Vida Enigmática – Page 67 – "Who speaks for Earth?"

Is societal collapse due to our own basic human stupidity?

March 4, 2016 — leslie dean brown

I think one characteristic of humanity is that as a whole we are inherently stupid, very stupid! And I think I know the reason why…

Looking back at former civilisations, it is always noteworthy how blatantly ignorant humanity was about the consequences of its own actions. We look back now and think we know better than we did before. Do we?

Even knowing what we know, time and time again we over-estimate our current intelligence level. Not only do we fail to learn by other people’s mistakes, but even when we know what is good for us, we are reluctant to change.

I think many people today are becoming too complacent. I think we think that we can still out-smart anything and everything that comes our way, that our technology will always provide us with an answer. Will it?

[Read more…]

Leonardo da Vinci

March 4, 2016 — leslie dean brown

Have you noticed that most people today only strive to develop one career at a time? When you ask someone what they do, they invariably say one profession, don’t they? The government won’t support you in your pursuit of two simultaneous ventures or studies either, will they? You’re either studying full time or working full time. Sequential careers, yes. Concurrent careers, no.

When I was a boy, my hero was without a doubt Leonardo da Vinci. I admired him most of all because he was able to combine engineering, science, invention and art. Excellence in each of these disciplines made him a veritable genius. If you’re going to aim high, why restrict yourself to being an expert in one field, when you can choose among many?

Sometimes I wonder, how well would he do today in today’s modern world? If he were plucked out of his time and plonked into ours now, what would he do? Everything he conjured up has already been invented. I am sure that he wouldn’t be able to land a conventional science or engineering job as he’d be considered a “jack of all trades and master of none”. You know how it is. Recruiters would take one look at his long hair and his resume and quip: “so you say you’re a painter, sculptor, architect, scientist, musician, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, astronomer, cartographer, botanist, historian and a writer? Right.”. Or he’d be a starving artist. Galleries and museums wouldn’t be too impressed with his portfolio either – “Sorry, your style is not what we’re looking for (not creative enough) my friend”.

I think if you brought Leonardo da Vincci to our time zone he’d be an entrepreneur. It’d sure take him a while before he even found something new and worthwhile to research or invent. And he’d probably be addicted to Google. It’d make an interesting television series, wouldn’t it? Go back in time and interview famous people from the past. Then bring them here and see how they cope with modern life. “Leo, this is called a helicopter. This is a drone. This is a drone flying inside a helicopter. Oh he’s finally arrived. Leo, we want you to meet Mr. Van Gogh, an artist from another time period.” I wonder how they’d react.

I have no idea why I’m writing this. I suppose it is just more content. But it’s also to remind myself that when in doubt about my persona, I look to Leonardo, the quintessential renaissance man. What would he do today I wonder? I think he would do exactly what he does best: not to pursue expertise in just one field, but to delve into many areas simultaneously. Only then would he try to make sense of the world…

The most powerful people in the world are not who you think.

March 1, 2016 — leslie dean brown

I type “most powerful people” into today’s most powerful internet search engine, google. Seven of the top ten references are made to Forbes’ annual rich list, ranking people according to their estimated net worth. But are rich people really as powerful as they claim to be?

YES they say that money talks. Money can buy people’s opinions. Money can corrupt. Money can certainly get people to do things they wouldn’t otherwise do. In that way, money can definitely change people’s behaviour. But why have we come to regard money as synonymous with power?

For sure, the more you own, the more you have to lose. The more you can be manipulated and blackmailed. But there’s much more to it that that… [Read more…]

MPG vs total fuel consumption, carbon emmissions.

February 27, 2016 — leslie dean brown

In today’s conversation, I went straight for the jugular.

I’ll admit I stopped before posting the last reply. So I’m posting that here instead.

Mark Frank: S2000’s are great, a lot more fun then that Prius you have parked in the back.

leslie dean brown: Yeah. I agree with that. Although you know what is not ‘fun’? Living on the greenhouse planet herself, Venus. Never mind. *sometimes* I drive an RX8. Just… not much. Because it uses WAY too much fuel. :(

Tom Hanover: What does Venus have to do with anything? I guess you’re worried about fuel consumption, but then again maybe you aren’t since you drive an RX-8 that gets 16/23 MPG while the S2000 gets 18/25.

leslie dean brown: MPG not the only thing to consider. The main thing to consider… is how much you spend on fuel every week. Or every year. Or in total. A prius driver that drives 1 million km is not anywhere near as ‘eco’ as a ferrari driver that only drives 10k km. ;-) “What does Venus have to do with anything?” Well, just that… we don’t want our planet turning into that one. It is the mother of all global warming planets. And yes, we are at that time, where this should be discussed. By everyone. And unfortunately, it’s not being discussed. Hardly ever.

Tom Hanover: Earth can’t turn into Venus. Global Warming is over hyped just like the Prius.

leslie dean brown: Tom Hanover Yes. And your qualifications are? A degree in business. That’s like me saying “your business plan isn’t worth the paper it’s written on” or “you can’t subtract two numbers from one another, that’s impossible”.

There. Now what people are saying will be recorded throughout history.

You say you want a revolution. Well, you know, we all want to change the world.

February 24, 2016 — leslie dean brown

As I sit and write this, Forbes magazine talks about who they think the next trillionaire is going to be. I should probably stop visiting the Forbes website. But you know what they say. Know your enemy…

BUT it’s not just them. There are all kind of predictions going on. The Global Wealth Report from Credit Suisse reckons there will be 11 trillionaires within the next two decades¹.

They have the nerve to say it’s not a ‘prediction’, they make one, and then call it their best estimate. Nice.

Two generations ahead, future extrapolation of current wealth growth rates yields almost a billion millionaires, equivalent to 20% of the total adult population. If this scenario unfolds, then billionaires will be commonplace, and there is likely to be a few trillionaires too – eleven according to our best estimate. [source]

So. What do I think about that annual report? Firstly, as far as annual reports go, I think it has a beautiful design. I used to look at the numbers first, now I look at the design.

Getting back on track, the trouble with traditional economics is that “shit happens”. If shit didn’t happen, dinosaurs would still be roaming this Earth. Even they weren’t so bold as to make predictions.

You know the thing about predictions? Predictions are unpredictable.

I think it’s more than a little naïve to think that [Read more…]