A Blogger is…
The Query Letter All Writers Want to Write … But Don’t Have the Squareballs
One particular day, after receiving a rejection letter (the first among many that I’ve never acknowledged) I got a little ticked. I mean, c’mon, I just spent three months banging out 120 pages of the best screenplay America has never seen.
A classic. A real beaut.
Think …
It has the heart of “Rocky,” the cherubic innocence of “Forrest Gump” and the underlying spirituality of “Gandhi.” (You are now getting very, very sleepy … get your checkbook out.)
A quick sale for sure.
I’ll be fair and take mid-seven figures against eight. Win-win! That’s my motto. But … what do I get?
A form letter.
But not just any form letter. A little, personalized, scribbled note was attached.
It said,
“You’re a good writer, but no real producer would touch this. Too much spirituality at the end. Think more commercial. How about bankers ripping off some people? And chases. Car crashes. Viruses. Diseases. They’re big right now. Oh – special effects. Magic. Need that too. Movies are all about special effects now. Don’t be such a smart writer. Dumb it down some.
Get some reviews from someone too – someone with a title would be great. Define what demographic market your film appeals to, what merchandising opportunities and ancillary revenue streams could be available.”
Okay, reasonable advice. Right? It was followed by this little mentoring tidbit.
Cartoons as Structure
“Watch cartoons to guide your story structure – they do it best. And watch movies where animals are the stars. Those are great dialogue-reducers. Relate it to movies you know. Something you can make a snap judgment on. Like “Legally Blonde” meets “Gandhi.” I am busy you know. Send me another query when you think you can meet my needs.”
Squareballs (that’s me) Ponders Reasonable Advice
( If you didn’t know … I’m the Flounder of Squareballs Entertainment)
Dialogue-reducers?
Meet his needs?
Dumb it down?
Basement Balcony Beckons
I stifled the urge to hurl myself off the basement balcony. It was tough. I bit my tongue, but did not overdose on 33 cheese coneys with extra onions, peanut butter, chocolate jelly (my favorite), mayonnaise, jalapenos and nuclear hot sauce.
But, being the consummate professional, I felt the need to follow up on his kind offer.
Here’s what I wrote back … and just for yucks, sent out to 50 other producers. (You think I’m kidding?)
_______________________________________________________________________
Dear Omniscient, Omnipotent, Odorivectorous Producer:
I have a recently completed screenplay titled “Pig and Turkey” – a classic como-drama that I would like to submit to your company for consideration.
Dialogue Reducers Introduced
Think Babe and Woody Woodpecker freeing Willie.
A pig and a turkey join together to save their farm from an unscrupulous banker who is trying to foreclose on the property because he wants to turn it into a non-profit gambling casino.
Brings in the Banker and Disease Simultaneously (and brilliantly I might add)
The banker leaks to the press that “Mad Turk’s Disease” has infested the animals on the property.
Mad Turk’s Disease is an awful virus that makes your hair and nails fall out, causes you to get really disgustingly big facial warts, engenders disgustingly bad breath and uncontrollable flatulence.
The Dastardly Banker
The banker tricks them into jumping the Grand Canyon on a tricycle with two wheels saying he will stop foreclosure if they complete the leap. The leap is televised worldwide (Pay Per View).
The dastardly banker saws the ramp in half and Pig and Turkey are hurled head and beak-first into the Grand Canyon to a certain death.
A terrible, gut-wrenching moment, sure to bring tears to anyone with the least bit of a heart.
Magic and Special Effects Covered
Just when Death opens its jaws wide to receive them, Turkey finds her wings and transmogrifies like a caterpillar into … … a bald eagle, but not just any bald eagle.
“Eagle Kneivel”
saving Pig and their farm.
Brings in Joseph Campbell
Pig and Turkey fight heroically to save their home and way of life while exhibiting upstanding morals and fulfilling the heroes’ mythical journey.
Pig and Turkey Fast and Furious (see the sequel potential you visionaries?)
Pig and Turkey zoom toward an unbelievable climax in a 32-car chase scene throughout 58 states (including Puerto Rico and Los Angeles).
Great Review
My great-grandmother, Elsie Grunewald, a retired English teacher and author of 11 unpublished novels, thoroughly reviewed the screenplay and thought it was the best thing she’s read since “War and Peace” By Leonardo Coldstoy.
She has prepared in-depth critiques and analyses for your review, and she has also meticulously choreographed the camera shots. POV by POV.
Tremendous Opportunity Spelled Out
To whom may I send this terrific, sure to be a runaway Academy Award winner nominee, 297 1/2 page screenplay?
Oops – Almost Forgot Demographics and Ancillary Revenue Streams
And … did I forget to mention that it will appeal to the family audience and has great ancillary market revenue potential utilizing dolls, toys, bacon, lettuce, and turkey sandwiches sold through … probably McDonald’s?
Regards, Steve
P.S. Contact me at my Grandma’s house.
Now is that a piece of work or what?
Sucks doesn’t it?
I got 10 requests to read the damn thing.
About Steve Kayser
Although Steve has won multiple screenwriting awards and publishes an award-winning B2B e-zine with 150,000 subscribers. Currently Steve is busy recruiting handsome, intelligent, bilingual pigs to audition for the lead part in “Pig and Turkey.”
If you are a handsome, intelligent, bilingual pig and are looking to break into acting, this may be your big chance. Contact Steve at [email protected]
****Disclaimer****
NO EGOS! Must be able to get along with a turkey who saves the day … at least until next Thanksgiving!
The Greatest Words You’ve Never Heard
WORDS
They can make you laugh, or make you cry. Engage or enrage. Bring joy, bring sorrow. They can herald new life, memorialize lives gone, inspire great acts of heroism – or despicable acts of evil. They can transport you … to other worlds, other times, other places.
WORDS
Surely mankind’s greatest invention.
But many great words have slipped into the mists of history. Some of the greatest. You know it when you come across them. They stop you. Punch you in the face and say, ‘Look. Listen. Feel. Remember. It’s important.’
Has that happened to you? Either in your life of business or the business of life?
Below are three of my selections for some of the greatest words ever spoken, ever communicated. Words you may have never heard of before.
THOMAS JEFFERSON AND THOSE DEGENERATE AMERICANS
Thomas Jefferson published the “Notes on the State of Virginia” in 1781. In one section he addressed some prominent European celebrity writers who were of the opinion that nothing good could ever come out of America. (Do things never change?)
“They have supposed there is something in the soil, climate and other circumstances of America, which occasions animal nature to degenerate, not excepting the man, native or adopted, physical or moral. This theory, so unfounded and degrading was called to the bar of fact and reason.”
In response, Jefferson recites a message sent by Mingo Chief John Logan to Lord Dunmore in 1774.
“I may challenge the whole orations of Demosthenes and Cicero, and of any more eminent orator, if Europe has furnished more eminent, to produce a single passage superior to it.”
WHO IS THERE TO MOURN FOR LOGAN?
Mingo Chief John Logan (Tahgahjute) was a Native American Indian born in 1725. He was a friend and supporter of the white man (a most unpopular position at the time with other Indians). In 1774 Logan was away on a hunting trip when his entire family was treacherously slaughtered by a marauding band of white settlers. His pregnant sister was mutilated in what can only be described as a despicably demonic way. When Logan returned he found their bodies. Every living relative that he knew of at the time. Children to grandparents. Generations lost.
This event, called the “Yellow Creek Massacre,” sparked Lord Dunmore’s War of 1774.
Logan sought revenge. And got it. Many times over.
But the Indians were quicky defeated in the war and a party went to Lord Dunmore for a peace council. Logan would not attend the council but sent a message that reverberated throughout the world.This speech was taught and memorized by children in American schools for many years afterwards. Thomas Jefferson himself memorized it in 1775.
LOGAN’S LAMENT
“I appeal to any white man to say, if ever he entered Logan’s cabin hungry, and he gave him not meat; if ever he came cold and naked, and he clothed him not. During the course of the last long and bloody war, Logan remained idle in his cabin, an advocate for peace. Such was my love for the whites, that my countrymen pointed as they passed, and said, Logan is the friend of the white men. I have even thought to live with you but for the injuries of one man. Col. Cresap, the last spring, in cold blood, and unprovoked, murdered all the relations of Logan, not sparing even my women and children. There runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any living creature. This has called on me for revenge. I have sought it: I have killed many: I have fully glutted my vengeance. For my country, I rejoice at the beams of peace. But do not harbour a thought that mine is the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear. He will not turn on his heel to save his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan? Not one.”
The war ended. Logan never really recovered. Would you? He quickly slipped into alcoholism and was murdered in 1780.
“He is one of those uncommon geniuses which spring up occasionally to produce revolutions, and overturn the established order of things. If it were not for the vicinity of the United States, he would, perhaps, be the founder of an empire that would rival in glory Mexico or Peru. No difficulties deter him.” – William Henry Harrison in an 1811 letter to the US War Department.
Who was Harrison referring to?
Tekoomsē or Tekumtha, most widely known now as Tecumseh, the great leader of the Shawnee Indians. At the time Tecumseh was traveling throughout America trying to rally Indians of all tribes to form an alliance to stop white settlers from invading and taking their land.
Tecumseh’s rallying cry?
“Where today are the Pequot? Where are the Narragansett, the Mochican, the Pocanet, and other powerful tribes of our people? They have vanished before the avarice and oppression of the white man, as snow before the summer sun … Sleep not longer, O Choctaws and Chickasaws … Will not the bones of our dead be plowed up, and their graves turned into plowed fields?”- Tecumseh, 1811, ‘The Portable North American Indian Reader’
Tecumseh amassed a great following, not only for his speaking prowess and bravery in battle, but because of his ability to challenge and rise above the times. He would not, as was the Indian custom of the time, allow any prisoner to be tortured and burned alive. He shamed senior warriors and elders in one battle with his logic, determination and spirit. He was just 15 years of age at the time.
Tecumseh became viewed as a serious military threat. To the U.S. Military he was a barbarous heathen. A red devil. Publicly proclaimed as a scheming fomenter of revolution. A killer. But history is history, only as written by the winners.
YOU JUDGE THIS DEVIL
This fomenter of revolution, this devil, this barbarous heathen … left these words behind. You judge.
“So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and its purpose in the service of your people. Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide. Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, even a stranger, when in a lonely place. Show respect to all people and grovel to none. When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself. Abuse no one and no thing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision. When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.” – Quoted from Lee Sulzman in “Shawnee History”
WORDS
Just words. Ethereally wisping through time on vanishing waves of human memories – looking for a heart to fall into.
Tecumseh was killed in the Battle of Thames in October 5, 1813, fighting to save his native land.
The hero was home.
WARM SUMMER SUN
Mark Twain was born Samuel Longhorne Clemens on November 30, 1835. He’s known worldwide for his satirical, incisive and humorous writing. Drop-down rollover funny. My favorite — Puddin’ Head Wilson. But Twain’s life was full of misery and adversity. His business ventures always seemed to go awry –
“I was seldom able to see an opportunity until it had ceased to be one.” – Mark Twain
After multiple investments went bad in the 1890’s, Twain was forced into bankruptcy. He went on a worldwide lecture tour to earn money to pay back his debts. While on this tour his beloved daughter, Olivia Susan “Susy” Clemens, died at the age of twenty-four from meningitis.
It destroyed him.
CUT IN STONE
I think I’ve read everything Mark Twain ever wrote. Maybe you have too. But when I came upon the poem Mark Twain engraved on Susy’s headstone, I knew there was no better. Ever.
And they weren’t even his words.
Warm summer sun
shine kindly here;
Warm southern wind
blow softly here;
Green sod above
Lie light, lie light-
Good night, dear heart,
good night, good night.
Mark Twain understood words. Their greatness. Their ability to express an unendurable sorrow. To reveal a timeless love so it glitters with heavenly evanescence. The words above are an excerpt (slightly altered by Twain) from an obscure poem called “Annette,” written by Robert Richardson, published in 1893.
WORDS
Just words.
They can make you laugh – or make you cry.
Engage or enrage. Create heroes or demons. Memorialize life … or death.
They can transport you to other worlds, other times, other places.
In 100 years from now … when green sod lies above, when there is no one left to mourn for you, will something you have said or done, be spoken or written in words so eloquent?
Will you be remembered like a “Hero Going Home?”
End:
Notes:
1. Tecumseh painting by my friend Hal Sherman. Other paintings Animotorized below.
2. Chief Logan painting by Robert Griffin.
3.Chief Logan thought Col. Michael Cresap was the murderer of his family. The murders were later generally attributed to Daniel Greathouse.
4. After many years the words on Susy’s headstone were generally attributed to Twain himself. When he discovered this he ordered Robert Richardson’s name be cut into the headstone beneath them.
5. Time collage photo courtesy of The Book Squirrel – http://www.flickr.com/photos/29193525@N07/3261401679/
6. The Bridge – photo courtesy of the E.G,Man http://www.flickr.com/photos/eqqman/17854302/sizes/o/
7. Folded arms corutesy of Ghostbones via Flickr. And yes, I lost the link.
A Bad Burro
Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead
Author David Meerman Scott and Brian Halligan, CEO of Hubspot, have a new book out that’s generating a lot of Buzzzzzzzzz …
David and I have known each other since 2005. Since that time he’s written several great books including the international bestseller “The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How To Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcastiing, Viral Marketing & Online Media to Reach Buyers Directly,” which has been translated into 26 languages.
David’s writing is crisp, clean, easy to read and always full of helpful information and unique ways to authentically connect with people—and grow your business. That’s hard to pull off.
WRONG
I’m usually 100% supportive of David’s ideas and insights. Not this time. I think he and Brian got it totally wrong on the name and naming of the “Grateful Dead.”
RESEARCH
They must not have done their research. Had they done in-depth historical musical research, they would have uncovered where the Grateful Dead name really came from.
THE SECRET
As a business courtesy (back-stabbing) to David and Brian, it will be revealed here for the first time. That’s right. The real secret behind the naming of The Grateful Dead. Maybe David and Brian can correct their story in the second printing of the book to give credit where credit is due.
ALL FAIRNESS ASIDE
But, in all fairness, I’ll let them make their case first. Then I’ll expose their inaccuracies. Rip them to shreds. Professionally of course. But be prepared – some graphic pictures are coming your way. It may not be suitable for all readers. Make sure any kids under 50 are not in the room when you read this.
THEIR CASE …
A Marketing Lesson from the Grateful Dead – Choose Memorable Brand Names
By David Meerman Scott and Brian Halligan
The Grateful Dead.
If you stop to think about it, the name is sorta weird. Even a little scary.
But boy is it memorable.
Originally calling themselves The Warlocks when they formed in 1964, members of the band realized they needed to come up with a new name a year later when they found out that there was another band by the same name that had recorded a single. The guys debated names, suggesting ideas such as “Mythical Ethical Icicle Tricycle” (Garcia) and “His Own Sweet Advocates” (Weir). When they were unable to find a name they agreed on, they gathered at Phil Lesh’s house around a copy of Bartlett’s Quotations, read out a thousand possible names, but couldn’t agree on anything. Then Jerry Garcia opened a copy of Funk and Wagnall’s New Practical Standard Dictionary (1956 edition) and randomly pointed to a page. There, staring back at him, was GRATEFUL DEAD. Several members immediately fell in love with the name and wanted to use it. Others were a bit wary. But all agreed it was memorable so they decided to use it.
Love it, hate it, or don’t understand it—the Grateful Dead is a name that you remember.
A name–like the Grateful Dead–is an asset to an organization choosing wisely. When you select an uncommon name (and one appropriate to your company image and target market) it’s unlikely that consumers will confuse your product with something similar. They will remember you. And in today’s world of online communications and of search engines, unique names for your company, products, and services allow you to own the search engine results for your brands.
Most companies don’t focus enough attention on choosing a memorable name or to the importance of Google, Bing, and other search engines when selecting those names. Typically people closest to the product development effort are the ones proposing the candidate names. This usually leads to overly technical names focused on what a product does (something like “MP3 Deluxe Pocket Player” rather than a memorable name that appeals to customers like “iPod”). At most companies, candidate names are vetted by the legal department for copyright and trademark issues that would disqualify use, but few bother to do a Google search on the potential new name. If your company’s website is not on the first page of the Google results with your product name, that should disqualify it as an option.
Naming is tough. But it is a very important element of marketing. Most organizations don’t spend enough time on this important activity.
Action: Here are some things to keep in mind and a few tricks you might try as you think of a name:
- Avoid common names and names that are already used as a title of a popular movie or book. You will want to have a name that you can have the top listing for in the search engines.
- Use search engines before finalizing a name. You don’t want to fall in love with a name that you cannot have the top search results for.
- Find inspiration in unlikely places. Why not go to one of the online booksellers (such as Amazon.com, BN.com, or Borders.com in the US) and search on the name of the category of product you are trying to name. You’ll see a list of book titles and subtitles that may spark an idea.
- Many people choose made up words as a name. This is great because you can own the search results. But try not to choose one that is too esoteric or difficult to pronounce if you go this route.
- You might take two words that are very different and put them together as one word like SurveyMonkey, an intriguing company name.
- Try an alternative spelling for a word. Google is a derivation of the word “googol,” a number that is ten to the power of one hundred (the numeral one followed by 100 zeros). Flickr is “flicker” with an “e” removed.
- In her excellent book POP!, Sam Horn (http://www.samhorn.com) talks about what she calls “alphabetizing” common words to come up with a name. We like this technique. Take a common product you want to name, for example, Yogurt in a squeeze tube. Then go through every letter in the alphabet and substitute it for the “Y” in Yogurt and presto: “GoGurt” is born.
- Take a common name and change it slightly to create a new word. For example social networking site FledgeWing is a derivation of the word “fledgling.”
END OF THEIR CASE – NOW IT’S MY TURN
That’s history as it’s recorded. The mythological muses smile on Jerry Garcia and the band and out POPS the name The Grateful Dead. It’s true that the name is memorable. But history is always written by the victors – biased biographies of the victorious.
THE REST OF THE STORY ( I’m sure Paul Harvey did this story once)
The real story was that there was this kick-butt band called “The Grateful Donk” that Jerry Garcia and the boys saw play at the Donkey Dewd Don’t You Drop Inn bar in Haight-Asbury in 1964. They were mesmerized – especially by the melodiously mellifluous kilt-wearing piano player and the talented Equus Africanus (Ass) lead guitarist.
David and Brian should have made full disclosure on this issue – they were there. Check out the picture. Really. It’s not “Where’s Waldo“; Brian and David are herein both graphically exposed.
EXPOSED
And being exposed was actually the downfall of this once-mighty band with so much potential. See the kilt-wearing piano player above? See how he’s rocking out doing his smoking best Jerry Lee Lewis ivory-licks? See the Grateful Donk fans in the front row? I mean the shocked, horrified and distressed-looking ones?
Well … getting to the bottom of it, the piano player, he uh, forgot something. Went kilt-kommando so to speak.
And you know that name?The Grateful Donk?
Love it, hate it, or don’t understand it—The Grateful Donk is a name that you remember
RUINED
Well it wasn’t. The band was ruined by the exposure.
The Grateful Donk tried to regroup. They killed the kilt guy, then added a female singer and guitarist named
BONNIE BRAY-IT
But the band never recovered from the kommando-kilt incident.
Jerry Garcia and the boys cribbed the name and stole the glory after the
band fled in utter disgrace and had to disband.
The kommando-kilt wearing piano player, (much like Boston’s Bill Buckner, after “The Curse of the Bambino” caused him to boot a ball in game six, and it cost the Boston the 1986 World Series,) took the disgrace like a manly man.
Forty years later he regrouped and now works in PR and Marketing for a software company.
And now you know … the rest of the story.
Epilogue:
The Equus Africanus (ass) lead guitarist later went on to great literary fame … his name? Donkey O’Tee, author of ;
and he married? You guessed it …
###
The good stuff above was excerpted from the new book (to be published August 1, 2010 by John Wiley & Sons) Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead: What Every Business Can Learn from the Most Iconic Band in History by David Meerman Scott and Brian Halligan. ISBN-13: 978-0470900529. Used with permission.
The Grateful Donk stuff, though historically, solidly questionable, has nothing to do with David and Brian’s new book. Go check their book out for yourself.
Visit David Meerman Scott and Brian Halligan at their Facebook Fan Page for more information on “Marketing Lessons for the Grateful Dead.”
And listen to the Grateful Donk Radio on the Blip.fm History Channel – Http://blip.fm/TheGratefulDonk no courtesy of investigative reporter @stevekayser on Twitter or Steve on Blip.fm at http://blip.fm/stevekayser
Flea Market Miracle
Pitch:
A quick, concise communication meant to persuade someone to do something – buy a product, service, idea, etc.
A pitch is a story told with the goal of getting someone to buy into your idea; it’s your request for action. You want them to do something. You appeal to their reason and emotions. They want you to do something too. Don’t be stupid, waste their time or insult their intelligence with lame words drained of meaning.
We all pitch. Everyday. To our friends, family, business, clients, etc.
Good-to-Great
There are good-to-great pitches. They’re informative, entertaining and on occasion, wonderfully inspiring. They connect with you emotionally and ride the road of reason and common sense to their intended destination―the “decision.” And, more often than not, the decision is right.
Boring-to Bad
Then there are the boring-to-bad pitches. Lame ideas, poorly packaged, with an even worse delivery. Wasted words and wasted time―yours and theirs. But, on the upside, you do get to the intended destination― the “decision”―much quicker. It’s no. A quick no. Then there’s the…
Worst Pitch Ever
I have first-hand experience with this one. How? Why … I did it. Me. Fessing up to it.
It was horrible. A crime against logic, reason and the human language. A stinker of epic proportions. But in the end, it enriched me beyond belief. And it all started with …
A Flea Market Miracle
I was book shopping at a high-end flea market (we have them in Ohio) when I ran across a book called “Making Miracles” by Dr. Paul Pearsall. It was in the $2.00 bin, usually out of my economic range, but looked exceptionally interesting. So, I saved up for three weeks and bought it. The fact that it was still there three weeks later was a miracle unto itself. A sign I thought. It was meant to be. In the cards – so to speak.
This little snippet on the cover was intriguing,
“I died three times. I’m back.”
The book was a mixture of physics, spirituality, hope, action and a genuine reverence for all four. It delved into the evidence for a finely-tuned, aware, universal intelligence with some inexplicable quantum quirkiness. That was my take on “Making Miracles.”
I contacted Dr. Pearsall about doing a story and interview with me. Here was the pitch – almost verbatim.
“Hey, uh, yeah, uh, I, umm … bought your book “Making Miracles” in the discount bin at a high-end flea market here in Ohio. Paid two bucks for it, which was a pretty high price considering how old it is. I don’t really know anything about you or your concepts of non-linearity, observer participancy, synchronicity or meaningful coincidences — but it sounds quantumly cool.
Probably a story there. I’d like to interview you.
Interested?
Can You Do Any Worse Than That?
Could any pitch be worse than that? Could you do more things wrong? If that isn’t the worst pitch of all-time, I’d love to hear one that’s worse. After I pitched him and realized how lame and unprepared it must have sounded I expected a resounding NO. A “NO” at Tachyon speed (faster than the speed of light).
What Happened?
Well, what do you think happened? Isn’t it obvious?
Dr. Pearsall was an internationally known bestselling author of 18 books at that time. Many of them were New York Times bestsellers. He was a licensed clinical neuropsychologist and one of the most requested speakers in the world, having delivered over 6,000 keynotes. And he was also a frequent consultant to national television appearing on “Dateline,” “20/20,” CNN, “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” “The Today Show,” and “Good Morning America.”
And some doofus like me pitches him from a flea market in the Midwest about a book he’d written 12 years ago?
That’s when I first came to the realization of …
The Power of Asking
Dr. Pearsall was great. Unbelievably he said yes. But he didn’t want to do the “Making Miracles” story; he wanted to talk about his book, “The Beethoven Principle.” So we did. And it was soulfully enriching beyond any expectation. And – lucky you – he also showed me the secret to world’s greatest card trick. It will be unrevealed at the end of this true story. But you have to travel a little longer with me to get there. First, we have to get over some…
Adversity
Overcoming adversity is never simple. Ever. Sometimes, despite Herculean efforts, you still don’t win. You’re crushed, mangled, and left feeling like a little dark spot in the middle of the road that vehicles continuously run over. One spot that used to be a living, breathing organism experiencing the joy of life.
Thrivers
But what about people who not only triumph over adversity but also astound you by propelling themselves to a higher plane? They face life’s inevitable challenges head-on, grow stronger, more vital, and in the end, savor the sweetness life has to offer. Against all the odds, expectations, or beliefs, they thrive. What drives these “Thrivers?” What shared traits do they have? What can be learned? We’re going to find out.
Death, Dying, Dignity and … Humor?
Dr. Pearsall ( Dr. P.) was one such person – a “thriver.” He had an approach to adversity I much admired. He faced death (four times) with dignity and humor? Yes. More on that shortly. But he also left a legacy, the sharing of his life’s work and the people he touched – like me. The miracles he made continue. Because of Dr. P., I became acquainted with a 22-year-old woman. She had just begun her life.
She had just started teaching English Literature in high school. Then … she was struck down by a drunk driver and was left pentaplegic (unable to move her arms or legs and unable to breathe on her own.) She was on a ventilator.
Life for her was over, right?
Wrong.
At that time, she was writing a book about her experiences. Writing a book on the computer that had been specially adapted to allow her to operate the keys with a stick held in her mouth.
A stick held in her mouth. Let me say that one more time.
She was operating a computer with a stick held in her mouth.
And what did she say about it?
“You don’t have to feel screwed. You can construe. Trust me, that one word has very special power. The dictionary says it means to discover and apply meaning, and what a power that is.
It means your life is all in your mind. I am actually happier and more productive now than I have ever been. I sure have more friends and, as you can easily see, I am totally free from multitasking.”
She still had a sense of humor in the darkest of times. A trait shared by many “thrivers.”
Meaningful Misery
Dr. P. introduced me to the possibility of finding hope and meaning in misery. He did this through Izzie.
Izzie was an 86 years old man, in robust health, vibrantly alive, happy as all get-out, and had a devilish twinkle in his eye. But Izzie also had, in his life…
- Watched his sister and parents be dragged away in the middle of the night.
- Watched his sister be raped.
- Watched as Nazi soldiers shot and killed his family … he ran away with eyes closed and fingers in his ears.
- Was tortured, starved to skin and bones.
- Slept for more than a year in human waste with the haunting, agonizing cries of his fellow prisoners.
The Silent Killer ―Languishing
Izzie should have been dead. Izzie should have been crazy. How could he find any meaning in that misery? Any joy in life after that? How could he even go on?
“Izzie not only maintained, but also enhanced his personal hardiness, natural happiness, capacity for healing, and unrelenting hope. All of us have these innate thriving skills, but we are often too busy surviving or languishing to be aware of and mobilize them.
Too often we are not fully awake and alive until something goes terribly wrong. The eighth deadly sin is “languishing.” It was originally listed as one of the deadly sins until Pope Gregory removed it from the list, but it still robs our life of its energy and joy. Languishing, in my research, turned out to be the silent epidemic of mistaking a busy and intense life for a meaningful and full one.” – Dr. P
Then Dr. Pearsall helped me understand the five reactions to life challenges and how they apply right here, right now.
FIVE REACTIONS TO LIFE’S CHALLENGES
When faced with a crisis, which one do you choose?
- Kindling—Make matters worse. React like kindling wood added to a fire.
- Suffering—Poor me.
- Surviving—Pretty essential, but don’t you want more?
- Resilience—Bouncing back to where you were before.
- Thriving—Flourishing not only in spite of the crisis but because of it.
Which one are you?
Not the one you want to be, but the one you truly are?
Are You a Thriver?
Dr. P opened my eyes to see that it’s possible, even in the worst of times, to not just survive a crisis, or in spite of a crisis – but thrive because of the crisis. Dr. P. developed a checklist of questions to see if you have the ability to be a “thriver.” The more items you check, the more likely it is you’re honing your thriving talent.
DR. P’S Thriving Talent Questions
- Do you feel more alive today than yesterday?
- Do people seem to be made happier by your presence?
- Are you laughing hard every day?
- Are you in love with life?
- Have you been made stronger by adversity?
- Do you often feel overwhelmed by the grandeur and beauty of simple things?
How did you do? Really? Not how you’d tell other people you did, but how did you really do?
I struggled with a lot of them. But just thinking about the questions has inspired me to do better.
Dr. P’s pointed me to Beethoven as a great example of a “thriver.” Beethoven turned tragedy and crisis into a harmonious unity that resonates to this day.
From Ode to Misery to Ode to Joy
Beethoven’s ninth symphony, “Ode to Joy,” was written when Beethoven was completely deaf. The chords and chorus were heard only in his mind. Was he crazy? Was he so crazy as to think that this musical wonder haunting his mind could be adequately expressed to others though he could not hear himself?
On May 7, 1824, at Vienna’s Kärtnertor Theater, “The Ninth Symphony – Ode to Joy” was first performed. Beethoven, being deaf could not conduct the premiere. But, he did stand next to the conductor during the performance to indicate proper tempi.
Weep Not for Me
On the final note of the premiere, the audience exploded with thunderous applause. But Beethoven, standing next to the conductor with his back to the crowd, looked straight ahead—he didn’t know.
He had heard nothing.
His “Ode to Joy” was received with rare, effusively raw human emotion. The kind reserved for awe-inspiring moments of a singular human’s triumph over seemingly unbeatable odds. And, most unusually, some of the players in the orchestra wept.
Raucous cheering. Yells and tears echoed, thundered.
None of which Beethoven could hear. He continued to conduct.
The solo contralto noticed Beethoven’s introspective incomprehension, and turned him around. One could only wonder what went through his mind at that moment. He could not hear.
But he could see. He bowed before the cheering crowd.
Beethoven lived.
The Power of Listening to the Teacher
Dr P awakened me to the power of listening. Not to the profane trivialities of everyday life, but the power of listening where no sound treads and real freedom resides. He did this through Mosha, or as she was known by fellow prisoners “teacher.”
Mosha’s story is important. Why? Because in life, overcoming adversity doesn’t always mean winning, sometimes it means winning on one’s own terms. Terms that perhaps only you, yourself, can understand.
Listen… and Find Your Way to Freedom
Mosha was once a dark-haired beauty. But now, a black hollowness surrounded her eyes. She was death-camp, stick-figure thin.
She was death-camp, stick-figure thin because that’s where she was. Her face was swollen and bruised. Beatings were her daily bread.
Mosha was a classical piano teacher. Loved Beethoven. She had been teaching a student Moonlight Sonata when they came for her. They shot and killed her student but kept her alive. One needs classical music such as Beethoven’s, to uplift the soul and keep spirits soaring when working in a death camp. So they kept her alive.
The Nazi officers asked her to play for them.
She refused.
They asked her.
She refused.
Music was not for a death camp. And Beethoven was sacred to her.
So they placed both of her hands on a rock. Took turns, made a game out of happily breaking her fingers, one by one, with their rifle butts.
She could have played.
She could have given in.
Instead, she defied.
Music was so sacred to her.She made her stand, sprawled on the ground in agony. But she didn’t give up her sacred gift. She held onto it. Tighter than to life itself.
And when, through the haze of a misery beyond comprehension, her fleeing life heading toward death’s door, she would hear, Beethoven’s music being played in the officer’s club, she stirred, and would say in her teacher’s voice:
Finally, Dr. P inspired me. He talked the talk, walked the walk. He was a survivor and a thriver.
A “Charles Dickens” of a Life: The Best of Times, The Worst of Times
Dr. Pearsall barely survived birth, conquered among a litany of other obstacles, total blindness, and then finally, cancer – three times. Dr. Pearsall’s triumph over terminal cancer is the basis for his bestseller, “Miracle in Maui” (which when I picked it up for $2.00 it was called “Making Miracles”).
Survive Terminal Cancer?
Yes.
Doctors told him that he would die of an extremely rare type of cancer that strikes down young and healthy people in the prime of their lives. And, for a little extra good cheer, Dr. Pearsall was also told that even if his cancer went into remission, he’d die anyway. Die from suffocation caused by a deadly virus allowed to attack his lungs by his chemotherapy-and-radiation-weakened immune system.
Does it Get Much Better Than That?
Yes. Dr. P. was told this terminal good news on a Good Friday.
Geez, is that it?
Nope. That Good Friday, as he slowly traipsed down his driveway, the ache of cancer eating away at him, feeling lost and hopeless, he opened his mailbox and noticed an envelope marked “Urgent. Internal Revenue Service.”
Death and Taxes
Yup, you guessed it. Selected for a random compliance audit of State and Federal tax records for three years. How’s that for some good cheer on Good Friday?
How did he react?
He laughed. Laughed so hard he cried.
My kinda guy.
And when I read it I laughed.
Laughed so hard I cried.
(Reader Thought Bubble: So….)
We started with the worst pitch ever at the flea market. You promised to reveal the secrets of the world’s greatest card trick and a miracle that would enrich beyond belief. Wheres the beef?
You mean how did the worst pitch ever, of all-time, mine, eventually enrich beyond belief? Besides awakening me to everything contained above and the hopefulness it inspires?
That’s not enough? Here’s how.
Worst Pitch Ever Leads Reveals Secret to Greatest Card Trick of All-Time
Dr. P taught me the greatest card trick in the world.
It’s simple but can enrich your life beyond belief.
It’s meant to be passed on.
“Life is not a matter of holding good cards,
but of playing a poor hand well.”
– Robert Louis Stevenson
In Memoriam:
Dr. P died three times and came back.
The 4th time he didn’t.
– Steve
###
Excerpt from “The Greatest Words You’ve Never Heard: True Stories of Triumph.”
Feature photo courtesy of H.Kopp Delaney
Good Intentions Gone Bad!
Featuring an interview with Lynne McTaggart, author of “The Intention Experiment.”
“This important book makes a good case that we are on the verge of another revolution in our understanding of the universe.” – Arthur C. Clarke
I Had Good Intentions
I fully intended to keep my 2012 New Year’s resolutions. I knew it would be hard. But I had good intentions. I had good intentions. Really.
However, even though I held out a long time – 6 days, 21 hours and 30 minutes short – of the first full week of January – I didn’t make it. I fell short. Badly. Some of it was simply from a sense of loss (also sometimes known as grief) that had weakened my resolve. Donkey O’Tee, my long-time co-writer and close friend, had left me to pursue his own career as an author (below).
Media Star
Donkey O’Tee had massive pre-sales. Five copies at least. The media loved him. He took a simple idea, complexified it to nearly an undecipherable obfuscation, eschewing logic and reason, and suddenly he was a media know-it-all star.
But, before Donkey O’Tee went on his book tour, he sensed my despair – my utter hopelessness. Donkey’s are like that. Sensitive. So, he sent two cousins of his to help me out while he was gone on tour. “Hollywood veterans” he assured me. Their names were Cal and Chichen (pronounced “chikken”) Itza (figure out which is which?) from Yucatan, a state in Mexico.
Cal, Steve and Chichen Itza
But they were a little too perky for me.
I slipped into a deep funk. I pondered why my good intentions always went awry. My hair grew out of control (which horrified my friends who were all going bald), and I seemed to shrink – grow shorter from the weight of the deep thought in which I was engrossed. Why did my “good intentions” always go so bad? Then … almost by accident (but not quite – that’s what the word almost means) I ran across a book called “The Intention Experiment – Use Your Thoughts to Change the World,” by Lynne McTaggart.
Your Life of Business … or Business of Life
I jumped eyes first into it. Speed-read it (I completed the introduction). And wow … not just a wishful “think your way to greatness and riches” bunch of crapola, but a book backed by top-notch scientific evidence. On the frontier of science, for sure, but backed by and working with an international team of renowned scientists to measure and create a “Science of Intention.” To prove your thoughts and intentions can be scientifically measured and make a real difference in this world, in your life of business … or the business of your life. The book even had an action plan and an invitation to all readers to join and be a part of the world’s largest experiment – “THE INTENTION EXPERIMENT.”
I was ecstatic.
I rushed out of the house down to the electronics store brimming with good intentions.
Oozing good intentions flowing like a volcanic river.
Yes, a river of good intentions.
That was me.
A NEW I-PHONE TWO WOULD BE MINE!
BUT, things didn’t quite work out the way I had envisioned.
This business of thinking and intention was a bit more complicated than I thought. Or at least I think I thought I thunk that. So as usual I had to go to the source for more information.
ENTER Lynne McTaggart
Lynne is an award-winning author of five books, including “The Field,” which has been published in 14 languages. “The Field” was a major influence on the wildly successful U.S. cult classic, “What the Bleep Do We Know?” and Lynne starred in the BLEEP’s full version, “Down the Rabbit Hole Quantum.”
Steve: Hi Lynne. I tried the intention thing … it didn’t really work too well for me.
Lynne: Did you read the book?
Steve: Sorta.
Lynne: Sorta. What’s that mean in English?
Steve: Oh, I forgot you were from England. Well, it means I got carried away after reading the introduction and tried to use my good intentions for something.
Lynne: For your own benefit?
Steve: … Maybe.
Lynne: Didn’t work so well, did it.
Steve: It worked, just not the way I wanted it to. So, what did I miss in the book? What did I do wrong?
Lynne: Besides just reading the introduction? The book is not about sending intentions to make a million dollars. The book is about using the science of intention philanthropically: healing wounds, helping children with attention deficit or patients with Alzheimer’s, counteracting pollution, global warming, that type of thing.
Steve: Oh. (Although the reader can’t see, chagrin may have crossed my face at this point). What else is the book about?
Lynne: “The Intention Experiment” is really some unfinished business I had with my previous book, “The Field.” It was a question (or questions) that was raised – there seemed to be anecdotal evidence to support and suggest that thoughts truly were things. A thought was not only a thing, but a thing that influences other things. A simple thought had the power to change the world. But the question was, could these thoughts and intentions be corralled, scientifically measured, tested … and used for good? The first part of “The Intention Experiment” attempts to synthesize all of the experimental evidence that exists on intention into a coherent scientific theory of how intention works, how it can be used in your life and what conditions optimize its effect.
Steve: So, an investigative scientific journey of the latest, greatest research on thought and intentionality. Who are some of the scientists involved?
Lynne: Robert Jahn, Dean Emeritus of the Princeton University School of Engineering; his colleague, psychologist Brenda Dunne, who runs the Princeton Engineering Anomalous Research (PEAR) laboratory; Dr. Gary Schwartz of the Center for Frontier Medicine in Biofield Science at the University of Arizona; and Fritz-Albert Popp, assistant director of the International Institute of Biophysics (IIB), in Neuss, Germany, to name a few.
Steve: Seriously eminent scientists. I’m familiar with Fritz-Albert Popp. His work on biophoton emissions, that DNA, molecules and cells all emit light that may be used for information communication is not only astoundingly earth-shaking and potentially has the ability to change humanity forever, but unfortunately is pretty much under-appreciated and unknown amongst 99.99% of the earth’s population. What are some of the interesting facts coming out of this research?
Lynne: You can get stronger, bigger muscles just by thinking. Some of the research findings include that athletes who do not physically exercise but only imagine their workouts can increase their muscle strength between 13 and 16 percent.
Steve: By just imagining the exercise?
He’s the Greatest!
Lynne: Yes. Imagine the implications for business. For sales. For marketing. Anyone can see tremendous improvements in their personal or business lives by rehearsing specific activities before actually doing them. Muhammad Ali, one of the greatest, if not greatest, athletes of all times was a master of thought, intention and visualization. He’s covered in the book.
Steve: Other results?
Lynne: Atoms can become entangled and behave as one single giant atom. Human bodies can act as transmitting and receiving antennas, living things demonstrate awareness of the well-being of other living things around them. A sizable body of scientific research, carried on for more than 30 years in prestigious scientific institutions around the world, show that thoughts are capable of affecting everything from the simplest machines to the most complex living beings.
Steve: What do you mean by “intention?”
Lynne: A textbook definition of intention is “a purposeful plan to perform an action, which will lead to a desired outcome,” unlike a desire, which means simply focusing on an outcome, without a purposeful plan of how to achieve it.
Steve: How could I (and the reader) use the science of intention?
Lynne: That’s in the second part of my book. I offer a blueprint for using your thoughts and intentions effectively in your own life through a series of exercises and recommendations. These exercises will show you how to “power up” your own thoughts and intentions to change your life and those around you. It’s also an exercise in frontier science – albeit personal.
Steve: And you do live group experiments via the internet?
Lynne: Yes, with the aid of our readers and our highly experienced scientific team, we conduct large-scale group experiments via the internet to determine whether focused intention has any scientifically quantifiable effects on selected targets.
Steve: How does one get involved?
Lynne: Go to our website for details The Intention Experiment. The first studies will be carried out by physicists Fritz-Albert Popp, vice-president of the International Institute of Biophysics in Neuss, Germany (www.lifescientists.de) and his team of seven; psychologist Gary Schwartz and his colleagues at the University of Arizona at Tucson; and Marilyn Schlitz and Dean Radin of the Institute of Noetic Sciences. You can see the rest of the scientific team on our web site too.
Steve: How will this be controlled? The WWW is full of World-Wide-Whackos, full of in-laws, outlaws and hackers who enjoy mucking things up.
Lynne: Website experts collaborated with our scientific team to design secure log-on protocols and to enable us to identify which characteristics of a group or aspects of their thoughts produce the most effective results.
Steve: An example?
Lynne: A patient with a wound. It is known that wounds generally heal at a particular, quantifiable rate with a precise pattern. Any departure from the norm can be precisely measured and shown to be an experimental effect. In this example, our aim would be to determine whether focused group intention will enable wounds to heal more quickly than usual.
Steve: Hmm. I knew that. And your ultimate plan for these experiments?
Lynne: They’re ambitious. To recruit hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of volunteers from around the world to participate in these series of web-based experiments, to try to tackle a number of societal ills. It will be the largest mind-over-matter study in history.
Steve: Can I take part in your experiments? Can I? Can I?
Lynne: I’d like to send a special letter about it to you and your friends, Cal and Chichen. Is that okay?
Steve: That’d be great! (feeling special … even if she did include the freako animals) Thank you, and best wishes to your readers and scientific team Lynne.
Lynne: Thank you. Intention me on Twitter if you get a chance.
TIME PASSED
True to her word – a special letter did arrive.
END:
Lynne McTaggart is an award-winning author of five books, including “The Field,” which has been published in 14 languages. “The Field” was a major influence on the wildly successful U.S. cult classic, “What the Bleep Do We Know?” and Lynne starred in the BLEEP’s full version, “Down the Rabbit Hole.” Lynne is an internationally recognized spokesperson on the science of spirituality and also co-executive director of Conatus, which publishes the UK’s most well-respected health and spiritual newsletters and online information including “What Doctors Don’t Tell You” and “Living the Field.”
About Steve Kayser
He’s currently too busy to write his bio because he’s engaged in a scientific experiment …
How to Really Achieve Your Childhood Dreams
If you had one last time to pass on all you had learned in this life – in a letter, video, speech or lecture – what would you say? How would you say it?
Ever thought about it?
Who would you say it to? Would you be maudlin or mirthful?
Would you talk about achieving your childhood dreams? Have you?
Do you even remember them?
Some things are timely. Some are timeless. Rarely are they both timely and timeless. This is.
The video below captures, quite possibly, the most moving presentation of all-time. It’s all about achieving your childhood dream.
There’s a reason it’s been viewed over 14,000,000 times.
There’s No One as Irish as Barack Obama … Does E Still =MC2?
CHIPPER UPBEAT INTRO
What a world we live in. The global economy is teetering on collapse. Dictators are dropping like fleas (more on the Flea Effect later). Seems like there are more people unemployed than employed. Home values in the U.S. have cratered some 20-40% depending on where you live. Life savings have been wiped out.
NOW FOR THE IMPORTANT STUFF
But never, in anytime since creation, has it been easier to learn more, know more, do more, and be surprised more – than now. Example?
THE HOLY PHYSICS OF GRAIL UPENDED
A while back I did an interview and in-depth article with Marc J. Seifer, Ph.D., world-renowned Tesla expert and author of Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla. Marc made the argument, based upon years of research and study of Nikola Tesla’s writings and theories, that the speed of light was not unbreakable. In fact, Tesla had already broken it. But that position was untenable because it broke one of the most sacrosanct commandments of physics:
“Nothing Shalt Travel Faster Than the Speed of Light”
Turns out … Tesla was right (relativistically speaking) when “CERN Physicists Observe First Faster-Than-Light Long-Distance Travel.” In a follow-up, Dr. Seifer went further in this open-letter post, “Have CERN Physicists Found Einstein’s Big TOE (Theory of Everything)? ” This TOE argument elicited many emails and interesting theories from Ph.d’s around the world, notably India, Switzerland and China.
HEADY STUFF
Some pretty heady stuff for this little riffing writing site. But none headier than the email I received from Ger Corrigan with the subject line, “There’s No One As Irish as Barack Obama – Einstein and The Neutrino Song.” I was getting ready to delete the email but I thought the subject line was so unique and interesting I’d open it up. Truthfully, I was expecting a male enhancement advertisement espousing supraluminal tumescent effects.
I was wrong. What I found was a pot of gold.
THE NEUTRINO SONG
Ger Corrigan is from Ireland and with a band called The Corrigan Brothers. Turns out the Corrigan Brothers are an Irish band who played at President Obama’s inauguration and had an international hit called “There’s no one as Irish as Barack Obama” (who knew?) and were recently mentioned in President Obama’s speech.
“If the Corrigan Brothers are to be believed there’s no one as Irish as me.” – President Barack Obama”
Well low-and-behold, Ger Corrigan must have been searching for fodder for a new song when he ran across the story about the faster-than-light neutrino … and the “Tesla vs. Einstein” posts here. So Ger and the band (including Pete Deighton) wrote a new song to celebrate the Einstein and Cern scientific discovery. The song is called “The Neutrino Song.” Here’s the video, and the lyrics are at the end of this post. Ger Corrigan lead singer with the band gave me this exclusive quote,
“FOR THE MOMENT WE’RE BACKING ALBERT AND HIS THEORY – I’M NO EINSTEIN BUT HE WAS.”
So what does all this heady stuff mean?
DRUM ROLL
Enter…
THE FLEA EFFECT
This demonstrates the Steve-Flea Effect. A fundamental un-constant in the world of business. No, it’s not a faster-than-light new theory. Although I’ve broken the speed of light before. Routinely. Not new news to me. Anytime physical labor is required. I’m outta there, 190,000 MPS at a minimum. What is the Flea Effect?
F is for Findability:
Think about the connections that went on. From an article published two years ago and a follow-up in response to a ground breaking discovery, Ph.d’s from around the world found the article – based on it’s uniqueness and of course the specificity of topic. Then, in Ireland, Ger Corrigan did a search for a completely different reason and found the same articles.
L is for Look, Listen, Learn:
All of them looked at the articles and evaluated their worth. Maybe they learned something. Maybe they didn’t. I did.
E is for Engage
After the evaluation they were moved enough to engage. A very small percentage of people who consume content online ever take the time to engage – whether they like the or not. That’s changing with the Facebook “Like” and Google+ buttons now.
A is for Associate
Association is really important now for search and findability. If any of the people connected with me via LiveFyre comments, or “Liked” the articel on Facebook, or “+’ed” it on Google, or any of the social media networks, we will increasingly be associated via SOCIAL SEO. And I’m not even going to go into Google’s Authorship Markup which displays author information in search results – in relation to their social and Google profiles and uses it as a ranking algorythm.
THE POT OF GOLD
There you have it, the “Flea Effect.” A content marketing Pot of Gold. You heard it here first.Don’t try it trademark it.
TIME TO GET SERIOUS
Time to admire and study the structure, syntax and Ralph Waldo O’Emerson literary-like quality of The Neutrino Song lyrics.
THE NEUTRINO SONG
TOOR A LOO TOOR A LOO TOOR A LOO TOOR A LINO
IS LIGHT NOW SLOWER THAN A NEUTRINO
WE CAN BELIEVE IT BUT
WE WEREN’T PREPARED
DOES E STILL EQUAL
MC SQUARED
NOW THAT THE NEUTRINO
HAS TAKEN FLIGHT
AND IS SEEMINLGY FASTER
THAN THE SPEED OF LIGHT
WAS OLD ALBERT WRONG
OH CAN IT BE
THAT FABULOUS THEORY
RELATIVITY
IS BEING DEBUNKED
FOR THE FIRST TIME
BUT HE’S STILL MIGHT BE RIGHT
OLD ALBERT EINSTEIN
TOOR A LOO TOOR A LOO TOOR A LOO TOOR A LINO
IS LIGHT NOW SLOWER THAN A NEUTRINO
NOW PHYSICS FOREVER
MAY NOT BE THE SAME
AND BOFFINS ARE GONNA BE
DRIVEN INSANE
IF LIGHT’S NOT THE FASTEST
WHAT CAN THIS MEANO
AND IS SOMETHING FASTER
THAN THE NEUTRINO
TOOR A LOO TOOR A LOO TOOR A LOO TOOR A LINO
IS SOMETHING ELSE FASTER THAN A NEUTRINO
LET’S NOT RUSH TO CONCLUSIONS LET’S TAKE OUR TIME
HE STILL COULD BE RIGHT OLD ALBERT EINSTEIN
TOOR A LOO TOOR A LOO TOOR A LOO TOOR A LINO
IS LIGHT NOW SLOWER THAN A NEUTRINO
Have CERN Physicists Found Einstein’s Big TOE?
In the article, “Tesla vs. Einstein: Transcending the Speed of Light,” Marc J. Seifer, Ph.D., world-renowned Tesla expert and author of Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla, made the argument, based upon years of research and study of Nikola Tesla’s writings and theories, that the speed of light was not unbreakable. In fact, Tesla had already broken it. But that was untenable because it broke one of the most sacrosanct commandments of physics:
“Nothing Shalt Travel Faster than the Speed of Light”
If Marc Seifer’s argument were true, it would upend the world of physics and radically change everything we thought we knew about the universe and the way it works.
That article was written two years ago. It had been forgotten until recent events like …
“CERN Physicists Observe First Faster-than-Light, Long-Distance Travel”
… prompted an update.
AN UPDATE ON AN UPDATE?
“All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.” – Arthur Schopenhauer
Yes. I guess you could call this an ongoing story. And an update on an update. Frank Jordans is an Associated Press reporter at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. He reported the story “CERN Claims Faster-than-Light Particle Measured.”
EINSTEIN’S BIG TOE (THEORY OF EVERYTHING) DREAM – GRAND UNIFICATION
Marc Seifer reached out to him with another startling claim—that the supraluminal (faster than light) particle (aka tachyon) find could also fulfill Einstein’s dream of grand unification.
And guess what?
Tesla is involved again.
Marc’s theory incorporates Nikola Tesla’s little-known dynamic theory on gravity that involves the absorption of ether by matter.
Below is an explanation Marc provided me to publish as an open letter to Frank Jordans (@wirereporter on Twitter) to further investigate.
EINSTEIN’S GRAND UNIFICATION?
Dear Frank:
I have laid out below a possible solution to Einstein’s dream of grand unification that links gravity with electromagnetism.
SUMMARY
This theory incorporates the tachyonic realm, precisely the ortho-rotational particle spin of 1.37 times the speed of light and also resurrects the ether theory. Keep in mind that Henrik Lorentz, George Fitzgerald, Albert Einstein, Michael Faraday and many other theoreticians knew the ether existed.
Einstein’s photon/particle model suggested that the ether was not necessary if light traveled as “particles” but did not state that there was no ether. Again, Einstein explicitly stated that the ether in fact did exist in a letter to Lorentz in 1916 — see Issacson, p. 318.
GRAND UNIFICATION IN A NUTSHELL
The theory of gravity I came up with makes total sense—earth-shaking but based on facts that have been buried by history.
Elementary particles spin at 1.37 times the speed of light.
That simple fact was discovered by Goudsmit and Uhlenbeck as reported by George Gamow in his watershed book 30 Years that Shook Physics.
George Gamow was there. He was part of the story of the history of quantum physics. And Gamow tells us that Paul Dirac used an imaginary number to sweep this unpleasant fact under the table, and got a Nobel prize in the process.
TWO GENIUSES—AT ODDS
Tesla said in a rare interview that the sun absorbed more energy than it radiated. That sounded a little whacky to me. However, the more I thought about it, the more it sounded reasonable.
But Einstein’s theory that space curved around planetary bodies and stars was at least as whacky an idea.
“The Theory of Relativity was just ‘a mass of error and deceptive ideas violently opposed to the teachings of great men of science of the past and even to common sense.’ The theory wraps all these errors and fallacies and clothes them in magnificent mathematical garb which fascinates, dazzles and makes people blind to the underlying error. The theory is like a beggar clothed in purple whom ignorant people take for a king. Its exponents are very brilliant men, but they are metaphysicists rather than scientists.” – Nikola Tesla
Further, as Roland Clark reports in his major biography on Einstein, if the ether could be detected, according to Einstein himself, then relativity was wrong. That was Einstein’s quote left out by Isaacson when he wrote his latest biography on Einstein. Thus, Einstein had a lot of reasons to keep the ether undetected.
NO NOBEL PRIZE?
And … Einstein never got a Nobel prize for his theory of relativity. Why not? Because the Nobel committee had reservations about it, but it became sacrosanct in mainstream science. My book, Transcending the Speed of Light, goes into detail with the potential flaws to this theory as espoused by a number of researchers.
However, as Isaacson reports in his book, Einstein: The Life of a Genius, Einstein wrote to Lorentz to say that the ether did in fact exist.
TOO LATE
But it was too late; the entire 20th century evolved with the thought that the ether did not exist even though it obviously did.
That is one of the reasons why the scientists have ignored Tesla’s and my work.
THE OSTRACIZED ETHER
Higgs comes along and essentially re-names the ostracized ether the “Higgs Boson,” which is re-named “The God particle”—the supposed particle that gives matter its mass.
And yes, I wrote at one time that CERN would never find it because they are not going to look for particles that operate in the tachyonic realm (faster than lightspeed realm). But lo and behold, they find one! So that’s why I contacted you.
MAKES TOTAL SENSE—TESLA WAS RIGHT
My final discovery, which makes total sense, but somehow threatens the scientific establishment, is that Tesla was right.
Gravity is the absorption of ether by matter.
That is what causes the bending of starlight and the reason why radio waves follow the ground when using a ground connection.
The reason we fall back to the Earth when we jump up is because we get in the way of this gigantic influx of energy. That’s what gravity is; it’s the absorption of ether by elementary particles.
The “God Particle” is the process of elementary particles absorbing ether at 1.37 times the speed of light and converting that energy by their spin into electromagnetic energy. This is an ongoing process. That’s why particles spin. They are converting ether to mass.
THE DREAM REALIZED?
So, I believe, Frank, that this is Grand Unification, Einstein’s big TOE dream.
But, I’ll bet you if you forward this explanation to CERN scientists, they will put me in the same category that they put Goudsmit, Uhlenbeck, Tesla and Gamow (not that I’d complain).
Google search Goudsmit and Uhlenbeck’s finding that electrons spin at 1.37 C.
Find it?
I don’t think so, yet it was published in Gamow’s book. Gamow was one of the most famous science writers of the 1960’s.
Best regards,
Marc J. Seifer, Ph.D.
SOURCES:
Gamow’s book, Thirty Years that Shook Physics
Tesla’s very rare paper on the dynamic theory of gravity.
Einstein’s own words in Rolahd Clark’s biography whereby Einstein says that if the Ether is detected, then relativity is wrong.
Einstein’s own words in a letter to H. Lorentz quoted in Isaason’s Einstein bio whereby he says that the ether in fact does exist.
Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla Transcending the Speed of Light
Tesla vs. Einstein: Transcending the Speed of Light?
THE TIMELESS LEGACY OF AN UNTIMELY MAN
This article with Marc Seifer, author of “Transcending the Speed of Light:Consciousness, Quantum Physics and the Fifth Dimension,” was published almost two years ago. At the time everyone assumed Einstein was right and Nikola Tesla was wrong about being able to transcend the speed of light. Marc eloquently argued otherwise. But, even the great Michio Kaku, whom I had a brief email exchange with, sided with Einstein. Who wouldn’t? To do otherwise would completely upset and rewrite the rules of physics. It would rock one of the cornerstones of physics…
“Nothing Shalt Travel Faster Than the Speed of Light”
Turns out … looks like Tesla was right (relatively speaking).
- “CERN Physicists Observe First Faster-Than-Light Long-Distance Travel”
- “Particle Faster Than Light” – Physorg
- “Is Einstein Wrong?” – NPR
- Should Einstein Be Worried? – CBS News (is it just me or … is Einstein still alive?)
Classic Tesla. He was an “Inconvenient Genius.” What else did Tesla say that will soon transform our world? Read on.
TRANSCENDING THE SPEED OF LIGHT
In a previous article titled “An Inconvenient Genius: the Timeless Legacy of an Untimely Man,” with author Marc Seifer, a stark contrast was drawn between Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison.
In general, Edison was able to take the ideas of others and construct the first practical machines. Tesla, on the other hand, was more of a planter of seeds. He let others raise the crops. From Tesla’s point of view, he said that he was a creator of new principles.
In Marc’s latest book “TRANSCENDING THE SPEED OF LIGHT – Consciousness, Quantum Physics & the Fifth Dimension,” Marc details the differences between two world-changing geniuses – Nikola Tesla and Albert Einstein. Marc was kind enough to provide this excerpt from his book.
BE WARNED
This is a seriously in-depth, intense post.
NIKOLA TESLA VS. EINSTEIN
Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) was an electrical inventor, well known as a competitor of arch rival Tom Edison. Where Edison’s inventions include the light bulb, the microphone in the telephone and the phonograph, Tesla’s inventions include fluorescent lighting, the AC hydroelectric power system and wireless communication. Tesla is therefore mostly billed as an inventor.
INVENTOR AND PHYSICIST
The fact is, Tesla was also a physicist who studied in college such courses as analytic geometry, experimental physics and higher mathematics.1 In his early 1890s lectures at Columbia University, the Chicago World’s Fair and at Royal Societies in Paris and London, building on the ideas of Isaac Newton and Lord Kelvin, Tesla demonstrated and discussed the structure of atoms as being similar to solar systems and wave-like and particle-like aspects to what later became known as the photon. Colleagues he lectured before and corresponded with included many Nobel Prize winners like Wilhelm Roentgen, J.J. Thompson, Lord Raleigh, Ernst Rutherford and Robert Millikan and other scientists such as Elmer Sperry, Sir William Crookes, Sir Oliver Lodge, Lord Kelvin, Heinreich Hertz and Hermann von Helmholtz.
As far as I know, no book on the history of physics mentions Tesla even though these ideas would lead to Nobel Prizes when they were further developed by Rutherford and Bohr (with their solar-system description of the atom with electrons orbiting the nucleus) and Einstein’s discovery of the photoelectric effect, which was equivalent to Tesla’s wave and particle-like description of light.
However, another idea which Tesla discussed was abandoned by modern physicists, and that was the concept of the all pervasive ether. This led to a number of key differences between Tesla’s view of the world as compared to that of Albert Einstein (1879-1955). Tesla disagreed with the findings of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity in a number of ways. As far back as the turn of the century, Tesla thought that he had intercepted cosmic rays emanating from the Sun that attained velocities “vastly exceeding that of light.” In the last decade of his life he also claimed that these cosmic rays could be harnessed to generate electrical power. Tesla also saw radioactivity as evidence of the material body absorbing energy as much as it was giving it up.
On a separate front, the inventor stated that the impulses transmitted from his turn of the century Wardenclyffe wireless transmitting tower would also travel at velocities in excess of the speed of light. He likened the effect to the Moon’s shadow spreading over the Earth.
TACHYONS – FASTER THAN THE SPEED OF LIGHT
It is very difficult to explicate the first two speculations concerning tachyonic (faster than lightspeed) cosmic rays and radioactivity. However, with regard to the third claim, this suggestion that he transmitted energy at speeds in excess of the speed of light can be discussed from a variety of points of view. As the Earth has a diameter of roughly 25,000 miles, and light travels at about 186,000 miles/second, one can see that it would take light approximately 1/7th of a second to circle the earth. But does the Earth itself exist in its own realm, that by the nature of its size transcends the speed of light? For example, does the north pole, interact/exist with the south pole instantaneously? If so, in a sense, the theory of relativity is violated as nothing, according to this theory, can “travel” faster than the speed of light yet the Earth’s very electromagnetic unity belies that theory.
Taking this concept a step further, does the solar system, or galaxy, when perceived as a functional unit, interact with itself in some way that by necessity makes a mockery of the speed of light? (The galaxy, of course, is hundreds of thousands of light years long.) In fact, when we look at photographs of galaxies, we are seeing entities that are hundreds of thousands of light years long. Certainly these systems have an orthorotational stability, and/or angular momentum which exists as a gestalt (totality) in a realm that easily transcends the speed of light and therefore, in that sense, violates relativity.2
THE STRUCTURE OF THE ETHER
On a body as large as the sun, it would be impossible to project a disturbance of this kind [e.g., radio broadcasts] to any considerable distance except along the surface. It might be inferred that I am alluding to the curvature of space supposed to exist according to the teachings of relativity, but nothing could be further from my mind. I hold that space cannot be curved, for the simple reason that it can have no properties. It might as well be said that God has properties. He has not, but only attributes and these are of our own making. Of properties we can only speak when dealing with matter filling the space. To say that in the presence of large bodies space becomes curved, is equivalent to stating that something can act upon nothing. I for one, refuse to subscribe to such a view. –
Nikola Tesla3
In Tesla’s model, a force-field would curve light around large bodies.
These ideas were related to Tesla’s original theories on gravity which do not seem to have ever been published but can be ascertained by decoding related articles by or about Tesla from the 1930s and 40s. They also coincide with some of the most recent theories on physics, gravity and magnetism which challenge Einstein’s claim that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light. E. Lerner, writing about “Magnetic Whirlwinds” in Science Digest in 1985, stated that “magnetism is as fundamental as gravity.” Citing the research and theories of plasma physicist A. Peratt of Los Alamos National Laboratory, Lerner noted:
Astronomers using [a]… radio telescope [have]… observed filaments of gas arcing far above the galactic plane. These twisting spirals appeared to be held together by a magnetic field… stretching across 500 light years…. Such magnetic vortices [may] play a major role in the universe… as important… as gravitation.4
MICHELSON-MORLEY
Anther key mystery where Tesla differs from Einstein, involves the paradoxical findings of Michelson and Morley who in 1887, tried to detect the ether by using two sets of mirrors pointed at each other and placed miles apart. One set was aimed in the direction the Earth was moving and the other was set was aimed at right angles to the movement of the Earth. It was hypothesized that if the ether existed, once an impulse was sent, there would be a difference in the return times of each set, yet no difference was found.
Einstein essentially agreed with the findings by stating that by its nature, the ether could not be detected. However, Einstein also upped the ante considerably by also saying that if the ether could be detected then his theory of relativity was in error.5 Einstein further stated that if light could travel like a particle it would not need a medium (i.e., the ether) to travel through. Even though most of the great scientists of the day such as Maxwell, Faraday, Kelvin, Fitzgerald and Lorentz all accepted the obvious conclusion that there had to a medium of transfer in space, i.e., the ether, all of this was glossed over. This led to a generally accepted conclusion that the ether did not exist and that is the situation today, a full century later! It would take Einstein 15 years before he addressed this glaring misconception but the damage had already been done.
ETHER AND THE THEORY OF RELATIVITY
In 1920, lecturing at the University of Leiden, on the topic “Ether and the Theory of Relativity,” Einstein stated outright that the ether did exist, that is was necessary as a medium of transfer because light also had wave-like properties. He even wrote Lorentz to clarify this point.6 But by now, the damage had been done. This lecture received little notice, it was ignored in Roland Clark’s watershed biography on Einstein published in 1971, and so the 20th and early 21st centuries evolved in such a way to dismiss entirely ether theory.
Since in the Michelson Morley experiment light traveled at the same speed in the direction the Earth was moving and at right angles to that direction, Einstein concluded that the speed of light had to be constant (according to the formulas of Special Relativity). He further suggested in 1905 that the ether of 19th century physics was not necessary although what he really meant to say was that it could not be detected. At the time, this was a radical view, it was soon widely accepted, even though it implied that there was nothing between the stars. This concept quickly became dogma as it helped solve a number of dilemmas, for instance, they no longer had to search for the ether because according to this view, it didn’t exist. “Einstein did not disprove the existence of the ether…. He only stated [in Special Relativity] that whether or not it existed, light would always travel at the same speed.”7
From the perspective of popular science writers, “belief in the non-existence of the ether remained alive, but in actuality, by 1916, Einstein had replaced the old ether in his theory of General Relativity by curved spacetime itself. Only, this new “ether” is no longer a medium in three-dimensional Euclidean space, but in four-dimensional non-Euclidean (curved) space-time.”8 It was this idea that was completely unacceptable to Tesla, and he criticized Einstein in the 1930s because of it.
One area where they were in some agreement, however, had to do with the speculations of the German physicist Ernest Mach. Taking his ideas from monotheistic and Buddhist teachings, and from Isaac Newton, who suggested that all material bodies attract one another through gravity, Mach postulated that the mass of any material body, such as the earth, was dependent upon some type of gravitational force from all the stars. In other words, all effects in the Universe were related to all others. Einstein wrote Mach to tell him that this idea was intrinsically related to his formulation of the Theory of Relativity.9
I have yet to find a direct quote by Tesla of Mach’s Principle, but in an article Tesla wrote in 1915, clearly based upon his writings of 1893, he states exactly this position.
There is no thing endowed with life — from man, who is enslaving the elements, to the numblest creature — in all this world that does not sway in turn. Whenever action is born from force, though it be infinitesimal, the cosmic balance is upset and universal motion results.10 It seems to me that the interconnectedness between all of the stars in the universe, (related to Einstein’s curved space/time), is the ether.11
Similarly, Tesla’s view of the ether aligned itself with that of the Theosophists:
Long ago [I] recognized that all perceptible matter comes from a primary substance, of a tenuity beyond conception and filling all space — the Akasa or luminiferous ether — which is acted upon by the life-giving Prana or creative force, calling into existence, in never ending cycles, all things and phenomena.
The primary substance, thrown into infinitesimal whirls of prodigious velocity, becomes gross matter; the force subsiding, the motion ceases and matter disappears, reverting to the primary substance.12
Removing the spiritual component from “Akasa”, Tesla postulated that everything in the universe derived its energy from external sources. This corresponded to his model of the automata or remote controlled robot, which received commands from the electrician, and also of himself, that is, of the human condition itself. Denying the Platonic concept of intrinsic motivation, as an Aristotelian, and thus a believer in the idea of the tabula rasa, Tesla assumed that all of his ideas came from external sources even though, paradoxically, his life was the very essence and expression of self-determination and the power of the will. Each hierarchical entity in his system was not endowed with a soul, per se, but rather, a self-directed electrical component which moved by attraction or repulsion. As a non-psychologist, Tesla also negated, by necessity, the concept of the unconscious, the archetypes, and also the Freudian id, as primary motivators. So, for instance, a dream would always ultimately derive from some extrinsic factor, never from a completely inner source.
However, unlike Einstein, who negated the mental component from his model concerning the primary forces of the universe, Tesla addressed this factor with his construction of the first prototype of a thinking machine, his telautomaton or remote controlled robot which was in the form of a wireless activated boat that the inventor displayed before the public at Madison Square Garden in 1898.13 In essence, for Tesla, the mind was at its basis, a binary electrical system of attractions and repulsions, stimulated from an outside source, and wholly compatible with Pavlov’s stimulus-response reflex model for cognitive processes.
SMASHING ATOMS
Tesla also differed with Einstein and the quantum physicists in his view of the structure of the elementary particles and the possible consequences caused by the smashing of atoms. “I have disintegrated atoms in my experiments with a high potential vacuum tube… operat[ing] it with pressures ranging from 4,000,000 to 18,000,000 million volts…. But as to atomic energy, my experimental observations have shown that the process of disintegration is not accompanied by a liberation of such energy as might be expected from present theories.”14
To Tesla, the Theory of Relativity was just “a mass of error and deceptive ideas violently opposed to the teachings of great men of science of the past and even to common sense. The theory wraps all these errors and fallacies and clothes them in magnificent mathematical garb which fascinates, dazzles and makes people blind to the underlying error. The theory is like a beggar clothed in purple whom ignorant people take for a king. Its exponents are very brilliant men, but they are metaphysicists rather than scientists.” Writing a decade before the explosion of the atom bomb, and ignoring the space curvature data from the 1919 eclipse which supported Einstein’s idea that space was curved around large bodies such as stars, Tesla suggested that the existence of a force field would account for the same mathematical results. Thus, Tesla brazenly concluded, “Not a single one of the relativity propositions has been proved.”15
It would be shortsighted to simply judge Tesla wrong and Einstein and the quantum physicists right for at least two reasons. (1) Both relativity and quantum theory have been established as incomplete, and in some sense, incompatible, theories on the structure of the universe.16 (2) Tesla was discussing these phenomena from a different perspective that was not completely analogous to the one espoused by the theoretical physicists. In Colorado Springs, for instance, Tesla was generating over 4,000,000 volts, whereas only about 1,000,000 volts is required for separating electrons from the nucleus of an atom. Thus, Tesla was able to disintegrate atoms, but in an entirely different way than that postulated by Einstein or the quantum physicists (for Tesla did not destroy the nucleus). No atomic explosion could ever occur with his type of apparatus. Tesla completely misunderstood the ramifications of Einstein’s equation E = mc2, and the corresponding suppositions of the equivalence of mass and energy. Unfortunately, he would never live to see the proof that tremendous amounts of power were locked inside the tiny space occupied by the nuclei of atoms.17
GRAVITY
Concerning the curvature of space (Einstein) versus the idea of a force field (Tesla), I discussed this point with Edwin Gora, Professor Emeritus, from Providence College. Gora, whose teachers include Werner Heisenberg and Arnold Sommerfeld, agreed that the two concepts might actually be different viable ways of describing the same thing. Both Tesla and Einstein are trying to describe the fundamental structure of space and its relationship to the constancy of lightspeed and gravity.
In an obscure paper I discovered on the web published by M. Shapkin but supposedly written by Tesla, Shapkin/Tesla states that the reason why light only travels at one speed, 186,000 mph, is because the ether, its medium of transfer, slows down photonic energy to that rate the same way air slows down sound to its constant speed.18 According to this view, the ether is a specific medium that restricts the speed of light to exactly the speed that it is. This is a very exciting theory because it suggests that the energy which manifests itself as light ultimately exists in a tachyonic realm, that is, in a realm that exceeds the speed of light.
Another aspect of this ether theory which derives from Tesla and numerous other modern writers such as Price and Gibson, Ed Hatch, Vencislav Bujic, Ron Heath, Warren York and David Wilcox outlined in detail in my book Transcending the Speed of Light, is that matter is constantly absorbing ether all the time.
If we look at the structure of matter, we see that it is comprised of atoms, which is, essentially, electrons orbiting protons and neutrons. But neutrons are, by definition, protons sandwiched to electrons. So the fundamental structure of matter is just two particles, electrons and protons and a glue that binds these atoms into molecules, which are photons. These particles spin. What keeps them spinning? Ether theory suggests that elementary particles are absorbing ether all the time to maintain their spin. And when they do this, they emanate the absorbed energy as electromagnetic fields. That is the link between gravity and electromagnetism.
Take the Earth, for instance.
Classical physics sees the force of gravity as some type of almost magical attractive force between stars and planets. Ether theory has a totally different view. The reason we fall back to the Earth when we jump up is not this mystical force of gravity, but rather it is because the Earth is constantly absorbing a tremendous amount of ether to keep all of its elementary particles spinning. We are just in the way of this influx. This view explains what gravity is, and also explains Tesla’s seemingly odd statement that the Sun is absorbing more energy than it is radiating. The more you think about it, the more this seemingly nutty idea makes perfect sense. The Sun requires a gargantuan amount of etheric energy to keep it’s integrity.
Now we go to Einstein, who as we learn from the new Isaacson biography, came to reject Mach’s principle. Einstein did indeed see a connection between gravity and acceleration, but he was not ready to accept the etheric view, because to do so would mean to drive a stake through his precious theory of relativity. Remember, he said that if ether could be detected, then his theory was wrong.
According to the etheric view as espoused by the various writers listed above, Price and Gibson, et al., ether is easily detected. If you are driving in a car and accelerate greatly, you will feel a G-force. This is an increased absorption of ether. That’s what a G-force is. Ether flowing into matter is gravity, matter flowing rapidly through ether, that is, acceleration, is experienced as a G-force.
Einstein started to become aware of this in 1916, just as Louis de Broglie’s wave mechanics was coming into vogue. Where before that time physicists were looking at electrons and protons as particles, de Broglie emphasized the wave aspect of their nature. Looking at electrons as waves rather than particles makes is a lot easier to understand a quantum leap, or shift of an electron from one orbit to another without going into an in-between state. From this de Broglie wavelike point of view, quantum leaps occur when electrons simply shift their point of focus. Once de Broglie began to gain acceptance, elementary particles including photons were now looked at more from the wave point of view and this view was more in accord with the necessity for an ether as the medium of transfer for light, for instance, to get from the Sun to the Earth.
Initially, Einstein was still too caught up in his particle view and in Mach’s principle which suggested that all matter in the universe was interdependent. Thus, concerning rotating bodies, Einstein would write the young mathematician Karl Schwarzchild on January 9, 1916, “Inertia is simply an interaction between masses, not an effect in which space of itself is involved, separate from the observed mass.” Schwarzchild, Isaacson points out, disagreed. Now, four years later, in 1920 after reconsidering the necessity of the ether, for instance, as a means to propagate light, Einstein changed his mind.” He abandoned Mach’s Principle and now saw that a rotating body did not obtain its inertia from, and in relations to, all the rest of the matter in the universe [Mach’s Principle], but on its own accord due simply to “its state of rotation [because] space is endowed with physical qualities.”19
Because of the power of de Broglie’s emphasis on paticle wave theory, Einstein shifted gears to be current. Back ahead of the curve, he lectured on the ether at Leiden University (discussed above). Einstein never came to view gravity as the absorption of ether by elementary particles and electromagnetism as a product of this process, because to do so would be to abandon relativity. Einstein also never was able to integrate gravity into his grand unification scheme, a problem he wrestled with for the entire last half of his life.
Tesla understood ether theory a lot better than Einstein did, but obviously, Tesla also did not truly understand the ramifications of Einstein’s famous equation E=mc2. He dismissed it as mathematical poppycock. Had he lived a few more years to see the explosion of the atom bomb, Tesla would have been forced to re-evaluate what he had discarded, and had Einstein re-evaluated the full ramifications of Tesla’s ether theory, he may have been able to achieve his grand dream of unifying gravity with electromagnetism, a process explainable by a full understanding of ether theory.
A large number of thinking physicists believe that an ether of sorts exists, and that forces of some type may transcend lightspeed. Once one begins to study ether theory, profound new insights concerning such things as particle spin, the fundamental structure of matter and space, the constancy of lightspeed and the link between gravity and electromagnetism begin to emerge.
ENDNOTES
1. Seifer, Marc. Wizard: The Life & Times of Nikola Tesla, New York: Birch Lane, 1996, pp. 18-19.
2. One need not resort to Bell’s theorem of non-locality, or instantaneous transference of information, or the new worm hole theories, each which suggest extra dimensions, to follow the argument as far as I have taken it.
3. Tesla, Nikola. Pioneer radio engineer gives views on power. In J. Ratzlaff (Ed.), Tesla Said. Millbrae, CA: Tesla Book Company, 1984, pp. 240-242.
4. Lerner, E. Magnetic whirlwinds. Science Digest, 6/1985, p. 26.
5. Clark, Roland. Einstein: The Life & Times. NY: World Publishing, 1971, p. 78.
6. Isaacson, Walter. Einstein: His Life & Universe. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2007, p. 318.
7. Gora, Edwin. Physics Department, Providence College, private correspondence, 1991.
8. Ibid.
9. Einstein had really postulated two theories. The special theory of relativity postulated in 1905, dealing with uniform motions, and the general theory, which dealt with motions speeding up and slowing down. Mach’s principle is linked to the general theory.
10. Tesla, Nikola, (1915), in Lectures, Patents, Articles. Belgrade: Nikola Tesla Museum, 1956, p. A-172.
11. Or one hierarchical dimension of it. Further, each point in space (in a galaxy) codes for every other point, as each contain the intersecting light from every star in the system. This idea is associated with holographic principles and the “enfolded order” where the whole is distributed throughout each part, as expounded by such theoreticians as David Bohm.
12. Tesla, Nikola, 7/6/1930; J. Ratzlaff, (Ed.). Solutions to Tesla’s Secrets. Milbrae, CA: Tesla Book Company, 1981, p. 91.
13. Einstein, however, did not negate the conscious component from his philosophy. “I want to know how God created the world,” Einstein said. “I want to know his thoughts; the rest are details” [from E. Mallove, “Einstein’s Intoxication with God and the Cosmos,” Washington Post, 12/22/1985].
14. Tesla, Nikola. Radio power will revolutionize the world. Modern Mechanix & Invention, 7/1934, pp. 40-42; 117-119.
15. Tesla, Nikola. Tesla, 79, promises to transmit force. New York Times, 7/11/1935, 23:8; in Tesla, Nikola, 1981, pp. 128-130.
16. A principle of physics that Einstein held even more dear than determinism was the principle of local causality — that distant events cannot instantaneously influence local objects without mediation. What the EPR [Einstein, Podolsky, Rosen] argument did… was to show that quantum theory violated causality. This finding startled most physicists, because they held the principle of local causality sacred. This mean that either quantum physics was incomplete or non-local events [i.e., instantaneous information transmission] occurred.” The Cosmic Code, by Heinz Pagels, Bantam Books, NY, 1982, p. 139.
Einstein’s Theory of Relativity is also incomplete, as physicists have not, as yet, obtained a Grand Unification Theory based upon it. See, for instance “Einstein’s Dream,” by Gary Taubes, Discover, 12/1983, p. 48, whereby an 11 dimensional graviton (gravity particle) has been postulated as the ultimate particle to explain supergravity, quarks, electrons, etc.
17. It would take approximately 55 million volts to vaporize carbon, but only 4.37 million volts to change carbon into helium, the latter case within the parameters Tesla was capable of achieving [calculations performed by E. Gora]. A pound of carbon, on the other hand, if converted into nuclear energy, could provide enough electricity to run the country for an entire month [from Coleman, 1958, p. 54].
18. Shapkin, Mikhail. “Unknown Manuscript of Nicola Tesla.” Farshores.org/wmtesla.htm.
19. Seifer, Transcending the Speed of Light, p. 96; Isaacson, p. p. 125.
BIOGRAPHY:
Marc J. Seifer, Ph.D., is the author of “Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla.”
Marc has been featured in The Washington Post, Scientific American, Publisher’s Weekly, Rhode Island Monthly, MITs Technology Review and The New York Times. In Europe, he has appeared in The Economist, Nature and New Scientist. With publications in Wired, Cerebrum, Civilization, Extraordinary Science, Lawyer’s Weekly, Journal of Psychohistory and Psychiatric Clinics of North America, Dr. Seifer is internationally recognized as an expert on the inventor Nikola Tesla (the subject of his doctoral dissertation). Past editor of MetaScience, A New Age Journal on Consciousness and The Journal of the American Society of Professional Graphologists, his articles have been translated into Czech, Serbian,Spanish, Hebrew, Portuguese, and German. He has lectured at the United Nations in New York; Federal Reserve Bank in Boston; Kings College; Cambridge University and Oxford University in England; the University of Vancouver in Canada; in Jerusalem, Israel; Zagreb, Yugoslavia; Bethesda, Maryland; City College of New York; Brandeis University; Colorado College; Wardenclyffe Long Island; Lucas Films Industrial Light & Magic; Cranbrook Retreat and West Point Military Academy. Dr. Seifer has appeared on the History Channel for his work on the Howard Hughes Mormon Will, on AP International for his analysis of Bin Laden’s signature, on PBS and also web radio. His book “Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla” is “highly recommended” by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has a B.S. from the University of Rhode Island, five semesters of graphology from New School University, an M.A. from the University of Chicago and Ph.D. from Saybrook Institute. With over 30 years of experience as a handwriting expert, including a decade of work for the Fraud Unit of the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office, he has testified in civil, criminal and federal court. Dr. Seifer is also a writer and visiting lecturer in Psychology at Roger Williams University.
CONTACT MARC:
MarcSeifer•com • mseifer@cox•net
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Flickr photo “Speed of Light” courtesy of Sorenson
Flickr photo of Earth courtesy Captain Narender
The Way It Is – Marketing Fantasy vs Reality
Hubspot has published a helpful e-Book called “Marketing Fact vs. Marketing Fantasy.” It’s for Marketers, PR folks, Product Evangelists or any executive that really wants to understand the changing dynamics of business communications. Though marketing is in the title, it could have easily been named,”Business Development: Fact vs. Fantasy.”
A lot of what HubSpot calls “Fantasies” in the book are dearly held beliefs in many companies. Those beliefs are brick walls to better customer service and profitable revenue growth for their companies.
HubSpot’s “facts,” which I re-dubbed “reality,” need better PR—much better. Their e-Book is 99 pages long, so I’ll summarize the salient facts that I found to be the most illuminating. To review all of the facts, download their e-book, Marketing Fact vs. Marketing Fantasy. (It’s good stuff.)
FANTASY:
B2B companies don’t need to waste their time on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn.
REALITY:
- 39% of B2B companies using Twitter have acquired new customers from it.
- 41% of B2B companies using Facebook have acquired new customers from it.
- 41% of companies using LinkedIn for marketing have generated business with it.
FANTASY:
Email can be relied upon to be the workhorse of your marketing and communications efforts.
REALITY:
Your email addresses expire at a rate of 25% per year.
In B2B—an area in which I have experience and a subscriber email list of over 174,000—I’ve found that B2B email addresses can go bad at a rate of 3% to 6% per month. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but do the numbers—it is. And wait until you try to replace them with new subscribers. Who subscribes by email anymore? It’s tough just breaking even on your email subscribers.
EMAIL IS SO 2008
Email usage is declining by as much as 59% across all age groups. Having a teenage daughter, I can attest to it, or to quote her, “Email is so 2008.”
FANTASY:
Most companies are increasing their investments in traditional outbound marketing programs.
REALITY:
Companies’ investments in social media and blogs increased by 54% in 2011.
WHY?
Leads generated via inbound marketing tactics like blogging and social media cost 62%.
FANTASY
Trade shows are a great, cost-effective way to generate a ton of new customers.
REALITY:
Trade shows are one of the most costly ways to generate leads and customers.
FANTASY:
Blogging is overrated and not particularly effective for marketing. Besides, nobody reads blogs. (I guess you—who’s reading this right now—is a nobody.)
REALITY:
- 65% of daily internet users read blogs.
- Companies that blog get 55% more web traffic than those that don’t.
- Companies that blog get 70% more leads.
- 57% of companies have acquired a customer through their blogs.
FANTASY:
Optimizing your content and website for mobile devices isn’t worth the effort.
REALITY:
- 86% of C-Level executives have smartphones.
- 78% of business people use their mobile device to check email.
- 74% of smartphone users have made a purchase from their smartphones.
FANTASY:
Social networks are for youngsters.
REALITY:
- 40% of active Facebook users are over the age of 35.
- 52% of 55 to 64 year-olds have joined a social network.
FANTASY
Twitter is boring and a complete waste of time for businesses.
REALITY:
- Companies that use Twitter average two times more leads than those that don’t.
- Companies with 1000+ followers get six times more web traffic.
- 42% of companies that use Twitter for marketing have acquired a customer through it.
All of those fantasies above are dearly and closely held beliefs in many businesses. Don’t believe me? Ask around your company.
All of those realities cited need better PR.
Or not.
Those that are dealing in realities will succeed.
Those that aren’t won’t. Not for long.
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Check out the complete e-book Marketing Fact vs. Marketing Fantasy.
The Heroes Journey for Sales … Sorta
Featuring an interview with Dr. Elliot McGucken, author, artist, entrepreneur and physicist.
Business is nothing without story; brand is nothing without story. You have a new business or product that can change the world?
It’s nothing … without story.
Going to present your idea to family, bankers or venture capitalists for money to help change the world? Your nothing without story.
Investors, bankers and venture capitalists are nothing without your story.
Let’s begin with one such revolutionary idea – a high-tech product that will one day change this world.
THE HERO’S JOURNEY REDEFINED
Every business, entrepreneur, idealist, or visionary, wants to be the one to find the Holy Business Grail … the next big technology or product that will change the world forever. I’ve found it. I have it. The ultimate product. The benefits to humanity – “AA” (astronomically astounding). That’s right. The world you’re living in is close to the long-predicted techno “Singularity.”
One slight problem. I’ve been down this road before. So many great ideas. So little to show for it. Multiple presentations that investors just didn’t get. Probably because the brilliance blinded them. I did receive some feedback about my presentations though…
FACE IT
I would note that she was talking about of both sides of her mouth – which made it a double negative – therefore positive feedback. But nonetheless, I decided to seek...
PROFESSIONAL HELP
I needed a doctor. Not a normal doctor. A doctor that knew how to professionally position my new venture and business plan to make investors flock to my entrepreneurial vision. I needed a doctor with entrepreneurial, yet artistic acumen. A creative genius like me – one that could appreciate ephemeral brilliance. A person that would understand and enable me to overcome adversity, obstacles and inner demons that were preventing my inevitable place in history. A person that could help paint my entrepreneurial masterpiece on the business canvas of life.
And I found one.
ENTER DOCTOR “E”
Dr. Elliot McGucken ( “Dr. E”) received a B.A. in physics from Princeton and a Ph.D. in physics from UNC Chapel Hill where his dissertation on an artificial retina for the blind received several NSF grants and a Merrill Lynch Innovations Award. The retina-chip research appeared in publications including “Popular Science” and “Business Week,” and the project continues to this day.
Dr. E is the epitome of an artistic entrepreneur. He founded Jollyroger.com, which is a virtual portal for the world’s great literary classics. The New York Times deemed Dr. E’s work as “simply unprecedented.” The Los Angeles Times referred to the classical portal as “a lavish virtual community known as The Jolly Roger.” Dr. E has published four books including two novels and a poetry collection.
Dr. E also founded the Hero’s Journey Entrepreneurship Festival in Malibu, CA. The festival pays homage to Joseph Campbell’s “Hero With a Thousand Faces” and the “Hero’s Journey” in all walks of life.
HOW TO MAKE YOUR PASSION YOUR PROFESSION
And … Dr. E teaches a spectacular business course called Artistic Entrepreneurship on how to make your passion your profession.
A SHOOT THE DONKEY INTERVIEW
Steve: I need help. I have this great business idea …
Dr. E: I heard. And you need, let me guess, money?
Steve: Well, yes. A piddling amount … $250 million for initial research.
Dr. E: Oh. Is that all?
Steve: To start. I don’t want to seem overly aggressive. I sent you some info …
Dr. E: I read your business plan.
Steve: (BEAMS)
Dr. E: It sucks.
Steve: (unbeams)
A PLAN BUT NO STORY
Dr. E: Your plan had no story. I quit reading after the first 20 words (counting by 2’s). Business is nothing without story; brand is nothing without story. Venture capitalists are nothing without story. Venture Capitalists are nothing without your story. Can you tell me your story − this world-changing idea you have?
Steve: (hesitates) I’m pretty sure no one will read or hear this, but you still have to keep it on the down-low. I don’t want any fast-talking, slick-dressing Wall Street banker business type cribbing the idea from me.
It happened once before when I was trying to start a Beerburger in Paradise Restaurant. Totally cribbed the idea from me. Gave it to some no-name relative of his.
The rest isn’t history.
Dr. E:Right. Mum’s the word then. Go on…
Steve:It’s an astronomically astounding, revolutionary, cutting-edge, robust platform-neutral, portable (almost probably), seamless (virtually, besides some minor cracks), robuster-LMNOP, robustest, interoperable, supraluminal, hypothetical, translucent, nanotech, scientific breakthrough.
Dr. E: (SILENCE) … in English?
Steve:What?
Dr. E: What is it?
Steve: I was telling you.
Dr. E:It…
Steve: What?
DIAGNOSED WITH DEADLY UN-RARE DISEASE
Dr. E: It sucks. Words with no meaning. I diagnose you with a rarely un-rare disease.
MPCGBS
MPCGBS – Multiple Platform Corporate Gobbledygook BS ( bureaucratic speech) with a less than tiny tinkled tinge of manic-megalomania. You’ll need to take a dose of my Artistic Entrepreneur remedy.
Steve: English please?
Dr. E: The “Artistic Entrepreneur” remedy is based on classical story elements as outlined in Aristotle’s Poetics. It helps you make your passion your profession. Think of it as combining the arts, entrepreneurial ventures, and technology with Joseph Campbell’s “Hero With a Thousand Faces” structure. It’ll help tell your entrepreneurial story in a business plan with adventures akin to Campbell’s “Hero’s Journey.” Along the way you’ll encounter antagonists and pitfalls, but these shall be overcome by the end and you will be off to pursue your artistic entrepreneurial ventures.
Steve: With money?
Dr. E: If you do it right.
Steve: Don’t you want to know what it is first?
Dr. E: No. First you need a grounded foundation of the Artistic Entrepreneur mindset. The vision. The journey. What’s the brand that has outlasted all others in history?
Insight 1 |
“I was gratified to be able to answer promptly, and I did … I said I didn’t know.” – Mark Twain |
Steve: I’m not a historian. I’m a visionary.
Dr. E: Homer’s brand has outlasted every other brand in history. Homer must have known something about business. Homer must’ve spoken the truth. Since he’s passed on, billions of business plans and legal reports have come and gone. Billions of fashions and fads. Billions of politicians and false prophets.
But we still read Homer. So be like Homer.
Steve: Be like Homer?
Dr. E: Not that Homer! Tell your venture in story. Tell your story in truths.
We live in an era of stories without story, characters without character, business plans without business sense, and art without art.
We live in an era of poetry without rhyme and words without meaning.
The artist and the entrepreneur must merge in story. If you want to get it right, re-read The Declaration of Independence and Constitution. They are the two most fundamental business documents for artists and entrepreneurs.
Read the classics from Aristotle’s “Poetics” to the Bill of Rights. Every work of art tells a story, and behind that work of art is a parallel story – the business of its creation, promotion, and distribution.
Insight 2 |
Every work of art tells a story, behind that work of art is a parallel story; the business of its creation, promotion, and distribution. – Dr. E |
Steve: So business is behind art?
Dr. E: And art, business. Artistic Entrepreneurship is a lot of work, but the kind of exalted work that is rooted in a creative vision. As Edison said, genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. If you study the careers of famous artists, entertainers, and entrepreneurs, you’ll see how much work, how much relentless, unyielding effort was devoted en route to achieving their dreams. A common theme will be just when it seems all is lost, a new day dawns.
Insight 3 |
Relentless, unyielding effort yields a new day dawning, a dream realized. – Dr. E |
The harder one works, the more fun it will be.
Steve: I’ve heard that one before. Give me an example.
Insight 4 |
Hard work never killed anybody; but why take the chance? – Edgar Bergen |
Dr. E: Steven Jobs never programmed, nor designed a microchip, and yet he’s responsible for Apple, Pixar, the Macintosh, iPod and the iPad. He lead hundreds of the best and brightest designers, programmers, and visionaries.
Insight 5 |
The harder one works, the more fun it will be. – Dr. E |
Steve: Another example?
Dr. E: Richard Branson never played an instrument nor piloted an airplane, and yet he’s responsible for Virgin Airlines, Virgin Records, Virgin Mobile, and a ton of other companies. He too leads hundreds of the best and brightest.
Insight 6 |
When Alexander the Great visited Diogenes and asked whether he could do anything for the famed teacher, Diogenes replied: “Only stand out of my light.”
|
Steve: Want to hear my idea yet?
Dr. E: No. All successful artistic ventures require a vision encompassing a wide array of talents, disciplines, and vocations. These people brought a wide array of talented people together. Modern artistic ventures require huge respect for all professions. You need to work in groups combining writers, computer programmers, artists, marketers, business majors, and more.
Insight 7 |
Communicate. Cooperate. Collaborate. |
Building businesses is not about making money, but it’s about creating wealth. To the degree you can serve people, to the degree you can enhance peoples’ lives, you will be successful.
Insight 8 |
Create. Enhance. Serve. |
But first, you must communicate your vision to serve and enhance people’s lives. And, if you tell it in story – a story that resonates with the inner stirrings of the human soul – archetypes – you’re on the artistic entrepreneur’s Heroes Journey to ultimate success.
Joseph Campbell laid this out in the first part of “The Hero With a Thousand Faces,” The Adventure of the Hero. He believed everyone is born with the basic subconscious model of what a “hero” is, or a “mentor” or a “quest.” His thesis was that all myths follow this structure to at least some extent.
A Three-Step Process
- Departure deals with the hero venturing forth on his quest.
- Initiation deals with the hero’s various adventures along his or her way.
- Return deals with the hero’s return home with knowledge and powers that he or she has acquired along the way.
Steve: Hmm. That sounds suspiciously like a beginning, middle, and end.
THE CALL TO ADVENTURE
The quest begins with the hero in a state of neurotic anguish.
Dr. E:You do that well. The quest is often announced to the hero by another character who acts as a ”herald.”
Dr. E: Interesting herald. Are you trying to tell me something?
Steve: Just trying to keep up Doc.
Dr. E: In “Star Wars,” Luke Skywalker, the hero, begins the story in frustration over being unable to leave home. The heralds are the two droids who carry a message from Princess Leia. In “The Matrix,” the call comes in the form of Morpheus and his followers who encourage the hero, Neo, to question reality.
Aragorn, in a separate hero’s journey, is told by Elrond of his true name and lineage as the Heir of Isildur and rightful heir to the throne of Gondor when he is 20 years of age.
Steve: Too complicated. I just want to tell you my idea. It’s going to change the world! (And I didn’t crib that line from Guy Kawasaki — but I have read it on his blog a couple of times.)
Dr. E: Then …
REFUSAL OF THE CALL
In many stories, the hero initially refuses the call to adventure.
When this happens, the hero suffers somehow, and eventually chooses the quest.
Steve: Now I get that. I have suffered. Oh how I have suffered. Sometimes it’s a real pain in the…
Dr. E: In “Star Wars,” Luke is initially uninterested in helping the Rebel Alliance, preferring to stay on the farm; it is only when his foster parents are killed that he begins the quest.
In The Matrix, Neo refuses to take the window-washing equipment to escape and is captured by the agents.
SUPERNATURAL
Along the way, the hero often encounters a helper, usually a wise old man, who gives the hero both psychological and physical weapons.
Dr. E: Not quite what I was talking about.
In “The Lord of the Rings,” Frodo and Sam Gamgee receive help early in their journey from several figures, notably Tom Bombadil, Bilbo, and Gandalf.
Hannibal Lecter, in “The Silence of the Lambs” gives Agent Starling many psychological weapons.
Steve: Hmm. You don’t like my wise helper, but you like this guy? Maybe it’s not me that needs a doctor.
CROSSING THE THRESHOLD
The hero eventually must cross into a dark underworld, where he will face evil and darkness, and thereby find true enlightenment. Before this can occur, however, the hero must cross the threshold between his home world and the new world of adventure. Often this involves facing off against and quelling a “threshold guardian.”
Steve: My idea involves crossing a threshold – a real threshold!
Dr. E: Hold that thought. In “The Lord of the Rings,” Frodo finally accepts his mission in Rivendell and crosses the threshold once he leaves there.
In Rivendell, Aragorn meets Boromir who tells of the plight that Gondor is now in while at the same time confronting those present for not aiding Gondor; Aragorn sees that he must now save Gondor and claim the kingship.
In “The Odyssey,” Odysseus must pass the island of the Sirens.
BELLY OF THE WHALE
Dr. E: Having defeated the threshold guardian, the hero finds himself in a place of darkness where he begins his true adventure, perhaps discovering his true purpose. This “belly of the whale” may be an ambiguous place ofdream-like forms.
Steve:
Dr. E: The name for this stage of the monomyth is based upon the story of Jonah.
In “Star Wars,” it is the Death Star, in which Luke is engulfed and in which he learns how to be a hero.
In “The Silence of the Lambs,” Starling finds the serial killer Buffalo Bill’s first victim within the dark, womblike storage facility.
INITIATION – THE ROAD OF TRIALS
Dr. E: Once in the underworld, the hero is repeatedly challenged with mental and physical obstacles that must be overcome.Often these take the form of a test, by which the hero improves his skills and proves his worth.
In “The Empire Strikes Back,” Luke undergoes his training with Yoda.
Aragorn, after the loss of Gandalf in Moria, must now take the position of leader of the Fellowship, and struggles to lead them as well as Gandalf wanted to.
MEETING WITH THE GODDESS
Dr. E: After overcoming the Road of Trials, the hero often encounters a goddess-like woman: beautiful, queen-like, or motherly. This is a grand reward for the hero.
Steve: I’m all about grand rewards.
Dr. E: In “The Matrix Reloaded,” Neo takes Trinity as a lover.
In “The Lord of the Rings,” Frodo meets Galadriel, who shows him the future. Aragorn also meets Galadriel, who counsels him on his future actions.
In “The Silence of the Lambs,” Buffalo Bill kidnaps a senator’s daughter and the female senator initially appears as a benevolent, matriarchal force.
TEMPTATION
However, the Goddess may also negate the hero’s progress through lust or greed. This may distract the hero from his ultimate goal and plunge him back into darkness.
Steve: Temptation … you have to deal with that too?
Dr. E: Yes, just like in “The Matrix Reloaded,” Persephone attempts to seduce Neo.
In “The Odyssey,” the temptress is the nymph Calypso.
In “The Silence of the Lambs,” the offer of a reduced sentence for Hannibal Lecter, supposedly authorized by the senator, is revealed as a trick. Now onto …
THE APOTHEOSIS
Steve: I’m not sick.
Dr. E: Not Apothecary. Apotheosis. The hero’s ego is disintegrated in a breakthrough expansion of consciousness. Quite frequently their idea of reality is changed. They may find themselves able to do new things or able to see a larger point of view allowing them to sacrifice themselves.
In the “Empire Strikes Back,” Luke sacrifices himself rather than turn to the dark side.
In “The Matrix Reloaded,” Neo destroys several Sentinels in the real world using only his mind.
Aragorn gains command of the immortal Army of the Dead, making his forces undefeatable.
Steve: About this sacrificing thing …
Dr. E: It’s necessary.
Steve: Then you do it. I’ll make sure you’re properly memorialized.
THE ULTIMATE BOON
Dr. E: Having achieved personal enlightenment, the hero’s psychological forces are again balanced. But this new-found knowledge, or boon, also has potential to benefit society.
Steve: Okay, my turn. The benefit to society thing. I’m with you. That’s what my idea is all about.
Dr. E: Hold on just a little bit longer, we’re not finished yet. In “The Lord of the Rings,” all of the hobbits gain wisdom and experience during their journey, which allows them to easily set things right in the Shire on their return. By calling upon his heritage as the Heir of Isildur to take command of the Army of the Dead, Aragorn is now more in tune with his true nature and purpose as rightful heir to the throne of Gondor than ever before.
THE MAGIC FLIGHT
Dr. E: A mad dash is made by the hero to return with the prize.
Steve: I’ve never been real successful with mad dashes.
Insight 9 |
Not all mad dashes are created equal. – Steve
|
In “The Lord of the Rings,” Frodo and Sam are rescued from the slopes of Mt. Doom by Gandalf and the Eagles (which is also a “Rescue from Without”).
Aragorn, after exiting the Paths of the Dead with his new invincible Shadow Army, must now make a mad dash across Gondor in a race against time to liberate the coast from an invasion of Corsairs, then lead the Southern army of Gondor north to save Minas Tirith from destruction, all in only six days.
Steve: I understand.
THE CROSSING OF THE RETURN THRESHOLD
Before the hero can return to the real world, he must confront another threshold guardian. The first threshold was a symbolic death; this is now a symbolic rebirth.
Steve: My symbolism is through the roof.
Dr. E: That made absolutely no sense.
Steve: It will.
Dr. E: Okaaaaaay – moving on. In “Return of the Jedi,” Luke again confronts Darth Vader.
In “The Lord of the Rings,” the final threshold for the hobbits re-entering the Shire is guarded by Saruman and his Ruffians.
For Aragorn, this means making a final confrontation with Sauron’s forces in a suicidal attack on his massive army at the Black Gate.
Steve: Call me crazy, but a suicidal attack on a massive army really doesn’t fit into my business plan.
Dr. E: Mythic symbolism … think mythic symbolism. Make it resonate with the ancient stirrings of the heart.
Steve: Is that sorta like the mythical egg-of-life symbolism?
Dr. E: I detect stirrings of intelligent life.
Steve: I’ve used the mythical “egg-of-life” symbolism before.
Dr. E: Detection of intelligent life terminated.
MASTER OF TWO WORLDS
Once the final threshold is crossed, the hero is now free to move back and forth between the two worlds at will. He has mastered the conflicting psychological forces of the mind.
Steve: That’s what my new product will allow me to do. Be a master of two worlds.
Dr. E: Almost finished … then you can tell me this fabulous invention, product, idea, and world-shaking business venture.
In “Return of the Jedi,” Luke becomes a Jedi.
In “The Lord of the Rings,” Aragorn is crowned King of Gondor and Arnor, and has defeated Mordor (later re-distributing its conquered lands to the former slaves that tilled the fields in its southern regions). Aragorn then marries Arwen, daughter of his father-figure Elrond, uniting the worlds of Elf and Man.
FREEDOM TO LIVE
With the journey now complete, the hero has found true freedom, and can turn his efforts to helping or teaching humanity.
In “The Lord of the Rings,” the hobbits become prominent citizens of the Shire with the wisdom they have gained.
Aragorn reigns as King for many decades and ushers in a new age of peace and the rebuilding of Middle Earth.
Steve: Let me get this straight. I need to know all of that stuff before I can be an artistic entrepreneur … and pitch my astronomically astounding, revolutionary, cutting-edge, robust, platform-neutral, portable (almost probably), seamless (virtually, besides some minor cracks), robuster-LMNOP, robustest, interoperable, supraluminal, hypothetical, translucent, nanotech, scientific breakthrough idea?
Dr. E: You need to understand the foundation, the vision, the message that will truly resonate – touch and move the human psyche – within the people that will help you make your passion your profession. It will help you attract and retain a diverse group of the best, the brightest, the hardest working, from writers to software coders, to bankers, to R & D geeks, and most importantly, to buyers and customers.
Insight 10 |
MESSAGE MUST MOVE AND MOTIVATE |
Dr. E: Well finally, go ahead, tell me your revolutionary idea. We’ll work together to align it with the mythic symbolism that throbs inside us all seeking new vistas for humanity.
HERE WE GO – HOLD ON
Steve: Okay, I’ve discovered a nanotech material that is translucent, waterproof, impenetrable and indestructible. It also incorporates nano-size semi-conducting pinheads called quantum dots.
Dr. E: (Attention piqued) And?
Steve: I’ve successfully tested it already. Here’s the deal. You strip the roof of a house (or any building). Spray on this translucent nano-material. It sets/gels in less than 30 seconds.
Dr. E: I get it! I get it!
Steve: I’m not done yet.
Dr. E: It’ll provide high thermal insulation, reduce energy costs, and create a quieter indoor environment?
Steve: Yes – in any color imaginable. And … the best is yet to come.
Dr. E: The market and benefits of an artistically designed, eye-catching architectural roof masterpiece – unbelievable!
Steve: Doc, slow down. You need to be more like me – a renaissance thinker.
Dr. E: What?
Steve: I had the material engineered so that when applied correctly, it turns into a DONKEY MOOD ROOF! Think of it! The Homer Brand combined with da Vinci beauty and simplicity.
(Do you dare click?)
Dr. E: (Complete silence that builds to a transformational moment.)
Insight 11 |
Can you imagine the possibilities? |
Steve: The nanotech roof material resonates with the mood of the people in the house and then displays it for all to see. Imagine the harmony that’ll result when you drive home and see a
Think of the social benefits! I’m all a-Twitter and Google+ with the possibilities. Or, if someone is having a bad day,
How great will that be for conflict avoidance? Maybe Clint Eastwood could do the voice over for me.
Dr. E: (transformational moment)
Steve: Dr. E? … Dr. E? Got you speechless? There’s only one bad side effect I need to resolve. For some goofy reason, this scientist I was working with (recently deceased – he had a heart attack when I told him of my plans for the Donkey Mood Roof) insisted on having the material retain and generate power. Darnedest thing.
Turns the roof into a perpetual power plant.
Dr. E: What?
Steve: Certainly are sparse with the words now Doc. Yes, turns the thing into a perpetual power-producing plant. You can even unplug your house from the electric company. Therein lies the problem.
Dr. E: What again?
Steve: To be successful, you have to focus. I can’t be focusing on two things at once. And, do you know how much trouble it would be to take down all of those wires?
Dr E: Unplug from the electric company?
Insight 12 |
He was distinguished for ignorance; for he had only one idea, and that was wrong. – Disraeli |
Dr. E: (devious thought)
Maybe I can help you out with the pitiful power-producing problem. I’ll see if I can get anyone interested in that dreadful problem. You might have to pay me to take it off your hands though. But, on the bright side (so to speak), it would allow you to focus.
Steve: OK. But what do you think about my Donkey Mood Roof ? Can you imagine how cool the heroes’ journey will be while we weave our mystical mythical symbolism throughout the story?
Dr. E: Absolutely. It’ll be filled with heroes and knaves, saints and sinners, sorry sad sacks and overflowing money-bags. Now, about that pitiful power-producing problem you have …
Insight 13 |
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they attack you, then you win. – Gandhi |
About Dr. Elliot McGucken:
Dr. Elliot McGucken is an artistic entrepreneur. He founded jollyroger.com in 1995, and he now runs over 30 sites ranging in content from the great books and classics to Digital Rights Management (DRM) and open-source technologies. He presented Authena Open Source DRM/CMS at the Harvard Law School OSCOM, and 22surf was accepted to the Zurich OSCOM. Both Authena and 22surf are aimed at empowering indie artists/creators.
NON-COMMERCIAL BREAK:
Cool car!
MOBY DICK
Steve: But Dr. E … you named it Moby Dick?
Dr. E: That’s right. What do you call your corvette?
Steve: I call mine a…
Jeep.
MY MOBY IS BIGGER
Notice it’s bigger than yours?
Dr. E: And I thought I had issues. Can you at least finish my bio before you go off the deep-end?
Steve: Okay.
Dr E. received a B.A. in physics from Princeton and a Ph.D. in physics from UNC Chapel Hill where his dissertation on an artificial retina chip for the blind received a Merrill Lynch Innovations Award. He founded the Physics, Astronomy, Math, and Philosophy Forums, home for discussions of physical theories of reality alternative to the controversial, yet dominant String Theory. McGucken’s Moving Dimensions Theory posits that the fourth dimension is expanding relative to the three spatial dimensions, and with this simple postulate reflecting an underlying physical reality, the model attempts to unify and account for the physical phenomena found in quantum mechanics, relativity, and statistical mechanics.Known as Dr. E to his students, Elliot has won the Tanner Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.
Contact Dr. Elliot McGucken:
[email protected]
919-406-7068
The Greatest Presentation of All Time?
A while back I was sent a book, “Moving Mountains: Or the Art and Craft of Letting Others See Things Your Way,” by Henry M. Boettinger. It was from an old and trusted friend. I’d never heard of the book – but was in dire need of a door stop – so I flipped it over before taking advantage of my good fortune. I caught a glimpse of a familiar name, Drucker. That made me stop.The book had a rare testimonial from the legendary Peter Drucker.
“I’m greatly impressed with Henry Boettinger’s book. I think that it goes way beyond its title and is a first-class, highly original and highly practical, treatise both on how one thinks and how one presents thinking. I would consider it the first truly modern searching essay on rhetoric – in the classical meaning of the term – in the last three or four hundred years.” – Peter Drucker
MOVING MOUNTAINS
I read it. And it was. The book is all about ideas-manship. The planning, packaging and presenting of ideas. Great ideas can die on the boulevard of broken dreams without great presentations. Good presentations meld creation and performance into a symphonic unity. Great presentations – like Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar – do that and one other crucial thing. Do you know what it is?
“I have heard and watched practitioners in most areas of modern life in their attempts to persuade – lawyers, natural and social scientists, soldiers, civil servants, executives, physicians, engineers, foremen, politicians, mechanics, labor union leaders, shop stewards, artists, musicians, architects, philosophers, film makers, advertising men, accountants, college students, clubwomen, men of the cloth, sundry teachers, and lesser breeds without the law, to name a few. Some were eminent, most unknown. All were persons of intelligence, having something worthwhile to say, but the range of persuasive skill ran from embarrassing, painful failures (including cases of physical collapse) to skillful performers whose presentations were perfectly tuned to their audiences, and who made changing your mind an exhilarating experience. What makes the difference? Neither schooling, material, nor rank of this I’m sure. Whether the audience was one or a thousand, success invariably attended only those who both understood and presented their ideas from the viewpoint of the needs and characteristics of the persons in their audience.” – Henry M. Boettinger
Think back to events, presentations, stories, and speeches. What really determined their success or failure for you? The best? The worst?
I LOVE TO GIVE PRESENTATIONS — DON’T YOU?
I can only think of three things, off the top of my head, I’d rather do than give a presentation. Be boiled in oil, drawn and quartered or buried alive – or all three at one time. But I do appreciate the genius it takes to pull off a great presentation.
PRESENTATION CHECKLIST TOOL
If you could read only one book on how to give an effective presentation (for any occasion) – read this one. At the end of this article, are two checklists from the book that will help you give the best presentation possible and evaluate presentations of others. You need to read the book to fully understand all of it, but it’s a great resource document to forever change the way you think of business presentations … and the way you deliver them. Because …
EVERY PRESENTATION IS A STORY
Below are some stellar presentations. They’re also exceptional ideas, stories and dreams. They run the gamut of industries and topics. Some are about business. Some life. Some are funny, some sad. Tragic even. Some new, some old. Some are speeches, some no spoken words, just images. Some use PowerPoint, some PowerPoint-less. But all have one thing in common. One crucial thing. Can you tell what it is?
DID YOU KNOW?
The first, “Shift Happens: Effects of Globalization.”
Created by Karl Fisch, and modified by Scott McLeod; Globalization and The Information Age.
THE MOUNTAINTOP
Doctor Martin Luther King Jr.
WHEN IT COMES TO TECH, SIMPLICITY SELLS
(Humorous, but absolutely realistic, classic)
by New York Times technology columnist David Pogue
TRIBUTE TO THE
CHALLENGER ASTRONAUTS
“We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and “slipped the surly bonds of earth” to “touch the face of God.”
NO ARMS. NO LEGS. NO WORRIES.
Is this a presentation? Yes. Is it a performance? Yes. One of the finest about the strength of will, love, and the potential of the human spirit.
DON’T GIVE UP.
DON’T EVER GIVE UP.
Jim Valvano, Arthur Ashe Courage Award Acceptance Speech – March 4, 1993
THE FIRST MACINTOSH
iPHONE INTRODUCTION
HOW NOT TO USE POWERPOINT
THE LAST LECTURE
If you had one last lecture, one last thought to give before you die … what would it be?
Dr. Randy Pausch
THE GREATEST PRESENTATION OF ALL-TIME?
My pick for the greatest presentation of all time has no video, no PowerPoint, no audio recording. Just a picture and 697 words. Words that not only changed a nation – but were spoken with an eloquent sophistication borne on the wings of simplicity, emanating from a god-like heart, and that now ring eternally, ethereally, through time and heaven.
Words that always make me wonder, did a man like this really ever walk the earth? Will another like him come? Ever again? Read. Just take the time to read it below. Put yourself back in time. Listen to the words. And when you come to this phrase,
“Both parties deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive; and the other would accept war rather than let it perish. And the war came.”
Those last four words …
“And the war came.”
Has any more ever been said with less?
41 days later Abraham Lincoln was dead.
LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS
WASHINGTON D.C. , MARCH 4, 1865
“At this second appearing to take the oath of the presidential office, there is less occasion for an extended address than there was at the first. Then a statement, somewhat in detail, of a course to be pursued, seemed fitting and proper. Now, at the expiration of four years, during which public declarations have been constantly called forth on every point and phase of the great contest which still absorbs the attention, and engrosses the energies of the nation, little that is new could be presented.
The progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as to myself; and it is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With high hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured. On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago, all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it–all sought to avert it. While the inaugural [sic] address was being delivered from this place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, insurgent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war–seeking to dissole [sic] the Union, and divide effects, by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive; and the other would accept war rather than let it perish. And the war came.
One eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the Southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was, somehow, the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union, even by war; while the government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. Neither party expected for the war, the magnitude, or the duration, which it has already attained.
Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with, or even before, the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God’s assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men’s faces; but let us judge not that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered; that of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has his own purposes. “Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!” If we shall suppose that American Slavery is one of those offences which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South, this terrible war, as the woe due to those by whom the offence came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a Living God always ascribe to Him?
Fondly do we hope–fervently do we pray–that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said “the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether”
With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan–to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.” – Abraham Lincoln
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HOW TO CREATE A GREAT PRESENTATION … A MOVING MOUNTAINS CHECKLIST
Evaluation Checklist for Presentations of Others
1. Is the opening interesting?
2. Is a problem stated clearly?
3. Are the points developed to give a well-rounded view of all relevant aspects?
4. Is the action or belief desired stated clearly?
5. Does the presentor show that he has a vital and passionate interest in the idea presented?
* Is he dominant, submissive, or does he treat the audience as equals?
6. Is the style appropriate for the content?
* Brevity
* Clarity
* Variety
* Mystery or Suspense
* Recapitulation
7. Does the presentor explain or translate technical material well?
8. Are the visuals well designed and related to each other?
9. How well is cross-examination and discussion handled?
10. Is the layout of the room distracting, or does it inhibit discussion?
11. Are the examples, anecdotes, or humor relevant to points made and matched to the style selected?
12. Does the presentor’s idea appeal to Reason, Emotion, and Common Sense?
13. If a “project” type presentation, does the presentor take note of all relevant factors?
* Personnel
* Intelligence
* Operations
* Supply
* External Relations
14. Is the impression created by the presentor one which inspires the confidence of the audience?
* Are there any embarrassing points?
* Are there any nervous or irritating mannerisms?
* Is there a willingness to listen to the suggestions of the audience?
15. Did you learn anything new, or discover new ways to look at the old?
16. Did you see any new approaches which you can use in your own presentation in the future? ____________________________________________________________________
MOVING MOUNTAINS: HOW TO CREATE A GREAT PRESENTATION CHECKLIST
1. Problem-Statement
* What are the two clashing images?
* What exists?
* What do you want to exist?
* Which of the various forms of statement is best:
o Historical Narrative
o Blowing the Whistle
o Crisis
o Adventure
o Disappointment
o Response to an order
o Opportunity
o Revolution
o Crossroads
o Evolution
o Challenge
o The Great Dream Confession
2. Opening Sentence — Will it excite the interest of the audience?
3. What is the “plan” of development?
* Thesis, Antithesis, Synthesis, etc.
4. Do you have examples or anecdotes?
5. What devices do you have to get and hold attention?
* Is there a balance between Reason, Emotion, and Common Sense?
* Can you use assertion, refutation, doubt, and affirmation?
6. Style
* Have you made it as brief as possible?
o Is it oversimplified?
o Is it overembellished?
o Are there any tortured passages?
o Are there any embarrassing ones?
* Is every point clearly expressed?
* What alternations in mood exist?
* Is there a mixture of the lofty and commonplace?
* Can you use suspense or mystery?
* Do you need a recapitulation?
* If a multiple presentation, is a leader appointed?
7. Is the tone one of equality, dominance, or submissiveness?
* Do you really believe in the idea itself?
8. Is the group small or large?
* If large, do you have some humor to “break the ice”?
9. What prejudices, fears, or constraints can you expect from this audience?
10. Have you checked the room for distractions? Have you neutralized them?
11. Is the room layout one that encourages discussion?
12. Are visual aids appropriate?
* Does each one carry a statement of its significance?
* Are the best graphical methods used for statistics?
o If technical, have they been checked for competence by experts?
* Is their size correct?
* Are they related to one another so that someone could extract your message from the set of visuals alone?
13. Have you identified the weak points?
14. What cross-examination questions would you ask if you were in the audience?
* Do you have an answer for each one?
* If challenged on your competence, can you reply appropriately?
* Have you identified those in your audience who may oppose, and who are neutral?
15. Do you state clearly: (1) What you want the audience to do when you are finished? (2) What you wish them to believe?
* Does every point made lead to your ending statement in some way?
* Does the audience need to make great leaps to get to you conclusion?
16. Does the presentation use any special vocabularies unfamiliar to your audience?
* Have these been translated into terms intelligible to them?
17. Are unfamiliar techniques employed?
* Have these been explained?
* Have you established why these are used instead of more familiar methods?
18. Have you considered alternative methods of presenting technical points?
19. If the presentation is a “project” type, have you touched the five areas common to all programs?
* Personnel
* Intelligence
* Operations
* Supply
* External Relations
20. Have you exposed the ideas involved to the original, inquiring, and skeptical minds among your acquaintances?
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Flickr Photo # 2- Cahron – Eternity – courtesy of H. Kopp Delaney
Here it Is. I’m Dead. This is My Last Post
I had just finished reading “Great Beginning and Endings,” by Georgianne Ensign, when a Google alert popped up with an excerpt that caught my eye.
“Here it is. I’m dead. This is my last post.”
GREAT BEGINNING
I thought, what a great opening. The person had to be a writer. A superb writer. I was intrigued and wanted to see where it led. I opened the link.
THE STORY
I was right. It was a writer. Named Derek K. Miller. 41 years old. Married. Two kids, ages 11 and 13. And … he was dead.
A POST-MORTEM POST
Derek had written the post in advance and asked his family and friends to publish it – after he died from the punishing ravages of colon cancer. His post-mortem post was titled simply, “The Last Post.”
Life is strange. A Google alert on an ambiguous term led me to Derek’s last post, after reading “Great Beginnings and Endings.” His opening drew me in because I was studying the craft of story.
I didn’t know Derek. I do now. His life and work could be titled a “Great Beginning and Ending.” The ending of his story, though, reminded me of the last line of the last song the Beatles ever recorded which was;
“And, in the end, the love we take is equal to the love … we make.”
Read Derek Miller’s last post. To the end. You might not agree with some of the things he says. But the last line of the last post Derek ever wrote is one of the greatest endings ever written. You won’t be the same after … “The Last Post”
Social Media That Matters—for Families and Disasters
Forget the incessant cacophony about social-media use in business for one nanosecond. This post is about family, friends and loved ones. Find a way today to get them all connected to a social-media network of some type, because when disaster or terrorist attacks strike …
SOCIAL MEDIA MATTERS
Here’s why.
Several years ago my oldest son Kane worked in Galway, Ireland for a summer on a UN humanitarian law school project. When it was finished, he and a friend decided to visit Istanbul for a couple days on the way home. Being the ever-encouraging and positive father I am, I said,
“No. Are you nuts? You’re an American. Stay away. Did you look at a map? Did you happen to notice that Istanbul is not really on the way home from Ireland?”
Being the ever-obedient son Kane is, he went anyway—with much panache I might add.
That same weekend as I was traveling with my youngest son Zack up the Great Smoky Mountains Expressway (a 17-mile trip up, then 18 miles down the mountain) with no access to any phones, stores or gas stations—a completely uncivilized ( heavenly) driving environment, I heard a beep coming from my son’s phone in the passenger seat.
“What’s that?”
I asked that question because a year earlier there was no cell service going over the mountain—a dead area.
“My Facebook phone alert.”
Facebook? In this isolated stretch of mountainous highway? Was there no peace to be had anywhere on earth anymore?
Zack looked at his phone.
“Dad, Kane says to tell you not to worry (he actually said “not to freak out” but Zack had edited it), he’s okay.”
Now, usually when someone says “not to worry, I’m okay,” that means there is a lot to worry about that you didn’t know you should have been worrying about until they told you not to worry about it.
My youngest son is a perceptive communicator and translator. He anticipated my reaction and quickly texted his oldest brother,
“Dad wants to know what the %$^$%& you mean.”
“There was a terrorist attack—an explosion, a bomb—near our hotel. Killed a lot of people. The hotel management was rounding up all Americans staying there and securing us in a room—for protection I guess.”
A MAALOX MOMENT
This is what is typically referred to as a “Maalox Moment.”
A “Maalox moment” is that involuntary tightening of the essence of your entire being that occurs right before an impending disaster—like when your car is out of control and you know you’re going to crash. Or, you look out the window and see an F-5 tornado headed your way. The list could go on and on. These type of events all invoke a “Maalox Moment” response. I’m sure it’s an intelligently designed, evolutionary, genetic trait. One that is instantly triggered, when your son texts you …
… “Don’t worry. I’m okay.”
We texted back and forth going up the Great Smoky Mountains Expressway until I felt he was safe.
Now think about that. In the middle of nowhere, instantaneous communications from the Smoky Mountains to and from Istanbul—surreal and unimaginable, even the year before.
I turned the radio on. The national news networks had no coverage of it. In fact, it was three to four hours later before it was reported in the United States.
ANOTHER MAALOX MOMENT
Then there was another beep on Zack’s phone..
“Dad, Kane says to tell you he’s alright—again. There was another explosion.”
The evil and efficient minds of most terrorists know they maximize death, destruction and psychological impact if there are two blasts—one to attract attention, then another one, usually bigger and several minutes later, to kill the emergency responders. Emergency responders—the brave-hearted people who respond to dangerous situations all over the world every day.
Long story short, the hotel staff was great, took care of the boys, and they were on a plane out of the country two tense days later.
FAST-FORWARD: MARCH 11, 2011 – EARTHQUAKE
My youngest son Zack is now overseas teaching English.
He’s been there two years.
In Handa (半田市, Handa-shi) in the 愛知県, Aichi-ken prefecture, Japan, which is south of Tokyo.
About 6 a.m. on March 11, a Friday morning, I started getting beeps, pings, e-mails, Facebook messages and Tweets about an 8.9-magnitude Japanese earthquake. It startled me awake.
“Had I heard from Zack? Was he okay?”
I hadn’t—either about the earthquake or from Zack.
I tried to call, but couldn’t get through. The phone system didn’t work. The underseas communications cables had been cut by the tsunami and the telecommunications network had been severely damaged. I e-mailed him. Nothing. No response. Nothing to do but wait.This went on for hours.
No response to anything.
Silence. Then …
FACEBOOK’ED AGAIN
I get a Facebook message from Zack.
He’d been on the train to work. It shook severely and was scary, but he was okay. He said there were fires, quakes and tsunami warnings—things you don’t experience every day in Cincinnati.
Zack went on, through Facebook instant message, to describe what was happening, including the aftershocks every 20 minutes that were between magnitudes 4.0 to 5.0. Yesterday (Sunday) he’d had a 6.3 aftershock that picked his bed up, so he fled to the uncertain safety of the bathtub to ride it out. The bathtub is now his best non-human friend. Not so much as a kid though, if memory and olfactory senses recall correctly.
Then last night, Sunday (Monday morning for him), we video-Skyped. I saw his face, his smile, heard his voice—could almost reach out and touch him and I knew he really was alright.
When nothing else worked, social media and social-media networks did. How? I don’t know. Don’t care either. It just did.
Do yourself, your family, friends and loved ones a big favor. Connect them to a social-media network.
Use Facebook. Facebook has a Disaster Relief page.
Use Twitter. Twitter has been especially proactive during the Japan earthquake, posting a page of tools and tips on how to use Twitter to get information and to communicate broadly to family, friends and others.
Use Skype.
Use Google, though not a social network per se, it has a great Crisis Response Page with tools and critical information. It also displays real-time updates from Twitter via their real-time search function.
Use any social network you can that will help you stay connected during emergencies. It really is …
SOCIAL MEDIA THAT MATTERS
In disasters and terrorist attacks, I have learned this lesson twice: When nothing else works, social media does.
Portraits of the Fallen: Compassion on Canvas
Kaziah Hancock paints portraits of fallen soldiers free of charge for their families as part of Project Compassion. The epitome of giving through the gift of compassion on canvas.
Kaziah is a modern-day heroine, soothing wounded hearts of American families who have lost to war their children. Those wounds, though soothed, never ever heal.
What a wonderful, selfless woman.
LOOK. SEE – true compassion on canvas.
Video courtesy of KARE 11/ Minneapolis/ St. Paul.
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Lessons Learned from Hollywood STORY Guru Robert McKee