November 24, 2008
Online Education
What if all information were online, public and free? If all of human knowledge were accessible through the internet, and if every person on earth had access to that knowledge at any time, what sort of change would we see in the world? I believe this could be the most important technological benefit and movement towards democracy the world has ever seen. The wheel was a big innovation, but free information can truly level the playing field for everyone. Imagine higher education classes taught exclusively online but that could include anyone around the world, bridging that enormous gap in resources from wealthy countries to impoverished ones. True, education requires guidance and there is no substitute for good teaching, but with the emerging capabilities of infinite information dissemination, great teachers could expand their audiences from the hundreds of seats in a lecture hall to thousands of home-schoolers. Education is, of course, a dialogue and requires an effort from students beyond simply watching a video-lecture or reading the assigned materials. It would require a team of educators to read thousands of student papers and engage in online conversation, but if a heirarchical teaching model can work in universities today (using Teaching Assistants), it could certainly be employed on a much larger scale with better efficiency using the internet.
I was fortunate enough to attend Middlebury College, which boasts small classes and places emphasis on discussion. It also offered incredible social opportunities in a beautiful setting. Could that be replicated using an online education model? I believe the education could be comparable or better by taking advantage of free information and supplementing it with live, online discussion. The social aspect, however, would be difficult to replace unless we consider that the freedom of online education would grant us more time to pursue other endeavors. It would be different, but not worse, and given the exorbitant cost of education there, it would be a sound economic decision. For this system to truly achieve maximum benefit to all equally, it would have to be offered free, or at nominal cost, which means that it would actually be paid for by taxpayers. Teaching is and will still be a noble profession and a career that pays fairly, and it should be considered a public service in which we as a society must invest heavily because our human progress is completely dependent on how we educate ourselves. It begins with free information, channelled though great teaching, and reaches the masses as television does today. It is absorbed by students and reshaped in papers and projects that are then analysed by qualified assistants offering constructive feedback and discussion that could include a truly diverse population and perspective.
November 21, 2008
The Economy Is A Joke
Unfortunately, this joke is not very funny and has very real implications for how we live. It is truly amazing to witness such a disappearing act. Where did all that money go? How does hundreds of billions of dollars in wealth VANISH? Where was it in the first place? That's the funny part. Most money has no physical location. Other than a dollar in your wallet, which eventually becomes hundreds of dollars as it is spent over and over again, money exists in theory only. In theory, you can go to the bank and take out cash, but if everybody tries to do that... uh-oh! In theory, you could sell your stock for this amount today, but that amount is completely dependent on what someone else is willing to pay for it and sometimes, well, nobody wants what you're selling. Our economy is mental. And that means that when people start to panic, it spreads like a virus. This disease feeds on itself and consumes us, proving once again that our money owns us. It starts with some bad decisions about spending money we don't have and eventually takes away all the money we thought we had.
To read that 52,000 Citibank workers will be laid-off or that GM is about to cave-in is truly heart-wrenching and I have every bit of sympathy for those workers and their families. However, reading that oil prices have just fallen below $50 truly blows my mind and steams me. Why on earth were we paying $145 just five months ago? $4/gallon at the pump this summer and $2 now? That is a joke. Hilariously, the punch line will be bankrupt oil and financial companies in a few years as we progress towards sustainable energy and a stable economy not dominated by ruthless earth and market predators. There is good yet to come from this natural correction to our selfish and obese lifestyle.
November 14, 2008
Quantum of Solace
Bond is back in his most ridiculously exciting movie yet. All the classic chase scenes -- car, boat, plane, foot -- are violently saturated and deafeningly loud for maximum jolt. This is what I want to see in a theater. Most movies work perfectly well in my living room, but a theater delivers the most juice and can fully command all your senses in a special effects spectacular like this. "Quantum", an evil empire posing as an environmental group, plots a coup in Bolivia to take control of the county's water supply, only to be spoiled, once again, by 007. Bond is an Everyman Superhero, physically invincible, yet psychologically tormented by lost love. The movie is at once completely absurd and totally enthralling; I found myself chuckling constantly at the unyielding action. There is nothing "real" about the film, other than the sheer enjoyment I feel watching it. This is a great use of a gratuitously big budget and I can't wait to see it topped.
On the other hand, nothing like the internet for free distribution of hilarious SNL Digital shorts, like this one: Ras Trent.
November 8, 2008
Coltan
How much do you love coltan? Without it, we would be living in prehistoric times before cell phones and computers. Coltan is a heat-resistant metal which is refined to store electrical charge, hence its value in the capacitors of our modern day technological marvels. Problem is, that 80% of the world's coltan is mined in The Democratic Republic of The Congo and is the spring of eternal war in the region. Over 5 million people have died in the past decade as a result of this conflict, which has involved ethnic clashes and guerrilla armies from all neighboring countries. Many of the biggest electronics companies get their coltan from the region and thus fuel the fire with money. What can we do? We are slaves to our devices as the child soldiers are slaves to their armies. As our demand increases exponentially, so flows our money into their weapons and the cycle perpetuates itself with violence as the only regulation. Whatever the cost, we must stop buying our coltan from anyplace where violence is currency. There are safe alternatives. This needs to be enforced by the UN or a world human rights organization and it needs to begin immediately.
November 5, 2008
President Barack Hussein Obama
America nailed it. We pulled together and put the world's choice in the white house. Check out The Economist's Global Electoral Map, which demonstrates a huge landslide for Obama, a 9,115 to 203 thumping in theoretical global votes. In the US, the edge was a slightly closer 349-163*, but is still considered to be an overwhelming victory. It felt emotionally enormous last night, when Ohio was called for Obama and victory declared. Over at Saric's, the party erupted and spilled onto the roof, where we could hear the city roar with excitement-- shouting, chanting, honking -- this is what sea change sounds like. When he stepped on the stage with his family to claim victory, I felt so proud of The United States of America as I have not felt in years. His speech was stirring and inspiring, built on the positive progress of our nation. Yes We Can. We can continue to hope that this country will progress in ways that promote peace and equality, uniting us with the world and improving the quality of life for all.
The peace and equality battle, however, was not without its casualties. While the Democrats also gained seats in the senate and house, they probably* did not acheive their goal of filibuster-proof majority and gay-marriage bans won in 3 states, including California, where gay-marriage has been legal. Arkansas voted to ban gay couples from adopting kids. This reminds me that we still have a long way to go in overcoming oppression and hatred.
I take some pride in seeing Massachusetts make great choices in all their ballot initiatives, by banning greyhound racing, decriminalizing marijuana and rejecting a ban on STATE INCOME TAX. The voters would have saved money by passing the measure, but recognize the value of that money in government services. This is how it works -- it's called sharing -- and with good leaders like "Massholes" and Obama, we might all learn to thrive together in peace and harmony.
*still counting votes
November 1, 2008
Hope
Election day is almost upon us and the possibility of electing Barack Obama is very real. I have been watching fivethirtyeight.com daily to track this election, and while we can't really know how it will turn out, this website has the best analysis of current polls I've ever seen. Rather than taking polls, this site compiles all state and national polls into one regression model to predict the winner. Currently, Obama has a 97% chance of winning, essentially meaning that in the thousands of simulations run with their model, McCain wins only 3% of the time. So there is still "hope" for McCain/Palin (shudder), but it looks like this great nation is ready to make a positive choice and elect a truly inspirational leader. This could be huge. Will our country change overnight? No, but our image might. Obama is such an anti-Bush that the world will take notice and may once again look up to us for guidance and support rather than for military supremacy. Never before in my life has a politician made me believe that his rule would actually make the world a better place for all.
Of course, my hopes and beliefs may differ from reality. First, there is a chance that we will blow it at the polls and not elect this man. That would be pathetic. Second, there is a chance that if elected, Obama will turn out to be less than great and will let down those of us who did believe in his power of change. That would be sad. But maybe, just maybe, we are about to crown a king who will lead us and the rest of the world into better times. It all begins with hope.