Tag: postaweek2011

peter’s laws

  1. If anything can go wrong, fix it!
  2. When given a choice – take both!
  3. Multiple projects lead to multiple successes.
  4. Start at the top and work your way up.
  5. Do it by the book…but be the author!
  6. When forced to compromise, ask for more.
  7. If you can’t beat them, join them, and then beat them.
  8. If it’s worth doing, it’s got to be done right now.
  9. If you can’t win, change the rules.
  10. If you can’t change the rules, ignore them.
  11. When faced without a challenge, make one.
  12. “No” simply means begin again at the next highest level.
  13. Don’t walk when you can run.
  14. Bureaucracy is a challenge to be conquered with a righteous attitude, an intolerance for stupidity, and bulldozer when necessary.
  15. When in doubt: THINK!
  16. Patience is a virtue but persistence to the point of success is a blessing.
  17. The squeaky wheel gets replaced.
  18. The faster you move, the slower time passes, the longer you live.

Admittedly, 160 words.

why do we get old?

There are many theories of aging (hormonal, wear-and-tear, etc.), but only the overmineralization theory (video) explains why humans age at three different speeds:

  1. no biological aging during childhood years, characterized by using calcium, iron and copper in making new bones, red blood-cells and collagen;
  2. accumulation of minerals once childhood growth ceases and progressive aging as evidenced by buildup of lipofuscin;
  3. slight decline in the rate of aging in late life, which has been correlated with reaching a steady state of minerals.

Harvard research postulates that “root cause of aging” are sirtuins.

are you a hero?

Brave bystanders lift a burning car and save a man trapped beneath.

Flight passenger leaps onto a burning man to prevent him from detonating explosives.

As the train arrives, a 50-year-old man jumps on subway tracks to save a youth.

These men/women were ordinary people who decided in an instant to do something heroic.

Dr. Zimbardo thinks everyone can be a hero.

Hero:

  • chooses not to watch-and-wait in face of crisis.
  • puts compassion into action by helping someone in need.
  • decides to speak against injustice, instead of assuming someone else will.
  • supports the causes that matter to him/her, without expecting rewards.

future of human life and biomimicry

4.5 billion years of evolution taught nature what works and what lasts.

We’ve been increasingly distancing ourselves from nature: agricultural revolution – grow stock and abandon hunting/gathering; scientific revolution – “torture nature for her secrets;” industrial revolution – machines replace muscles.

Biomimicry is the study of nature for solutions to our problems. Having 96% of our bodies built upon carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, nature can teach us how to:

  • use only the energy needed
  • fit form to function
  • recycle everything
  • curb excesses from within
  • tap the power of limits
  • devise systems that can face unknown situations
  • update ourselves by feedback loops

honey, pinocembrin and explosives

Honey is the only food including all substances necessary to sustain life, including enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and water; and it’s the only food, containing pinocembrin, an antioxidant associated with improved brain functioning.

Bees are the only insects that produce food that humans eat.

Like ants, honey bees communicate with one another by “dancing.”

Like rats, bees use their advanced olfactory, stamina and flying abilities to detect explosives. A hive of 40,000-65,000 bees costs USD $100 and can be trained in two hours. Bees can also signal environmental anomalies, and bee-hive samples (wax, honey, pollen) can highlight environmental contaminants in an area.

rats, landmines and tuberculosis

Colorblind, sociable, strong, smart, fast (from meetup to hookup to breakup lasts two seconds), a rat can go longer than a camel without water and fall 15 meters without being injured. Rats have the most developed olfaction of all mammals.

In Western cultures, rats stand for dishonesty and cunning, but in Eastern cultures, rats are associated with honesty, hard work, intelligence and good luck. Rats are very clean. In Eastern spirituality, the Year of the Rat is the first year of the Chinese zodiac.

These talents of rats are now put in good cause. APOPO trains rats to detect landmines, tuberculosis,…

historic diplomacy and modern e-diplomacy in America

Modern diplomacy origins trace to 13th-century Milan. Sforza’s Milan saw many modern diplomatic traditions begin (ambassador credential presentation,…) and was first to practice balance of power.

One of first American diplomats was Franklin, who secured French support against England, leading to Treaty of Alliance, a turning point in Revolutionary War.

But nowadays, Obama’s America is less popular in MENA than Bush’s. In Turkey, its popularity plummeted from 52% in 2000 to 10% in 2011.

Obama-style solution? E-diplomacy: US State Department operates 230 Facebook accounts, 80 Twitter feeds, 55 YouTube channels, according to this research, leveraging tools like Klout, Facebook Insights,… for influence and measurement.

music, life and pan

Did you know that music can teach about life and history?

A native of Trinidad and Tobago, pan, was originally used for communication between enslaved Africans during the British colonial rule and acquired its modern form in the guise of used oil barrels made of steel.

To quote from the launching event of Pan Camp 2011 (during which participants were also taught spirituality and conflict management)

…learning pan… develops qualities of persistence and consistency… for achieving anything in life that is worthwhile.

P.S.  Steel-pans are the only instruments in the world that follow the musical cycle of fourths-and-fifths calculated by Pythagoras.