Daniel Lubetzky

Back in 2011, when I gave a commencement talk at Trinity University, I spoke about the importance of “talking to yourself” and understanding yourself, of pausing to truly reflect about what gives you meaning.  Of course this is not a revolutionary thought, and many Western thinkers have shared similar concerns in much deeper and more eloquent ways, though I feel the concern has gained critical importance as the internet and electronic devices increasingly inundate our lives and steal away any remaining time for us to connect with ourselves and “do nothing.” Then  a while back (about 2  years ago, but I hadn’t gotten to blog about it, because I have no time to myself!) I came across this very interesting article in The Atlantic, sharing how Eastern/Chinese philosophies had shared similar concerns millennia ago.  It goes to show me/us that all our revelations and lessons have precedent and all interesting thoughts have been had by someone smarter than us in the past.  Part of what I want to adjust in my life is carving out time to be able to read more historical books, to soak up some of that wisdom.

Full article below:

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A sincere purpose that creates a mission is the biggest driver towards action, according to this NYT article by David Brooks:

People who actually perform pro-social action don’t only feel for those who are suffering, they feel compelled to act by a sense of duty. Their lives are structured by sacred codes.

Think of anybody you admire. They probably have some talent for fellow-feeling, but it is overshadowed by their sense of obligation to some religious, military, social or philosophic code. They would feel a sense of shame or guilt if they didn’t live up to the code. The code tells them when they deserve public admiration or dishonor. The code helps them evaluate other people’s feelings, not just share them. The code tells them that an adulterer or a drug dealer may feel ecstatic, but the proper response is still contempt.

The code isn’t just a set of rules. It’s a source of identity. It’s pursued with joy. It arouses the strongest emotions and attachments. Empathy is a sideshow. If you want to make the world a better place, help people debate, understand, reform, revere and enact their codes. Accept that codes conflict.

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My cousin shared this very cool presentation showing the evolution of our globe by geography and time – the life expectancy and wealth of 200 countries over the last 200 years. Fascinating.

And you can also play around with this platform across a plethora of indicators…

http://graphs.gapminder.org/communityproxy/ChartDataServlet?

Lev Grossman wrote an excellent article in TIME on how recommendation engines work (ie, for Netflix movie selection, and for Pandora radio selection) and how they can start turning us into boringly homogenous & predictive blockbuster consumers of the same stuff within one safe space.

Alas, when it comes to movie choices, the options and parameters are so many, that suggestions I get are often unreliable.

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In a prior blog entry here, I shared an insight from Linda Gallanter, that your goal when raising children should be to give them purpose, rather than for them to be "happy." If they find purpose, they will find happiness.  If you obsess with their immediate happiness as a goal, they may just end up spoiled or feeling self-entitled.

But in reading an excellent article from Andrea Elliot, The Jihadist Next Door, and in remembering some concepts from a novel (OD&H) I started trying to write a decade ago but never finished, one should remember that "purpose" is a double-edged sword.  A lot of the most dangerous people find purpose alright – to destroy or vanquish or eliminate. 

So the caveat should be that Purpose needs to be Positive.  And since Positive is a normative word whose definition may be in the eye of the beholder (ie, for Omar Hammami, killing infidels in Somalia is a Positive act), I would define Positive as rooted in TOLERANCE AND RESPECT TOWARDS OTHER HUMAN BEINGS – or the golden rule of doing onto others as you would want to be done on to you.

Elliot’s article also highlights that the same attributes of leaders in society – being smart, curious, introspective, analytical, charismatic, determined – can be dangerous if not rooted in tolerance.

Ironically, Omar Hammami was brought up by a Muslim Dad and Christian Mom.  So you would think that environment can foster diversity and respect (as it has in countless of PeaceWorks and OneVoice team members I have met over the years whose parents come from different backgrounds.  Alas, in this case, the teachings that Hammami got from Islam and from Christianity were exclusionary and rooted in intolerance.  He would be warned by his Mom’s family and church in Alabama that he would go to hell unless he accepted Christianity.  And he would be warned by his Father’s family in Syria that he would be cursed if he didn’t accept Islam.  Repressive religious upbringings can boomerang and catch up with your offspring.

Elliot’s article also points how "a constant in Hammami’s life [is] his striving for another place and purpose."

The zeal to transcend one’s life in this world – the search for purpose and posterity – can be the greatest inspiration for good or evil.

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At KIND, PeaceWorks, and OneVoice, almost by definition, I think our team members are motivated by the desire to make the world a better place, and the empowerment and joy comes with the journey.

And yet I found myself really intrigued to follow this video that breaks down these implicit assumptions and helps us all understand – what drives us, and how can we "manage" in the most motivating and empowering way?

By Adeena Schlussel on behalf of Daniel Lubetzky

Check out these disturbing old advertisements to realize just how far we’ve come.  It’s ridiculous that society used to be this way!

It is interesting that what we are witnessing right now is just simply the digitization of books formerly printed in paper.  For over 500 years, books have been written and conceived with Gutenberg’s guidelines in mind (Gutenberg is the inventor of the mechanical printing press). 

But since the advent of computers and now of the Internet, so many new possibilities have emerged – and yet the printed world has barely changed.  The advent of the Kindle, the iPad and other portable reading devices has so far simply resulted in turning analog print into digital print, while keeping the same linear prose format. 

If you stop to think about it, we are stuck in one model that, while beautiful and applicable for much good, is certainly not the only model to serve all potential needs that books can serve. 

Over the coming years, the whole way we think of e-books and just "books" will probably change.  One day it will not be "surprising" to read, within a book, interactive pictures and images akin to the ones you see in Harry Potter movies – those quirky 3D moving photos within the wizards’ magical newspapers. 

And it is also quite conceivable, indeed likely, that multimedia forms will reinvent how we do storytelling and how we provide information.  Why stick to just prose, or just music, or just newspaper, or just video? Why not create new models for information that combine elements of them all?

Why assume that a linear story is best? Why think that a book is necessarily different from a video-game? Someone will come up with a book that merges some elements of a game with different endings.  Analog examples already exist.  And digital multiple-choice endings already exist.  But we have not even begun exploring all the new possibilities presented by electronic "readers."

And why assume that a book needs to first be written and published, then read, then auctioned off to a Hollywood producer who then helps create a movie version of the movie? Someone will surely create a way to inform or entertain that combines elements of both – and more.

The potential for reinvention of the "book" is so far totally untapped.

UC Berkeley has done an interesting study about the role of altruism and generosity in human evolution, stressing the importance of kindness to our survival.

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While many of the choices on TIME Magazine’s Top 10 lists for 2009 were lame or uninspired, here are a few worthwhile picks:

MOST HILARIOUS VIDEO:

Bonnie Tyler spoof of 80s (Other viral videos: I had already noted great videos including of Susan Boyle, and there are other good ones like this wedding procession, the post-it film "deadline", the mock ad for Flutter that underlines the silliness of the world we live in, and the baby dancing that even my grandmother had forwarded me)

FUNNIEST AD:

Hulu

COOL AND DEEP:

The Longest Way 1.0 – one year walk/beard grow time lapse from Christoph Rehage on Vimeo.

Also Cool Scientific Discoveries:

• The Human Epigenome, Decoded
• Gene Therapy Cures Color Blindness
• A Robot Performs Science
• Breeding Tuna on Land
• Teleportation!
• Top 10 New Species
• A 3D Digital Camera