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Our Amazing Brain

March 27, 2022 by  
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Wow, what an incredible machine we all have and often take for granted. I’m talking about the human brain and it does so much more than we fully realize. Even as I write this, I have to stop and take note of the fact that my brain knows where each key on my computer is located to the point that I don’t even have to think about it. Likewise, when we are sleeping, the brain continues to work without our input. Then, when we are awake, we can, again, choose what we want to think about.

When I decide to accomplish a particular thing, I can think about it and set my sights on it, keeping my decision and the steps I need to get there in my mind. I can set a goal with a time frame on it and most of the time I can reach that goal, mainly because of the powerful machine in my head.

When we take a big look at the world, we can see what the human brain has been able to come up with. It came up with the automobile, airplanes, rocket ships, computers, space stations, and even heart replacement surgery! And that’s just a tiny list of the amazing things it can invent.

I’m very, very impressed by the brain’s ability to remember things, especially my wife’s. She remembers everything and with so many details that I am constantly surprised. On the other hand, the older I get, the less my brain remembers, although it’s still amazing.

The change, however, has motivated me to find various methods to kick it into gear. One that works really well for me is when I am trying to remember a person’s name that I haven’t seen or talked to in a very long time. I mentally go through the alphabet and usually, when I come to the first letter of their name, bingo, I remember it. For example, I was trying to think of a tennis friend in Kauai that I hadn’t seen in sometime so I started going through the alphabet and, wow, the first letter did it. His name was Al.

So, how do we wake up the power of our mind and intentionally and productively choose what we think about? To start, we all need to be conscious of what we are putting into our brain. What kind of information do you feed it? Do you give it challenges and problems to figure out to keep it agile? And what do you eat to keep your brain healthy?

There are a lot of ways to support your amazing brain. But the first thing you need to do is decide to intentionally take care of it and make it a priority. Once you’ve done that, be on the lookout for ways to keep it fit, healthy, and amazing.

I’ll talk more about what you can do to keep your brain fit and healthy in next week’s post.

With a Little Ingenuity

October 24, 2021 by  
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After the last few weeks, going back and forth to the hospital and working with my doctors and medical technicians, I feel so very grateful and appreciative of all the great minds and effort involved in recovering my health. I found I have become particularly grateful for those human beings who invented the many incredible medical devices, procedures, and tests that have saved so many lives and relieved so much pain.

With everything I went through, I couldn’t help thinking about all the many life-changing inventions that we humans have come up with. From the fairly simple stethoscope to more complex inventions like x-rays, MRIs, and those great angiogram devices. Think about how obvious some of these inventions are but how life changing and life enhancing they can be.

There are so many very simple inventions that we use in our day-to-day lives, like the paper clip or even just paper. Of course, one of the biggest, most basic inventions was the wheel. It changed the world in all kinds of ways. What a different world we would be in if the wheel didn’t exist. We’d have no cars, bikes, airplanes, or trains, to mention just a very few things.

Even the simplest of inventions can lead to changes worldwide. One single spin off (no joke intended) of the wheel was the fairly recent invention of adding them to a suitcase. This made travel so much easier and less painful (especially for us old folks).

It was in 1970 that Benard Sadow took casters off a wardrobe trunk, mounted them on the bottom of a big suitcase, added a strap to the front end, and off he went to make history. Then in 1987 Robert Plath, an airline pilot, turned the suitcase on its side, attaching two wheels and a retractable handle, making a more stable rolling suitcase that you didn’t have to bend over to grab.

These inventors simply took everyday items and put them together. Looking back at these inventions, they seem so basic and simple that I wonder why it wasn’t thought of sooner. In fact, why didn’t I think of that?

Thinking about the many, many inventions human beings have invented through the ages, I found a list of some very popular inventions that are hard to imagine us doing without. These include things like duct tape, nails, Post-it notes, DNA testing, the internet, vaccines, and medical imaging. I could list dozens and dozens, but I think I’ve made my point.

Some inventions were fluke discoveries but many were matter of simply trying to solve a problem. If you and I pay attention and really put our minds to it, there is no reason we couldn’t come up with some new developments or inventions ourselves. Maybe make a list of common items, systems, and habits we all have and then go up and down the list and see if you can put two or three items together in a way to come up with a new product or better way to handle life and its challenges. Maybe work with your family or friends to brainstorm ideas. Give it a shot and see what you come up with. You could surprise yourself, and the rest of us as well!

Novelty and Innovation

September 15, 2019 by  
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I am always so impressed, when I travel to new places, by how it stimulates my brain, especially when those new places are a new country.  Right now, we are in Macedonia and, wow, what a great and different country this is! Tomorrow we are off to Kosovo. That will make 94 countries that I have visited. That’s quite a lot but I don’t think I will make it to all 200 plus countries on earth before I check out of this life, but I will sure enjoy seeing as many new places as I can before my body assumes room temperature.

Seeing new places can produce some very big and new ideas for things like inventions, innovations, etc. As I visit and totally enjoy these new places and people, it makes me more fully realize how virtually all people, regardless of their ethnicity, skin color, and education level, are pretty much the same as far as the majority being friendly, nice, and good! And in every country, there are really creative and innovative people as well. That got me to thinking about how many times people create something by just putting two different things together to come up with a new product or invention.

For example, it wasn’t that many years ago when people hand carried their heavy suitcases as they traveled.  I thought of this as my wife and I packed 3 huge suitcases plus two drag bags for our trip to Europe. Someone not so long ago put two simple things together to create a great and super helpful new invention – just a few wheels attached to the bottom of a suitcase. Wow, that was so simple! Why didn’t you or I come up with that simple invention that has been so great and helpful to all of us globetrotting humans.

If we set our minds to coming up with new products from two or more existing products, we could make a fortune. Take a simple product like a peddle bicycle and attach a battery and, wham, bang, you have come up with a brand-new and popular product. Then the next could have been putting that battery on a scooter and you might have come up with another form of powered transportation such as Lyme and the other brands.

I’ll never forget many years ago thinking what a waste it was to have all those cars parked for days at the airport while people were arriving and renting cars. It made me think of how maybe I could set up a program where you could rent out your car when you left for a trip and then you could rent someone’s car at the airport of your destination. I knew there would be a lot of issues as to insurance and possible damage or theft and putting it together would not be very simple. Then along came UBER and LYFT a few years later, which, although a traveler’s car isn’t in use while they are away, other people’s cars are not just sitting in their driveways but are out helping traveler’s get around and usually for quite a bit less than a Taxi.

Those car services are simple but great innovations that help so many and it just took putting together existing things to make something new and super useful. These things aren’t likely to come about unless your brain is stimulated and exposed to new things. If you keep your mind active and curious with novel things and keep searching for ideas, you could come up with the next simple and super useful innovation!