Follow the White Rabbit ... (from The Matrix)

I am going to give you what I think are enough important pieces to a gigantic puzzle so that you can see what I see. If you can't see what I see after seeing the puzzle pieces I give you, I suggest you give the puzzle pieces to your children or someone younger than yourself and then ask them to explain it to you.

Tools for Your Toolbox - the one in your Head

Lesson 1 - Knowledge Is Priceless - but "where" is it taking us?

A) the 1st puzzle piece An explanation of the effectiveness of the Socratic method: the goal is not to convey new information but rather to elicit awareness of something that an individual already knows implicitly. http://www.philosophypages.com/hy/2f.htm#meno

B) The 2nd Puzzle Piece - Clay Shirky gave a speech about: Carving out a bit of the Cognitive Surplus http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/010186.html#010186 "Your Cognitive Surplus is for consuming, producing and sharing. Once you become aware, it becomes your job to make the best use of ALL three. (ie. All of wikipedia was one little example)"

C) The 3rd Puzzle Piece - The interlinking of humanity that began with the emergence of language has now progressed to the point where information can be transmitted to anyone, anywhere, at the speed of light. Billions of messages continually shuttling back and forth, in an ever-growing web of communication, linking the billions of minds of humanity together into a single system. Is this Gaea growing herself a nervous system? "Gaea" is also the name of the womanly personification of mother earth in Greek Mythology.

The parallels are certainly worthy of consideration. We have already noted that there are, very approximately, the same number of nerve cells in a human brain as there are human minds on the planet. And there are also some interesting similarities between the way the human brain grows and the way in which humanity is evolving. ... continued http://www.peterrussell.com/GB/Chap8.php

D) The 4th Puzzle Piece - The butterfly effect (a premise of chaos theory) suggests that if a butterfly flaps its wings in one part of the world it can cause a storm to eventually form in another part of the world. More precisely, the flapping of the wings produces a tiny change in the state of the atmosphere that, over time, can result in a much larger effect. With this concept in mind, the movie, 'The Butterfly Effect' watches what happens when a man tries to make changes to the past in order to improve the present. http://www.femail.com.au/the_butterfly_effect.htm The changes we all make in our lives can also create a NEGATIVE butterfly effect on the world. http://i28.tinypic.com/w8mgs7.jpg It's time to become AWARE of what is possible and "flap your wings" to start a positive change in the world.

E) The 5th Puzzle Piece - is an example of what we are all capable of: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r43yCiKlbCo "Lilly" was the inspiration that drove me to act ... I learned every country in the world and many of their cities in 3 days of using the game listed in this paragraph. It was fun and easy to learn and I now use the knowledge I gained in everyday life. When a headline or a news story talks of some crisis taking place around the world like in Senegal or Myanmar (formerly Burma) or Ecuador or Iraq or New Orleans, I now know instantly from the map in my head where aid of any sort is needed instantly. To reach every country in the world one must first know where every country is in the world. Luckily it's fun to learn them all with the help of web sites like; http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/Geography.htm and once you know all the countries then you start adding capital cities and so on until you know a lot about the entire world. They made a movie called "D.A.R.Y.L in (1985)" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088979/ that ironically showed how the human brain is the most powerful and complicated computer on earth and everyone has one but many don't know how to use it to their advantage.

F) The 6th Puzzle Piece - The government needs to start playing Grand Theft Society with their time and we need to prevent them from playing their war games using society's real wealth and ruining many real lives. http://mises.org/story/3031 Socrates argued that knowledge and virtue are so closely related that no human being ever knowingly does evil: we all invariably do what we believe to be best. Improper conduct, then, can only be a product of our ignorance rather than a symptom of weakness of the will. http://www.philosophypages.com/ph/socr.htm

G) The 7th Puzzle Piece - Follow the White Rabbit ... (from The Matrix) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo_(The_Matrix) Although it was only a movie, it made one think out side the box. "The One" can change the lives of many! Did you know that the Zion city in the Matrix was a reference to ... "Zion", a term that most often designates the Land of Israel and its capital, Jerusalem. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zion We all make many choices in life every day: and the choices are, "Do you want to take the blue pill or the red pill?" The blue pill equals remaining ignorant. The red pill constitutes taking the step to become aware, fully aware of whats going on in the world and start to do something to change it for the betterment of everyone.

I) The 5 Necessities of Life

What necessities do we ALL need to survive in and on this World we call PLANET EARTH?

The answer lies in the palm of your hand: (using your fingers for counting)

1) FOOD - ONE CAN ONLY EAT SO MUCH FOOD so as long as you have enough MORE is not necessary

Learning from our past (Irish Potato Famine): http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/17/opinion/17reader.html?ref=opinion
planning for our future (Greening the Desert): http://www.developmentcrossing.com/video/video/show?id=1018705:Video:4867

2) SHELTER - if you live in a trailer in a trailer park chances are you are not rolling in money but the TRUE FOOLS are the ones that are rolling in money and put themselves in McMansions and then can't see that they themselves are actually worse off than those in the trailer park. If their high paying jobs ever end, which they often do, they are often left homeless within months. Yet those in the trailer parks struggle along usually never to find themselves out on the street because they are close to the street to start with. The wise person buys and lives in what they need, NOT what "the Jones" across the street have. Warren Buffet is a prime example. One of the wealthiest people on earth and he lives in a "glorified card board box" (compared to his wealth).

We all need shelter but what run away government has done to it: http://business.scotsman.com/business/Your-roadmap-through--the.3810412.jp

A Revolution is Coming learn why: http://www.alternet.org/democracy/77498/?page=entire

3) CLOTHING - all the clothing one should ever want of need maybe as close as the Salvation Army or Value-Village

4) FAIR HEALTH CARE - I guess survival of the fittest does make sense at the start.
Understanding Healthcare now: http://www.oftwominds.com/blogmar08/generational-war.html What we need now is CEO class yearly health care mass produced for everyone on earth - Fortune Magazine July/2008

5) FUN & HAPPINESS - if you don't get any fun out of life you might as well be dead (so funs important)

The more you spend on the first four (1,2,3,4) the less you get for (5) fun and happiness
And without lots of (5) fun and happiness one might as well be dead.

J) The 5 Luxuries of Life

Once the first five necessities have been looked after then one is ready for the luxuries we ALL deserve and need to survive in and on this World we call PLANET EARTH?

The answer lies in the palm of your OTHER hand: (using your fingers for counting)

1) the ability to read and comprehend
2) the ability to write and be understood
3) the ability to do basic math (ie. add, subtract, multiple and divide)
4) the ability to speak and be heard "understood"
5) the ability and right to have the internet for learning, fun & finding happiness

With these 4 skills and a zest for fun, you are, if you don't know it, set for life.