August 8, 2005

  • We can't really know someone's intent without them sharing that with us. Either they are lying to us, or they are telling the truth. Humans are really complicated in that way. So we have to control what we can. That doesn't particularly include most people. I am not praising or condemning anyone for what they do, but rather I am reiterating that what people do affects others, and often more people than we realize.


    What's it going to take to really get people to give a damn? Humanity seems to rally together when there is a common tragedy, enemy, or cause. After the tsunami, an outpouring of support came from many organizations, large and small alike. Lance Armstrong's "Livestrong" bracelets, a successful fundraiser for cancer research, started a trend that has crossed over into popular culture and many copy cats of the elastic bands.


    Maybe we just complicate matters way too much. Nobody is going to say, "Don't do cancer research, it's bad." Yet people say, more funding needs to go into stem cell research, rather than HIV/AIDS research. Is the pie really finite in size? We pit resources and causes against one another for seemingly limited resources. Do we not continually add and expand this pie through our contribution of resources and efficiency, thereby making it essentially infinite?