Mankind gets things very right. And spectacularly wrong.
Modern thinking at the turn of the last Century was that humans would struggle to ever fly. Even Wilbur Wright himself of the famous Wright brothers who pioneered the first airplane flight once said, ‘Man will not fly for 50 years’.
Edward Jenner, who discovered the first vaccine for smallpox was castigated as blasphemous by the ruling religious fraternity as trying to be God. Jonas Hanway was thrown insults and pelted with stones when he began using the umbrella he imported on the streets of London in the 1750’s. More recently when Steve Jobs launched the ground breaking Apple iMac in the mid 80’s it was dubbed ‘a toy’ by the tech media.
But we also get it wrong in reverse. Badly wrong.
In 1941 US President Roosevelt championed the development of the Atomic bomb because American intelligence informed him the Nazis were working on one to use against Allied forces. By having an equal threat the belief was that with such potential joint weaponry, peace would be more likely to be negotiated first as a deterrent. But only four years later it was dropped twice on Japan taking the lives of over 160,000 people.
Further developments over the following decades led to the creation of the nuclear bomb and the whole 1980’s lay under the very real threat of it been detonated as the East and West wagered a mind game war. The view that bombs themselves would lead to peace, only ever led to greater and greater loss of life and even the path to the very end of the world itself.
We live in Artificial Intelligence times.
And so we come to the latest and greatest tool forged by the minds of man that has been designed to make our lives better, easier, more productive, healthier, beneficial, and, of course, wealthier. Artificial Intelligence.
Will it?
Well mankind perhaps yet again has fallen into it’s own mental trap. A much repeated one as proven in history. This trap is to lean to one side of the right/wrong or good/bad equation. To perceive how we will gain without fully considering what we may use. A.I. ,as it’s now become known as, has some impressive impacts but, truth is, it’s only been available to the public for a matter of a few years and what that may result in is less contemplated (or not contemplated at all) than what marvellous results it’s currently showcasing. It’s all along the lines of a few accidents and the odd death just like the bomb makers determined is less critical than say the mega benefits of driverless cars no matter what clues they point to.
Decide before the ride.
The big truth is mankind is too quick to decide. On both sides of the spectrum. Our rush to push forwards eagerly wins over our go steady to be ready side. We simply need to learn by our accelerated surge to meaning (dismissing or championing our inventions too soon) and instead really think about not just what we create, but how that creation could evolve. What we build is not the problem here, it’s what the mind sees it as that is. And only as!
This is not some Cybernet type wisdom from The Terminator film story. In fact I will merely finish with the phrase of golden wisdom uttered by Jeff Goldblum’s character Ian Malcolm in Jurassic Park, ‘Scientists were so preoccupied about whether they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should’.
And stopping to think is what mankind doesn’t do best.
I wonder if Artificial Intelligence has worked that out yet?
Five thoughts, ideas, insights, or quotes to power up your mind to think differently and creatively about life and the future. Put all previous thinking away and open up a brand new world of the supermind.
This week – leaders.
Your super 5 about questions or points around leaders for your mind to play with. Let go, be free….stretch your mind.
Ever since mankind walked the Earth we have needed leaders. People at the top of the tribe who are responsible for everything from safety to negotiation, law to how to grow and expand the community. We can’t all be a leader, so in this week’s SMT let’s look at leaders and how our minds feel about them.
- Leaders began typically as the tribal King and evolved into the top political power head for hundreds of years until today when arguably they are the wealthy business gurus or celebrities that we follow. So, what type of person is best to be a leader of people of all ages?
- In history most leaders have been voted in by their citizens, elected to front a government to control their nation. They have been elected to lead but that means they also decide. If that was to change and the people were to decide instead on actions to take or big decisions, how would we decide?
- Leaders have tended to be one person, one figurehead that represents US. Let’s change that and make leaders a five person group. What section of society (celebs, workers, business leaders, bankers etc) should that five be made up of….and WHY?
- The founder of McDonalds, Ray Kroc said, ‘The quality of a leader is reflected in the standards that they set themselves’. If there were a set list of standards all leaders had to sign and were legally bound by how many would be on it and what would they be?
- Finally perhaps the most telling question of all. What should a leader represent? Those who have achieved momentous things like sports stars or those that have become wealthy in business or those that have a certain personality, or only those that inspire young people who will build the future, or simply as now those who we vote for who lead their political party?
That’s Supermind Saturday for this week. Keep asking yourself these through the week to open up more of your mind to evolve its untapped power. Consider more, reflect more, think more, activate your connection to your personal mind more. Super Think!
See you next time for more super thinking.
Millions of people all over the world would love to become a success.
Even with the best ideas and clever concepts virtually all fall by the way side.
Millions of people will never become a success even though plenty of them try.
Maybe you are one of these? Perhaps you have experienced wanting it all and getting none of it. After all there are countless intelligent, skilful, determined souls out there (just like you), so how come so few ever reach the heights of success? What is it that’s in the way of major success?
Amazingly it’s NOT a failure in planning or too large an amount of challenges to battle away nor any economic downturn or lack of viable support that pulled down the curtain on all their dreams. It was ONE simple factor that we all suffer from at one time or another. Or all the time.
Let’s take a look!
Put yourself in their shoes – a bright exciting project or product, even image to promote, and it’s a certainty that it’s brand new and the likes of it have never been on the scene before. Yeah, you’ve spent time checking it out; it’s got legs, there’s huge potential here, in fact the more you look, the more you can’t help but keep seeing it taking off. Months of months of inner excitement leads to going for it and working out how to bring it all about……and then!
You have to get started for success…..WRONG!
I have read book after book (especially the so called ‘Smart Thinking’ ones) and seen business guru social media post in their thousands all shouting up the key to creating success is…..TO JUST GET STARTED. To get on with building it, forming it, improving it, learning from it, expanding it….you get my drift.
Except….THAT WON’T WORK!!
It won’t work due to one factor and the No.1 reason most people will never be a success.
And here it is…….
They don’t believe that they will be a success. Personally believe about themselves. Sure, the idea is a sound, if not an incredible idea, it’s just that it’s THEM that is going to develop it. And that won’t ever happen because inside where it all counts a voice is telling them/reminding them that they aren’t good enough or clever enough or possess the ability or always have been a failure before yada, yada, yada. The list could go on. The BS list.
As soon as the actual cool, mega idea gets time for action to get it off the ground, in comes those personal negatives shouting, ‘FORGET IT!’ louder than a town crier announcing the King is dead.
Success is an inside job. True success means conquering our own lesser beliefs about ourselves and the destiny that we will experience being who we are. A confident, self-aware, self-accepting soul can scale mountains and overcome any obstacle because they just know they are enough.
So, if you want to be a success be the kind of person who will never give up……at breaking anything within you that ever tells you that you won’t make it. Face it, tackle it, bust it, and get rid of it once and for all.
When you do, you will start feeling one hell of a success anyway!
Five thoughts, ideas, insights, or quotes to power up your mind to think differently and creatively about life and the future. Put all previous thinking away and open up a brand new world of the supermind.
This week – society
Your super 5 about society for your mind to play with. Let go, be free….stretch your mind.
Broadly speaking society is US as humans living and working in accepted social, cultural, legal, and belief systems formed into communities and nations. But is society as we know it ripe for change? Or is society itself the problem? Something to ponder as you now go into SuperMind Saturday and look at society.
- John Lennon once said, ‘Society is run by insane people for insane objectives‘. Which opens up a huge question to start for your mind. WHO actually runs society or are we all just accepting the one we kind of live by each day….is that insane itself?
- Next perhaps an even bigger question that I’ve been asking myself for years but maybe you have never been asked before. WHERE is society?
- As a whole ‘society’ sets rules by the overall opinions and morals of most of us that become acknowledged laws and guidelines. But there are clearly some aching gaps (online abuse seems normal these days) that we have let slip as a world. How does society keep up with a fast changing online, digital, and cyber based world?
- We often feel governed by the opinion of other people in society especially in what we wear (think the punk era), what we like to do (most notably as fun), and how we behave. The ‘overall’ view is what most of us adhere to. How can society accept more individuality as part of a wider structure that keeps order and civility?
- Finally I’m going to ask you straight (you are free to answer in your mind with one or a good few responses). You are in control of society….what is it based on for the good of all?
Ok, that’s your lot. SuperMinds. Get busy thinking about society and what it means and should mean.
Please add your comments or insights about society below, but of course nothing abusive in any form will ever be allowed. Anyway….SuperMinds could never, and would never, do that. Have a great week.
See you next time for more Saturday Super thinking.
Do you feel all mixed up?
Feeling confused and unable to process your emotions? Or not sure what to believe and from who and what to do about it? More importantly struggling to make sense out of right and wrong inside you?
At times like these it’s easy to look outside yourself for the answers. Going over everything that’s happened and who is involved and acting all Sherlock Holmes in detecting how on Earth you have ended so mixed up and all over the place.
But, it’s not on the outside where you will discover the real reason your head is spinning. It’s on the inside. And that’s why you keep bouncing around feeling you know why one minute your emotions are on a rollercoaster ride and then the very next moment you’re brought right back to Earth without a clue. The good news is there’s nothing wrong with you. Your are just so trapped in a mixture of everyone else’s views, opinions, standards, and values that you can’t see the wood for the trees to be able to get to your own.
Knowing Yourself.
When you were growing up all manner of people gave you advice and insight on how to best live life – parents, family, authority figures like teachers or coaches, peer groups, friends, even your local community and society itself. Without realising it you absorbed this like a sponge without ever asking yourself how YOU believed life should be lived. YOUR beliefs, standards, values, and principles got put on the backburner meaning knowing yourself took a back seat.
Trouble is you can’t switch off those you own even if they are deep within you. They are part of you, they are your DNA, your blueprint as a human, your emotional centre. If you don’t open them up and connect to them they sit in the background whispering and bothering you but YOU NEVER KNOW WHY.
Suddenly situations develop and you don’t know what to make of them. What you have been taught simply doesn’t fit with what’s before your eyes and as you haven’t honoured (or perhaps were allowed to in the past!) your personal ethics and moral compass, you end up all mixed up unsure of which way up or down is or where to turn for good or bad.
A Beautiful Mix.
So unmix yourself. Now is the time to get back to you. To finally accept what matters most to you from standards to behaviours, choices to actions, feelings to have and the way to treat others. Knowing yourself is the best relationship you can ever have in your life. And the one that will solve pretty much any problem you could ever have.
Prioritise the right way to live and be that feels right within you. Take onboard the well meaning input of others since you were born, but it’s firmly all about your self awareness of right and wrong as a person living THEIR life that is the key.
Because your are the perfect mix of human emotions and preferences and viewpoints that make you…well, YOU.
And that’s the only person you ever have to be!!
