Creative Crazy

http://techrepublic.com.com/5208-6230-0.html?forumID=8&threadID=181859&start=0

I found this discussion on TechRepublic, and I believe it warrants some thought. It ties in with the following article:

http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/050907_schizotype_creative.html

In order to come up with new ideas a creative person has to venture into the unknown, which in all essence, is the path to insanity. We must see the world in a different way otherwise new ideas would not be found. Thereby our interaction with the real world is strained to say the least since one foot is always in the creative beyond. With our attentions always thus distracted, we cannot help but be seemingly dazed or "not with it" in the real world.

If indeed we are using more of our brain than the average person, it makes you wonder what we would be capable of if we were able to use so much more of our brain, and at a balance between the two hemispheres. Sci-Fi tends to depict highly intelligent and psychic people and outer-worldly races to have uncommonly large brains. But, is it really necessary to have that much more gray matter? We currently use such a small percentage of our brains, that it leaves open the probability that greater abilities may come with greater usage. If greater creativity is created with greater usage of the right side, what would come of using a similar percentage of the left as well? If someone were able to have an equal balance between left and right AND use a larger percentage of both sides, what would they be capable of? It is unknown, but not unfathomable.

To this day the brain still has many mysteries. So I don’t think it’s unreal to believe in the possibility of psychic powers. And to clarify, when I say psychic powers I don’t mean horoscopes or fortune tellers, I mean things like empathy, telekinesis, pyrokinesis and the ability to see invisible forces around us (which may or may not include departed spirits and/or the power to see events in the future). Has anyone found a true psychic or medium and tried this test on them? I’d be curious to see the results and how much brain they used.

* * * * * *

It is also interesting how creativity is linked to technology. I had no idea I was good with technology until I started working in the officeplace. But growing up I was considered highly creative and artistic. I dabbled in many crafting skills and created sculptures and other artworks. I never thought I'd be doing IT because I considered that to be a more mathematical type position, and I hated math (although I did make it all the way to Calculus before giving up on math).

Then when I started working, I found I had a knack for fixing machines, computers, phones and other techie stuff. And I enjoyed it! (and I must say to this day I still don’t see how algebra fits into my line of work). Thus started a career in administration, IS and IT.

So in reality tech work is an artform. One, because you have to build solutions or networks, which involves imagination as well as logic and creativity. And two, because working with technology also involves problem solving on an almost constant basis. Problem solving is best done when thinking outside of the box, and perhaps, means using more of your brain than the average person. So it is no surprise to me that techies tend to be a little eccentric. We probably are using more of our creative brains and therefore have a different perception of the world.

And as for geniuses, everyone pretty much knows that they are using more of their brains. But which side? There are creative geniuses such as Frank Lloyd Wright and then there are more technical/mathematical geniuses like Albert Einstein. Going on basic assumptions, Wright probably used more of his right side while Einstein more of the left. But does that mean Einstein was also borderline crazy? Perhaps not schizophrenic, since that has shown to be a more right brain thing, but another kind of crazy? I’d like to see continued research on this stuff.

Half Full or Half Empty?

The world is good-natured to people who are good natured.
-- William Makepeace Thackeray

The world is what you make of it. This is true. If you strive to perceive the world in a brighter light, the world will be a better place. Perspective really does affect your way of life. Happiness is not given to you, it is something you strive for. And part of that is making the effort to find the joy around you.

"Every cloud has a silver lining" You’ve probably heard that a million times, but again it’s something to live by. If you take the time to find the little piece of good in every situation, event, or person, you will end up surrounded by silver. Often the silver lining is hard to find, our emotions tend to steer us to darkness, but by using your mind, you can seek out the hidden good.

Keeping a positive perspective is not only good for you own physical and emotional health, but it helps those around you as well. If you continually point out the good in life, people will begin to see it for themselves.

Some people say that optimistic people are often unrealistic, living on cloud 9 because they hold hope at times when all seems hopeless or believe in things that seem impossible. Optimism is not fantasy. Optimists seek to find the good in everything, this is a completely real and logical action that actually works. As far as hope and faith, optimists may seem to have more of these things than other people, especially when times are hardest. It does not mean that they are being unreal, it simply means that based on experience (because they’ve always found the good in things), they know that some good will come out of whatever happens.

C'est la vie!

Karma is a Force and a Perspective

They were talking about Karma on the radio this morning because of that new show coming out tonight on NBC (My Name is Earl).
It seemed the 2 women on the radio believed in Karma (what goes around comes around) and the guy just said it was all coincidences.

It made me think.

Karma is a way of looking at incidents that are very coincidental. As the woman host said "Grateful hearts are happy hearts". If you look at a coincidence and take it as good karma rewarding you, it will tend to make you happier than just perceiving it as a simple coincidence. In this way Karma is a Perspective.

But to delve deeper into what Karma is...

Many believe that if you do something good, something good will happen to you in return. But I think it is a bit more complex than that. I don't think that for every good thing there is another, (or likewise for bad things), but rather every good thing you do attracts a little more good karma to you. The more good karma you attract to yourself, the higher your chance of having something good happen to you or for you. It is a force, or aura that builds up around you. I think we begin at a balance and then for every action we do, a little bit of karma, good or bad depending on the action, adds on.

Therefore the more good things you do, the better off you will be because you will attract good karma wherever you go. (Haven’t you ever noticed how that genuinely happy person seems to emanate joy? It rubs off on you.)

The karma you carry also affects those around, just as their karma will affect you. If you are surrounded by lots of good karma people, you will tend to feel better…their good karma rubs off on you, adding good karma to your own. Likewise if you hang around a lot of negative, bad karma people, you have the tendency to feel down yourself.

The world is full of forces. Call them luck, karma, fate what have you. But they all are based on the Yin-Yang philosophy. Good and bad. Positive and Negative. Positives attract positives, and negatives attract negatives. If you try to be a positive person and do good things, positive forces will be more inclined to stay near you. And likewise for negativity.

Ce n'est pas?

Life is a Mountain Range; Success comes after MANY tries

Babe Ruth hit more home runs than anyone; he also struck out more often than anyone.
-- Anonymous

One of the most important lessons in life is that if you wish to succeed, you must first fail.
In order to achieve our goals in life, we must put in the efforts with the expectation to succeed, but with the understanding that we may also fail. And then if we do fail, we must not get discouraged, but instead try again.

If at first we cannot climb the mountain before us, we must try again for reaching the top is ever important if we are to continue on with our life.

Our lives are filled with mountains
Some are big and some are small
To live the most fruitful life
We must conquer them all
Often we try to climb the slope
But slip and fall back down
We may wallow in self pity
And carry ourselves with a frown
But we must try again and again
To reach the mountain’s crown
If we don’t get across the mountain
And reach the valley next
We’ll never get anywhere in life
Or become our very best
The mountains each range in height
The valleys each range in depth
We beam with pride on top of the peaks
But in the lowest valleys we’re bereft
Lost in the valley’s dark shadows
Many valleys though, are not that deep
And are wide flat meadows of grass
For life often has uneventful points
Through these we travel easy and fast
Some people seem to have shortcuts
Their mountains have quick tunnels
But beware if you find these caves
Yours could be a dark and twisted funnel
For not every tunnel is a shortcut
Some are just a winding maze
Making you lost within your mountain
Until you can find your way through the haze
Even they who seem to have it easy
Have their own mountains to climb
Even if now they are in a wide valley
The next mountain is only a matter of time
Life is not just a walk down a path
It is an adventure filled with tribulations
But we become better people for them
And we mustn’t overlook every jubilation
We have our many ups
We have our many downs
Despite every trial we have
The joys of life abound.
-- KO

Prejudice and Racism are Immortal

With the recent Katrina disaster, the issue of racism has once again reared its ugly head. Why? Because the disaster just happened to occur where the population was primarily black. The government has been criticized for not responding quickly enough to the disaster. And relief did seem to take some time to reach the populace. But is it really an issue of race? This is the biggest natural disaster the US has experience in quite some time. How can we blame the slow relief efforts on race when it is clearly lack of experience?
You can train people and groups in how to respond, but if they’ve never actually had to do it you cannot count on things going the way they are planned. Plans look great on paper, but in reality every situation cannot be covered by a plan. Not every person has the natural instinct which allows them to think quickly and clearly in an emergency. If you were to be thrown into the middle of chaos, how do you think you’d fare? It is one thing to be trained in how to organize and handle people in panic, but have you actually tried to calm a person who has just lost everything and is desperately trying to get their family to safety? Think about it. People were actually shooting AT rescuers during this disaster. Do you think rescuers were trained for that?
Racism and prejudice is an issue that I believe has gone for far too long. It is quite incredulous that black people today are still fighting for restitution of the crimes of yesteryear. Those blacks that fight for these compensations only make a false reputation for their race. There are plenty of black people who are capable, hard-working, and unprejudiced. But they are overshadowed by those who choose to shout for restitution for crimes committed against their ancestors. It is a scapegoat. An easy way out for those who want some fast cash. There is no logical reason why the government today should have to pay for the crimes of the forefathers. Times and thinking were much different back then. Times and thinking have changed. Don’t dwell on the past, but live in the present. And look to the future.
We must understand that this world is made up of many, many races, cultures, ethnicities, beliefs, religions etc. etc. These differences in appearance, visions and thinking are what make us all unique. If the world was not filled with such diversity, such a dull world it would be. There is no force or rule that says any race is above any other. It is within our own individual minds that the choice is made to accept or deny the rights of others. Over and over again in the world’s history there are people who prove that no one is inferior. Many with crippling disabilities have overcome such obstacles to prove they can lead a healthy and active lifestyle as well as anyone else. So why would color of the skin be any different? Why can we not overcome these visual aspects and see the fact that we are ALL human beings?
Granted, prejudices are passed on from generation to generation. Whites and blacks are equally to blame for this. If the parents cannot forgive and forget, than the children will absorb this and carry it on to their children. In order for racism to be completely wiped out we’d have to change the thinking of every human in the country and of course, this is an impossible task. So unfortunately, prejudice continues to live on within our society.
Unfortunately, there are also other factors that carry on the prejudices. Such as the fact that many of the minority races in the US originate from poorer countries where gang violence rules and crime is high. Often these ways of life are brought along into the US. As well, there are probably more minorities in poverty than there are white. The lack of opportunity for these people force them into gangs and lives of crime. Which, of course, plays badly on the overall reputation of their race. Those who are violent and cause trouble are brought into focus far more often than those who have worked hard and overcome their obstacles to form a better life for themselves, and often, their community.
I do not know how we will ever be able to help all of those in poverty. I don’t think it possible to wipe it out completely. Therefore there will always be those forced into lives of crime to survive. And there will always be these violet misgivings that will overshadow those of the minority races that do give to society.
It is so unfortunate. Do your part, and don’t carry the burden of prejudice on your shoulders.