This Biased Universe

Like every kid my age at the time, I grew up playing with action figures.  He-Man, Transformers, X-Men all ruled my world back then.  I remember spending hours in the basement, finding new ways to torture the "evil doers" for causing my Hero agony, and in general, leaning towards the dark side.  In every good hero story, there is a triumph over good vs. evil, and I learned this at a very early age.  Evil tries everything it can to win, but in the end, envitably suffers defeat.

Photo By Kyle McCulloch

If you asked the average person, "Does the Universe mostly help you, or mostly hurt you?" What do you think they would say?

There would be a ton of people that would conclude the Universe is great, and wants to see them succeed.  Others may view life more pessimistically, concluding that the Universe is actually out to get them, impeding their path to success.  Still, another section of the population might conclude that the Universe is indifferent.  That it has no view, or bias, that it is simply "balanced".

I've come to the conclusion that the world has a positivity bias of some sort, yet I have no idea where it stems from.  It surely doesn't make scientific sense, or at least I can't prove it.  To keep balance, the world actually needs to lean slightly toward optimistic values, in order to function properly.  My guess is an even balance of good and evil, would actually result in chaos.

Good needs an edge because it's not always easy.  It's not always sexy.  It doesn't always feel great, doing the "right thing".  There has to be a slight bias, or we'd all just chose the easy route.  If you had no bias, would you care if you threw a piece of garbage out the window?  Or help an old lady across the street?  Instead of a "conscience" you'd be indifferent, unable to really determine, right from wrong, or good from bad.

That's why I think there has to be a optimistic bias.  Instead of Yin and Yang, think Yin plus, and Yang minus.  This is why optimism feels good, and pessimism doesn't.  It's the reason, people have are innately great in disasters, bonding, and coming to the aid of their fellow man in crisis.  Surviving sometimes, against incredible odds.   It explains, our thirst to not only do the status quo well, but exceed it.

Photo By Kyle McCulloch

Good can't win over evil all the time, but it wins slightly more, and in more ways.  As they say in the Casino business, good has an "Edge".  Good gets to have the odds slightly in it's favour.  You are welcome to play from the other side, but understand, that you are going "against the house", and being risky.  I like that.  If you play against the odds, stepping on people to success, living too fast, being selfish, stealing, it should be risky.  It should come with consequences.  That keeps people in check.

Just like the Casino, when you make bets, not in your favour, but win in the short-term, you fool yourself into believing that it can last forever.  Pushing your bets even further, until one day you realize that you were never winning at all.  There may have been momentary "wins", but in the end, the odds were never once in your favour.  You may believe there is a path to success, playing from the "dark" side, yet it is an illusion.  The chances were never in your favour.  When you achieve what you thought to be success, what you thought to be "winning", it actually wasn't.  That "win" never gave you the feeling you were looking for.

These folks that take the easy route, will never own the Casino. In the end, the Casino will own them.

Let's Make This A Threesome

Every relationship you've ever had, has been a threesome.  You may have never noticed, but there are three parties in every relationship.  There's you, and what you need.  There's them, and what they need.  Then there's the relationship, which has it's very own needs. 

You must take care of all three parties for your relationship to flourish, and failing relationships always included one of three parties being neglected, or neglectful.  Let me show you why this must be true. 

We'll call a man or woman who's has too much self interest, a "Hawk".  Hawks are mainly concerned with how their relationship, helps themselves.  They always come first in their relationship.  Hawks certainly don't have confidence problems, but sometimes it leans more towards arogance.  They aren't at the mercy of their relationship, and can rebound easily from a breakup, but also can never truly give themselves to their partner.  Hawks can easily miss their perfect lover for many reasons.

A Slug is the opposite of a Hawk.  They are loyal to a fault.  They enter a relationship as themselves, only to transform into playdough once it's starts.  You can mold them into anything you want.  All a Slug wants, is to become exactly what you want them to be.  They are willing to sacrifice their own personal advancement, for the other person involved, and the relationship itself.  It can take a Slug a long time to recover from a realtionship, because they were "only trying to be everything" for the other person.  How could that person not want them?   Confidence, and personal improvement, are very attractive qualities to all people, but Slugs have none to offer. They mean well, but in the end, nobody wants a slug, because they have no backbone.

If it was just as simple as having two, healthy, happy, intelligent people, relationships would be much easier.  The third party, the relationship, has expectations also.  We'll call the relationship, The Judge.

The Judge has needs.  Judge's hate to be ignored, and expect time to be expended on them.  Judge's are going to progress forward, whether you like it or not.  They assume you will communicate in order to keep up with the brisk pace they set. Judges don't care if you can't keep up however, and will leave you in the dust.  When The Judge's needs are being met, they will remain almost invisable.  It's only when the Judge feels they are being ignored, do they come to the forefront, and make themselves a focus. 

You need to take traits from both Hawks and Slugs, and learn from both of them.  Like a Hawk, put yourself first in the relationship.  This just means, making sure you are currently happy, and exploring needs that stimulate you.  Make sure you are always advancing personally in your own life.  This will give you a natural, sexy confidence, and allow to move on easier, if the relationship were to end.

Give yourself fully to the other person, like a Slug would.  You can still advance your own life, and be there for the other person, but you just can't be there all the time, every time.  It's okay to be reliable, or think your significant other walks on water, but you need to stay balanced.  Give everything you can to them, but not an ounce more. 

Always keep The Judge in the back of your mind.  If you are doing great, and your partner is too, that doesn't mean the Judge's needs are being met.  That's why you can find yourself advancing, your partner advancing, but the relationship fails.  Like I said above The Judge expects you to expend time on them, and keep up to the pace they set. The Judge will forceably move your relationship forward, whether you like it, or not. 

Relationships are very difficult.  One person being too self-centered, and it fails.  One person being too submissive, and it fails.  One person not understanding that relationships have needs, and it fails. 

Taking care of yourself first is always the first step to a healthy relationship.  This will ensure you are at your best for your partner.  You can look back on a failed relationship, and truly feel confident, you did as much as you could have, rather than looking back with regret.  It's perfectly okay to say,  "I love my partner, but if they were to leave me, I'd be just fine."  This changes you from "needing" the relationship, to "wanting" it.

I want me, and my partner, to be negotiating our relationship from this position of power.  I want both of us, to be fine without the other.  I expect us both to be constantly growing, and changing, to keep ahead of the inertia every relationship has.

Most heartbreak is magnified by people not progressing themselves.   Regardless, it hurts to lose someone you love.  It hurts much less however, and for less time, when you are growing, and living the best you can. 

Are you, your partner, and your relationship growing together?

Obsessed With The Best

It must be possible to have a thought, that no one else has ever had before.  New ideas seemingly come out of nowhere, but the brain produces a new idea at some point, or there would be no human progression at all.  I find it fascinating that at any one moment in time, one of us, could have a completely original idea, that could change the course of history.

I would bet the breakdown of original ideas, goes something like this.  The majority of people never have a truly, original thought.  Remember we are talking thoughts that no person throughout history has ever had, those should be considered rare.  The people that are lucky enough to have a completely original thought, probably have many, many more in their lifetime.  It would not surprise me if the majority of original thoughts, we're created by only 5% of the total population, alive or dead.

These great thinkers had minds that weren't closed, and weren't impacted by negative energy.  The better condition your mental state, the better the ecosystem for a great idea to formulate.  It's proven fact that our brains function much more efficiently in a positive mental state, then a negative one.  An overall negative perspective, a general lack of intelligence, or past trauma, all would negatively affect original thought.

Thought itself should be moral, pure, and unbiased.  Children have some of the greatest ideas, because they are not taking into account so many different variables.  A lot of times, the simplest thought, is actually the most correct one.  Let's say it's Christmas Day.  Your whole family is getting together, but there's a bunch of in-fighting.  People are getting grouchy because the food is delayed.  Everybody is bitching.  A frustrated 5 year old might pipe up "could you guys just please, stop fighting, and be nice to each other?"

It's a simple thought, a simple solution, and a simple question, but it carries a ton of weight.  In this case a 5 year old would be the wisest person in the room.  The idea itself is perfect.  It reminds you how petty your squabbles are.  It reminds you how much you love your family.  It reminds your of what's important.  Best of all, if you listen, the time your currently having, would improve substantially, right now, in the present.  They might not be able to articulate it as well, but there idea is better than yours, and they are only 5 years old.  Don't get too hung up on the source of the message, as long as, it is moral, and unbiased.

I suggest I have had truly original thoughts, no matter how stupid the thought itself might be.  There are times when I stop myself, inside my own brain, and think "I know no one has ever had this thought before, ever." That's a pretty magical thing really.  I don't take it for granted.

I'm obsessed with the best.  People use words like "best" lightly all the time.  "You're the best." They might say.  But am I?  Am I really the absolute best?  Probably not.  But, someone has to be.

Right now on this planet there is someone who is the best.  It can only be one person of course because the best is singular.  If another person somehow became better, the person who used to be the best, would now be 2nd best.  But that person really isn't 2nd best, because as soon as this new person became the best, they actually became "2nd to the best".  They are no longer a best, they aren't even a 2nd best, because that implies, they are some form of best, however, we know this to be impossible.

You have to be thinking outside the box, and I'm suggesting most never do.  Who has had the best kiss?  The best love?  The best sex?  The best time?  All these questions have real answers.  Real people behind them.  Is there really only one person who has had the best kiss ever, Bangin?  Yes, absolutely, and it was the freakin' best kiss ever.

But people having sex, or kissing, that takes two people, so really two people experienced the best right?  Nope.  Are you certain your reading carefully enough?  Even the same two people, who share the best kiss, only one of them, truly experienced, the best kiss ever.  The best is singular in every regard.  One of them enjoyed the kiss more than the other, and that person, had the best kiss.  Get it?

I wonder who had the best bacon and eggs ever, before the year 1900?  This is my attempt at proving, completely original thought can happen right now.  Do you think anyone else has had this thought before? At first glance, I'd say no, but there are billions of people, so who can say for certain?  If a thought this ridiculous, isn't original, you can imagine how difficult it is, to truly have an original thoughts.

Great thoughts are formed the same way as stupid ones are;  by being open minded, and focusing your thoughts.  I imagine many seemingly dumb ideas, have led to absolute breakthroughs.

New thoughts are magical, even stupid ones, because they expand your mind.  A seemingly stupid, or funny thought, no one has ever had, could lead into full blown innovation very easily, when you keep your mind open.  You could think up a new joke, that leads you to a solid business idea.  Or you could tell that joke to someone, and they could run with it, forming a new idea.

Original thinking is important to me.  I'm thankful I have been born in an environment that has given me every opportunity to expand my intellect, in a safe, supportive  environment.  Original thought is about the most amazing thing you can leave on this planet.  The problem is, you have to be brave enough to speak up, and get people to hear you.  If your thought is completely original, and no one ever hears it, it will guaranteed have no impact.

It takes a massive amount of guts to have an original idea, but even more guts to voice it.  Look back through history, people that have gone against the grain, for the most part, haven't faired so well.  Humanity as a whole, resists change, and resists new ideas.  I want you to be someone who speaks up for what they believe in, even when it's difficult.  Also keep your mind as open as possible.  For each great new idea humanity has had, there are probably five more, that were buried, because humanity is a bad incubator for original ideas.  Our natural reaction is to condemn and discredit, rather than support, and inquire.  The road less travelled is absolutely the hardest one, no doubt about out it, but I wouldn't trade it for the street in a million years.

5 Simple Rules for Starting a New Age Religion

History is littered with examples of what works, and what doesn't, when it comes to organized religion.  I thought it'd be fun to theorize what traits a new age religion might have.  Many religions are having trouble growing a membership base in today's environment.  My guess is the more you align your new age religion with my 5 simple rules, the more people you'll find interested in your cause.  Throwout every preconceived notion you have about what religion is, and let's go back to basics.  Here's 5 rules for starting a new age religion...

No Money

At no point when making this religion will we make, or accept money, even if it's charitable.  It's not just about the natural greed, money has surrounding it.  By accepting money, religions are forced into certain decisions, which are counterproductive to being successful.  If I give your religion money, and others do to, what would you do with it?

Maybe you would open a bank account, and put the money in there.  Sounds reasonable to me.  So now your new age religion has a decision, about how to spend that money.  Who's going to make those decisions?   What are we going to spend the money on?

Accepting that money has forced you down a path, maybe you never wanted to go down.  You need a place to put that money.  You need people to spend it.  You need ways to spend it.

The only interest true religion has, is to spread it's word, so that as many people as possible, can benefit in a positive way.  If your message is a good one, naturally, the more people that believe it, the more the impact that positive message with have on humanity.  I have trouble seeing how mixing money into the equation is a net benefit for your new age religion.  Sure, you can have money to expand operations, but you also have to deal with business, which brings many negative implications, like needing a hierarchy, greed, corruption, and power.  Your religion doesn't need any of that involved, so let them keep their money.

No Churches


In order to have churches and locations, you would need money.  You don't have any.  You need to think outside the box in terms of organization.  The internet would be a perfect organizer for a new age religion.  You can find programs that can organize people, and make communicating easier, many for free.  The power of people networking, heavily believing in anything, is incredibly powerful.  If the message was clear, and positive enough, I'm sure your new age religion would grow easily.

As the religion grew, possibly some of the members would have locations or areas, that different people, in different places, could use to meet.  Volunteering land, time, a good laugh, or a shoulder to cry on, all seems safe to me.  While I can respect, and picture, a new age religion working strictly on the internet, meeting each other is important I think.  Bonds are more strongly built in person.  Your religion should have a sense of community, without ostracizing, non-members.

Whether you like it, or not, if you have locations and income, you may be a church, but you are also a business.  Your new age religion should understand to stay as far away from business as possible.

Sex Is Okay


If people are forced to restrict natural human emotions, you will always see something occur in society to counter-balance it, and it will be negative.  This happens both on an individual level, and in masses.  Marijuana is one example.  A certain amount of humans developed a want for marijuana.  Nobody decided for them that they liked it, but they tried it, and made the decision they wanted more in future.   An outside force comes along, that restricts that natural human emotion.  They lie about the effects, and make it illegal, to curb usage.  Our result?  Wide spread availability through a huge black market, generating zero taxes.  Gang, and turf wars.  Huge expenses through our judicial system.  Zero quality control.

Not exactly a success in my opinion.  Restricting natural human emotion, will equal negative consequences.  Ask a priest to restrict his natural human emotions, and I don't need to tell you the results.

Besides sex is okay, in fact, it's awesome!  My religion would make it very clear, that consensual sex, between two loving, mature people, would be encouraged.  If it feels good, and it doesn't hurt you, or anyone else, I say do it.   It's never been the sex anyone has had an issue with anyway.  They dislike young people having sex, teenage pregnancy, STDs, rape etc.  What does any of that actually have to do with sex?

I'm glad the age where when we didn't want our kids to do something, we just straight lied to them, appears to be over.  Kids are just too savvy, now days, too connected, to have the wool pulled over their eyes so drastically.  Lying to people, as an ends to justify the means, is wrong, and it just plain doesn't work.  Your new age religion will go without all that.

No Denouncing

Whatever your version is, you have to allow for others to have a different view, and you have to respect it.  We said above that "the only interest true religion has, is to spread it's word, so that as many people as possible, can benefit in a positive way".  This means of course, my new age religion has zero concern about what any religion is doing.  What that religion is off doing, and believing, has no interest to my new age religion.   All my religion cares about is spreading the word, and benefitting as many people as possible.

That means my religion will never say your religion is wrong.  It makes it impossible to have an us, versus them, mentality.  They have a right to believe whatever they want, and so do we.

I would say it's impossible for one religion to be mad at, or condemn another religion, would't you?  That sounds much more like a human emotion to me.  Your new age religion certainly won't make people feel stupid, for believing something different than you.

No Converting Pressure

If your religion is that life expanding, and awesome, you shouldn't need the hard sell.  What would you say if you saw a group of seemingly happy people, getting together for BBQs, playing games, and giving back to the community?  You probably be like, what are those guys doing?  Looks fun, maybe I'll see if I can join.

Let's not overcomplicate the process.  Your new age religion needs no sales pitch.  You're not trying to recruit, if it happens, it happens.  You will understandably be excited about your message, your people, and your own journey. Understand though, you aren't looking to impose your will, or pressure people in any way.

This means no weekend doorbell rings at 8am.  Have your new age religion simply present the information, and let the potential member make up their own mind.


Conclusion


I was going to suggest you formulate your new age religion's version of creation, based on science, and proven fact.  My thinking is it would be an easier sell in today's day and age, but I also realized in saying that, I was actually showing too much of my own personal bias, and an overall incorrect thinking.

Whether your religion even chooses to attempt to explain the universe's creation is totally up to you.  It's certainly not up to me, to tell you what to believe in.  Regardless of what explanation your new age religion can muster, it will never be as important as what your message for today is, and the action your new age religion takes. How your members behave will have much more of an impact on membership, than having the perfect answer, ever will.

The most important rule not listed is you have to have a respect for every single person, and creature on this planet, and their right to exist.  I can assure you, the God that created this wonderful world, doesn't play favourites.

I wrote these rules to help you avoid some of the pitfalls that might come with starting a new age religion.  I'm certain all religions started out with their compasses pointed due north.  Combine my rules, with a whole bunch of general happiness, love, and understanding, and I'd be shocked if your new age religion, can't both stand the test of time, as well as inspire millions.

The Race Disgrace

I'm stumped as to why the human race has had so much racial in-fighting, throughout their history.   It appears obvious to me at this point, that every single race is merely, a product of their environment, with some help from evolution along the way.  Are humans just naturally fearful of anything different?

We are all humans in the end.  You look, and act, the way you do, because of where your ancestors came from.  It's not a coincidence that people from the extreme heat of India, have darker skin, or that Russians are more pale by comparison.  As you move towards the equator, skin tone darkens to protect the person who has to endure the environment.  This happens over hundreds of generations, and to me, that adaptability is a beautiful thing. It something to be cherished, not ridiculed.

The way humans have viewed racial differences over the years, is disgraceful, all things considered.  The good news is I feel we are headed in the right direction.  The invention of the internet, has made this world infinitely smaller.  People from all over the world will read this text, in many different languages.  There is no doubt this generation will be exposed to more cultures in their life time, than any ones to come before them.  Forty years from now, if you're still around, I guarantee, you personally, will have friends you talk to in countries you would never imagine.  The world is shrinking every single day.

Imagine back even 100 years ago, how many different races would you meet in your lifetime?  10?  5? The number today is probably in the hundreds.  It forces you to judge people based on "the content of their character".  Or at least it should.  It's much easier to say, "I hate (insert any race here)" when they aren't coming to your porch with spongecake, looking normal, and actually seem really nice.  We all have to work at multiculturalism, and as we do, it will become easier, and easier.  

It's very rarely I suggest you believe in anything.  Look back in my posts, I'm not trying to tell you how to think.  I'm just simply want you to question everything.  Personally in my own life, you either align with some simple core beliefs I have, or you can hit the road.  There is a big difference between imposing your beliefs on someone, and leading by example.

You must stand stand for peace.  When I close my eyes at night, I'm proud of this world, but my vision for this earth, is much more beautiful.  Things like happiness, and love, do not thrive in a war-torn environment.  It's impossible to create a stable environment for all, when buildings are being destroyed, and people are dying.  That brings out feelings like sadness, regret, and anger.  The exact opposite of what we are trying to accomplish.  If your beliefs cause anarchy, your beliefs are foolish.  You cannot make peace with war.

You must live, and let live.  This can be difficult because humans are so naturally judgemental.  It very hard to be open minded, but always give people the benefit of the doubt.  Maybe you believe all people under the age of 18 are dumb, and have nothing really valuable to say.  The real truth is maybe most youth can't impress you, but they'll be a few that blow you away.  A more extreme example...  You see any 50 year old man, out with a 25 year old girl, being cuddly.  You can't call him a pervert.  You can't assume she's a hooker.  You can't be grossed out by it.  You can't even think it's wrong.  The fact is, there's a chance, maybe you would consider it small, but a chance exists nonetheless, that these two are completely happy.  They might love each other to death.  They could go home, have so much in common, and have the best sex ever.  She could be from a great home, and just really likes some of his qualities.  He could be attracted to her other reasons than her appearance, maybe she's very intelligent, and ahead of her time.   Maybe the situation caught them both off guard, but they are both very happy.  If all those things were true, would it change your opinion?  The truth is your opinion doesn't matter here.  If all those things are true, then those people are doing nothing but being themselves.  Going with their hearts.  Spreading, dare I say it, love.  It can't be wrong.

Mind you this is just one extreme example, but I'm guilty of this all the time as well, in many areas of my life.  I'm in the habit now of correcting myself, or challenging my thinking, and you should to, at least until you have all the facts.  To jump to any conclusion, without proper knowledge of the peoples character is a mistake, and just because a mistake is common, does not make it acceptable.  

You need to be concerned with the next generation.  We need to live with concern for the future.  A successful generation should be measured by how empowered the younger generations are, and what state the humanity is in, when your generation is gone.  As you progress through these stages of life, make sure you are helping the best way you can to improve the world overall.  See you can either be a part of the problem, or part of the solution.  You can't be both.  You are either a net positive to this planet, or a net negative.  Simply living your life with an open mind, happily, free of bigotry is enough, you don't need to teach a kid math, or anything like that.  There's a saying we all know, "What goes around, comes around", meaning what you put out, you'll get back.  I like to expand that over all of us collectively.  What we all put out, we get back.

Everything you do, everything you think, has consequences.  Consequences that quite possibly could echo through time, long after you are gone.  It is disgraceful how collectively, we stereotype each other.  To prejudge anyone based on their race, sex, age, or appearance is an absolute travesty.  It limits you.  It limits us.  You create racism, sexism, ageism by prejudging people. Your prejudgement, and closed mindedness will affect you too.  It might stop you from seeing that area of the world, you'd actually love, or cause you to miss a key piece of advice in your own life.  The impact could be huge.

You may have met 10 people in a row of a certain race, that are complete jerks, and you should patiently waiting, for just one to prove you wrong.  You do this not because you are foolish.  You do it, because you understand that in the end we are all humans.  All races have jerks.  All races have people you would absolutely love to be around.  Maybe the gift to the future, from this generation, could be true multiculturalism.  If you think relatively, we are still at the forefront of advancement in this area, and have a lot of room for improvement.  Our actions today, will have an impact on how society works together going forward.  The first step is actually pretty easy, we all just need to stop being so damn judgemental.

The Fall of the Immortal

Sometimes people can be so blinded by a seemingly good idea, that they'll fail to see the apparent downside in it.  This is magnified when emotions are involved.  For every action, a reaction.  For every cause, an effect.  Changing something even for the positive, will have some form of negative effect.  These can range from obvious to nearly impossible to see.  It certainly doesn't mean that the idea is not sound, or that it shouldn't be done immediately, but failing to see any inherent downside, is a gross mistake.

Maybe you live in an area where using a cell phone, while driving, is banned.  I do.  There's a number of reasons I dislike the law, but I'll save for another blog someday.  The idea is what's important.

I fully support the notion that people should be concentrating while driving a 3000 pound hunk of metal, at speeds nearing 100 miles/hr.  That's just good safety.  However, you have to consider the negative effects just as greatly.

The downsides are usually more difficult to anticipate.  Driving and talking, allows you to fit in those dialogues for both business, and personal, turning a meaningless task, into something productive. In a grander scale it could impact economic activity, and economies.   It also gives law enforcement an impossible to argue, justification, for a pulling a civilian over, "I thought I saw him talking on their cellphone", infringing on your rights.  Is it possible that people pulling over to answer their phones, could cause the same amount, if not more accidents?

I like to poke holes in arguments, it's what I do.  I dig down deep, to see what's inside.

Do we protect a relatively slight few from doing this certain activity, or allow everyone to fend for themselves, and take our chances?  Notice how now a seemingly good idea, is now almost equally weighted?

We have to make sure that the scales are tipped in one direction.  We have to be certain of it.

Take Immortality for example.  I love the idea of Immortality.  I'd love to be running around in a toga, invulnerable, shooting lightning bolts, until the end of time, wouldn't you?  You could see and do, everything you ever wanted.  You could live to the end of time, if there was one.

Well, not so fast.  If everyone was Immortal, this planet would be over-run with Immortals in no time.  We'd have people who would have opinions formulated thousands of years ago.  Think of how stubborn they'd be.  Try to get them to use a computer.  Think about the perspective of the oldest, angriest, old cook you've ever met, but 40,000 years more grumpy.

If you were the only Immortal, you be the star of the show...  All the time.  Everyone, would idolize you endlessly.  No doubt you would be a god on earth, with unlimited power, and riches.   Humans, animals, and weather would be your only things to play with.  As you got older, and smarter, humanity would seem infinitely more ignorant.   You'd probably start to feel empty inside, and bored with life.  However, the end would never come.  Still sound like fun?

I mentioned in "We are All-Stars" that change is essential to the excitement in life.  "The Power of Positive Thinking" told us that we might just be able to impact our future, with our minds.

Ideas are difficult things.  Sometimes, a burst of excitement, or passion, can spark us in one direction or another.  I always want you to consider the cause, and effect, of everything.  Especially things, that seem completely one sided, and obvious.  This alone can widen your perspective.  It can be very difficult to put yourself in the shoes of someone you greatly dislike, but sometimes that perspective changes your actions, and therefore the direction of your life.

There's an old saying, "There's two sides to every argument."  In my experience, a strong, and a weak one.  Each time this situation arises in your life, I want to look at it objectively from the negative side, as well as the positive.   I like to argue the other party's perspective to myself, to see if I can poke holes in my own opinion, and stay unbiased.  You need to consider opinions from all angles, and don't make a move until your sure the scales have tipped in one direction.

The Power of Positive Thinking

I read a book by Norman Vincent Peale about ten years ago called "The Power of Positive Thinking".  It was written around 1960, by a minister, and it's worth a read.  He's obviously a little more, (cough..  cough) biblical, than I am, but the general message of that book is, if you believe it can happen, and stay focused on an end goal, that it will happen, and in miraculous fashion.

This idea is aligned with many religions, as well as many other positive type thinkers.  Religion calls it "Faith", but I think faith, and positive thinking, have much more similarities, than differences.

The real question is does positive thinking actually work?  Which leads to an even bigger question, which will discuss later in this blog.  Those who are regular readers are aware that I'm skeptical about everything. I need concrete proof to declare something valid.  I have no concrete proof to offer in terms of positive thinking, but let me tell you something.  I believe in it.

People that know me, might not consciously recognize it, but one of my greatest qualities is my attention. Have you ever heard anyone brag about their attention?  "Well, I... just... did." (Quote by C. Prest)  My Dad, is a great guy, and a very smart man.  He enjoyed talking, a lot, so I learned quickly to keep my ears open always.  As long as you haven't lost my respect, when you are speaking, I am listening, remembering, analyzing, and this goes for everybody in my life, in all stages of my life.

All my analyzing and listening have added up to me coming to the conclusion, that there is power in positive thinking.  In every successful, genuine person, I've heard speak, they credit their success to the very same things.  The combination of a clear vision, the belief you can accomplish your goal, verbal reinforcement, tied with hard work, it all seems to have magic.

I've seen it in my own life, many, many times.  When I'm thinking clearly and positively, living morally (I use this term loosely), things seem to come easily.  Conversely, when my mind is not right, maybe I've been drinking too much, or not exercising enough, procrastinating in life, I find bad luck finds me easier.  I don't know, maybe I'm crazy, you tell me.

On the other side, negative reinforcement sealed the deal, for me in terms of being a believer in the power of negative thinking.  You meet people in this world all the time, who are negative thinkers.  It's disease that can be cured, but a disease it is until then.  Negative thinking can, and will kill you.  As much as I've seen positive thinking propel people to new heights, I've seen negative thinking destroy people from the inside out.  It's almost miraculous, that the same person, with the same bad attitude, can have the same stories, about all their tribulations, and it's all true.  They aren't making this stuff up, they have bad luck, or so they believe.  What they have is a bad mind.

The only major elephant in the room of course is this, can our thoughts actually have an impact on the future? For this to be true, the thinking itself would have to do the manipulating, or a higher power would have to assist with the connecting of thought, to outcome.  I'll let you decide.  Either way, you'd have to believe in something you can't see, and really can't explain.  I wouldn't believe this to be possible if it weren't for the hundred of signs in my own life, as well as others lives, to support what I have been seeing for all my days on this planet.

This kind of thinking actually throws the whole fate, or freewill argument, on its head.  If our minds can manipulate the future, then fate is essentially gone, as your destiny is only what you make of it. Freewill, is the idea the future is not predetermined, but that doesn't factor that you can impact the future with your mind.  Could it be that the answer is a combination of both fate, and freewill?  Freewill to decide your outcome, but fated by your thoughts and actions?

Give people an option between two possible outcomes, and more often then not, they will pick one.  Could it be that the fate or freewill argument, has blocked out some other possible outcomes?

Let me remind you that right now, we are currently spinning on a huge ball of mass, that is floating in middle of space.  You are made of billions of atoms, and the way you have formulated, has give you has a collective conscience.  I'm uploading my text, to your computer, which has a microchip processing information.  Does any of this make any sense at all?

So I free myself to imagine a way where both fate and freewill can be the answer.  It's possible that you have the power to change everything about your life, just by keeping a clear imagine of where you want your life to head.  Of course, none of this makes sense, but I implore you to try it.  You might start noticing weird things happening, and sometimes the changes won't be dead pan obvious, until later on.  Pay attention.

Wouldn't it be amazing if all of us, had the ability to be whatever we wanted, as long as we could picture, and believe in it?  It sounds to good to be true.  But then again, so is this wonderful existence.  "Anything is possible" (Quote by VSP), there really are no rules, because as we mentioned in "We are All-Stars", nobody has a clue.

Do you believe your thoughts today, have an impact on your future tomorrow, or is it all a bunch of baloney?

We Are All Stars

One of the my favourite things about living on this planet, is how we all have fundamental ideas about our existence, we still don't understand.  Imagine, if we had reached the point, where we had all the answers, knew what our purpose was, and knew why we were here.  Predictability, leads to chore, and the mundane. It's the randomness that leads to excitement.

None of us know why we are here.  Stephen Hawking doesn't know what my purpose in life is, or whether there is one at all.  The greatest astronomers think they know how the earth was created, but nobody can claim to know why.

The inpredictability of the unknown is what keeps us growing, and changing all the time.  We live as if each one of us is very important, and collectively we are the most important species that has ever existed. The ironic part, is nobody knows why we are here, or if we have any collective purpose at all.  Maybe we do have a collective purpose, just none of us understand what it is.

I'm not sure about any of it to be honest, so don't continue on reading, like there's going to be some great prophecy listed below.  There isn't.  I'm not sold on the fact that humans have any more of an important role, in progressing life, than the standard house fly does.  Won't the world just keep evolving, eventually with us ending up in some form of extinction?  Are we really the one species, that is more important than all the rest?

My rational mind says that we are just a cog in earth's engine.  A mere stepping stone, to another, even more advanced form of intelligence.  The real question is whether humanity by themselves, or all the species of this planet, and all future species, have any collective goal.  Are humans the key to unlocking the stars?  Are we meant to ever see what's out there, past our own galaxy?

I can make a decent case to suggest humans are special.  Unless I'm missing something, we are the first species to sit atop the food chain, using only our wits, and technology.  It's taken thousands of years, but it is difficult to imagine a future, where humans aren't on top.  I can't envision anything short of global disaster removing us from our perch now. 

You have to marvel at the incredible intelligence of humans, in groups, or as individuals. The technological advances we have made really are astounding when you think about it.  You don't see monkeys, and dolphins, building satellites, and spaceships.  We've broken into space, and returned humans back to earth, something I'm sure most assumed, impossible, just a hundred years ago.

The quest to discover life outside our planet, will either be the most important thing we do as a species, or a complete waste of time, depending on the outcome.  You see, we are either designed to explore and discover, or there was never a reason to.  It appears impossible at this point, to ever make it close to the next closest galaxy.  To put this in better perspective the moon, is 400,000 km's away.  The Sun is 150 million km's away from earth, or over 300 times as far as the moon.  The next galaxy, is 4 light years away, which is roughly 40 trillion km's, or 3200 times as far as the sun. 

Photo by nuttakit

Unless we have a break through in manipulating time, and space, it appears, we were never meant to ever explore the next closest galaxy.  We may never have a man on another planet, but Mars appears possible at this point.  Space is vast, has zero oxygen, and little sunlight.  Not exactly the ecosystem for humans to thrive.  Isn't this all just a sightseeing tour, unless we have some purpose to explore further?  Supposedly we are looking for other intelligent life.  Even if we find it, so what?  That doesn't really show a collective purpose, or help any of us know if there is a reason we exist.

Let's flip it around, and look at it from the other perspective.  Maybe we have no importance at all.  It's probably more likely that our existence has zero grandiose purpose, even over the long term.  Humans run from this type of thinking, because nobody wants to believe that this is it.  It's much easier to believe in either reincarnation, aliens, or some form of after life, rather than a complete end to your own existence, and someday, the end of existence for all Humans.

When I see humans, believing in something, that science can't prove, or where no visual evidence exists, I assume it's something they have created consciously, or subconsciously, to aid their physche.  I'll talk more about this in a future blog, but I believe it has roots in this topic.  That doesn't mean I'm right, or that I don't hold beliefs of my own in which I can't prove through science, but you can bet, I challenge each and every one of them.  You should too.

I could think about the universe, and research it, for the rest of my life, and I'll never have the answer to my fundamental questions about why the universe is, the way it is.  If we had these answers, I see it only affecting our lives in a negative way.  The unknown creates our daily excitement, and the multitude of answers to these fundamental questions, create unique people, with unique perspectives.  Never let anyone tell you that your version is the wrong one, because no one will ever have the answer.  At the same time, if you ever want to have a shot at some real answers, you better make sure the things you currently believe, aren't just crutches, you've designed to protect you from coming to grips with your own mortality, or a general lack of purpose.

Canada - My One Tax Idea

Have you ever come up with a great idea, shared it with someone, and heard a response similar to "That will never happen..."  They say these words with the implication, that the idea is so radical, that it will never happen in reality, therefore, you should stop thinking about it immediately.

I dislike this type of thinking because it's very close minded.  Innovation is always unexpected, and great ideas can seem radical, until they are implemented.  I have a simple idea of making Canada, a one tax country.  I know it will never happen, but that is not the point, so hear me out.

The fee for living in this great country is large.  According to one source, we are the 11th most expensive place in the world to live in.  My source arrived at this, by looking at the highest income tax brackets for each country.  I don't believe this tells the whole story, as income tax, is only one of probably 50 different taxes you will pay in your life.  Property tax, sales tax, hotel tax, excise tax, estate tax, capital gains tax, dividend taxes, just to name a small few.  We pay so much tax, from so many angles, none of us know just how much tax per capita we are paying.

Over taxation, in general, is a terrible thing.  The main reason is due to the inefficiencies of government spending.  The less money the government spends for us the better because things like bureaucracy, overpaying employees, and government waste, all create an entity, that spends, and does projects inefficiently.  Pretty much any job the government can do, the private sector can do better, and cheaper.  Essential services should be there only role.   The less money the government handles, the better.

The governments of today don't share my sentiments.  In fact, every way in which they operate is counter-intuative in my opinion.  You see, you can't tax your way into good times.  The more taxes people have to pay in tax, the less they have to spend out in the real world.  If all the sudden income tax was eliminated, what would you do with that extra money?  You'd probably put it away for safe keeping right?  Wrong.  You'd spend it, because humans are natural spenders, as we all know our time on this planet is limited.  More than likely, you'd go out to eat more.  Maybe you'd buy that dream car you've always wanted, or plan to go travel the world.  All that spending, supports small and big businesses alike who are the real creators of jobs, and innovations.  The government just needs to help in areas where they belong.  Things like business quality control, labor rules, environmental responsibility, that where government can really help.

In our current tax system, there is no way our taxation rate will ever fall, it will only trend higher.  Politicians can, and will reduce taxes to appease the public, but all they will do is find another area to tax to make up for it.  There's so many taxes, you couldn't keep track of what is going up, and what's being lowered, if you tried. 

The system is designed to be confusing.  It has to be, or thousands of government agencies would be closed overnight, and thousands of longtime government employees, would be out on the street.  If we collect 50 different kinds of tax, you can bet, there is a government agency, with a government hierarchy, being paid to do the collecting.  A one tax system, would certainly aim their focus, and would cut government costs drastically.

Canada needs to be run like a good business.  We should be able to pay all our essential services, as well as have a focused, unified, government, that at the end of the day, turns a decent profit for us.  There is no justification for anything else.  We should not fall into the trap of borrowing, and pushing debts further down the line to our children.  That is the most bogus, immature way of thinking I can imagine.

We pay too much for what we get back in return.  This may sound spoiled here, but all I'm saying is the spending is done inefficiently.  With all the tax collected and paid, we deserve more than crowded hospitals, cracked roads, our terrible judicial system, and overfilled classrooms.

That's where my one tax only idea was born, and the more I think about, the more it makes sense.  The higher the tax rate rises, the better people get at working around the rules.  This applies to anyone, from people on welfare, to corporate CEO's.  If you knew just how much tax ducking went on, it would make you sick.  The government has to get their tax pool to a certain size, so when anybody ducks taxes, who do you think ends up paying?  That's right, all of us.

There should be a single purchase tax that all citizens pay on everything, but that is all they would pay.  How high this rate would be? I'm unsure, but my guess would be around 20-30%, based on todays taxation rates.  What would happen is, you would get all your money to spend each year because there is no income tax.  Any money you made on that money, you would no longer pay capital gains tax.  Instead, you would pay all your tax, up front, on all purchases.  Things like gas, liquor, cigarettes would be much more affordable because so much of their costs is taxes you wouldn't be paying. 

Under this system, the government initially, would take no more, or less taxes then they do now.  It's just no longer will people be able to duck taxes, through weird tax loopholes, or illegal activity.  Think of all the people in Canada that make their living illegally one way, or the other.  They obviously pay zero income tax.  This purchase tax would be a great way, to impose taxation on these people.  Sure they could buy some of their goods on the black market, but for a lot of the day to day purchases, they would be paying their taxes, which they aren't paying now.  Rebating low income earners would be fairly easily with one, transparent, tax.

Think about filing taxes, and how complex that form is.  How much paperwork gets pushed, and how expensive that all is.  Boom, one tax system, you don't need to file at all.  All the tax is already collected on a daily basis, and the government could make each business submit on any timeline they choose.

That's only part of the many reasons why this would make for a better system.  The transparency is it's most important feature.  You would know if you  paid 21.8% purchase tax on everything in 2010, that if you paid 22.5% in 2011 that taxes went up.  Conversly, any in-roads governments made to curb spending, could be seen by decreasing this rate.  You would know exactly how much tax, on a percentage basis, you paid that year.

I know this idea will never happen... I get that, as even I could poke 100 holes in my own idea.  I like to think I could also teardown those same roadblocks, with a little creativity.  The government has essentially become  a union.  At first, unions always start out with the interest of their people, but over time, develop into an entity that can be more concerned about it's own survival, that it's original purpose.  It's going to take a major overhaul, and some radical ideas, if we ever stand a chance at increasing efficientcy in government.  Simplifying the system would be a good start.