Study science with soul

The pendulum has swung.  First there was the hand-wringing that we didn't have enough graduates with 'hard' degrees - science, engineering, technology and math - now, recent news from  a Harvard study is about the 50% drop in the number of students in the humanities.  And the phenomenal rise in online learning shows vastly greater interest in computer science or business courses than in philosophy or anthropology.

Though my own major was in math, I was always attracted to the liberal arts, auditing classes when I could, and strongly believe that not only are the liberal arts fascinating, they are necessary for individuals, as well as society as a whole, to be complete.

Why?  Because:

1. The 'hard' subjects are all about the 'how' - humanities help us with the 'why'.
2. Calculus and compilers don't teach you about different cultures.
3. The past formed our present which informs our future (why history matters).
4. We need a moral compass to guide us through the unprecedented changes caused by medical and technological advances, from clones to drones.  Philosophy helps.
5. Art expands the mind (think different).

The United States holds the innovative edge largely due to its ability (so far) to pay serious attention to the arts and humanities, as well as the sciences - a fact that other countries are recognizing and working hard to emulate.  We're at a time when we can discuss the science of the soul as well as the soul of science.  We should embrace this kind of 'blended learning' and keep it going, don't you think?

Images courtesy of renjith krishnan & Simon Howden / FreeDigitalPhotos.net 

Time is money

A truism.  And some variations below, noted while waiting for a software fix ;)

1. Wasting time is wasting money.  
• Well maybe, for commercial endeavors.  Otherwise, wasting time is just that.
2. Spend money to buy time.  
• That works for personal and business 'work', from paying someone to clean your home to outsourcing your social media research so you have time for other things.
3. Your time is worth money.
• Depends on what you do with that time doesn't it?
4. Saving time is saving money.
• See #3 above.
5. Saving money is saving time.
• If it is time spent in making money, sure.
6. Spend time to make money.  
• Yup, if what you're spending time on is income-worthy.  Like polishing up your coding skills or 'networking' for consulting gigs or baking cookies.
7. Money is time.
• The reverse of 'time is money' though hardly anyone says that.  Maybe because of the perspective - if you're not hurrying up, you're losing money, but if you're spending money, you're what, losing time?
8. If you don't have money, spend the time.
• Assuming people who don't have money, will at least have the time - why students wait in line for hot concert tickets, and the rich pay the students to wait in line for them.
9. If you can't spare the time, spend the money.
• Again with the assumption that you're the kind of person who is more flush with cash than hours.
10. Money can't buy you time.
• Sounds like a contradiction to #2 doesn't it?  But this is about the time that you don't have at your control and is often controlled by nature, the time for stuff like healing.

Final thought: time is worth more than money.  Especially in relationships, ask any counselor (or mom!).  Spending time on the things you care about gives you experiences to savor, builds memories to cherish and long term happy feelings from both.  Wouldn't you agree?

Equal Value? 

Entrepreneurial attitude

I believe entrepreneurs are distinguished more by their approach to life than anything else.  Here are two stories I ran across recently that bolster that belief, of two very different people who exemplify the 'just do it' ethos of the entrepreneur.

First up, an 'oh wow' account from a young techie about how he went about making a new dice game.  It details how he went from concept to a game that is now ready to buy, pulling together whatever resources he needed (and learning a lot on what they were and how to find them) to make it happen - a departure from delivering software to delivering a physical product.  The 'oh wow' part is not only does the game sound cool, but that he took on the effort, and more importantly, the risk of failure, at building something new.

The second story is more of an 'awww...' one - an 89 year old woman (yes, 89!) who decided to pretty up her walking stick and seeing how everyone liked it, she started a business selling decorated canes to anyone else who wants a little cheer on their stick (cherry on the top - she raised expansion funds on Kickstarter!)  Here's a lady who happily plunged into entrepreneurship when everyone would be expecting her to be sitting back and relaxing in her rocking chair.

How many of us think of products like these and don't ever take them beyond a Sunday afternoon daydream spin?  These may not be ideas that "put a ding in the universe", "disrupt" anything or aspire to "billion dollar market caps", but their creators didn't let modest goals, lack of experience, or age hold them back from bringing them to market - and clearly, they had a lot of fun in the process.

Enjoy the stories on Happy Canes and Space Dice - do you have a story to share?

Image courtesy of Master Isolated Images/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net