Problems have the importance you Give'em.... NOT!
I have an incredible father! Really I do! One of his great features is that he sometimes (ok, few times) comes out with a Sun Tzu inspired sentence that seams to make all sense universally that instantly burns into your mind! I have a great example! Once he told me: "Problems have the dimension you wish to give'em!". Ok baffle yourselves at this and think if it is not true. In fact it is very much so, the main problem is that it's not that universal! As a study of applicability you may get:
1- Problems that can be solved by this sentence:
- Your best sweater is in the laundry machine and you have a date with that "proof that God exists" woman! - ok... Don't burn yourself out, I'm sure you can still impress her with only your best pants, and u can take the best jacket to compensate! If u stand there complaining and don't fix your hair, not even all your best pieces of cloth together will do the trick!
- My cat is gay and I always trying to make a pass at me! - this big problem can turn to almost nothing when you think the cat is actually smaller than you and thank yourself for not living in a farm and having pet horses! Now that would hurt like hell!
- My cell phone is out of battery and I won't be able to call my father to get me home now that's raining! - ok... Time to walk! Anyway maybe the woman in the first point is around in a Lamborghini Diablo and takes compassion in a lame, wet, idiot looking guy in summer outfit walking in the pouring rain. (Ok, I know I'm pushing it, buy I was hooked in the image of the girl!!)
Anyway, you get where I am getting to...
But the philosopher's sentence crashes completely in its universality when faced with its nemesis: truly universal problems!
And now before I lose you for taking way to much time to get to the point, I confess I told you that story to tell you this story!
I was watching the news a couple of says ago, and the hanker man said a sentence that made my balls shrink and look for cover: "scientist warn that instant measures are to be adopted in order to prevent the extinction of... Mankind!"
No getting around this, I thought. This is it!
But you know, how bad can it be? I mean, we are in the middle of the news bulletin, he has already talked about football, miss Maria's cat that didn't come down the tree and caused the whole fire department of the metropolis Seia (About 20 fireman) and all the equipment (a 1920 wood ladder) to come to the premises, and, of course, the unforgotten McCann soap opera with a piece of paper representing a cartoon in black and white of the supposed raptor (might as well be my next door neighbor from the quality of the sketch that I sure as hell wouldn't notice it)... So my point being: how bad can it be really? If the news get's so far back in the news show (not a mistake, it's really a show), next to such important matters, he is probably talking about the smaller sense of the world mankind and the smaller sense of the word extinction... But in fact there isn’t a smaller meaning to these words I think (I have already checked it, there isn't in any dictionary, but you may recheck)... So as I waited anxiously for the news, trough the commercial break and the next blocks of ever so important info (don't remember all of them, but I am sure you have seen'em also where you live no matter where!), my nerves where actually calming down...
You know, I think news people do this on purpose... Calm you down and then break it to you... Kind of like the doctor, saying: this won't hurt a bit, calm down, and then sticks a scalpel in your arm to cut off that 5 cm cue ball u have for an infection!
What I saw was really problematic. Scientists say (by the way, have you noticed that whenever in the news scientist say something it’s always like a big ambiguous group with no name and no face, a kind of shadowlike company that acts as a whole to place fear in our hearts? I know some scientist and I have to tell you: they don’t even agree with the notion that light speed is unbreakable, much more agree with matters that have so many factors as the climate! I would prefer if they say the scientist name instead of Mrs. Maria whose cat was lost! Dam I even know the name of the cat!) that the climate changes will provoque water rising, thousands of Km of costal line to be unusable for humans (if u don’t know, most of the population lives n coastal lines, probably you do too), mass exodus (u know that thing with Moses? Remove the pharaoh, the 10 commandments stone, and assume once and for all the waters are not going to part), heat waves (Playboy’s new swimsuit edition will be with Eskimos), panic, violence, and all the usual treats u may imagine coming with it. Best of all: not that far away! In my lifetime!
Ok so now I’m terrified… running to the internet and searching for a small share of the moon (if Mel Gibson hasn’t bought it all yet), renting all the diving equipment I can get my hands into, and really, really putting those swimming lessons on top of my “to do” list.
And the problem is this, and just this… this is one of the problems that cannot be solved with my father’s sentence… no matter how I look around it, the words mankind, extinction, and immediate don’t seem to be able to collapse in importance, no matter what perspective I use.
So, why, oh why I must ask don’t we see this all the time in the news? Why isn’t it the front story of every news paper, on billboards next to the Nokia adds “underwater cells phone for all of you that know u are gonna make phone calls with whales on your living room! Nokia, connecting species!”?
The fact that we all need to do something to prevent mankind’s extinction seems… vaguely important!
And while still I have no answer for this mystery that seems to trouble me, and not the news producers, governments, influence groups, reporters, 5 litter engine’s owners (sorry, I really had to throw a punch at you guys, but when your making me sweat like a pig, It seems fair), and all assorted “let me put my head under the sand and it will all blow away guy’s”, I do know that that no face, shadow group should be heard more often, in prime time TV, trying to help us on what to do…
Hey my life may not be great at this particular moment in time, but I sure as hell don’t want it shortened, by let’s say: 40 years!!!!!
I usually take these moments to present some links for you to get more information, but today, I just won’t… And I’ll tell you exactly why: It’s everywhere… search Google, watch the news, or just step outside and wonder why you can go to the beach in November (hey I live in the northern hemisphere! It’s winter here!