simply died.
Malaria can be solved using quinine, and there are many other methods to work it out.
Climate change too can be worked upon, offering to re-afforest some countries shall work out well, in Kenya we only have 2-3% forest cover instead of having a 35% forest cover, making deals with foreign governments so as to be allowed to plant trees and maintain the forests.
Cancer and old age diseases - might be a game for the pharmaceutical companies to make money with, imagine if the world were to be disease free or even a reduction of diseases by up to 30% itself would mean a huge reduction of profits, jobs, revenue... for the economy overall.
So to reiterate the issues discussed it is the lack of political will to solve the most pressing problems. The solutions have existed but addressing them has not been the motive of many countries and society, I'm sure more than 80% of the worlds population would like to have a better world.Feb 13 2013: Technology is solving big problems, but new problems crop up all the time. Entropy in all contexts is a constant, and human beings can only do so much, so quickly, to stem the onslaught of new / evolving problems.
Another factor to consider when it comes to human civilization is that, as much as we change the external world / reality, we are still guided largely by human nature, something which hasn't changed substantively in thousands of years; further, human nature easily and quickly reverts to primal instincts, often with dire consequences.
Our best tools for fixing humanity's problems usually involve improving the way we approach or understand the world and each other.
Feb 14 2013: We exist an increasingly complex system. These "new problems" that you speak of are an emergent property of our increasing complexity. "Fixing" the problems, implies the wrong headed notion of installing our sense of order and control on nature, instead of better understand the "system" and its complex nature.
Feb 14 2013: I wouldn't call vaccines, for example, wrong-headed, nor many other medical and scientific breakthroughs. Nor would I agree that attempts to heal the environment are wrong-headed.
To put a very fine point on it, if an asteroid were approaching the earth, should we use our knowledge and skills to attempt to avert a collision, or simply "understand the 'system' and its complex nature"?
You seem to be, potentially, mixing problems created by humanity with those created by nature. Whatever the case, I would suggest it's in our best interests, and perhaps those of the world, that we continue to try to find solutions to problems. This is what humans do, it's how we adapt. It is our nature.
Feb 14 2013: How much complexity theory do you understand?
The asteroid problem is not an "emergent property" of increasing complexity. Global warming is. DDT was intended to address a "problem." How did that work out?Feb 14 2013: I was addressing the original question about tackling big problems, not just the subset of problems created by humankind. In any event, we can choose to address the problems, or not. Perhaps the issue you're having is with my terminology 'fix.' By 'fix' I simply mean address, deal with.
Feb 14 2013: "I seek not to know the answers, but to understand the questions" Master Po.Feb 14 2013: Michael,
You say...."....as much as we change the external world / reality, we are still guided largely by human nature, something which hasn't changed substantively in thousands of years; further, human nature easily and quickly reverts to primal instincts, often with dire consequences."
To some extent, I agree with your statement, and on the other hand, I like to think/feel that with evolution, we are learning, growing and becoming more aware? If we continue to reinforce the idea that humans are NOT changing....that we are guided simply by human nature....that we revert to primal instincts...,.are we reinforcing the attitudes and behaviors we would like to change?
I very much agree...
"Our best tools for fixing humanity's problems usually involve improving the way we approach or understand the world and each other."
How about if we change our perception of humans and recognize that we may be evolving beyond primal instincts? New approach?
Feb 14 2013: I agree with you, Colleen: we are evolving emotionally, intellectually; we are on the whole moving in the right direction with, of course, some notable exceptions. What I was referring to was our core nature, our instincts, our animal side...the id, if you will, not the super ego, to lift some Freudian terminology.
You make a great point: it's important for us to appeal to humanity's better self, to ask and help people to think beyond their own self interest, to consider others. In other words, to evolve their thinking.
Feb 14 2013: I agree Michael, that it is important to appeal to humanity's "better self", and encourage people to think beyond their own self interest and consider others....evolve.
I think I understand what you refer to when talking about our core nature, instincts, and animal side. I believe those elements of "us" are evolving, to the point of being able to see beyond instinct and animal behavior. We are multi sensory, multi dimensional human beings, and if we are more aware of the possibilities, we could change some perceptions and have a new approach.
As long as we continue to reinforce the idea that our core nature, our instincts and animal side cannot be changed, that is the reality we create.
For example:
I co-facilitated "cognitive self change" sessions with offenders of domestic violence who were incarcerated. The guys often said something like...it's natural...instinctive, to slap somebody who tics us off. That is just "natural".
You see? If we continue to reinforce the idea that there are natural animal instincts at our core, which cannot be changed, I think we do a disservice to humanity.Feb 14 2013: I don't know if we're capable of changing our instincts. I see cake, I want it; but my higher mind tells me, "Hey, that belongs to my wife. Don't touch it." The goal is to teach people to think things through. I know that my children, who are not yet four, have very base instincts. My job as a parent is to help them evolve their behavior. Do I change what is deep down inside? Maybe. But I know I can help change what is closer to the surface.
Great points, Colleen.
Feb 14 2013: EXACTLY Michael! I don't think we can change our instincts either. We CAN however, change the way we use the information. I totally agree....give people the tools to be able to think and feel things through.
Many of the old instinctive behaviors were knee jerk reactions without any thought or feeling. Absolutely.....we can support others in the quest to evolve behaviors. I don't think we want or need to change what is deep down inside. We CAN change how it affects us and others. We CAN change our thoughts, feelings and behaviors to be more beneficial to ourselves and the whole of humankind.
One of the first steps in this approach, is to discontinue talking about abusive, violent animal behaviors as something natural that cannot be changed. As thinking, feeling, intelligent, evolving human beings, we have choices:>)Feb 14 2013: Let's compare these two statement:
One thing to keep in mind: our beliefs shape our world view. That is to say, the entire construct of what we feel and know is shaped by our beliefs, whether those beliefs originate from faith or reason."
"Our best tools for fixing humanity's problems usually involve improving the way we approach or understand the world and each other."
Understanding the world often conflicts with our beliefs about the world. Which do we reshape?
Feb 14 2013: In the ideal world, people would be willing to question their beliefs, thus reshaping their world view. That's not often the case.Feb 13 2013: I do not think we can get rid of all world's problems. The best we can do is to substitute old problems with new problems. What happens in the macro scale only reflects the micro - it is impossible to be 100% healthy. Cure one ailment and you will only open the way for another. And who knows what is better? sometimes the old familiar problem is better because one knows what to expect from it. I do not want to say we should ignore malaria, cancer and other serious problems but we should not expect that once they are battled, there will not be any more problems comming.
Feb 19 2013: -Namaste
I feel a problem to you, might be a lesson to another. All problems in math have solutions, some might just be far more infinite than finite right? I hope I can use that mathematical analogy to apply to this general discussion of problems. Math is considered a universal language after all correct?Mar 10 2013: We have solved big problems. Better tests that detect cancer earlier, advanced materials that make things lighter, stronger, and use less resources, drugs that fight HIV and extend the lives of people, communications technology that connects us to other parts of the world almost instantly, mapping of the human genome, and the list goes on and on. Each time there is a new innovation, we get closer and closer to solving the really big, complex problems. If we have people focusing on these problems, we will get there.Mar 6 2013: Years ago, the first TED talk I ever watched was by Liz Coleman:
She made a great point that higher education corrals us into specialization, often at the expense of having the skill of integrative thinking with other fields. So, when specialists are called on to solve the world's multi-faceted problems, they tend to work isolated in their own heads, unable to truly understand how something from another field can provide synergy with what they can offer. This is why we can't solve big problems.
For me personally, I think the root of the problem is two things: we don't philosophize anymore and we are hopelessly classist and protectionist. First, it's rare that we step back and look at entire systems to understand them. For example, we'll recycle our cans like good citizens, but not invest the time to understand if cans and what's contained in them are worth the health, public money and environmental issues they create.
And we are classist and protectionist. MIT itself may have publishing biases toward high profiled projects, engineers, or ideas that will attract more attention / philanthropic funds (I'm making this up!). We don't poke around developing countries enough to see if there are better ideas there. "Innovation" is disproportionately a Western, male, moneyed thing. Clinical trials showing old medicine that cures new ailments have no potential for patent-protection (and therefore riches for pharmaceutical companies) and are ignored. This is probably true of dichloroacetate on cancer cells: http://bit.ly/Tq0Uo5
This is why we slog along, IMHO.
Dave Smith
Mar 5 2013: Technology will be part of solving big problems but it is only a tool for it. People will always look after their own self interest which is the main reason most big problems have not been solved or even why more problems have been created. The internet itself is an amazing tool to share information and ideas but it eventually evolved into a mechanism for people and businesses to make money. Sure their are a lot of people who use technology to do good things and work to solve problems but the underlying theme has always and will always be human nature to advance for its own self interest. If that wasn't the case their would not be such a huge inequality which creates many of the world's big problems.
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It does feel like society is changing course a bit and it becoming more focused on the greater good for all which in turn will help the individual (self interest). Technology is helping this movement a huge way mainly because it helps spread the message about different causes and reasons to help make things better. Generally people tend to have a "herd" mentality and as the direction of the "herd" is changed by influential people it will, over time, generally will start to move in that direction. It seems like the overall direction is starting to set a new course but it takes generations for that to happen. Technology is making that change quicker and more efficient but overall it is still the people who control which direction that is taken.
We are using a simple concept along with technology to help move things in that direction. We use technology to allow people to Do Well by Doing Good which will give people some sense of future security by doing good deeds. Incentivizing people has always worked for our economy as a whole advance with incredible strides but hasn't really been used for the advancement of good causes (causes for some reason stigmatize using incentives) . We think it is time to change that, www.RepaySomeday.com Thanks for reading!
Mar 5 2013: Dave,
I agree with most of what you write....technology is a tool, which helps us find solutions...inequality creates many of the world's challenges.....it feels like society is changing course....people have a "herd" mentality, and as the direction of the herd is changed over time, it will move people in that direction...technology is making that change quicker and more efficient.....all good ideas!
I think/feel that some folks have thoughts, feelings, ideas, actions, reactions which serve personal interests and personal financial gain, and some folks strive to create actions that manifest into gain for the global communuity. Do you think that with the changes you mention, we (humans) are beginning to understand and embrace the idea that we can evolve in ourselves as individuals, AND contribute to the global community AT THE SAME TIME? It feels like this is the balance we are seeking?Mar 5 2013: Dave, There is some wisdom in your views on the positive focus of doing well by doing good.
What concerns me is historically, this is not a new idea and has not always been successful.
Consider; Christians will tell you that Jesus embodies this message. Muslins will say it is Mohammed, then there is Buddha, the list goes on. In many cases, individuals came to promote these philosophies with literally fire and brimstone proclaiming "do my good or dying not so well". We see this happening today.
Is there a biological thing of the Alpha-alpha gene? Does the human species have to evolve into another species where we can come together as a global society, because it's unlikely to happen any time soon. Or do we use all this new great technology to just eradicate the species?
One wag has said that in the event all the global disaster prophets are correct, maybe there will be enough human survivors with knowledge to do it right the next time. But, probably not.
Mar 5 2013: Mike, I understand what you are saying about the tag line I use "Do Well by Doing Good" but it is not aimed at saving all of society and the problems it has. I have always said my idea is simple but it could generate some changes if a large enough amount of people join in. And really the idea is more geared toward trying to make things a little more fair. It is kind of a longer read but if you take a look at the website www.RepaySomeday.com and read the page titled "The Reason" you will understand where I'm coming from.
And very briefly, my thoughts are that most people want to do good deeds and/or help other people. But doing so, more than just doing minimal amounts, conflicts with a person's efforts to make sure they and their family are secure in the future. Besides those who live lavishly, most people concentrate on working to buy life insurance, save for retirement, kids education, etc and the basics to make sure they feel "comfortable" for the future. The idea is just as companies incentivize people to work harder and longer so those people can provide for their families, I think the concept of doing good should have the same type of incentive. My idea is in a basic form now but if you could concentrate more on doing good deeds knowing those good deeds can result in you and your family being secure in the future, than you can concentrate more on doing those good deeds. Hopefully the page on the website explains the idea and the reasoning behind it.
So overall, I think if people can concentrate more on doing good things for others, the people receiving the good deeds will be better and the people offering the deeds will be able to continue to do more. Hopefully resulting in a snowball affect of more people helping each other.
Thanks for your comments and insight.
www.RepaySomeday.comMar 5 2013: Technology is binary and problems such as hunger, etc.. is pulse. Binary is not a substitute for pulse and vice versa. Both technology and problems are created by humans. Only we should decide the direction that he/she should take considering the future for our next generation.
Resolutions = ? until we start to think and feel others pain. Good care would solve the biggest problem but Is it feasible through technology?. I am getting more questions than answers.....Mar 5 2013: Simply responding to this post without having read the other responses and your replies, it would seem to me that we ARE solving the big problems. In fact, we may be doing it so successfully, I wonder if we are not destined to cause our own demise?
A few key strokes and a little help from Google tells me the following:
1. World hunger, as described by worldhunger.org (the want or scarcity of food in a country), stood at 925 million in the year 2010, which was roughly 13.2% of the world's population, estimated at ~7 billion people. A little further investigation shows the number has grown from roughly 875 million in 1969; but global population around that time was estimated at 3.6 billion people. So on a percentage basis, some 24% of the world's population were hungry then, compared to 13.2% now. The takeaway is that in the last 40-years, we have nearly cut world hunger in half.
2. Similar searches regarding global population -- on a percentage basis -- show that issues such as infant mortality rates are down sharply; life expectancy is rising; more people in the world have access to power, fresh water, modern communications; and while illness associated with older people may be rising, it's because so many more of us are living longer. And clearly, we are making great strides in medical science as well.
Therefore, I return to the beginning of my response with perhaps an even BIGGER QUESTION. Assuming I'm correct in my cursory review of data, that show we are indeed, incrementally solving Big Problems related to humanitarian issues; Are we in fact not inevitably contributing to our own demise?
The unparalleled success of the human race, in many ways, comes at the expense of other species and our environment. Human population at its present rate is on a course to double about every 100-years. In a world of finite space and finite resources, how much longer can we consume at the present pace until there is nothing left to consume?
Food for thoughMar 4 2013: depending on what we're talking about, I'd say because of the limits of human cognition.
With advancement in technology and science what we consider big now may not be big in the future. Nonetheless I still think there are questions that we'll never know but this shouldn't stop us from exploring.
Now if your referring to poverty, hunger, climate change, I think these are geopolitical issues that can be address. Modifying the purpose and role of government and understanding global human rights I think will be essential. It also takes work from everyday individuals like ourselves. All this i think is in our control, we just have to really want it.
Hope your talk goes well.
Mar 4 2013: Another interesting question to ponder is: Are problems becoming harder and harder to solve? What I mean by this is that the complexity of modern problems are vastly incomparable to the ones humans faced at the dawn of human civilisation. Are we slowly moving towards some form of intellectual steady state, after which we would run out of steam to solve the most intractable problems of our era? Sounds pretty Malthusian to me. Food for thought though.
- +2
I think there are many reasons why we struggle with big problems. One of them the overwhelmingly complexity of our world; we struggle even to understand the workings of our own planet, not to mention everything else out there. Even with exponential leaps in industrialisation, we struggle against stuff we cannot fully comprehend, from deadly microorganisms to strange physical phenomena.
Then there is the failure to tap fully into human potential. Wars, corruption, poverty, disease and extremism remain rampant in developing countries and the political tussles between the West and Middle East continue. Globalisation is making progress in empowering all humans with greater prosperity (and henceforth the capacity to solve big problems), but it hijacked by problems of gross inequality. Until we solve these problems, we cannot focus on big problems.
The strangeness of the world is also interesting. Inventions in the modern world is increasingly driven by the incentives that come with industrialisation. But perhaps not everything that can be learnt about the world has benefits attached to it, and so we may never learn some things.
Mar 4 2013: Yes, I believe that we solved many of the easy problems. In my original essay I wrote, "Hard problems are hard." If you think about the biotechnology revolution, for instance, all the early drugs were essential replacement therapies for proteins we already fully understood and were already manufacturing in less efficient ways. We already knew how to make human insulin and human growth hormone. Biotech just coaxed e.coli bacteria to manufacture them for us. Truly novel therapeutics have been harder to create.Mar 4 2013: Ethan and Jason,
Good point, that our world is more and more complex all the time. I honestly don't think we will "run out of steam to solve the most intractable problems" Ethan. I believe that as we continue to evolve, we create. While we have more complex challenges, we also have more complex systems and technology to help provide solutions.....do we not?
I suggest that we may look back at challenges as "easy problems", and they may NOT have seemed so easy at the time. Hindsight is wonderful....is it not? You say we "already knew" about some things. There was a time when we did NOT know, and we were challenged....just as we are now.Mar 4 2013: Its simple. we cant solve them because we consider them big.
If you predecide that something is extremely hard or impossible, then it actually will be impossible.
Mar 4 2013: I wholeheartedly agree Siddharth. We create our reality, so if we program ourselves to believe something is extremely hard or impossible, that is the reality we create. I believe that is one important factor that keeps some people from doing anything....they think/feel that what they might be able to do is not enough. When we pool our resources as a global community, however, with everyone working together, we CAN find solutions that are beneficial to the whole.


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This conversation is closed.
If you could do one great thing, what would it be?
All limitations aside, if you could do one thing any great thing what would it be? The leave of greatness is to be define by you.
Rafi Amin
Aug 19 2013: I would have brought peace to my country Afghanistan
- +4
Aug 19 2013: Hello Rafi....nice to see you.....I wish for peace in your country and all of our world as well:>)
. .
Aug 19 2013: YOU CAN Rafi YOU CAN
- +1
Maher Shirah
Aug 18 2013: eliminate lies from this world. (No lies)Aug 17 2013: Help others find the pure beauty in themselves enough to turn patterns and habits of self-destruction into habits of self-creation. There's so much more unseen in a person and situation that there is seen, including ourselves. It's important to know that we can't see everything, and that perception is as malleable as perspective - what you believe literally shapes what you see, and vice versa. With that understanding, one can see himself through anything. We're capable of a lot more than we've been led to believe. I'd love nothing more than to see each person live to their full potential.
- +4
Yijia Chen
Aug 17 2013: i like your idea of helping people understand their values,and perhaps through this journey you may also gain sth unexpected like finding an extordinary yourself.haha.
- +1
Aug 18 2013: Thank you! That is definitely the case, in fact it was because I found something extraordinary in me that I am able to so easily see it in others now. Kind of a chicken/egg thing, but they definitely go hand in hand. Then yesterday, I stumbled upon a quote by Nelson Mandela that said, "our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure." I can definitely attest to that. :)
Yijia Chen
Aug 19 2013: i appreciate it,brain.but can you explain more about mandela's words?any examples of that?
- +2
you mentioned about something extraordinary in you,would you like to tell me about that?as a high school student,i am quite confused sometimes,for i been trying to find myself,you know,to be a real me.(i think right now i'm just 50percent me)hopefully i can become your first target ?:)
i am gonna say one more thing.your concept happen to meet the old confucios idea of"taking care of all the old as if they were your own parents;taking care of all the children as if they were your own kids. however,yours is more focused on the help"discover the full potential"part.it's such an honour to talk with such wise and brilliant people like you.Aug 19 2013: Yijiia and Brian,
Here is the full quote Brian speaks of....
"Our Greatest Fear
It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,
talented and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other
people won't feel insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest the glory of
God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others.
—Marianne Williamson
[Often said to have been quoted in a speech by Nelson Mandela. The source is Return to Love by Marianne Williamson, Harper Collins, 1992. —Peter McLaughlin]
Yijia Chen
Aug 19 2013: And as we let our own light shine,
- +1
we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same.
thank you,colleen,i will keep those words in mind.Aug 19 2013: Yes, thanks! When I searched it, I was confused by two different names coming up. I love that quote... Yijiia, I'd love to help you out however I can.
As for what is extraordinary in me, it took about a year and a half of constantly digging into myself to really find it. The weird thing is, it wasn't anything new to me; as I like to put it, I'm still the same spasmodically enthusiastic 5 year old, I just have a lot more coordination and skill now. Basically, the "extraordinary" me that I uncovered is a person that leads an inpiring life that inspires others through music, words and humor.
The main thing I found was trust and confidence. I used to be very private, would barely speak a word about anything, and it was always very vague, never direct to the point. I was deathly afraid of rejection, abandonment, being misunderstood or discredited, etc. As I learned to trust my intuition and nurture myself into a confident person, my world turned around entirely. Since that was the case, my biggest goal right now is to help others find what is essentially "them" and to build their confidence in that.
If all of existence was viewed as a garden, and each thing (living or not) is a different flower in that garden, humans would be the only ones who could choose not to bloom. There's a chance that someone won't like your colors, feel threatened by them, even, threaten you because of them, make fun of them, etc. We are special in that we have free will, but with that comes only one real choice: to allow or deny the natural process coming through us. So even though it may be frightening to think that some people won't understand or accept the beauty of your partciular flower, bloom anyway.
Thanks so much for the compliment and questions, here's my e-mail. Feel free to use it anytime. email@example.com 19 2013: I love the quote too Brian, and have posted it several times on TED:>) The first time I looked for it years ago, I was confused as well because I thought it was authored by Nelson Mandela, and he apparently used at least some of it in his inaugural speech, but apparently, it came from Marianne Williamson.
You write..."As for what is extraordinary in me, it took about a year and a half of constantly digging into myself to really find it."
You may find that as you continue to explore, there are more and more levels of discovery. Yijiia has picked out one of the best parts of that quote...
"And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same."
Aug 19 2013: For sure. :) That was the part that stuck out by far the most to me, as well. I've noticed that happening in my life and those around me. It's a very surreal and amazing thing to watch.
Aug 20 2013: i should thank both of you,brian and colleen,you guys are real tutors.
and brian,i've send you an email already.
Fritzie -
Aug 13 2013: Raise my children to be loving, thoughtful of others, courageous, and focused on life-long learning. Everything else is frosting on the cake.
- +4
Aug 13 2013: There is indeed nothing greater, Fritzie. I share your wish!!!Aug 15 2013: I totally respect your thought. This is absolutely natural to want to achieve these several things and more for our children and generations to follow. A natural greatness, maybe today it is LOST.
Son Huynh
Aug 17 2013: It would be to foster interpersonal relationships, to help people develop intrapersonal communication so each and every single one of us could reach out to understand, empathy and help other people around us. And by doing so, I hope to bring people closer together.
- +3
Aug 17 2013: Amen! We're all in this together. :) Building people and communities benefits us all. There is no subsitute for trust. I fully support bringing people closer together. How are you going about it, and how may I help?
Aug 19 2013: My initial idea is to start with educating children. Teach them love themselves and others, help them to develop the ability to empathize with others. And as these children grow up, they help to spread the love and trust to other people around them. Good people will bring out the good in people.
I know it will actually be much harder than it sounds. But this is my idea for now. How about you, what do you think might be the way?
Don Anderson
Aug 14 2013: I'm a jack of all trades, and seek being a master at blending them.
- +3
But how to blend gardening, divergent thinking, ancestry, carpentry, BBQing, graphics, spices, spiritual growth, and others into something productive, has eluded me so far.
Aug 14 2013: Don,
How about using your carpentry skills to build beautiful arbors, trellises, benches, chairs and tables for the garden so you and your guests will be pleased to have a BBQ in your gardens, spiced with herbs you grow in your gardens, while you share your ideas about graphics, ancestry and spiritual growth.....which.....in my humble perception is all blended anyway:>)
BTW - I feel like a jack of all trades, master of none, and feel very good about blending everything, because I believe everything and everyone is interconnected :>)
Aug 15 2013: Sorry Hannah if this is getting too far off topic,
Colleen I agree everything is interconnected, and the more I see and experience the more interconnection I find. For example I web searched Scandinavian BBQ (ancestry + grilling) and discovered BBQ huts.
And see even more interconnections, carpentry, and great place to meditate for spiritual grow, or be with friends for social growth.
Aug 15 2013: Don,
I LOVE those little garden/BBQ houses....the green one is my favorite.....and the food looks yummy!
Personally, I think your idea is RIGHT ON TOPIC, and I think/feel that connecting everything is a GREAT thing:>)Aug 15 2013: Write a new cook book...no wait... that's been done before.Aug 14 2013: Do small things with great love:>)
don garbett
Aug 14 2013: inspire at least one person everyday
- +3
W. Ying
Aug 14 2013: .
- +3
To make people instinctively refuse invalid (harmful) happiness,
which wastes about 90% of our resources.
Aug 14 2013: Yeah. That's my favorite response so far. To make people see past this happiness or that happiness and any happiness and find their one true HAPPINESS.Aug 13 2013: Come up with a clean and renewable energy alternative.Aug 19 2013: Buy children ice-cream and enjoy it with them. Only they appreciate a nice cold ice-cream :o)Aug 19 2013: If it were me, it would have to be art and music related. I would construct a media school for inner-city youth. A small club where teenagers can come to create music, art, games, what-ever their heart desires. If we're to affect change, I believe we must start in our own backyard.
Steven Why
Aug 19 2013: Why just 1? Why limit yourself.
- +2
Aug 19 2013: Don't be greedy, save some great things for the rest of us. ;)Aug 19 2013: be a wise men that dare to change the worldAug 18 2013: Become God. (No, Seriously). Would enable me to solve a lot of the world's problems, all in one move.
Aug 18 2013: Bernard, you certainly are taking a leap ahead! Last week you were working toward being a CEO of a large company, this week it's God! If you're going to do something great, no point in messing around with little stuff:>)
Aug 18 2013: When did I say I was "working toward being a CEO of a large company"? ;)
(Nice to see you again!).
Well, the question did say "All limitations aside". :P
Aug 18 2013: Bernard,
I am so sorry.....I got you mixed up in my mind for a moment with James Zhang, who started this conversation, which is now closed...
"James Zhang
This conversation is closed. Start a new conversation
I think I can become CEO of IBM
Give me half a year."
You are both insightful, enjoyable, intelligent young men, so my mix-up is perfectly understandable....at least to me!!! Always nice to cross paths with you Bernard:>)Aug 16 2013: I would motivate the college students to participate in as many events as possible. In India, the students waste time unnecessarily by facebooking. I would bring their hidden talent out. !!!!Aug 15 2013: Make the BEST song ever made!
Aug 15 2013: You'll probably need to consult these guys then :) :
Aug 15 2013: HAHAHAHA this is HILARIOUS!
Don Anderson
Aug 15 2013: LOL, yesterday I misread the question "If you could do one great thing" as "If you could do one thing great". I could say my reply was divergent-thinking, but the truth is that was a brain fart.
- +2
Anyway, the one great thing I seek to do is to invent and create an electric power generator that uses gravity as its power/fuel. (Instead of wind or solar.) Than I release it to the free-world, on the honor system. (AI; people are free to build it, than I trust them to send me a % of their profits)
John Hudson
Aug 15 2013: This is a basic neuro linguistic programming question or nlp question the second part of which is Well what stops you?
- +2
the answer to this part gives you your reasons or excuses for not doing it,the answers below seem to require someone else doing the changing,What can you do?i.e joyce could support one health centre or manishka could spend time with children explaining what an adventurous care free childhood is like,we have all seen what a big difference one person can make Let that person be you.
Aug 15 2013: Dear John Hudson,
Are you aware of what you wrote?
"...the answers below seem to require someone else doing the changing, What can you do...joyce could support one health centre or manishka could spend time with children explaining....."
Rather than telling others what they can be doing, how about, as you say...Let that person be you?
If you John Hudson, could do one great thing, what would it be?
John Hudson
Aug 19 2013: Hi Colleen, i wrote so many answers to this and deleted them because i don't have an answer,in my job as a hypnotherapist i try to help one person at a time,i would set up a mooc to teach nlp entrapeneurship and basic electronics,but i don't have the skill set,i am learning to program so it can be a future possibility.What i wrote was my first comment to this site thank you for your kind reply
- +1
Aug 19 2013: I realized it was your first comment on TED John....I looked at your profile, which I often do before responding:>)
Looks like you found an answer after all.....good job...."set up a mooc to teach nlp entrapeneurship and basic electronics".
It's ok if you do not yet have the skill set, because the facilitator of this discussion tells us to put "All limitations aside":>)Aug 16 2013: I'd also add in a few questions between the first and second: Are you doing it in part or wholly?
What steps have you taken toward this? what's the next step you COULD take?
No to the above? THEN... what's stopping you?
Mandy Fisher
Aug 14 2013: What would I do?
- +2
Alter the brains of every single human being on Earth; to act in love and consider others before thyself. I'd inject their veins with compassion, stir empathy in their plasma. I would put soft tenderness onto their skin, and sweet moisture on their lips. I would blow a lazy summer breeze in their breath, and a happy smile in their eyes. And after all this is done, I would whisper that little truth we've forgotten so long ago- that we are one, all beings, and we are love.
And with that, I would change the world for the better!
Yet, I plan to do that anyway ;)
Daniel Early
Aug 15 2013: You know, Gandhi said something like, "We must be the change we wish to see in the world." I bet it would be nice to go around on a mission from whoever insisting that other people change, but I'm willing to bet that real change, real greatness, comes from looking inwards and asking oneself, "What can I do to make the world a better place?"
- +1
Barry Palmer
Aug 14 2013: I would make all men and women in the world equal, both legally and socially. Everyone, men and women, would consider the two sexes as completely equal in every way, and respect people, or not, without gender being a consideration. I think the consequences would be amazing and wonderful. I would love to live in such a world. I suspect that many of our other problems would be quickly solved.Aug 14 2013: I would visit each and every human being on planet earth in their dreams.As they slept, I would whisper a truth we have sadly forgotten. We are all one in the same and when we hurt another, we are hurting ourselves. I would then whisper a warning. when you inflict a wrong doing on another, be it an immoral and/or unethical act, you too will experience the pain you have created. Before I left them to their sleep would whisper, you shall begin each and every day with these words; I greet this day with love in my heart.
- +2
Marc J
Aug 14 2013: Create and manufacture a med that will kill all forms of cancer, giving it away for free to all in need.Aug 20 2013: I always wanted to be a good singer but my voice is not so good...so if I could do one thing I want to be a good singer giving a live performance...Aug 19 2013: Eradicate all sorts of "blind beliefs" to turn human mind ever open and curious.
- +2
Aug 19 2013: I think I would try to live for a whole year as a handicapped, poor, unemployed person in the most difficult to live in city or place in the World. Great change comes with great self knowledge, revelation and experience!Aug 19 2013: Put an end to terrorism, wars, hostility and the need to be the one in control of the World! We talk about Peace, but little is really done to bringing total harmony and co-exist among ourselves.
- +1
Start by taking all the perpetrators of violent crimes out of our prisons and give them on a one-way trip to any one of those small islands out in the Pacific Ocean and let them fend for themselves. No roof over their heads, no free meals, just their own ingenuity, if any. Let them rely on each other or kill each other!
If anyone thinks this is in-humane, just ask some of the victims their opinions.
Don Anderson
Aug 19 2013: I believe all humans are created noble, and I live by the Nine Noble Virtues. The one great thing I wish I could do is to have the all world believe all humans are created noble, and live by the Nine Noble Virtues
- +1
Courage, Fidelity, Discipline, Hospitality, Self-Reliance, Industriousness, Perseverance and
Truth* (* with truth being something you seek to discover, have the courage to see and accept, as well as something you teach and say. )
Personally I'd be happy if more people were seeking Self-Reliance, for when too many people lack Self-Reliance it kills freedom for all.Aug 19 2013: No one is better than anyone! Equality and respect!Aug 19 2013: empower women, educate women !Aug 18 2013: Teach the world to use its empathic impulse.Aug 18 2013: I understood that we live in disorder when I came across the writings of some teachers especially jiddu krishnamurti. All forms of meditation , zen, teachers, buddhism etc will increase the chances of the state of mind where this perception can occur but no system currently knows exactly how to bring it about. Even great teachers like buddha or jesus "stumbled" and got into this state by chance so they dont know how to bring it about in others. IF they knew this process then they would have changed their followers but they were NOT able to transmit this ego free existence to others.
It does not help if someone in some corner of the world is enlightened but we should understand how to bring the perceptual leap in the wider masses. Right now the tragedy is we dont know how this happens. A few who were enlightened in the history of the world were declared as GODS and we seperated them and even killed some of them. It is hard.Aug 18 2013: If we were given one thing to do...we would do that makes most difference to humanity on this globe. Humanity is stuck horizantally in its evolutionary cycle and with rapid advances in technology this species is sure to perish.
Humanity is not able to take that leap into an existence that is not driven by ego. Though few great teachers visited this world they could not bring this change in the wider masses. We are stuck in the ego based existence. The human misery and issues remain the same what they were thousands of years back. Competition, brutality, war , violence , killings still plague us. Humanity did not change. It is stuck on a certain level reaching its precipice everyday pushed by technology. It is on a path to self destruct.
If you would one great great thing then that would be to free humanity from this kind of ego centered existence. This needs a percpetion , a leap of insight and the way for everyone to get this. This is the one and only thing that can save humanity and is the need of the hour. Everything else is a distraction.
And then no amount of preaching, teaching , deliberating, monks, gurus, meditations, magic will do....all of them are just distractions. What is killing society today is distractions...big , small and all kinds of distractions. Nothing will work except perception into the nature of thought and existence.
Aug 18 2013: Right on par, and I'm doing what I can in order to provide that perspective shift. You are absolutely correct that the current path is the self destruct. Do you teach at all?
Aug 20 2013: Glad you share my view. I don't teach - I like to share and learn in the process. So, I guess I am a student.
Francis Koh
Aug 18 2013: If I could enlighten myself and attain Buddhahood or its equivalent in Christainity or Taoism or Hinduism or any other major religions in the world.Aug 18 2013: Even small things play great role. If I made someone smile today, it was a good day.
- +1
Louise Aspin
Aug 18 2013: Teach people respect - of nature, of each other and of themselves
- +1
. .
Aug 18 2013: Educate girls and boys all around the world.
- +1
Joshua Bond
Aug 17 2013: Cultivate inner peace ...
- +1
Of all the many states that engender war
our own inner state is most responsible, for sure
since that which is within is always projected out
that's why we always have wars, no doubt;
so then, if we were all to cultivate inner peace …
wars would cease.
(JFDB, 2010)Aug 17 2013: I would get everyone to agree that being peaceful and cooperating is better than war & greed.


text:
Nov 22, 2007
FLL Mission Overview Part 11 - Oil Barrels
Also, we would like to wish everybody a Happy Thanksgiving, and everybody travelling do so safely!
Jonathan's Comments: Note that no Barrels will be taken away if none are in Base. By the way, Base includes the Parking Lot only if you move the Barrels there by hand - if the robot moves the Barrels to the Parking Lot, they aren't considered to be in Base (and therefore the robot may touch them, but not the drivers).
10 comments:
- Talking Chimp said...
Re: Jonathan's Comment
But if the robot moves them to the lot, where they are not "in base" for referee-take-away purposes, then don't they also lose their scoring value, since they are no longer "in base?"
It seems like we can't have it both ways. If they can score, they can be taken for penalty; if they can't be taken for penalty, then they can't score.
- Nov 22, 2007, 12:47:00 PM
- NXTMonger said...
Our team moves the barrels out of base right away so we won't get a penalty. Then we go back and fetch them.
Go A.E.R.O. Cows!!!
- Nov 22, 2007, 1:43:00 PM
- Team Brick said...
there are three more red barrels in the red truck i believe
i thought about doing that, moving the barrels out of base, it would save a lot of time.
- Nov 22, 2007, 2:22:00 PM
- Joshua Heinzl said...
Chimp, you are correct.
I appreciate this year that the bonus loss is larger than in the past. It makes an interesting point strategically.
- Nov 22, 2007, 7:10:00 PM
This is the first year that the base has been in the middle, not in a corner. Thus, all the mission models are only a half-table away maximum. In previous years, my teams have always had one or two missions that they planned to pick up the robot from the far end of the table after completing a mission to save the return time. This year, my team designed all the missions with the robot returning to base on its own.
So they decided not to move the barrels out of base to "save" them. The only mission that sometimes goes awry is retrieving the truck, so they are willing to risk the 10 point penalty if they have to do a rescue there.
I personally think the 10 point penalty will make the weaker teams weaker. On the otherhand, every team starts with 50 points (last year it was 24 points).
- Nov 23, 2007, 2:20:00 AM
- Jonathan Daudelin said...
Talking Chimp,
Right... you wouldn't get penalized, but neither would you get the points for them. :P
- Nov 23, 2007, 10:49:00 AM
Mission rule says: "If you rescue the robot while there are Oil Barrels IN Base, the referee takes one away . . . . If there are no Oil Barrels IN Base at the time of the rescue, there is no loss."
Does this mean that you can put the barrels in a cage and have the robot carry it around the whole time? In that case, the rescue would not occur "while" there are barrels in base, or "at the time" of the rescue.
At the end of the round, the robot returns to base with all the oil barrels intact.
- Nov 23, 2007, 5:34:00 PM
The "robot carrying the barrels" scenerio was debated for quite a while in the FLL forum, but an official QA ruling decided that any scoring object that the robot was in contact with at the time of a rescue must be left on the table at the spot of the rescue. So a rescue would result in loss of barrels.
I think the time required for the robot to move the barrels out of the base and then retrieve them back to the base could be better spent on one of the other missions if your robot is unlikely to need a rescue.
- Nov 24, 2007, 3:14:00 AM
- Joshua Heinzl said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- Nov 25, 2007, 4:27:00 PM
- MLT said...
If we end up having all eleven barrels in base, are they all worth 10 pts each?
Why would anyone consider moving the white ones to the power plant as they only give you 5 points there?
I don't understand something still with this mission.
- Dec 14, 2007, 7:44:00 AM


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I took a break at work last night, walked outside and saw this huge moth on the side of the building.
I've seen ones half this size before, and thought they were huge, but this beast was a mammoth.
I thought about picking it up, but it started to move its body weirdly, ha and im not sure if they bite (maybe smaller moths are too tiny to bite).
Probably could've put a leash on this beast and flew it around
what is happening?


text:
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University System of Georgia
Nursing Clinic Coordinator/Assistant Professor or NTT Instructor
Search 67193
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P. O. Box 8158
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Monday (TONIGHT!) 3rd December
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The Fear is an ambitious Channel 4 drama project, which digs beneath the surface of the seaside town of Brighton to expose the town's murky underworld, dominated by Peter Mullan's Richie Beckett, a crime boss battling dementia.
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Wednesday 5th December
A family tragedy compels Sherlock's Andrew Scott to return to the town where he grew up in this new ITV drama, but things aren't exactly how he remembered them.
Ten years since he went away, his loved ones are now under the thumb of an alcoholic mayor, played by Martin Clunes, and someone keeps sending him texts saying "I know".
Needless to say this trip home will be one that ole Moriarty will never forget.


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2011 Country Weekly Fashion Show: Onstage and Backstage
Pop star-turned-country singer Tiffany joined the fun.
photo by Kendra Gene Motycka
More Photo Galleries
More News
The 72-year-old is still finding time to serve as an ambassador for a cause close to his heart, Helping a Hero.
Scotty steps up to the plate as we celebrate America's Pastime.
Couple tied the knot on June 28.
"Trisha Yearwood: The Song Remembers When" opens to the public July 3.
Song will also appear in commercials for Greater Texas Ford Dealerships during July.
Dierks Bentley, Luke Bryan, Brad Paisley and Others Bring Country to New York at FarmBorough Festival
Country music is alive and well in NYC.


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How did you get started making cheese?
I started in early 2006, with my first two goats. I made fromage blanc to start with, later adding cheeses (and goats!) one by one: chevre, feta, mozzarella, mascarpone (with cow's milk*) and bloomy rinds ripened plain, with ash, and with a wash of rum and paprika. I sell the fromage plain or with various mixtures (fresh herbs and garlic, rum soaked raisins, spicy tamarind chutney, freshly ground black pepper) and I layer the chevre with either herbes de Provence or a mixture of allspice and cumin. I also sell yogurt, which is a big seller and I make kefir for my own use.
* I use cow's milk for mascarpone so I can get plenty of cream. Otherwise I would only be able to get UHT cream. (Yuk.) I get it from the College of Agriculture (about 1/2 hour away) where they keep a small herd for teaching purposes. It's lovely milk, straight from the cows. At times of year when I'm short on goats' milk I make bloomy rind cheese using 1/2 and 1/2 cow and goat milk, a very nice combination.
|View from Joanna's veranda
|Fromage Blanc with herbs
I had lived in Manhattan for many years. Met my to be husband on the island of Nevis in 1988. Moved down there to be with him in 1989. We lived there for 2 years, then moved to Jamaica. (He is originally Jamaican but moved to London at age 11 and grew up there.)
We bought 18 acres in Jamaica in 1990, in the foothills of the Blue Mountains, and started an organic farm. We mostly grow fruit trees of all kinds plus bananas, coconuts and pineapples. Also root crops: dasheen and cassava. We keep bees and have a few fishponds. I had always wanted to keep dairy goats so that got added in, and of course the cheese followed. I now have a thriving business selling my cheese.
What is it like to make cheese there?
I have to improvise a lot, especially in this climate. It's hot! The make room is my kitchen, drying room is a rack on the veranda, and "ripening room" is 1 and sometimes 2 fridges with your thermostats on them set to 54F.
Sprout Creek Farm.)
|Mold starting to develop on these bloomy rinds which have been coated with ash.
|Bloomy rinds which have just gotten a coating of ash
mixed with salt and have been put to dry for several days before going into the ripening fridge.
|Bloomy rinds with a rum-paprika wash drying on the rack.
|Feta draining
|Chevre being layered with Herbs de Provence
|Feta ready for sale
Do you live on your profits from selling cheese?
No, I can't say I make a living with the cheese. I'm too small an operation for that. But we do a lot of different things and it all contributes to being able to run the farm, employ local people, and live a healthy and satisfying life.
|Joanna with Diana and her kid


text: Lost & Found Sound Lost and Found Sound: Loons December 29, 2000 In this latest installment of our series, Lost and Found Sound, producer Brent Runyon recalls leaning how his father taught him how to make a loon call, with tape of the teaching session. In Brent's family, his father could do the call, his grandfather knew how to, Brent's brother can do it, but Brent can't and he doesn't know why. He is the only man in his family who can't make the call. Sometimes he sits alone in his apartment and practices, but hasn't nailed the call of the loon yet. (5:30)Find out more at: http://www.npr.org/programs/lnfsound/stories/001229.stories.html. Real Media