Here’s a concept for you to consider.

Our experience of the world isn’t what’s out there; it’s what we perceive to be out there.  That means our reality can be quite arbitrary because we sense the outside world through filters.  These filters exist beneath our conscious mind.  Most people aren’t even aware they’re there.  Yet they determine just what we perceive and therefore deterimine our reality.

We need these filters – we couldn’t possibly keep track of all the information coming in otherwise.

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How Real Is Your Reality?

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Are we a slave of our genes?

That is, do genes determine everything?

We all know that some things – like the color of our eyes – are determined by our genes.  Is everything determined by our genes?

The answer to this question has huge implications.  Are kindness, violence, intelligence, wit, stupidity and all other human traits the pure results of genetic inheritance?  If so, is gene manipulation the only way to change things?

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Can You Change Your Genetic Destiny?

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People say that nothing focuses your attention like your impending death. 

It has become a tradition as some universities to invite prominent professors to give their “last lecture”.  That is, to imagine that they had one last lecture in which to attempt to communicate their accumulated wisdom and the most important lessons they had learned.

Randy Pausch is a prominent professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University.  He was invited to give a last lecture, only for him it was no theoretical exercise – he has metastatic pancreatic cancer and will, barring a miracle, be dead in a year.

He’s 45 years old with a loving wife and three young children.  He’s at the peak of his career and has a world wide reputation.  Now he’s facing death and talking to us about what he’s learned and what’s important. Continue Reading »
What Can You Learn From a Dying Man?

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