R. Vania's Blog

The Rising Tide of Intellectual Terrorism

It’s been a long time since my last post. When the election hype began, it seemed everyone was drowning in politically slanted postings and opinions. Who would want to read–or write–a blog entry on top of all that?

It’s not over and won’t be for a long time. The fallout from the election events has brought a storm of violence against minorities of every type. Including children. Increasingly, we read about children being the target of vicious comments, bullying, and the raging frustration of adults. Some are also being taught the power of hate and the ways of retaliation.

Today’s children are growing up in a multi-level tangle of the shifting societal structures we call “norms”. These little ones can be easily lead in any direction or, just as easily, fall over the edge into the abyss.

 

This wanton aggression against others isn’t going to die down, isn’t going to go away, and won’t stop affecting our daily lives on a personal level. Neither will climate change, declining educational standards, increasing corporate greed, pesticides in our food, nor any of the other problems we are facing. Not in this generation. In addition, the exploding Pandora’s box unleashed by the election results is a daunting world in which to raise a child.

How did this happen–this new world disorder? A good part of the cause was from a new type of aggression. So new, I haven’t found an official name for it yet. I’m calling it “intellectual terrorism.” Too strong a word? I don’t think so–not when it has already proven to have the power to completely disrupt a nation, its government, and its people. It usually goes by the more benign term “fake news”.

Fake news has actually been around for decades. However, it was normally limited to the tabloids found at every grocery store checkout lane. Years ago fake news was a mere undercurrent. The headlines talked of rumored wrong-doings by celebrities or the “fact” that they were lying about their age. (Perhaps knowing this rather insignificant version of fake news lulled us into thinking all such “information” was harmless.)

As years went by, the “news” in these tabloids became more accusatory, more cruel, and less true. Few people believed them and those who did weren’t in any position to do much harm. Granted, the headlines have now gotten slanderously vicious, but they are the tabloids. We’re used to them. They aren’t bringing governments down and  children don’t read them.

Then came the fake news of the last election. Half the population believed it all, half didn’t. The proclamations were not only inaccurate, but also mean, rude, and irreparably damaging. In the end, they swayed votes. Fake news did its part and changed the outcome of a national election which, in turn, will change the face of the country and its place in the world for years to come.

Where did these blatant lies come from? I assumed they were divisive actions by those who wanted their candidate to win at any cost. They played dirty. It was underhanded. Or so I thought.

Then I ran into an article at a trusted BBC news site. As bad as I thought the manipulation of the fake news was, in reality, it was worse. Much worse. Those political supporters had simply picked up on stories that were being purposely manufactured for monetary gain, by a group of people in a foreign nation.

Stop. Let that sink in. People in another country planted false information in our country and changed the course of our history. This is true intellectual terrorism. The potential is mind-boggling. Those particular foreigners were very young. They performed this act of terrorism out of a sort of youthful exuberance for money and what they could then buy for themselves.

Read the article here.

The proverbial genie is out of the bag. Now anyone can see how to manufacture and spread false information–not out of any innocence, but with deliberate drive to sway minds and/or do harm. How much misinformation will make it to your dining room table conversation and be overheard by your children? Will those children be able to discern truth from lie? Will manufactured facts make it into their classrooms, their textbooks? The real question, the more useful one, is how do we teach them to be able to sort through and sift out the trusted from the tainted? In short, how can there be any defense against such an insidious threat to our future and the power it has?

The answer lies in the most vulnerable to the attacks–our children.  I stumbled upon this answer when I recently visited another state. I saw “ordinary” (read extraordinary) parents, and one entire school, who are raising accepting, loving children. Even the youngest are also learning to be proactive problem-solvers and creative critical thinkers. They ask questions, weigh answers, and make rational decisions. They are being armed in all the tools to thrive in, contribute to, and protect society.

True, it may have been a small microcosm of our total population, but it did show what is possible.  It is in these adults that hope and sanity will prosper. They are the guardians of children who are being nurtured to be kind, compassionate, independent, resilient, confident, and wise grown-ups with intellectual integrity. These adults are also keeping these youngsters both aware of, and safe from, the turmoil and chaos that takes on a new face at every turn.

These young students, and every amazing sensei that guides them, embody the kind of intellectual “weapon” we need. This is, people like them are, our best defense, perhaps the only defense, against mounting intellectual terrorism.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Recent Events and Being a Parent

15 June 2016

This began as note to my son and daughter-in-law but took a rapid turn after the first sentence:

I have been thinking about (disappointed by, astounded at…) some of our acquaintances’ reactions to the latest round of violence in Orlando. Revenge, self-defense, and/or “pro-active” shooting seem to be the themes around here. I never knew these viewpoints existed to such an exclusive degree. Prevention and long term solutions, like finding a cause for the violence, never enter their minds. No proactive thoughts, only reactive ones.

I have also been thinking about Mother’s Day/Father’s Day—never a great topic for me anyway. But this year, I find myself going back to so many articles about “How to Talk to Your Children about Terror (Killings, Violence…).”

How do parents deal with this latest tragedy? Or the next one? I always thought my granddaughter was an incredibly lucky child to have the parents she has. And, by extension, I always felt very lucky that I never had to worry about the upbringing she was getting. I wondered how she was reacting to what she heard about Orlando. I wondered how you could possibly handle her questions or prepare her for questions she might come up with in days to come. Do you (any parents) try to desensitize children so they won’t be in constant fear or be traumatized by the news? Would that leave a child thinking violence is a “norm”? Do you try to offer explanations where none seem to suffice? Do you just admit it makes no sense to you either and wonder if that would leave a sense of insecurity in a child who relies on parents for answers? How do you keep the minds and bodies of your little “chicks” safe?

I went through another dozen such questions before realizing what I really wanted was to sit there with her and hear the answers for myself. This latest event—along with a violent threat to our favorite waitress, that happened in a restaurant we go to often— has become the proverbial last straw in my psyche. I realized that had happened when my first real “writer’s block” broke and I wrote/changed a main character from having nagging discontent to having full blown loss of hope. How can I get this character back from the depths of his loss of awe with the world, when I don’t know how to do it for myself anymore?

This topic of wanton aggression against others isn’t going to die down, isn’t going to go away, and won’t stop affecting our daily lives. Neither will climate change, declining educational standards, increasing corporate greed, pesticides in our food, nor any of the other problems in our society. Not in this generation. It’s a daunting world in which to raise a child. I am not the “wise old crone.” I have no solutions, only admiration for you.

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“Share the Wealth” of your Knowledge

Knowledge can be like a disease. If we “catch” it for some personal or specific purpose, sometimes we don’t want to spread it around. We “quarantine” it to our own minds and desks. Writers can be especially adamant about holding on to their research, thoughts, and creative ideas. Who wants to have their work “stolen” by someone else or put out a spoiler that will dampen future sales?

The few writers in the eco-fiction genre are in a different sort of predicament. Eco-fiction, in part, strives to get the word out to as many people as possible, as quickly as possible.  It’s no spoiler if there is a body of knowledge that could slow global warming, help climate refugees, save bees, stop the disappearance of biodiversity, or spark the germ of an innovative idea in someone else. (The same goes for writers of novels on social injustices and other current issues plaguing modern societies.)

With that in mind, I am about to share a few of my favorite, most useful, and valued resources. At least the public ones, not the human ones. And, before you ask, no, I’m not getting any kickbacks or anything else in return. The following list is very short. Each of the listings has so much material, it will keep you busy for some time. (Another list, at another time, will be shared for social topics.)

 Several years ago, one of my human resources told me about Mycelium Running. Just get it. Really. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know what mycelium is. It doesn’t matter if you think mushrooms and related fungi are repulsive. This is a fascinating and amazing book, far ahead of its time. The author, Paul Stamets, has a TED talk called “Six Ways Mushrooms Can Save the World.” Watch that for an 18-minute preview of some of the material in the book. The talk has had nearly 3,500,000 views. It’s guaranteed to jumpstart your creative thinking. Read one of his quotes above and you’ll see what I mean.

https://www.ted.com/talks/paul_stamets_on_6_ways_mushrooms_can_save_the_world?language=en

2.  Don’t let the title fool you. This one is not a history book—yet. The Collapse of Western Civilization is a deceptively tiny book for the density of its content. And, it is eco-fiction in its purest form. The setting is the year 2393 and the after effects of climate change have destroyed civilizations that didn’t pay attention or move fast enough. However, some nations tackled the problem head on and accomplished life-saving feats. Without giving more away, I will say I’ve read recent news accounts of how the book’s victorious nation is already making huge strides as the authors predicted. Beyond the story line is a broad, solid base of scientific research and factual information on every influencing factor.

3.  Yes, of course, there are websites. Inhabitat is one at the top of my list. Both the website and the Facebook page are continually updated with new material. It covers news, architecture, food, and the latest innovations in other fields as well, all with an eye to sustainability and responsible choices. If you sign up to get the Facebook postings, that alone will keep you busy and well informed. I just received four new ones in the last two hours.

http://inhabitat.com

4.  Need I mention all the TED talks? Join the nearly 9,000,000 followers of their Facebook postings and stay informed about literally every topic in the universe.

https://www.ted.com/talks

There are, of course, other sources, but this is already enough to provide information overload. Add your own sources and lists in the comments. Please share.

 

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“Green” = Happiness?

One of the on-going characters in the Rising Tides and Undercurrents series is a man who, after having reached a major life goal, finds himself a bit adrift. Not unhappy but vaguely dissatisfied. At the end of the second novel, Greta’s Family, he is stilling searching. In the meantime, my computer research file entitled “Happiness” continues to grow. What helps a person to feel happy?

As it turns out, what some articles claim as a key to happiness is not always a universal truth. Many times so-called experts are expounding upon what their particular culture dictates. An example would be the advice to get out and socialize as much as possible, especially when loneliness is a factor.

While that seems like an obvious solution, like much of Western medicine, the focus is on alleviating a symptom rather than the cause. In this case, why not look at the cause: loneliness. Not everyone is in a situation where they can metaphorically, or physically, “put on their dancing shoes” and strike out. What are they to do?

Some other cultures would tackle the loneliness from an entirely different perspective. Turn loneliness into an appreciation of solitude. Okay. So it sounds easier than it is, particularly in this culture. But, the point is, there is more than one way to deal with restless dissatisfaction or downright unhappiness.

Back to the research folder. As it turns out, advice to take anti-depressant drugs has come, nearly exclusively, from pharmacy companies. Articles that are written by psychologists, psychiatrists, researchers, and people who have come out of unhappiness point to “cures” other than medications.

Here is a simple list of what keeps showing up in most well-documented articles: exercise, open all your drapes to let the sun in, get outside, spend time with (well-behaved) children and animals, garden, eat better, meditate, get enough sleep, laugh more even if you have to fake it, sing, put down your smartphone and talk to those people face-to-face instead.

Nothing surprising, right? Maybe not in the list itself, but step back and look again. These are all things people already do that live in less developed countries, live in isolated rural areas, that grow their own food, eat organic foods, and live more simply. Does this mean our high rates of depression are, in fact, a product of the culture itself?

In this culture, one of the “undercurrent social issues” is equating success and, therefore, implied happiness, with monetary gain. This is true in spite of the studies that show money does not correlate with happiness once the basics and a few perks are paid for. A salary of $1,000,000 doesn’t make anyone any happier than a salary of $85,000. That is unless you spend the money on experiences and helping others, not on buying things.

What professions and livelihoods have the highest rates of depression? Articles vary but most sites imply you should avoid, in no particular order: the military, police work, legal service, financial advising, health care, business ownership, teaching, social worker, public transit positions, manufacturing, publishing, any job that has “burn out” problems, and the list goes on and on.

Lists of the “happiest” jobs are harder to find, but there are some: amusement/recreation/entertainment services, various repair services, surveying, dance teacher, performing arts. And, if you want to factor in locations and places to work, it will probably be no surprise that Hawaii is an ecstatic state compared to Alaska.

A job or career that will help on the path to happiness begins to look relatively simple. Get work in an outdoor setting,  that requires some physical activity, that can benefit others, and has an element of creativity. What better choice than something in ecology, slowing climate change, or preserving biological diversity? Yeah, and you probably won’t make that $1.000,000 either. But you will be happier.

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Personal Disguised as Professional

If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough. (Albert Einstein)

I don’t usually post about specific books, etc., but this is too good to ignore.

Back in the summer of 2015, I read Managing Conflict at Work by Amy Gallo. Why not? Even freelancers either have business relationships or write stories about them. Not one to spend time with books on business for pleasure, I was surprised by its easy read—pleasant even. Nice wide margins for notes, expertly organized and drop-dead simple to understand.

Then I realized, over and over, I kept thinking to myself,  Just replace the word “team” with relationship, the word “co-worker” with  friend or partner, the “company” with community, family, or social situation, and this would be the best manual ever written for personal relationships. 

It could have ended there, but a few days ago I heard two short broadcasts by this same author. They were at least as good as the book.  And, again, I couldn’t put down the feeling that her words applied to both business and personal.

And why shouldn’t it sound helpful for both situations? After all, in business relationships, there is always that undercurrent of the personal. If we don’t get along with those we rub elbows with in business situations, we won’t be productive, won’t hit our targets, won’t be able to brainstorm and problem-solve, and certainly won’t be able to keep the stress of unpleasant interactions to a minimum. Is that any different from our non-work lives? In both, we are trying to avoid conflict, we have goals to reach, and we want to be able to solve any communication problems.

Why this particular book (and interviews)? Why is this more appealing as a relationship guide than the usual how-to, self-help relationship genre? It doesn’t drown you in touchy-feely stuff. It is just pure and (deceptively) simple material that is logical, easy to understand and works.

So, unless you’re a total hermit with no human interactions whatsoever, take a look at the sites below.

HBR Guide to Managing Conflict at Work by Amy Gallo, editor at the Harvard Business Review:

https://hbr.org/product/hbr-guide-to-managing-conflict-at-work-hbr-guide-series/15006-SBC-ENG)

The interviews / broadcasts:

http://www.boxofcrayons.biz/2016/03/amy-gallo-on-the-smartest-way-to-manage-conflict-at-work/

http://www.wnyc.org/story/co-workers-drive-crazy-might-be-you/

 

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Help! Do you Know of any. . .?

Looking for your help:

I’m looking for websites that show you how to grow food:

1. Indoors

2. Cheaply

3. In large enough quantities that can actually provide a constant supply of FOOD, not just a salad now and then.

4. Ways to light such growing (that’s also cheap). It seems if one is willing to sacrifice indoor living space, lighting becomes the biggest problem.

5. A list of the best foods to grow in such a situation–nutritionally dense…and more calories than a sprig of kale…

Short of putting containers of horse-poop laden straw or dead logs under every bed to grow mushrooms, I’m not coming up with real answers.

And, is it possible to use a solar cooker inside? Through a glass window?

If you come up with something brilliant, would you like your name in my next book? Seriously. Why not?!

Share this post far and wide, please.

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Why should we bother?

I begin my morning reads with news articles from a variety of sites that I follow. Today, predictably, it all read like it does most days: growing crime, intensifying inhumanities, inevitable weather disasters.

Then there was Fiji. That’s where the climate refugees from Kiribati are going to escape storm surges brought on by climate change. Now Fiji is in a state of emergency due to a mega storm. A prophetic “there is no escape” statement on the state of the world?

Following that, I read yet another article on how we are past the point of no return for the sixth mass extinction on earth. All our efforts for reducing pollution and global warming might slow the process a bit, but it’s basically the proverbial “done deal” according to several sources.

I started thinking.

So why do we (or why should we) bother to try to do anything about it at all? This is hardly the first time the question has entered my mind so you would think I would have a plethora of ready answers. Not even close. There are plenty of those platitude-flavored ones: to save the world for our children, because we can’t just give up, it’s the right thing to do. . .

I reached back to some of my earliest thoughts and experiences of climate awareness. I was fortunate enough to live and work overseas for many years. One of those places was Saudi Arabia. The first time I actually stepped into the vast sand desert and saw how the Bedouin lived there, I have to admit, I immediately thought of Frank Herbert’s science fiction novel, Dune. The Fremen of the planet Arrakis survived there, thrived there, thanks to countless centuries of adaptation and ingenious equipment.

But the Bedouin didn’t have those special moisture conserving Fremen suits. What they did have were camels and perseverance—and generations of an essential body of knowledge. I still think of them every time I read about another place in the midst of a growing and relentless drought. If they can live there in the sands, others can too. (Yes, I know—many desert nomads around the world now have trucks, GPS systems, and Pampers that litter the sands, but these are relatively new developments.)

Sure, we could come very close to extinction—probably will. Could we humans destroy the flora and fauna of the planet and still survive? How much does the human race need to simply survive? Or to survive simply.

What we do need is that “body of knowledge.” The majority of the population must understand that climate change is a disastrous reality.  Water is running out, weather patterns are changing and it is already affecting all of us.

Then we need to learn the difference between wants and needs. We don’t need a green lawn. We don’t need another golf course. We don’t need to throw away our gray water. We can live without the carcinogenic chemicals as well.

We need to learn how to use the already-existing science and technology that can keep us alive.  (More on those in the next post.) We need to learn not only how to slow down the climate and pollution disasters, but also how to adapt to them.  Starting now.

Most important, to make what we learn useful, we need the cooperative and collective mindset to want to put it into practice.

So why bother? Because if we keep at it, the human race just might get out of this mess alive.

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The Butterfly Effect

Though you might know it as a movie title, the Butterfly Effect is a concept from the 1960’s. It springs from chaos theory, math, meteorology, and the mind of its author, Edward Lorenz, from MIT. The basic idea sounds fairly simple: the smallest of actions can cascade to have monumental effects in far-reaching places. “Far” as in a butterfly flapping its wings in South America can affect the weather in New York. Though that may not literally be a true statement, the theory is—or can be—quite accurate.

Here is an example of a real butterfly effect in the realm of ecological balance. Without wind storms in the Sahara, the Amazonian rain forest could not survive. Huge clouds of dust lift from the desert, blow across the Atlantic Ocean and then deposit about 44,000,000 pounds of phosphorus in the world’s largest rainforest every year—mostly from a dried up lake bed in Chad. This phenomenon balances the amount of the needed mineral that the Amazon river washes away.

So, without the dust storms in Africa, the earth’s lungs (as the forest has been called for its air cleansing ability) would stop breathing. Without its lungs, the forest of about 600,000,000,000 trees would stop pumping water and oxygen into the earth’s atmosphere. At about 1000 liters per tree, that’s over 150,000,000,000,000 gallons of water a day. Without that, rain stops. Go ahead. Extrapolate the effects of that.

Bringing the butterfly effect back to us is where a single person can bring on a larger impact than ever imaged. Consider Mr. Fahd Al Rasheed from the post on February 13th. One man is poised to steer the development of a city of two million people toward ecological awareness (and economic stability). What type of ripple effect could that have in the entire nation, the entire Middle East, or all of the northern hemisphere?

Most of us believe we are not in a position to do anything world-changing.  But consider this one little girl: when she was 10 or 11 years old, she wrote a piece about what her life was like while trying to get an education living under the Taliban in Pakistan. That act sparked a torrent of events: in 2012, she was shot in the head (but survived), she prompted the UN to demand all children in the world should be in school by 2015, in 2014, 2014, and 2015 Time magazine listed her as one of the most influential people on earth, and in 2014, at the age of 17, Malala Yousafzai became the youngest recipient of a Nobel Peace Prize.

On her sixteenth birthday, Malala addressed the United Nations. In her speech, she said, “One child, one teacher, one book, and one pen can change the world.”

Maybe we can’t build an entire city like Fahd Al Rasheed, or win a Noble prize like Malala Yousafzai. But where did these people come from? Where did their confidence, insight, and perseverance come from? At least in part, from teachers, parents, and other nurturing adults. Most of us can think of at least one adult that had a profound effect on the course of our lives.

If you don’t think you can change the world, or make it a better place, go encourage a child and see what happens. Give support to someone of any age and watch the world change.

Who changed your life?

For further reading:

“Butterfly effect” of coal burning in Asia (China) is the probable cause of mercury-laced rain in the Mid West and the Rockies in the USA: http://www.scientificamerican.com/art...

On the Sahara and the rainforest:

http://news.mongabay.com/2015/03/how-...

and:

On Malala: http://www.vanityfair.com/news/politi...

Malala’s extraordinary father presenting a TED talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4mme...

 

 

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Saudi Arabia’s Hero

Fahd Al Rasheed

I’ve just discovered a new, real-life hero. He is a forward-thinking, eco-considerate, city-building hero that is far beyond mythic proportions. To top it off, he is partly based in my old stomping grounds in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. His name is Fahd Al Rasheed.

In a nutshell. . .no, that’s impossible. A simple list of his achievements and accolades would easily fill an entire page. Instead, I’ll give you a few of the latest highlights with links to more information for those who are interested.

Like other superheroes, he is young for his accomplishments (in his 30’s). Besides having earned advanced degrees and having been head of numerous businesses, he is presently CEO of the first publicly listed city.  When finished, it will house about 2 million people.  Yes, you read that correctly—a publicly listed city of 2 million people. And, it’s just 60 miles north of Jeddah.

The King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC pronounced “cake”) is a massive undertaking, with costs expected to hit one hundred billion dollars.  It will be money well spent. The city already includes the first phases of King Abdullah port. This state of the art facility is “. . .designed to minimize environmental impact (and) promote good environmental practice. . .” There is constant monitoring of the sea’s health and it’s marine inhabitants. The design of the port helps to minimize sea swell, temperature changes, and contamination of the water. Employees are trained in environmental awareness and safety.

It doesn’t stop there. KAEC has residential areas, shops, restaurants, schools, and zones for industry—Pfizer and Mars are already there. Transportation includes new high-speed rail lines that put Jeddah and Makkah within quick and easy reach. Tourism and leisure activities are also getting priority attention. You can even take tours of the port and the city.

How this bright young man came to be cognizant of climate change and sustainability issues is an indication of how he got where he is today. He happened to be caught in a hotel in New York when mega-hurricane Sandy hit. He immediately realized he needed to change his new city’s plans to take effects of climate change into account. He now constantly revises plans to keep the city up with the latest eco-friendly findings. He has already changed some of the building material used for construction.

My only question is, why haven’t we heard more about him here in the U.S.?  Instead of showing our children people like this, our news services cover celebrities and their escapades, politicians and their rants (ad nauseam), and the latest shootings. How about a little balance? So much for heroes in this culture.

Links of interest about Fahd Al Rasheed and his plans:

KAEC: King Abdullah Economic City

Biographical: Fahd Al Rasheed – New Cities Summit 2014 and

Fahd Al-Rasheed | SUSRIS

Sustainability and the port: Sustainability | King Abdullah Port

Tourism and leisure: Fahd Al Rasheed, Group CEO of King Abdullah Economic City: Saudi Arabia’s major shift to tourism and leisure – Blogs – ArabianBusiness.com

Ranks #25 in world’s most influential Arabs: Fahd Al Rasheed (AMDP ’11) one of 500 most influential Arabs | Graduate School of Design Executive Education

(note the woman wearing a hard-hat over her hijab at: http://www.kaec.net/work/ )

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Short note on Bhutan

In the pre-dawn hours of Saturday, the 6th of February 2016, I wrote about the birth of the first child to the king and queen of Bhutan on my FaceBook page (under FB heading: R. Vania – Books, Essays, and Articles).

My first novel introduced a character from Bhutan. He and his country played a larger role in the second novel. The third novel (in progress) has Bhutan as a location for some of the action. So, I naturally follow news I can find about it.

It’s a fascinating place. It is known as both the last Shangri-La (by romantically inclined Westerners) and as the Land of the Thunder Dragon (by its citizens).  It gave up striving for Gross National Product and turned to Gross National Happiness instead. GNH is a well thought out system of assessments, action plans, and evaluations that have since become a model for other countries. Bhutan is also a land of stunning beauty, 100% organic food production, a net zero carbon footprint, and benevolent leadership.

On the other side of the coin, it is under the lip of the Chinese border. There are many concrete signs that China would like to take Bhutan under their “protection” exactly as they did with Tibet. The Chinese have already claimed land there and have had military cross well past Bhutan’s borders. Troubling times to raise a new baby prince.

Prince William of Britain and his wife will be visiting Bhutan in the Spring. Their visit will help this tiny kingdom to gain a bit of notoriety in the world. Such on-going press coverage may serve as a watchful eye to help protect it from invading forces. There are already too many plants, animals, cultures, and countries going extinct. Bhutan doesn’t have to be one of them.

From any angle, Bhutan provides plenty of raw material and inspiration for a novel.

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