The Importance of Knowledge for All

Our world is getting more and more complex every day and we need people with knowledge to tackle this complexity and help us solve problems.  Progress is inevitable and educating the young generations is essential in meeting the needs for this progress to continue improving our lives.  We now have the amazing internet with unimaginable power to increase our knowledge and at the same time to destroy us.  We need creative knowledgeable people to deal with cyber security and complex economies.  We need clever specialists to help with curing diseases and understanding behavior.

In the past most exceptional minds came from families with privileged means.  But nevertheless there were those young curious minds from very poor families that did manage to learn to read, get access to books and make their way to meet the right people and come up with great discoveries.

It is most important that every child around the world has access to knowledge and proper education.  Nobody knows when and where the most brilliant mind will appear.  Those rare brilliant minds may have the ability to solve problems that seem unsurmountable to many of us.

I have to stress here that progress is necessary to make sure the earth can sustain us all in peaceful productive life.  And we should all agree on this.  History shows us that sometimes people believe that “ignorance is bliss”.  Many rulers and autocrats denied people access to books and any kind of knowledge.  How often did governments burn books or ban them?  It was easier to control ignorant people I assume.

I came across a study by the National Science Foundation (NSF).  Questioning 2200 people they found that: 1 in 4 Americans Don't Know Earth Orbits the Sun. Yes, Really, in the United States.  Can you believe people are certain that the sun orbits the earth?

 

http://news.discovery.com/space/astronomy/1-in-4-americans-dont-know-earth-orbits-the-sun-yes-really-140214.htm

You can imagine the level of knowledge of the simple fact that the earth orbits the sun around the world in less developed countries.  There are places where there is no mandatory education.  Places where girls are not allowed to go to school.  I am with Malala: The pen is mightier than the sword.

I am optimistic about the power of the internet in bringing basic knowledge to masses of young children.  There are already programs like Kahn Academy with lesson plans in many basic areas as well as advanced topics.

https://www.khanacademy.org/

Here is the opening statement from a the learning site:

https://blog.udemy.com/importance-of-knowledge/

You’ve probably heard the old quote, “Knowledge is Power,” That’s truer than you can ever imagine. Few people understand how important knowledge can be. Knowledge is what allows us to drive cars instead of ride horses, it is what helps us survive far longer than we should, and knowledge is even what prevents us from making the same mistakes we made in the past.

Lets obliterate ignorance!

 

Balance of Abundance and Scarcity

I'd like to point out that in our modern world there is potential for abundance in almost every imaginable resource.  Clear examples that come to mind are the abundance of energy from the sun and the abundance of water in our planet.
Most of all there is abundance of new ideas coming up every day with the help of our collective intelligence and imagination.
The idea of scarcity came about from our history of hunting and gathering, the time where we did not have the tools and the technology we have today.  There was no agriculture or print or highly developed industries.  Our survival instincts caused us to believe the scarcity is detrimental.
It is often and common that we hear about water shortages or an energy crisis.  We easily get into a conflict mode and debate as to how to resolve these shortages.
The current drought in California is considered the worst in over a hundred years.  Studies of tree rings show this drought is worst in over 1200 years.
Please check my March 29 post on Israel and water.  This is what Booky Oren pointed out:  There is all the snow on the mountains.  There are floods.  There is the ocean water that can be desalinated.  It is possible for humans to use their ingenuity and imagination to create a water delivery system that is efficient and equitable for all.
In the past century we have been utilizing coal mines, fossil fuel and atomic power plants to create energy.  Each of these methods caused multiple problems in our planet.  The time is here when we are ready to utilize the abundant energy from our sun.  Solar panels are getting improved every day and there is the vision and technology to harness this energy in batteries.
The concern about scarcity follows us throughout our lives.  If some people are very rich we feel that they take all there is and leave nothing for us.  But the idea of abundance is the idea that there is always plenty for all and as people have more opportunities they also create more abundance. 
Watch this video on Tesla Energy by Elon Musk:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvCIhn7_FXI&feature=youtu.be

Wind Farm in Germany:

Tesla battery for the home:

Israel and Water

In February 2015 I attended a lecture about Israel and water and learned much about the business side of water:

Israel and Water: Collaboration, Innovation, and Global Leadership”

Booky Oren, Chairman and CEO, Booky Oren Global Water Technologies

Water shortages persist as a major issue all over the world. In 2013 however, Israel overcame its water challenges through implementing a variety of technological solutions, making 2013 Israel’s “Water Independence Year.” In this talk, Booky Oren will discuss Israel’s innovative water solutions and how they can be leveraged in a global context to create economic growth while also assisting billions of people worldwide.

Booky Oren is not an engineer but an MBA.

He started the talk with two maps of the Middle East.  One from space.  The second one the underground water flows.  In both maps there were no borders.

(Ah how many of us would like a world without borders...)

In 1912 the British calculated that the water resources in the area of the Palestine mandate can support a population of 2.5 million.  Today there are 14 million people living in the area.  
I would like to stress our human ingenuity, the advances we made in science and technology.  I do not prescribe to any idea of shortages and lack of this or that.  It is in our power to bring abundance into our lives and that of our fellow humans.

Water has been used in war and in peace.  In 1967 Syria tried to block the water resources to Israel as part of their goals in the six day war.  In 1994 Israel signed a peace treaty with Jordan where they promise to provide Jordan with all their water needs.  2013 was marked as the year of water independence for Israel.

Booky Oren is interested in the commercial aspects of water.  He was CFO of Israeli companies such as Mekorot and Netafim.  He is now involved in i2i “Innovation to Implementation.”

He claims water technology can solve many problems around the world.  Like me he is convinced that there is plenty of water, there is abundance!  He has a global perspective and he pointed out that politicians are still using water for political gains.  They will keep the same old infrastructure and red tape in any possible way they can to slow down implementations of new technology.  If there is a drought in one place there is flood in other places so this is where we should allow our ingenuity to take over.  He brought the example of desalination plants in Israel.  For years the budget did not include operation of these plants.  The year there was a drought the operation of the desalination plants was instantly funded.

Israel needs to leverage its technology for partnerships with water utility companies.

In closing the speaker pointed out a list of proven innovative global water technologies that can improve the sector:

Israel: ELTAV www.eltav.com, OUTLOCKS.

Switzerland: Gutermann. 

Canada: viva modeling

Spain: Aqualogy

Germany: HSTsystem

USA: FATHOM http://www.gwfathom.com/

UCLA: NORIA