Tell Sir Ken Robinson about finding your element

http://www.facebook.com/SirKenRobinson#!/SirKenRobinson?v=app_7146470109

At the above link there are five questions about personal passions. You can go there to give your answers to Sir Ken Robinson (author of “The Element”) who is looking for material for his next book. Here’s what you’ll find.

• Do you feel that you’ve found your Element? If so, what is it and how has it changed your life?
• If you haven’t found your Element, what do you think is preventing you from doing so?
• What did you need to do (or what are you doing) to find your Element?
• What were/are the challenges you faced in finding your Element?
• Who has helped you find your Element? Who has made it harder for you?

I have submitted my answers.

And

I am in my element now, communicating with I-Don’t-Know-Who through a technology that can also be used (and probably is, right at this very same moment) to forge democracy as well as to spam people into buying fake Rolex watches.

I am lucky to live in a place where my access to information is not restricted and nobody stops me from pursuing and sharing information and ideas when I want to. I cannot imagine finding my element if I faced the constrictions that are imposed on many in the world.

Rational thinking

So… I’ve blogged a bit recently about equity and distribution (of power and of material things).

Now it’s time to point to some ideas about science education and rational thinking:

“students are being cheated out of a sound science education” is a quote from:

http://www.bigquestionsonline.com/features/darwin-pushed-to-margins

– an article that discusses the reluctance of many teachers in the US to teach evolutionary ideas.

It’s a frightening perspective that, as the authors say, could have a negative impact on critical thinking skills and how citizens in the future view policy decisions that could impact health, environment and other important matters.

Fortunately, there are authors presenting ideas that support the notion that it’s NOT okay to abandon the foundations of scientific investigation in order to support concepts of spirituality. For instance,

http://new.bangordailynews.com/2011/02/18/lifestyle/examining-the-evolution-creationism-divide/?ref=mostReadBox

gives reasons why those who embrace religion don’t have to deny science and says:

“Such wild-eyed radicals as Billy Graham, C.S. Lewis and Pope John Paul II have all convincingly argued that the Bible should not be read as a science textbook and that the scientific truth of evolution can coexist with the spiritual truth of God.
Given this and the overwhelming scientific evidence, the real question is not whether evolution exists or whether it can coexist with religion. It does, and it can.”

And there are many other sources with this point of view. Daniel Goleman and the Dalai Lama, in “Destructive Emotions: A Scientific Dialogue with the Dalai Lama – 2003″, have helped millions to see that science and spirituality don’t have to be at odds with each other.

Here is a 2007 video clip showing the Dalai Lama’s open-minded perspective

In 2010 the Dalai Lama said
“While looking for solutions for improving the future, one should give more importance to reality and science rather than adopting anything on the basis of beliefs and prejudice”
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_science-can-provide-solutions-for-better-future-dalai-lama_1480012

———–

March 3 update with a quote from the New York Times article on politics and environmental protection:
“It was like the science didn’t matter”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/04/us/04gas.html?_r=1&hp

Fitness and Innovation (via Hitgirl’s Blog)

The innovation dilemma from a different starting point….

Good evening dear readers.  I've been given a challenge and it's a doozy.  It's to prepare a proposal to speak on the topic of human innovation.  So, I'd like to take this time to organize my thoughts and would love your feedback on the topic. Just the word innovation gets me excited.  It speaks of imagination, possibility, brilliance and human potential.  I get pumped just thinking about it.  Exploring human need, behavior and our individual and … Read More

via Hitgirl's Blog

Free Egypt

I’m watching images of the crowds cheering “Free Egypt” as they hear that Mubarak has stepped down.

Having read El Baradei’s article in the NY Times this morning (his viewpoint seems very balanced to me) I feel optimistic that the recent communications technologies will continue to give people opportunities and motivation to address imbalances in power.

Here’s a quote:

“young Egyptians, gazing through the windows of the Internet, have gained a keener sense than many of their elders of the freedoms and opportunities they lack. They have found in social media a way to interact and share ideas, bypassing, in virtual space, the restrictions placed on physical freedom of assembly.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/11/opinion/11elbaradei.html?src=tptw

I love his conclusion in this article as well:

“We are at the dawn of a new Egypt. A free and democratic society, at peace with itself and with its neighbors, will be a bulwark of stability in the Middle East and a worthy partner in the international community. The rebirth of Egypt represents the hope of a new era in which Arab society, Muslim culture and the Middle East are no longer viewed through the lens of war and radicalism, but as contributors to the forward march of humanity, modernized by advanced science and technology, enriched by our diversity of art and culture and united by shared universal values.

We have nothing to fear but the shadow of a repressive past.”