Posts filed under ‘Connection’
Eradicate Illiteracy, Really? Yep! Pass It On
For those of you who are passionate about kids and education, I wanted to share something I believe is an amazing mission and goal that XPRIZE launched this week.
XPRIZE strives to make the impossible possible and have tackled some of the world’s grandest challenges. This includes private spaceflight, 100 MPGe cars, oil-cleanup technology and most recently, competitions to go back to the Moon, address ocean acidification, and revolutionize healthcare.
This week a “Global Learning XPRIZE” was launched. This is a $15 million competition to create Open Source software that will teach a child to read, write, and perform basic numeracy within 18 months without the aid of a teacher. (This is not designed to replace teachers, but to provide an educational solution where little or none exists.)
According to UNESCO figures, 250 million kids in the world today lack basic literacy skills. As you can imagine, this XPRIZE could have a profound impact on these kids and bringing nations out of poverty.
An important part of this XPRIZE is a crowdfunding campaign that they are running to raise an additional $500,000 that will go towards furthering the impact and success of the prize. This money will go towards additional testing of the finalist’s technologies with more kids in more villages and towns, building infrastructure to help teams collaborative effectively, growing a global community of developers, designers, advocates and more, and investing in an open technology platform for society that will live on long past the conclusion of this XPRIZE.
I believe this is a tremendously valuable XPRIZE, and I would like to personally encourage you to go and contribute what you can at http://igg.me/at/learningxprize/x – there are a range of perks that might capture your interest too.
You can also get involved in this worthy project yourself; spreading the word, creating a team, sharing your knowledge, simply by going to http://learning.xprize.org/get-involved.
We can do this, and together we can achieve even more!
Peter Diamandis’ Truth About Global Violence
REPRINTED FROM MY MENTOR PETER DIAMANDIS (My favorite bits are in bold.)
I call CNN the Crisis News Network (or the Calamity News Network), delivering all crisis, all the time…
Today’s news media is a drug pusher, and negative news is their drug.
It might interest you to know that violence around the world has actually been going down, and has been for some time.
Your chances of dying a violent death are 1/500th of what they used to be during medieval times.
We’re blind to this fact, because our brains pay 10 times more attention to negative news than positive news. I wrote about these cognitive biases in Abundance: The Future Is Brighter Than You Think.
This graph shows deaths due to war between 1900 and 2005. You’ll notice clear spikes during World War I and World War II.
Check out this next graph.
Here, you’ll see the types of battles fought since 1940, and every classification — colonial, interstate, civil, and civil without foreign intervention — has dropped off drastically over time.
But this isn’t the impression you get from watching the news every night, is it?
Today, every skirmish in every part of the planet is broadcast straight into your living room live, in HD… over and over again.
But when we look at the data, the amount of warfare and deaths by human hands are reducing globally.
What do I do to counter this barrage of negative news? I’ve stopped watching TV news. They couldn’t pay me enough money.
I get my news from selected Google News and my social feed. Try it. You’d be amazed at how much happier you’ll be.
Who is Marianne Williamson?
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
Have you read this before? It was written by Marianne Williamson more than twenty years ago.
Many know her as a best-selling author. Some as a phenomenal spiritual teacher. Others, like myself, as one of the thought-leaders for a new conversation in politics. Take 3 minutes to watch why Marianne is running for Congress. See why millions love her and why she is inspiring a movement for political change.
Congressman, Alan Grayson says, “Marianne Williamson has taught us that ‘playing small doesn’t serve the world.’ Every Member of Congress needs to hear those words. We all need to ‘play big,’ and create a world where each one of us is free to – in Marianne Williamson’s words – ‘let our own light shine.’ In a nation where Marianne Williamson helps to make the laws, our differences will no longer divide us; they will be cultivated and nurtured and cherished, so that every one of us can be all that he or she can be.”
Vote June 3rd for Marianne. Or tell your District 33 friends to vote. Let’s be the next generation that rises up to say enough and restores to America her creed — a government of the people, by the people, for the people.
An Anonymous Prayer
An Anonymous Prayer – Written in the 17th Century
(Such a great prayer and so fascinating how things haven’t really changed all that much over the centuries.)
Lord, thy knowest better than I know myself
that I am growing older and will someday be old.
Keep me from the fatal habit of thinking I must say
something on every subject and, on every occasion.
Release me from craving to straighten out everybody’s affairs.
Make me thoughtful but not moody, helpful but not bossy,
With my vast store of wisdom it seems a pity not to use it all.
But, Thou knowest Lord that I want a few friends at the end.
Keep my mind from the recitals of endless details.
Give me wings to get to the point.
Seal my lips on my aches and pains.
They are increasing and love of rehearsing them
is becoming sweeter as the time goes by.
I do not ask for Grace enough to enjoy the tales
of other’s pain but, help me endure them with patience.
I dare not ask for improved memory, but, for a
growing humility and a lessening cocksuredness
when my memory seems to clash with the memories of others.
Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally I may be mistaken.
Keep me reasonably sweet
I do not want to be a Saint.
Some of them are so hard to live with.
But, a sour person is the works of the Devil.
Give me the ability to see good things in
unexpected places and talents in unexpected people.
And, give me, O Lord, the Grace to tell them so!
TEDxManhattanBeach Talks
Want to see what all the excitement was about?
Here are all the talks from the 2013 TEDxManhattanBeach Conference.
We all have favorites. What inspired you the most?
Open Letter to Mom’s
“If every mom in the world knew how awesome they were, every problem in the world would be fixed!”
If you’re a mom, or have one, you gotta watch this! Kid President offers easy, useful advice that will make you think, laugh and cry. I love this!
queen of connection | Shelby L. Phillips 