Bigthink - User Ideas Feed

The Importance of the word "I"

Bigthink — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 05:02:43 +0100

The word "I" is one of the shortest words in the English language; however, it carries the most meaning of all of our words. Think of the meaning behind it. It can be used to simply refer to oneself, sure, but it can also mean your TRUE self, the full compilation of all of the factors that make you up as a person.

The complexity of the word "I" suggests it is the MOST important word in our culture, and possibly all humans in existence. Do we ever really use it as a personal pronoun only? Some examples: "I think," "I can," "I will."

"I think": This conveys the fact that "I" has conceived of something; that is, something new has been incorporated into "I."

"I can": This says that "I" has the ability to do something; in other words, it is a possibility that some action can be incorporated into "I."

"I will": When a person says this, what it means is that the subject action has already been incorporated into "I," and will come into fruition at a future time.

All personal pronouns referring to other people are really referring to the "I" as it pertains to the subject.

Don't you love "I"? I sure do. (

The Media and Recession: The Importance of Silence

Bigthink — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 03:46:32 +0100

Recently, news programs and the media in general have gone about talking about there being a recession in America. No matter whether there is or not, this is a BAD idea. When people hear this, they think something like "Oh! I better save money just in case things get ugly!" and BANG, the conditions for a recession are set. Good job, the media. And just in case people realize that in order to avert a recession what they need to do is SPEND money (stimulating the economy), they have news programs telling them "Watch out, recession coming, SAVE your money!"

So SHUT UP, the media!

Note: I've already posted this under "Media and the Press," but I thought it may have been more appropriate to post it here.

The Media and Recession: The Importance of Silence

Bigthink — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 02:21:20 +0100

So SHUT UP, the media!

Do Men Get a Say?

Bigthink — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 01:49:42 +0100

With regard to abortion, the attitude of the Supreme Court is that a woman's body is her own to do with as she chooses. Well, this seems to disregard the fact that it's the man's child as well.

I see a possible solution that has numerous possible holes in it: require paternal consent to terminate a pregnancy. This would assure the father's right to decide the fate of his own flesh and blood, and (possibly) could stimulate improvements in contraception and birth control.

Unfortunately, while I see these possible benefits to such a requirement, it may cause women to get "street" abortions, which are also unsafe, and this could also be an issue when paternity and whereabouts of the possible father are unknown.

I have presented an idea and the holes in it. Please do not confine yourself to arguing for this idea alone if you have another idea.

Do men get a say?

The Future of the Universe

Bigthink — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 00:15:39 +0100

If matter attracts matter, then logically, at some point in the future, all matter will contract until it is at a point where it is no longer compressible.

Guess (tell me if there is a way to prove/disprove this, just makes sense to me): When all matter reaches the point at which it can no longer contract, it must (?) still continue to attract itself. Since it can no longer contract, would it not generate INCREDIBLE friction? Would this friction not generate heat, and therefore increase the average translational kinetic energy per molecule? If this were to happen, would the non-compressible matter not bounce off of itself, resulting in everything flying apart? Is this not the Big Bang? That would solve the “where” that people are always confused about. The void of the universe would still be there, giving the exploding matter room to expand.

I have no way to back this up. It just makes logical sense in my head. I’m not a physicist, and my math is not terrific. I just started to think of the world as simply a pack where a lot of molecules had attracted each other into a mass, the densest settling nearest the center… and then I thought about the universe the same way.

READ THIS POST!

Bigthink — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 23:53:28 +0100

Very, very interesting take on American affairs in recent times.

I urge you to read it. http://bigthink.com/policy-politics/2008-elections/5842