Another Patel

4 trends that will shape our generation and our world:

A Lot of Baby Making Music

The human population is now 6.5 billion and will likely crest at 9 or 10 billion. One-and-a-half billion live in the most abject poverty, while another billion live in considerable wealth. One billion suffer from the afflictions of eating too much while others suffer from malnutrition. When I was a graduate student at Penn the ratio of richest to poorest was said to be 35:1. It is now approaching 100:1 and growing. The problem of a more crowded world is not just about what ecologists call carrying capacity of the Earth. It also a problem of justice with more and more people competing for less and less.

No One is Playing Outside

We spend upwards of 95 percent of our time in houses, cars, malls, and offices. We are becoming an indoor species increasingly shut off from sky, land, forests, waters, and animals. Nature, as a result, is becoming more and more an abstraction to us. The problem is most severe for children who now spend up to eight hours each day before a television or computer screen and less and less time outdoors in nature. There is even a term for this, call  “nature deficit disorder” — the loss of our sense of rootedness in place and connection to the natural world. In some future time, it is not unreasonable to think that disconnected and rootless, we would might trigger a fundamental change in our reality, which could lead to a spiritual crisis for which there is no precedent.

Peak Oil

A third fact has been particularly difficult for a society built on the foundation of cheap portable fossil fuels to acknowledge. We are at or near the year of peak oil extraction, the point at which we will have consumed the easy and better half of the accessible oil. The other half is harder to refine, farther out, and deeper down, and mostly located in places where people do not like us. We are not likely to run out of oil or liquid fossil fuels from one source or another, but we are nearing the end of the era of cheap oil. We have known this for decades, but we still have no coherent or farsighted energy policy. In the meantime the penalty for procrastination grows daily along with the risks of supply interruptions and volatile energy prices.

A Saturated CO2 Market

Global warming is mainly the result of CO2 levels rising in the Earth’s atmosphere. Both atmospheric CO2 and climate change are accelerating. The current level of all human-generated heat-trapping gases is 385 parts per million CO2. And scientists say that 350 parts per million CO2 in the atmosphere is the safe limit for humanity so, scientifically speaking, this is no good. Also, most experts agree that we have years, not decades, to stabilize CO2 and other greenhouse gases. At this rate, we are not just warming the Earth, but we are on a path to destabilize the entire planet.

In Summation,

One has to do with justice, fairness, and decency in a more crowded world.

The second has to do with the largeness of the human spirit and our capacity to connect to life.

The third has to do with our wisdom and creativity in the face of limits to the biosphere.

The last is about human survival on a hotter and less stable and predictable planet.

how Lady Diana’s death is emblematic of globalization…

Google is obviously one of most brilliant and innovative companies in the world today. They have brought us the efficient search engine online, the google phone, and in are in the process of putting every book in existence onto the internet. Now, admittedly, these are all exceptional accomplishments but, in my opinion,  the most impressive thing that they have done involves their use of goats…no this is not some new internet slang, i’m referring to actual GOATS!!

At their HQ in Mountain View, they have replaces there lawnmowers with a herd of goats. Beyond the comedic appeal, this is also good because it a more low-carbon approach to cutting grass. Instead of using noisy mowers that run on gasoline and pollute the air, there allowing goats to do, what goats do. And this herd of 200 goats not only pedicures the grass in an environmentally safe matter, they also provide fertilizer. It just makes sense really.

Google admits that the goats will cost about the same as lawn mowers would, but all things considered, I think it’s a worth alternative. I do wonder how the maintenance workers who previously had this job feel about losing work to goats. Do they even make signs to protest against goats taking jobs from hard working Americans?

And yes, PETA has approved this Goat program…

On a much more serious note, I have much respect and appreciation for Google changing there logo in celebration of Gandhi’s birthday: “Be the change that you want to see in the world”

This is a video of John Francis speaking at a recent TED Conference. He’s done a lot of amazing things in his life, but the most amazing thing he accomplished was something he didn’t do….which was not speaking for 17 years.

Just to clarify: He didn’t say one word for 17 years. So the least you can do is listen to him speak for 15 minutes 

Countries are unable to resolve the sorts of planet-wide challenges now arising.  There needs to be cooperative international institutions capable of dealing with the many interactive effects of global change — and enforcing compliance where necessary.

Unfortunately, there are very few institutional structures to achieve cooperation globally on the sort of scales now essential to avoid very serious consequences.

1) CRACK open your duffel bag or briefacse, look inside and ask “Got enough air in there?”

2) STAND at the front of the elevator and face everyone. And let the tension ensue.

3) GREET everyone with a warm handshake and ask him or her to call you Captain.

4) MEOW occasionally.

5) STARE At another passenger for a while. Then announce in horror: “You’re one of THEM” - and back away slowly

6) SAY “I wonder what all these do?” And push all the red buttons.

7) MAKE explosion noises when anyone presses a button.

9) ANNOUNCE: “I have new socks on.”

10) ASK  someone: “Is this elevator beeper friendly?”

11) DRAW a little square on the floor with chalk and announce to the other passengers: “This is my personal space.”

12) WHEN there’s only one other person in the elevator, tap them on the shoulder, then pretend it wasn’t you.

13) DROP a pen and wail until someone reaches to help pick it up, then scream: “That’s mine!”

14) BRING a camera and take pictures of everyone in the lift and tell them it’s for your Facebook page. They should understand.

15) ANNOUNCE: “Well, this is going to be awkward…”

So I’ve only done 3 of the above. Only 12 more to go…

BTW, here’s what I look like in an elevator:

In an effort to push myself outside my comfort zone, I have decided to do 2 very different things: A Triathlon and Stand Up Comedy.

Stand Up Comedy

I have had an interest in stand up for years and have even read a few books about the subject. I have a tremendous amount of admiration and respect for anyone that attempts to do it whether they get laughs or not.  The skill of being able to  get in front a group of strangers (sober or drunk) and make them laugh is absolutely fascinating to me. It also happens to be one of the most terrifying things a person can do in my opinion. Public speaking is one thing, but being in front of people that expect you to make them laugh is a completely different dynamic.

Instead of just jumping into this on my own, I am actually going to take this course at SF Comedy School. And yes, it is a real college. It’s like comparable to Oxford for Comedy Colleges. :)  The intro class is  this Wed so hopefully I learn few things. I plan on doing at least one performance by the end of the year. So hopefully I can convince enough of my friends to attend and provide a decent amount of pity laughter (hopefully they don’t throw things at me…)

Triathlon

I have been wanting to do a triathlon for a while now. And I think im finally ready to actually do it rather than just talk about it. I’ve done a 5k, a half marathon, a full marathon, and am doing an Urbanathlon in October which should be interesting. And even though, I did not win any of those races (surprising…i know), i think I can handle a Triathlon as long as i continue to eat my Wheaties.

The one thing that has always prevented me from doing a Triathlon is the fact that…I can’t swim, well at least not effectively. My swimming style would probably be best described as “Not Drowning.” So committing to this race would force me to learn. So I plan on taking some courses within the next few months.

Here is the race I am going to do next year: The Morgan Hill Triathlon …It is going to be on May 16, 2010. So I figure I can improve my swimming abilities by then (one can hope). Unfortunately, I don’t think I am going to win this race either.

1. Advertising is a tax on those that are unremarkable.

2. The lottery is a tax on those who don’t understand probabilities.

3. Borrow money from pessimists — they don’t expect it back.

4. The key characteristics of people who make good travel partners: flexibility, open-mindedness, low-keyness. When deciding whether to travel with someone emphasize these characteristics more than your overall closeness with the friend.

5. People who were raised with a strong value system (like religion) of some kind, but then questioned the value system and decided for themselves their values and ethics, both (a) tend to choose value systems that you like and (b) live them relatively consistently.

6. 42.7% of all statistics are made up on the spot.

7. Doubt the power of peer pressure? Next time you’re at a crosswalk and someone starts jaywalking on a red light, notice how you feel.

8. A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.

9. Among the many other benefits of playing team sports when young: You get used to people yelling at you and giving direct, brutally honest feedback. You are being constantly criticized. At every soccer practice I went to, I made mistakes, and somebody told me how I could improve.

10. Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.

11. I almost had a psychic girlfriend but she left me before we met.

12. Theory: People who glorify “being different” were born normal. Normal people think being different is cool. People who are actually different spend most of their life trying to be normal.

13. Ambition is a poor excuse for not having enough sense to be lazy.

14. Here’s what I do when I visit new city in the States: I meet people. To me what makes a city special are the people who live there. That’s what I can’t get at home. I can go to top museums or restaurants or parks in any big American city. When I’m abroad, I spend less time meeting people and more time exploring.

15. I intend to live forever — so far, so good.

16. Single men and women tend to be more self-absorbed and arrogant than their married/relationship counterparts. This is for two reasons: married/relationship life means focusing a lot on someone else’s life (almost as intensely as on your own) and second, a spouse will keep you grounded. When another person has seen your ups and downs, she/he sees you as a fallible human and can call bullshit when you forget this fact. It is extremely difficult to get this type of honest feedback from anyone else.

17. Hard work pays off in the future, laziness pays off now.

18. It seems like we need some intermediate step after you graduate from college. There’s college, in which you learn little about the real world, then right away the real world. Maybe four year colleges should offer a fifth year that is a super charged internship period / life skills bootcamp.

19. Doubt the power of peer pressure? Next time you’re at a crosswalk and someone starts jaywalking on a red light, notice how you feel.

So I have been listening to a lot of electronic music over the past year. Actually, it’s pretty much the only type of music I listen too. But i’ve come to realize that actually have no idea what the different genre’s of this type of music mean.

People throw around terms like “jungle”, “techno”, or “deep house” and simply nod my head and act accordingly hoping no one actually asks me what any of those terms mean. In an effort to educate myself about this music I looked up the definitions of the various genres.

I have combined definitions from various sources (credible of course) based on how well I think it describes the music. I’ve broken them down into the 3 main areas that I actually listen to (just realized this btw): House, Techno, and Trance.

At least now I can feel somewhat credible when I’m waving my glow sticks in the air…kinda.

read more…

A meta careerist is a person who makes a career of talking about their….CAREER.

The most successful internet marketers sell products about…how to become a successful internet marketer. There’s a trend here.

Writers who write books and articles about…how to be a published writer.

Entrepreneurs whose entrepreneurship is about…entrepreneurship.

The networking guru who uses his network to…sell books about how to network.

The personal branding expert whose personal brand is about…personal branding.

These are  referred to as  “meta-careers.” Generally, it’s best to not seek advice on the topic from people involved in a meta career.

The best advice on networking will come from someone who is not a professional networker. The best advice on entrepreneurship will come someone whose entrepreneurship is not selling books and workshops about entrepreneurship. Writers who write about anything other than writing for a living usually have the best advice on writing.