Live Your Life Learning

Live Laugh Learn Love

Category: General Thought Posts

General Thought Posts

Remember the password when you return

More of a general thought blog piece this time…

Imagine you work in an office, and you are away, been gone from the office for a reason – let’s say you been on a wonderful vacation- and you come to the office, to your computer – and you get ready to log into your computer and you forget your password.
You may then go through a series of activities to obtain your password – you may do activities like

* Attempt to remember what your password happens to be, you may type out different combinations of letters, numbers, and symbols to try to remember what your password happens to be.
* You may try to retrieve your password using a computer system – sometimes you may be asked about security questions you may not remember the answer to
* You may call the technical department to help you re-set your password

You may find it helpful to be aware you may forgot your password after a long time away from the office,  you may try to associate a mental thought to help you remember your password or write down your password, if you write your password keep it in a secure location.

You may find it useful to remind yourself of your password before leaving the office for a long period of time; that way when you come back to the office you will know what your password happens to be.

Positive Stuff

With understanding that opinions can be wrong and/or people can disagree with opinions, I would like to offer one now…

Sometimes when you hear, see or read the news – you will be able to learn about events going on in the world; the events tend to be negative – so it is fun, hopeful and optimistic to read two articles that talk about positive trends

(1) One from the New York Times
“Why 2018 Was the Best Year in Human History!” (By Nicholas Kristof) (January 5, 2019)

(2) Second from an Economist publication called The World in 2019
(Economist is a magazine that looks at world news events)
“Follow the trendlines” (By Steven Pinker) (November 7 2018)

While news events can be negative; some society trends are positive – may not be noticed by reading, seeing, or listening to the news.

People worldwide are more connected, more healthier, more wealthier, more safer than at any other time in the history of civilization

Two areas that can put doubt on the optimism for readers

* All the progress society has made can be gone in a afternoon (perhaps a Bacteria may survive someplace)
* Your individual experience is not going well
(if you are in pain, under stress from your surroundings, lonely, hungry or any other negative hard situation a person may have) – reading, listening, or watching information about society improving may not mean very much to you

I believe society is improving and things will be great in the future – if we can prevent from destroying ourselves.  The article “Follow the Trendlines” (By Steven Pinken) is on page 77 in my copy of the Economist The World in 2019.  The lucky number 7 on the same page on an article describing the positive stuff occurring in the society – maybe we are in a wonderful world after all.

Time Travel and Light Speed

I am not a physicists – and the mathematics of physics gets me lost – I do not understand the math.

I do enjoy physics from an amateur (or lay-person) viewpoint. I enjoy learning about physics ideas that are believed to be true – but do not seem to make sense from my common sense perspective.

One idea is dealing with time; from my personal experience – time travels at the same rate into the future. No matter what you are doing – the time clock is moving into the future at the same rate. You may read about time-travel in the world of fiction; but in the world of reality – time is consistent going at the same rate in the future.

So, when I hear science mentions that time can travel at different rates in the future; this does not fit my common-sense observation of what I actually see – and it is one of the features about physics that I enjoy.

The idea of time and traveling at light speed.
Strange things can happen when a person can travel at light speed.

As I understand it, time can travel at different rates of speed going into the future. You cannot go back in time but can go at different rates of time in the future. If I understand it and if the physics is correct, you can built a time machine going into the future but not the past.

(Not sure of the specifics dealing with the math; just give an example to express an idea)
If you are traveling in a ship at light speed, you may believe that you were traveling for one day; while people on planet Earth would believe that you were traveling for several years. Time travels at a slower speed inside the spacecraft than outside the spacecraft.

Time appears to be a something that can be measured traveling at different rates of speed into the future.

One place on the Internet that gives a good explanation of this is from a science show called Cosmos done by Carl Sagan. (It was a science program done in the 1980’s).

Youtube has a video about this, can find it at:
YouTube Video Address: (link no longer works)
Or you can search under YouTube for the title:
“Time Dilation – Travel at Speed of Light – Special Relativity”

Sometimes fact is stranger than fiction. Hope people enjoy.

United Kingdom and EU exit

With understanding that opinions can be wrong and/or people can disagree with opinions, I would like to offer one now…

With United Kingdom to have a vote on whether or not to leave the EU (European Union), I would like to give some general thoughts on the topic.
In general, I favor the United Kingdom for staying in the EU. I fear that if the United Kingdom exits the EU; a pattern of political breakup could begin.

EU (European Union)
I believe the EU has helped to create an idea of Europe being a political entity that helps to bring the various peoples of Europe together. (When I think of the EU, also think of other political entities like NATO that have helped create a European identity).
I believe the greatest achievement of the EU (and related political institutions like NATO) have been able to help keep peace. I am not a historian but when I have looked at European history, one theme seems to be armed conflicts. Armed conflicts between different groups fighting each other.
I think the EU, NATO and other similar entities have helps provide peace and stability on the continent. I think this is a remarkable achievement that is worth remembering and celebrating.
(Not saying that conflicts that do not occur or will not occur in the future – was only the 1990’s where had armed conflicts in the Balkans – but I do believe the EU has helped create peace and stability on the continent).
I fear if the United Kingdom leaves the EU. The EU could become weaker and may encourage other countries to leave.

United Kingdom Breakup
I believe if the United Kingdom leaves the EU could start a pattern of the United Kingdom breaking up.
Scotland may become independent.
Maybe other parts of the United Kingdom may go their own way.

I think the United Kingdom has been a source of good in the world. Not saying that any particular country is perfect – but I think in general the United Kingdom has been a source of good for the world.

I think of how the United Kingdom was a source of good during World War II. The United Kingdom as a united island fought against the evil NAZI monster. Winston Churchill gave inspiring speeches on how the United Kingdom would fight (and eventually win) against the Nazi tyrant. It took the strength of a united island to fight against this evil. An island of small nation states may not have had strength to oppose the Nazi evil.

British Broadcasting System (BBC)
I enjoy being able to listen to the British Broadcasting System. I believe the broadcasts around the world are able to spread good across the world. I fear if the United Kingdom breaks up, the British Broadcasting Corporation could become Breakup Bye-Bye Canceled.