Gives Me Hope

Unknown
0 Comments »

Recently, it seems surfing websites like FML and Texts From Last Night has become a common hobby for teenagers and twentysomethings everywhere. These user-submitted microblogs are flourishing: the former receiving about 1.7 million views a day and the latter about 4 million. Heck, I'd be happy if this blog reached 1.7 thousand in my entire lifetime. FML has already published a book and TFLN is on the way to doing so.


While hilarious, many of the jokes on these websites are crude and catered to a specific age group. Recently, though, I came across a very different kind of microblog, one that almost anyone can read: Gives Me Hope. It's a sort of online suicide hotline, packed full of inspiring and uplifting stories, including hundreds of testimonials that the website prevented a suicide attempt. The website brags that it is "Like FML, but for optimists!"It's become one of my favorite blogs and it's one of the first feeds I check out each day. Hopefully, with enough support, a GMH book will be published soon. Here's a few of my favorite posts on the website:




Feel free to post your favorites as swell.


Share |

, ,

Unlimited Potential

Unknown
0 Comments »




Just when I feel as if I'm beginning to understand what exactly humans are capable of, people like those in the video come along and show that the limits of the human potential have not yet been discovered. And these limits are not necessarily physical either. With constant new developments such as the Large Hadron Collider, smaller and smarter phones, and intelligent clothes, it seems that humans will never stop inventing. Is there a limit, though? Will we ever level off?

People argue that there is no "better" homo species, simply one better adapted to a particular environment. It is clear, though, that our brains have been developing throughout evolution, regardless of changes in environment. If the environment was to stay relatively constant, would humans continue to develop? It is impossible to know when, or if, evolution will ever cease to affect us. It may be primitive or haughty to propose that we have reached the pinnacle of evolution, and, in fact, I don't think we have. But it's possible we have.

This makes me wonder, then, what humans are capable of. How far will we go? How much better will we develop? We have not even determined the limits of Homo sapiens yet. There are tons of stories of mothers lifting cars to save their children. In these times of extreme stress, we reach newer and higher levels of capability. Where, then, is the limit? Is there a highest level of achievement a human can gain? Honestly, I don't think it is possible to determine what the limits of potential are. In order to do so, we would have to make the human genetically and physically superior to all other humans. Additionally, they would have to be raised perfectly. I do think, though, that you can set upper bounds. For instance, I personally believe a human could never fly without assistance. The challenge, then, is to find the lowest upper bound, the very highest thing a human can accomplish.

Feel free to suggest what YOU think humans are capable of.


Share |

, ,

My Dad's Name? Superman

Unknown
1 Comment »


I remember exactly when it happened. I was sitting in my summer dorm room doing my reading for class that night when my cell phone rang. My nonchalant method of picking it up proved how incredibly unprepared I was for the news that would change my life forever.

My textbook lay unread on my bed alongside my unfinished homework for the next morning. I was too absorbed with the words I had just heard to focus on anything else. My mother’s soft and hesitant voice echoed in my head: Dad needs cardiac surgery.

Two days earlier, my mother had explained that they were going to be going to Mayo for their annual check-up, but I doubted that a check-up would reveal anything major. I brushed off my father’s recent reoccurring dizziness as mere symptoms of aging. The results of the check-up were shocking. His condition was so serious that a heart attack could have occurred at virtually any moment. 

Perhaps the news stunned me so because my whole life I had naïvely considered my father invincible. He could scare away monsters from underneath my bed and battle through difficulties as if they were never there. He could cure cancer and work twelve-hour shifts without signs of weariness. Even at the age of sixteen, I felt my dad would be there forever. 

And then the truth rushed at me like an unstoppable avalanche. Thanks to some amazing doctors, my dad, though requiring a definite change in lifestyle, turned out fine. The experience, though, made me think quite a bit about heroes. As long as I could remember, I had strived to be my father in each and every way. His life was a true rags-to-riches story, from the slums of a third-world country to a successful physician. This, it seems, may have been why I viewed my father as invincible. When we look up to someone enough to want to be that someone, we completely ignore their flaws; we refuse to believe our Superman has a kryptonite. After all, why would we want to be someone with flaws?

So, what do we do? Do we acknowledge our hero’s flaws? Should we analyze our heroes to determine what makes them fall? To this, I say absolutely not. We NEED mentors to be successful. It is incredibly reassuring to know that someone has accomplished what we aim to accomplish. Knowing something is possible gives us hope, reassurance. Flaws, once acknowledged, are hard to ignore. After we realize someone is flawed, the flaw seems amplified: it’s all we can think about. If we refuse to acknowledge our heroes’ flaws, we gain perseverance. We gain hope. Ever seen how determined a child is to be Spiderman or Batman? It’s because they see no flaws, only success. I felt the same with my father. I neglected his slightly opinionated nature and his obsession with his work simply because that is not the type of person I wanted to be when I grew up.

So, while we know deep down that everyone is mortal, the misconceived perceptions of invincibility and perfection help us succeed. Submit to your childish misconceptions every once in a while; they may be just what you need.

Watch out, Clark Kent, my dad’s got you beat. And so do seemingly invincible heroes everywhere.


Share |

, , , ,

Does reason always prevail?

Anonymous
1 Comment »

(*Warning*: this post may trigger the allergic reactions some have towards science... Those with a liking for philosophy may be quite intrigued though. However, Wikiphiliac warns you: Read at your own risk.)

At least in theory, I would say yes. Our understanding of the universe is entirely dependent on the assumption that a certain logic holds true throughout everything, everywhere, and through all time. In fact, it is the foundation of the scientific method is -- a systematic method, grounded in reason, of uncovering knowledge about our universe. So what if that's not the case? What if the reason, or logic, that is so rooted in the human brain, that just seems to make so much sense, is not precisely how the universe works? What if, in fact, our reason is deeply flawed? What if reason is not so... reasonable?

Well, that's a hella deep existential question, but let it suffice to say for now that there's a load of circumstantial evidence that speaks otherwise. Reason, in its incarnation as the scientific method, is a self-correcting method. It seems very highly unlikely that this reason, and which has been verified by test after test, time after time, is anything but true.

But in real life, can we always trust reason to get us through tough decisions or confusing situations? I've always said with confidence, YES. I've always been one of those people to make decisions through systematic reason, not by following my gut. But lately, I've begun to question that. My unwavering faith in reason has begun to falter, just a bit.

Looking back at the past year, I've noticed that I've found myself many times in confusing situations, torn between conflicting paths and motivations. My paradigm of approaching these challenges has always been "Write down the options, and weigh the pros and cons. Reason it out." I've always been warying of submitting to my gut feeling, because, as we all know, our gut is not always "reasonable."

But now that I have the experience and time to reflect, I am beginning to see the pitfalls of reason. Often in real life (unlike when, say, solving a physics problem), there is so much uncertainty and grayness, that there is no one, correct way to reason out a situation. Instead, there could be a million ways to reason out the same situation. So trying to reason it out may at best, just be inneffective, and at worst, drive you crazy.

This is why as of late, I have begun to respect my gut a lot more. We all know our gut instinct is invaluable in certain situations -- like when sensing how people feel, or whether a situation is dangerous. But, now I have begun to see it's worth much more. Many times, when faced with a tough, or difficult situation, at work, or in academics, or elsewhere, our gut can tell us what's really good for us, and what to stay away from. On the other hand, reason, while in theory perfect, in practice, can fail miserably and confuse us.

So what do you think? When faced with a tough decision, what do you trust -- reason or your gut? And why? I feel those of us who are strict believers in reason and those who faithfully follow their gut ought to learn a little from each other.

At the end of the day, here are my two cents: Sometimes, you just gotta go with your gut.


Share |

, , , ,