Dreams

In golf there are many, many tournaments throughout the year. It seems that every other week someone wins who I have never even heard of before, with the exception of the majors. The majors are the four most important tournaments and have the deepest fields. For some reason, it seems that the better players outperform the others even more consistently in majors than in the regular events. Geoff Ogilvy even made the observation once  that majors are almost easier to win because very few players actually show up thinking that they can pull it off. 

Well, to all those that are on the planet, I introduce to you the majors of life: religion, family, career, and happiness. We see it on t.v., we hope for it in our hearts, but how many of us really show up to the most important things believing that we can succeed? Are we excited to pursue the deepest desires of our hearts? Are we ready to fall on our faces a few times? I think I am, but I have a long face, a four thousand calorie diet, and a very close relationship with failure. So I understand that I might not fall under the bell curve in a lot of ways, but I think we should all get on this train and see where we end up and what we run over on the way. 

In fact, let's just take some leaps of faith and jump for the things we value as most important. Much like track, most of us will find that we can't jump, run, or throw nearly as well as we visualize it before we actually do it. We will try to achieve lofty goals, lift millions of lives, and build a perfect home. We will try to love, care for, and treat with respect all people. We will spend countless hours pursuing honorable goals. Day after day, week after week, and year after year we will continue working our hearts out. There will come a day that we will look back and see, through the cruel eye of honesty, that we failed many more times than we succeeded. We will feel incompetent and wonder why we didn't do as well as others. We will want to quit and never try again. I promise, that in that day, many of us will embrace our "failure" with a greater and deeper satisfaction than we could have ever imagined when we first pictured success. In the libraries of our lives, the volumes of accomplishments gather dust, but we will never stop visiting the stories and friendships that were made as we tried to achieve. 

So go and catch your dreams. Live with passion. Be awesome.

Hello world, I have a question

The world is busy, I know, but I never let that get me down. I was persistent, committed, and even stubborn, and in the end I arranged an interview with her. Unfortunately it wasn't a sit-down, but I did get a few minutes of her time on the phone. Enjoy!

Wilson: Thank you so much for taking this time to talk with me, I can't express how excited I am to learn more about you.
World: You are very welcome.
Wilson: So I was hoping we could just jump into some questions, I am quite anxious.
World: That would be just fine.
Wilson: So my first question is about death. It seems that the older people get the more they think about it. Do you find that to be the same with you? Has it been a more pressing matter in recent years than it was when you were younger?
World: You know, I will be honest, it certainly creeps into my mind frequently now, but you can't blame me. People just won't shut up about how I am going to end soon. As for this year, I'm going to have a hard time sleeping until the 21st of December passes peaceably.
Wilson: As you look forward and realize the inevitability of your end, are you also reflective on the long life that you have already lived?
World: Oh sure. I love reflecting on the many choice experiences in my life. I mean, how many planets can say they have had organic matter stomping on their face for thousands of years. Really think about it! Of all the planets in the universe, I am one of the lucky ones that gets to see something really special. Do you know how rewarding it is to have a dinosaur gracefully walking your plains?
Wilson: I can't say that I do.....
World: ......
Wilson: Anyway, moving on. I think it would be fair to say that you have had a front seat to the human story. Throughout the ages you have seen many come and leave. What has been the most enjoyable part of it all?
World: Oh, I have always been a succor for family life. I mean, if I want entertainment or sports I can always go somewhere else. Do you really think that humans are more fun to watch in a race than a shark or a lion?
Wilson: I guess it depends on the lighting and refreshments.
World: That was a rhetorical question.
Wilson: Right.
World: But the family structure has a certain appeal to it.
Wilson: Okay. I can respect that, and now I have just one last question. How old are you really?
World: There is nothing appropriate about a question like that.
Wilson: I am so sorry. But at least tell me how much you weigh.
World: You've got to be kidding me.

The True Love...

Warning: This post is for non-married people only. Married people, you already made your choice.... good luck!

As far as the human goes, or at least men,......or at least me. The demand for love isn't just one market, it is many. We have different desires that are all associated with the opposite gender, but unfortunately they don't always agree. One day we can feel closer to woman (or man) A and tomorrow we can be more interested in woman (or man) B. So let us answer the age old questions about selection. Which one should be the one? What kind of feelings are the most noble to act upon? Can this author really establish some ethos to pull off this post?

We will answer all those questions and more. We will generalize the three desires for companionship, and establish the awesomeness of a person to be the long-run sum of those attributes.

The first is physical. No explanation.

The second is on a personality basis. How much you enjoy their company, how well you can communicate, etc...

The third is the desire for consistency and maintaining a comfort level. Meaning an incumbent (or existing) prospect has an advantage over a newly-emerging one, because the familiarity and consistency is something we all seek. 

So the question is, how do we find the best long-run fit? Well, it's simple. In order for you to have an internal battle over two people, it must be that the sum of the three attributes is relatively close in the short run. In fact, in the short run there may be few differences in choosing one person over another. However, in the long run, there could be adverse differences.

Let us define the short run benefits simply as the sum of physical (A), emotional (B), and familiar face(C) attributes. So overall attraction (short run)  = A + B + C, where A, B, and C represent the current values.  However, over time the benefits will change in each area. So in ten years the overall attraction could = aA + bB, where a and b are scalars determined by functions of time relative to changes in importance of certain attractions. You may have noticed that we have eliminated factor C (familiar face) from the equation in the long run. The reason is that all candidates you could choose in the short run will return similar familiar face benefits in the long run, assuming you spend comparable amounts of time with them. So you still will receive benefits from that attribute, but in comparison it's more or less irrelevant. The 'a' will probably be <1, meaning that physical attractiveness has marginally diminishing returns over time, whereas 'b' is likely >1, meaning that personality matches have increasing returns over time.

So who should you pick? Well, it depends on how long you want it to last. Being religious, I have a hope for a marriage that lasts an eternity, going past the bounds of this life. Using limits, it is clear that personality matches and emotional connections are infinitely important in the long, long run, and physical attractiveness is literally irrelevant. Also, the desire to find consistency is irrelevant, because that is something that will grow with the fact that you are with the person forever.

So, the fairy tale cliches' seem to hold true for another day. Long-term love is about companionship, getting along, enjoying each other's company, etc... However, these relationships are certainly blessed by other aspects, such as having someone to consistently be with and physical interaction. So all the things are important once you are with someone, but in terms of choosing finding a personality match is essential.

Answer: Diseases

Q: If you could cure all diseases would you?

A: I am actually very excited for this post. It was maybe the most thought-provoking question that I received. In short, my answer is probably not. I realized that many people may find that cruel and disagree with it, but I will spend the rest of the time explaining why.

Firstly, I will gladly concede that there are many diseases that I would love to be able to cure for many wonderful people. How nice would it be to have the power to cure young children stricken with cancer? Or heal a terminally ill woman who is the central piece to a large family? Of course, there are endless ways we could bless the lives of others by curing certain diseases. So the question really is do the costs of diseases always out way the benefits? If so, then we certainly would cure them all, because the profits from doing so would be the differences between the benefits and the costs. However, if there is even one case where the benefits out way the costs, then we will maximize profits not by curing all diseases, but an optimum amount.

So, the question is, can we think of any diseases that might be worth keeping around? To be short, it's an empirical (meaning it must be measured) question and we can't actually answer it. We would actually need some way to quantify benefits and costs of certain diseases. However, we can generalize and think of some instances in which disease may be preferred to the cure. I know many people now would jump to the idea that the costs of increased sex might out way the benefits of curing STD's, but that is a bit hairy, so I will look for something simpler. Let's discuss the benefits of getting ill from exposure. In cold climates the cost of going into the cold unprepared rises with the chance of getting sick. However, if we could instantly cure such things, there really would be no consequence for reckless behavior. You could go into the cold, get sick, and be healed so quickly that you basically avoid the discomforts of being sick. However, the colds may act as a warning sign to greater danger, for instance, freezing to death. If we don't have the benefit of receiving small consequences, then we will be more likely to push the limits until more serious damage is done.

That may seem like a lousy argument, but I would believe that if all diseases could be cured, that we might find that we would want to keep some around in a quantity higher than zero.

Answers: Punxsutawney

This is from Harris: "Does Punxsutawney Phil understand the significances of seeing, or not seeing his shadow?"

<<<< Absolutely not >>>>

Does Pluto understand the Mayan calander?
Can a frog succeed in program design?
Does Obama understand fiscal policy?

Let's ask real questions people!
 

Answers: Zebra Stripes

So I will have a series of posts addressing the questions of the week.
The first question is:

"My questions is... is a zebra white with black stripes or black with white stripes??"


The zebra stripe phenomenon has always intrigued me, because I always have wondered how on earth such a conspicuous animal can continue to thrive. However, there has to be good reason for success. Nature isn't biased and it won't let a creature continue living just for aesthetic value. It actually turns out that the stripe pattern can deflect about 70% of the sun's rays helping the zebra fight the overpowering African heat (source: The International Museum of the Horse).
I have also been told that every single zebra has a unique stripe pattern and they can even tell one another apart because of this. The females with more curvature in their stripes have an advantage because it makes them more appealing to the males (this is completely a guess). There is also a theory that the stripes help the zebras confuse predators because they blend together when the zebras are in herds.
But onto the question. Are they white with black stripes or the other way around? Well, it used to be up in the air, but recently most experts are saying that zebras have both black skin and fur, and the white is added in due to a number of different factors, mostly a pigmentation deficiency. So zebras seem to be black with white stripes.
To be honest, my life is the same either way. But I must say the research was a lot of fun.

Ask Wilson

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