predictions

Anybody who tells you that you cannot do this or that because of “blah, blah, blah” have no idea what they are talking about… NONE! If YOU want to make something happen, it’s up to you and only YOU to make it happen.

Barriers to making things possible

No matter your handicaps, no matter how severe they are, don’t let them get in the way of your dreams. For instance, look at the incredible success that Steve Nash, the NBA player has in his career considering how short he is… sure 6ft3 isn’t short but by NBA standards, he is surrounded by giants! How about Richard Branson? He is dyslexic yet is a self-made multi-billionaire traveling the world and outer space! The world is full of unlikely success stories that blow people away due to their ambitions more than their talent.

Beware of what you wish… it may come true!

More than once in my life, I have experienced both personally and through others that what you wish, even for a small amount of time, may actually come true! The most apt example of this was a few years back when, on a long walk, I was wondering what it would be like to be arrested (completely out of the blue), little did I know that a few minutes this “wish” would come true! My life is full of examples of this along several time lines and I am absolutely sure I am not alone. I am not psychic (this is “impossible”) but I do seem to be rather good at seeing the future of decisions I make now in a flash with very little though involved.

So what is impossible?

To be honest, the only limiting factor for most people is the size of their dreams. If you told somebody a thousand years ago that they would be talking through a small portable box to people on the other side of the world, you would be crucified as insane yet with satellite phones this is possible from ANYWHERE. I have come to the conclusion that EVERYTHING and ANYTHING is possible, screw the laws of physics or other limitations brought-up by “smarter” people… if you think it can happen and put enough sweat and tears into it… it WILL happen.

The more you know, the less you know

Why do I think that even “impossible” things are completely possible no matter what the geniuses in this world say? Well, because they have an incredibly BAD track record. I honestly cannot think of an invention, from the press to the automobile where the geniuses at the time put pressure on the creator to give-up these “silly” and “impossible” thoughts! If you told me you where working on a time machine, I would say your chances of accomplishing this are near zero but NOT zero. Look at Thomas Edison who toyed away for years on a light bulb with endless prototypes before he achieved what the geniuses at the time said was impossible! My friends, if you remember anything from this blog article it’s this, the more somebody knows about a subject, the less they actually know about it.

Why do I say this? Well, knowledge is biased information, no matter its origins, how many times it has been proven, there is always something that is missed or mis-interpreted… throw enough of this stuff together and you end-up with a rather impressive body of knowledge that is so full of holes that it becomes a self-supporting yet rather hollow structure.

Ah, the problem with Religion

This is one of my largest grievances with religion… it doesn’t teach you that “anything” is possible, it puts the explanation of “God” as the answer to EVERY question you don’t know the answer to. How did starts form? Well, God did it. Where do babies come from? Well, God does that. Why did I get a C in my math test? Well, God wanted it to be so. What do you notice? Well, the utter LACK of curiosity. If religion teachings one thing, it isn’t to expand your mind, it’s to accept things as they are and stifle creativity in the young minds that need it the most. How did stars form? Well, this is a question that continues to take generations to discover the answer to yet religion says essentially “don’t bother, God did it and that is all you need to know… move-on”. Even though I say this, I do think it’s ironic that our understanding of DNA comes from a monk who studied peas, that religion played a pivotal role in the development of the printing press and many other things we take for granted as scientific fact. Hence, my indecision on this matter which will probably continue until my last breath. I am well beyond the question of whether there is a God or not, I have “advanced” now towards thinking of whether we are better off with or without religion.

The Bottom Line

Nothing is impossible unless you allow it to be so.

Update: This past week a “man” gave birth to a baby and a 72 year old woman gave birth as well… both thanks to the advances in medical knowledge. Both of these where considered completely “impossible” just a few years ago.

Apparently MIT Media laps are hard at work creating a robot that will help you loose pounds and presumably keep the weight from coming back.

What ever happened to common sense?

I can see this being fantastic to remind people to take their medication or to help them live a full life but do we really need to waste resources creating a robot that takes the place of common sense? If you are obese or out of shape, this is a choice more often by not, the symptom of a problem far deeper then a simple robot slapping your hand as you eat out of proportion with your goals. Let’s face it, if you are too lazy to educate YOURSELF to YOUR benefit about nutrition, spending a few thousand dollars on a robot will simply give you yet another excuse as to why you aren’t achieving your weight goals. Technology, even the one behind myfoodcount.com is there to help you, the will power to succeed must come from your end.

Real Solutions to Weight Loss

What we need to do is mandate nutritional and exercise classes in all levels of schooling, from elementary to university. I am not talking about “this class is sponsored by Post Cereals” kinda thing neither! I mean teach people what a fat is, what a carbohydrate is, what sodium does to your body, the effects of a couch potato lifestyle etc… health is a wonderful and exciting field, marketing has made it into a dull one because there is more profit in selling gadgets then education. Remember the old saying “give a man a fish, he will eat for a day, show a man how to fish and he will eat forever”? Well, this is the same approach we should integrate for nutrition.

The Bottom Line

You only have one body, one mind and one life… give them the honor they deserve!

Buzzvia
http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9759643-1.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=Crave

You can watch the video of these robots in action here
http://www.media.mit.edu/?p=114

No matter your opinion on China, you have to admire their ability to swiftly and systematically deal with problem, even though the steps taken are sometimes deeply misguided. Here are a few examples:

Chinas One Child Policy

Back in 1979, China realized that with a population exceeding a billion people, they where in for some huge problems in the future if they didn’t enforce some sort of birth controls. Rightly or wrongly, China became overly aggressive in it’s “One Child Policy”. From giving new moms forced sterilizations at hospitals once they gave birth without asking for consent to introducing astronomical fines onto families who could barely afford to feed their family. Fair, no. Better alternatives? Yes, but this is by far the most efficient manner of controlling a population growth curve. The results? Based on their own numbers, they have prevented over 300 million new mouths to feed.

Chinas Execution of Chef

For many years, China has had an aggressive anti-corruption policy with it’s officials. If you take bribes or cause harm to others without party approval then expect your head to be on the chopping block once you’re found out. This policy has affected mayors of some of the biggest mega-cities in China and now, the head of the agency responsible for making sure products produced in China are safe. Mr. Zheng Xiaoyu, 62 was convicted to death for taking over 850 thousand dollars in bribes from 8 companies so that their defective products could make it to market. He had one appeal which failed which means he is already history. The results? Government officials will think twice before screwing their own citizens.

Chinas Pollution Problem

Athens had a major pollution hurdle to overcome before being allowed to host the Olympics but that was nothing compared to what China is facing now. Although they have among the toughest pollution policies of any government, they fail terribly in the area of enforcement. It’s no secret that China has become the factory for the world, they easily out-compete Mexicans, Americans and just about every other nation on Earth. I met a backpacker a few weeks ago that spent a month in Beijing and you know what they told me? They said they hadn’t seen the sun for a month! No, the weather wasn’t bad, it was simply the pollution was so great it was literally blocking out the sun! Chinas solution? Close all the factories during the Olympics and relocate major pollution creators outside of the city! I am sure they are paying a little more attention to the laws on the books as well but when just about all your power comes from coal and the government owns the largest tobacco company in the world, I am not keeping my hopes up.

What does all this mean?

Well, pollution, forced sterilization and defective products allowed onto the marketplace may seem like three separate problems but they are all related. It’s called Health! I believe China is in for a HUGE crunch to say the least in the very near future. As the life expectancy of its citizens drops due to environmental contamination without a new generation to take care of them, how will it solve this mother of all problems? I believe over the next two decade, China will have no choice but become the healthiest nation on Earth via fines, forced exercise regimens and killing bad habits. You are slowly seeing this take shape in North American and Europe but China will have to do a real 180 when it comes to health for its own sake, being communist, they can move extremely quickly in this positive direction. You cannot have an unhealthy army without loosing influences, you cannot have sick farmers producing good products from a contaminated environment and you cannot have efficient citizenry when they are constantly calling in sick.

The Bottom Line

With all its problems, China will either have to make health priority number one or perish.

Buzzvia
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/B10BF52B-2382-4F60-AD91-060A67FA3BC8.htm
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/07/10/china.execution.reut/index.html