Mental Telepathy is Here

(This is not the “biggie” I told you that I am working on. That’s not ready yet. This is a thought I got when watching The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart interviewing Ichio Kaku about his new book The Future of the Mind.)

It’s been here probably as long as the brain has been here. According to Ichio Kaku, a City College of New York theoretical physicist, the brain’s capacity to emit radio signals has incredible potential. Some of it is already being realized. For instance, Stephen Hawkins, the paralyzed English theoretical physicist, can type and send email using a computer chip attached to the frame of his glasses. That’s because the chip is picking up radio waves from his brain and transmitting those thoughts to a computer.

After watching Stewart’s interview, I immediately bought the Kindle version of the book. I don’t mind contributing to Dr. Kaku’s fortune because I hardily approve of brilliant intellectuals writing scientific books prosaically enough for ordinary people like me to understand. They are probably our best hope of reversing the dumbing down of society by mass media.

I’m Working on a Biggie

There is a reason I didn’t make my semi-deadline Monday.  It’s a semi-deadline because, when I  made the semi-promise, I inserted a loophole. I said I would TRY  to have one by each Monday.  I’m working on an in-depth “biggie” for you.  The first installment will be posted soon. I know you’ll be waiting with bated breath.  No, it isn’t spelled “baited.” We’re not talking about fishing, but about being almost breathless with anticipation.  If you already knew that, I apologize for insulting your intelligence.  If you didn’t, you had the pleasure of learning something new, and I’m happy for you.  

 

Olympic Lessons for a World that Needs Them

If they gave a Gold Medal  for Decency at the Olympics,  Canadian Cross Country Coach Justin Wadsworth would certainly be a top contender.  When a Russian skier crashed and broke a ski, Wadsworth went out on the course and loaned him ski so he could finish.  The Canadian said, according  to the NBC report, “I wanted him to have dignity as he crossed the finish line.”

Maybe when he did that, he was remembering how a Norwegian coach had supplied a pole to a Canadian skier who lost her’s in the Torino, Italy Olympics.

Such acts show that sportsmanship is still alive.  I’m glad.

What Excellence at Sochi and Legacy Hall Symbolize

As I watched America’s Sage Kotsenburg and Jamie Anderson soar through the air on their snowboards,  Russia’s Yevgeny Plushenko and 15-year-old Yulia Lipnitshaya flawlessly jump and land their quads and axels on skates, or America’s Meryl Davis and Charlie White impeccably execute graceful lifts and spins as they ice dance in the Sochi Olympics, I have to reflect on the incredible capability of the human brain and body to perform brilliantly.

The same thoughts surfaced as I sat in Legacy Hall at the River Center in Columbus, Georgia and was blown away by a young, skinny, tall, serious-faced Chinese music student at the Columbus State University Schwob School of Music doing seemingly impossibly intricate and really fast things on a viola,  or marvel at the world-class performances by the school’s faculty members Alexander Kobrin, pianist; Sergiu Schwartz, violist, and Wendy Warner, Cellist playing Trios by Franz Schubert and Felix Mendelssohn.

Yes, the human being is capable of thrilling performances in many areas.  But,  there is always this familiar question, why can’t we just get along with one another?  You’d think that if humans have the smarts and talent to do things like brilliantly play a piano and go to the moon, they would be able to solve differences without going to war, individually or collectively.