Feb 14 2013: I really liked the talk but some of it left me with unanswered questions - as in ok, I have a certain world view or belief that a certain core of innovators and early adopters basically share - but how does this reliably move to the mainstream. What really seems to be implied is that if the how and what are right you have a good chance - but you are going after people that increasingly have a world view or belief that is contrary to your own and thus a tough sell. I welcome your thoughts on this.
Feb 13 2013: An excellent talk on what is an emerging hard science (complexity) that basically explains how "life" has emerged and continues to evolve, the most recent examples being the internet and globalization. I too hope - and expect - that the less "hard" sciences such as economics, politics, and sociology benefit from the use of this new perspective.
Feb 10 2013: I can't put myself in your exact cancer survivor shoes but I find myself (in my 60's as well) thinking I want to go out of this world in much the same way as I came in - ie without an ego - and this is tough to do. Why do I want to do this? I think it prepares me for what hopefully lies beyond this world by giving me some separation. I have begun by trying to give up any "scorekeeping" I may have been doing. I have also tried meditation to get out of my circular self dwellings about the past, and future. How am I doing? I will always be a work in progress - but that is ok with me. I do find myself reading a lot more books and expanding/working on my view of the world and the "after world". I don't have a "bucket list" - I have future things I am working on but if I don't get to them I think I am content with my present day to day routine. In summary trying to go ego less is driving my current life journey. Best wishes.
Jan 28 2013: I am a little confused about your concerns here because I just read the book - The Measure of a Nation - and Australia along with Canada both looked a lot better than the US.
Better and more effective health care - Less violence and crime - Better education and literacy - Democratic processes and politics that actually work well - Better social mobility and more of a meritocracy that the US had once but is losing.
I may be missing something but it looks like Australia is not broke - so what are you trying to fix?
When you say republic I think representative government versus a true democracy where citizens take a more direct role. The US "republic" is broke and tainted by money, special interests, corruption, and a political elite that likes it that way and are therefore resistant to change. We would do well to copy some of the things Australia - and Canada are doing.
Jan 27 2013: You are all missing a very important part of this entire discussion - ie you all start with a world view that all leadership is good. Arguably Hitler was a great leader but also a disaster. Missing from this discussion is efficiency versus effectiveness. Hitler was efficient but not effective - ie he was good at leading but led in the wrong direction.
The correct "direction" is ultimately the one that is best for all stakeholders, with stakeholders being defined very broadly.
Would you rather have a good leader going in the wrong direction or a poor leader going in the right direction? I would rather have the latter - ie errors of omission rather than errors of commission.
Wiith this in mind a discussion of good leadership should center on how do you get leaders that can discern or sense the correct direction to lead.
Jan 9 2013: Many of you have said that education is the key in the long run to solving poverty and I agree. I am not an educator but know that early intervention at a very early age is most important. In developed countries this usually means smaller class sizes and extra help for young students. In less developed countries creative solutions are required since education infrastructure is probably lacking - for example I recently read that in a remote region in Kenya with no teacher available, the young kids were given inexpensive tablet computers with good learning software, and proceded in small collaborative unsupervised groups to teach themselves language skills.
To education I would add some sort of values and "life skills" education to counteract some of the poor family environments younger kids might come from. I am not sure how to do this best but non government charitable organizations might come into play.
Governments can help with all of this by setting up good education programs. As far as capitalism goes the most benefit probably comes from tycoons who have already made their billions and set up foundations to do good - such as Bill Gates.
Jan 6 2013: I think artificially created jobs are fine on a temporary basis for those scraping by to meet their basic needs of food shelter clothing - but rarely lead to meeting an individual's higher level need for self actualization. An exception is volunteer work if it in fact meets real societal needs.
The presumption here is that more productivity is the main cause of this - but another major factor is the "baby boom"
which will soon enough pass into perhaps a "baby bust".
I think a more relevant solution to "not enough jobs" is "spreading the existing jobs around". In the US a major obstacle to this is medical care which is primarily tied to full time employment. The cost to an employer for providing medical care is the same for part time employees as it is for full time employees - so "career" part time work and "job sharing" are not done. I think if we had government provided health care not tied to employment and policies that encouraged less than full time work for those that desired it we would have all kinds of "jobs to spread around'. This would be particularly beneficial for young parents that want to "cut back" to better care for their young children and older workers that want to ease into retirement.
With government provided, single payer, healthcare we also address the US problem of global business competitiveness. The US spends about twice the level of GDP that other developed countries with government provided health do - yet health outcomes are no better. If we bring our health care cost differential more in line we are more competitive and fewer jobs will be exported over seas.
Dec 21 2012: Just a few suggestions that may help.
1. If someone I loved was having problems with depression I would get them on anti-depressent medication since sometimes a large part of the problem may be physiological - I advise that you do this if possible.
2 Identify areas in your life where you are "keeping score" and stop keeping score - ego works both ways and you don't want the highs and lows of scoring or not scoring as in more/less money, more/fewer friends, ...
3. Practice "not thinking" as in meditating where your only thoughts are about your breathing, or a mantra - and try to go longer and longer without concious thought.
4. Get, if possible, the book "Proof of Heaven" by Eben Alexander, a neurosurgeon who went brain dead and revived to tell us of his journey into the afterlife - he incidently was given up for adoption by his birth mother as an infant and struggled with being/not being loved.
Dec 5 2012: Welfare and dependency etc are on both sides of the coin. Both the Republicans and Democrats tilt the table to favor "their base" If you looked at per capita dollars received from versus per capita dollars sent to Washington guess what - Republican/red states are at the top of the list and Democrat/blue states are at the bottom. Is this not "crony" capitalism. You talk about voter knowledge but to my mind money will always trump any kind of advances in voter knowledge you can muster. Our representative government in it's current form is inherently corrupted by money and lobbying by special interests.
Dec 5 2012: I am trying to grasp the bottom line of what you are saying here, and the material world part of me asks what if you see the coin on the table next to the cup instead of in the cup?
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A comment on Talk: Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action
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A comment on Conversation: As you mature are you changing? How? Better-Worse-Happier-Sadder
A comment on Conversation: Australia should become a Republic?
Better and more effective health care - Less violence and crime - Better education and literacy - Democratic processes and politics that actually work well - Better social mobility and more of a meritocracy that the US had once but is losing.
I may be missing something but it looks like Australia is not broke - so what are you trying to fix?
When you say republic I think representative government versus a true democracy where citizens take a more direct role. The US "republic" is broke and tainted by money, special interests, corruption, and a political elite that likes it that way and are therefore resistant to change. We would do well to copy some of the things Australia - and Canada are doing.
A comment on Conversation: Please define: Leadership.
The correct "direction" is ultimately the one that is best for all stakeholders, with stakeholders being defined very broadly.
Would you rather have a good leader going in the wrong direction or a poor leader going in the right direction? I would rather have the latter - ie errors of omission rather than errors of commission.
Wiith this in mind a discussion of good leadership should center on how do you get leaders that can discern or sense the correct direction to lead.
A comment on Conversation: What can governments do to end poverty in their countries? Is a solution possible under capitalism?
To education I would add some sort of values and "life skills" education to counteract some of the poor family environments younger kids might come from. I am not sure how to do this best but non government charitable organizations might come into play.
Governments can help with all of this by setting up good education programs. As far as capitalism goes the most benefit probably comes from tycoons who have already made their billions and set up foundations to do good - such as Bill Gates.
A comment on Conversation: Should "Jobs" be artificially created, since most people seem to need them?
The presumption here is that more productivity is the main cause of this - but another major factor is the "baby boom"
which will soon enough pass into perhaps a "baby bust".
I think a more relevant solution to "not enough jobs" is "spreading the existing jobs around". In the US a major obstacle to this is medical care which is primarily tied to full time employment. The cost to an employer for providing medical care is the same for part time employees as it is for full time employees - so "career" part time work and "job sharing" are not done. I think if we had government provided health care not tied to employment and policies that encouraged less than full time work for those that desired it we would have all kinds of "jobs to spread around'. This would be particularly beneficial for young parents that want to "cut back" to better care for their young children and older workers that want to ease into retirement.
With government provided, single payer, healthcare we also address the US problem of global business competitiveness. The US spends about twice the level of GDP that other developed countries with government provided health do - yet health outcomes are no better. If we bring our health care cost differential more in line we are more competitive and fewer jobs will be exported over seas.
A comment on Conversation: Is it possible to overcome of the feeling 'worthless' for you haven't been loved enough ever?
1. If someone I loved was having problems with depression I would get them on anti-depressent medication since sometimes a large part of the problem may be physiological - I advise that you do this if possible.
2 Identify areas in your life where you are "keeping score" and stop keeping score - ego works both ways and you don't want the highs and lows of scoring or not scoring as in more/less money, more/fewer friends, ...
3. Practice "not thinking" as in meditating where your only thoughts are about your breathing, or a mantra - and try to go longer and longer without concious thought.
4. Get, if possible, the book "Proof of Heaven" by Eben Alexander, a neurosurgeon who went brain dead and revived to tell us of his journey into the afterlife - he incidently was given up for adoption by his birth mother as an infant and struggled with being/not being loved.
Best wishes.
A reply on Conversation: What are some big social issues that need to be discussed, but aren't?
A reply on Conversation: Is the world Super-deterministic or not?