The Role of Fantasy Time: Part 2 Villains

21 Mar 2012 2 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized

Yesterday, in the first of these two blogs on Fantasy Time, we looked at various fantasy worlds and the role that they played in our lives.  If you have not read this blog, I encourage you to go back and read it as it is a prelude to what we are going to discuss now.  Today, I would like to look at the role that the villains in these various fantasy worlds seem to play in our lives. Specifically, I would like to answer the questions:  “Why do we always have an evil villain who wants to destroy our fantasy world?   Why can’t we just have our fantasy worlds and let them remain peaceful and happy?”  Before we turn to this most important question, let’s take a brief look to see what traits define evil our various villains. What if anything, do the Devil, Voldemort, Mordred, Sauron and Captain Hook all have in common?  It is too easy to say that they are just evil and let it rest at that.  However, we often define evil as someone who murders or takes another’s life and in all of the stories I have read on the devil, I have not found one wherein he actually murders anyone.  The devil seems to be content to steal souls and let his henchmen do the dirty deeds.  This is not so with our other villains. 
I believe there are three traits that define each of the villains I have described.  The first is Megalomania.  This is described in the Free Dictionary as:
1. A psychopathological condition characterized by delusional fantasies of wealth, power, or omnipotence.
2. An obsession with grandiose or extravagant things or actions.
Each of our villains is dissatisfied with their role in life. As powerful as each one of them is, they want more.  There can never be enough for them as the thought of sharing power with anyone is beyond their conception or desire.  They have a fanatical drive to achieve power at any cost.
The second trait is a complete lack of moral scruples.  Each of our villains will lie, steal, cheat, double deal or in some cases murder to achieve their goals.  There are no commandments or moral precepts in their lives.  They subscribe to no moral or ethical codes and any laws or contracts are meaningless to them.  They make the laws to fit the situation and they break the laws when and if they desire to. 
 
The third trait is the capstone.  The first two traits alone would probably describe many people who do not go on to become major villains.  History is full of people who were megalomaniacs without any moral or ethical scruples.  There is something more unique about Mordred, Sauron, the Devil and Voldemort.  Captain Hook does not quite belong in this group. The third trait is Power.  Each of our villains already has a tremendous amount of power, more than any other human being around them but it is not enough.  They want all of the power in the universe for their own.  They are not content to share power with anyone else, even God.  
So having defined what makes an evil villain, why do we need them?  Why do we create them in our world?  What role or purpose do they serve?  They must serve a purpose or why do we create them, for create them we do.  Some of the arguments I have heard are:
  •  Evil defines good, without evil we would not know good
  • We need evil to have a challenge in our lives
  • Without evil, life would be boring and humdrum
  •  Evil always exists because it is born from free will
  • Humans are inherently evil
  • There is no evil, we only label things as evil
To digress for a minute, have you ever heard of the good girl/bad boy syndrome.  This is a condition that seems to afflict many women who almost subconsciously seem to be attracted to “bad boys.”  Many times this brings pain and suffering but such women will go right back out and find another “bad boy.”  Men have a similar affliction.  It is called the good girl/bad girl condition.  Men say they want to marry a woman “just like mom” but are then attracted to the woman who has more of the devil in her than angel.  So for both sexes, there is a curious attraction to the dark side of life.  Perhaps this is the same attraction that afflicted Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker.  I note these syndromes not only because they are so common but I think they speak to the question of why we need our villains in life.  Perhaps they provide a purpose that might otherwise be missing.  
I have heard that in heaven, you get to visit with God all day long and sit and worship him.  I don’t know about you, but I do know that Jesus’s 12 apostles could not even sit and worship with him for one hour.  I can’t imagine many people sitting all day long, day after day worshipping anyone.  In fact, in about ten minutes, a fight in heaven would probably erupt between some worshippers.  I can hear the beginning of the fight now “I was sitting next to God and you took my seat.”  “I was worshipping God but you were worshipping so loud, he could not hear me.”  “It not fair, you know more good worship words than I do.”  “God always liked you best.”  I mean can you imagine all of the people on the earth who ever lived just sitting around worshipping God all day long?  I can sell you a nice bridge in Brooklyn cheap.
So enter evil.  “Let’s just get something going around here to spice things up.”  If you have ever taught school, you will notice that your “evil” students are simply bored.  It’s amazing how much “evil” these bored students can introduce into the classroom.   So Superman needs his Lex Luther, Batman needs his Joker, Spider Man needs his Green Goblin and we all need someone to help put some spice into our lives.  Perhaps we get carried away with creating these villains and get more then we bargained for.  Our stories, lives, habits and even goals are strongly influenced by what we deem as evil.  Go to the book store, either online or in print and a majority of the books deal with serial killers or with romance novels wherein the good girl is attracted to the bad boy.  
So what is the answer to the question I initially posed?  Why do we need villains?  I think the better question, is how do we create a world in which we can live without them? 
Osho says: 
·         A totally different attitude is needed: the attitude of love. Christ brings love to the world. He destroys law, the very basis of it. That was his crime; that’s why he was crucified — because he was destroying the whole basis of this criminal society; he was destroying the whole foundation rock of this criminal world, the world of wars, and violence, and aggression. He gave a totally new foundation stone.
·         As you become more conscious of your cruelty, of your violence, gross and subtle, you start becoming more and more compassionate. Not that you cultivate compassion. Just by becoming aware of your cruelty, violence, ugliness… the very awareness brings new changes in you. And the energy that was involved in cruelty, in violence, starts changing. The same energy becomes purified, the same energy becomes compassion.
I think a goal for all of us might be to create these conditions in ourselves where we do not need the ultimately addicting but fatal stimulation of violence and hatred.  Perhaps once we have done this, we will not need to develop a purpose that relies on war and death and destruction.  We can create a purpose to build and develop and sustain.  Perhaps one day, we will not need evil villains to help define our lives. 
What villains have had the most influence on your life?  Could you live a life without a villain in it?  Are you attracted to the dark side?  How do you find the goals you need to make your life happy and productive?  Do you need to be in conflict too often?  Is your life more or less peaceful now than it was ten years ago?  How do you share your peace with others?

More time for Fantasy Please!

20 Mar 2012 1 Comment

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized

Went to a Red Box the other night and finally picked up the last Harry Potter film.  I was not sure what to expect since I had heard rumors that Harry was killed and that Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was destroyed by Lord Voldemort.  During the film, my emotions went through a series of ups and downs as I identified with the characters and anxiously hoped or waited in vain for the events to unfold, as of course, I wanted them to. When the film was over, I started to think about my reactions to this fantasy film and indeed my reactions to fantasy in general.  Most of us live a good part of our lives identified with one or more fantasies and I am no exception. 
Today, I want to talk about this Fantasy Time that imbues our lives.  Fantasy Time is that time where we are choose to live (mostly vicariously but for some perhaps physically) in another world.  This is often a world where our normal laws of time and physics do not exist.  Some might call such worlds magic but usually magic is simply a component of these worlds.  In these worlds, there is always interplay between reality and fantasy or between reality and magic.  Throughout history, humans have created a significant number of fantasy worlds where they can escape to.  The internet is full of fantasy worlds where game players adopt alternate personas and live in alternate realities.  Some of the most significant worlds have been created by writers and have been described in the world’s great literature.  Indeed, perhaps the first fantasy world to ever have been created was the “Garden of Eden” and is described in the Bible. 
In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve lived in peace with all of the animals and had no wants or needs. There was no pain or death and there was nothing but sunshine and happiness all day long.  There was no toil or labor and all of the needs of Adam and Eve were provided by God.  One might wonder what Adam and Eve did all day long but as with many of the great fantasy worlds of history, there is always an antagonist who is not content with the way things are.  In the Garden lurked a snake, also known as Satan, the Devil, The Fallen Angel and Beelzebub.   Satan wanted nothing more than to change the way the Garden worked and he found the opportunity in the form or perhaps metaphor of a Tree of Forbidden Fruits.  Satan convinced Eve to try one of these fruits and she in turn convinced Adam.  Their disobedience resulted in their being banished from the Garden of Eden and sent to the “real” world where pain and toil and death existed.  
There are many other famous fantasy worlds.  To name a few, there have been Never Never Land, The Land of Oz, the Shire, Camelot and of course Hogwarts.  In every one of these worlds, there have been the three common elements of all fantasy worlds.  The first is the peace and happiness and joy that exist.  The second is the freedom from the normal laws of physics.  The third and most problematic is the eventual appearance of the evil antagonist who wants to destroy the world and the peace that exists.  These evil antagonists have included such villains as:  Sauron, Mordred, the Wicked Witch, Captain Hook and of course Lord Voldemort.  Perhaps the only fantasy world on earth in which an evil villain has not existed has been Disneyland.  However, Disneyland is not a real fantasy world; it is only a fake fantasy world where you can pretend to be in a real fantasy world.  A “real” fantasy world has magic, fairies, elves, wizards, unicorns and dragons.  In a real fantasy world, you can fly or disappear or command the winds and rain to stop. 
When we contemplate our fantasy time, there are two questions which come to my mind.  First, why do we create these worlds?  What role do they play in our lives and how to they relate to our needs as human beings?  Second, and perhaps more importantly, why do we always have an evil villain who wants to destroy them?   Why can’t we just have our fantasy worlds and let them remain peaceful and happy?  Let’s take the first question in this blog today and tomorrow we will take the second question and also see what all of our villains seem to have in common.  Indeed there are many similarities between the Devil and Lord Voldemort!

John H. Timmerman writes the following about the effects of fantasy on our lives:

 “Fantasy literature as a genre has the capacity to move a reader powerfully. And the motions and emotions involved are not simply visceral as is the case with much modern literature — but spiritual. It affects one’s beliefs, one’s way of viewing life, one’s hopes and dreams and faith. Since I have had all these — beliefs, hopes, dreams, faith — affected by such literature, I feel compelled to ask somewhat uncomfortable questions about the experience.”

Timmerman goes on to explore the question of why we need such fantasy in our lives.  He asks the question that we are trying to answer today:  “What is the worth of this thing fantasy? What does it do? Why and how does it do what it does?”  His conclusion is as follows:

“There, in essence, lies the goal of fantasy: to lead the reader into a keener self-understanding. This is the central point of the genre. The artist of vision and fantasy expects us to learn something about ourselves by having made a sojourn through fantasy, to probe our spiritual nature, to grow in experience, to resolve our lives toward new directions. If fantasy begins in another world, it is in order to reach that mysterious other world of the human soul.” 

I have to say that I do not accept this interpretation of the power of fantasy in our lives.  I agree with Timmerman that the role of fantasy is more than simply escapism but I cannot accept this deeper almost subliminal interpretation for its power over us.  Indeed, we may grow in understanding by submitting to fantasy but I doubt that this is the attraction for most of us.  I have to come back to my own reasons (albeit little understood) for the enjoyment of fantasy.  

I have three key reasons I continue to be enthralled by fantasy:  

1.       The optimism and hope that such stories seem to offer for a better world.
2.      The excitement of a vision and mission that goes beyond my often humdrum goals.
3.      The identification with the often common hero/heroine who achieves extraordinary accomplishments.  

Let me use Camelot as one example.  During the 60’s, the term of office for John F. Kennedy was often referred to as a new Camelot.  Camelot was a special world where peace, justice, prosperity and equality existed for all.  It was ruled over by a benevolent King Arthur and Queen Guinevere who presided over a Round Table of faithful and loyal knights.  Perhaps, one must either be very naïve or at least suspend belief in reality but in the sixties, the Hippies, Yippies, Peaceniks and many Baby Boomers believed it was possible to create such a world and we believed that President Kennedy was our King Arthur and Jacqueline was our Queen.  As with Camelot, our vision did not last more than a generation and it soon foundered on the shoals of Vietnam.   

Those of us who believed in Camelot were moved by the hope and optimism for a better world.  The election of JFK offered this possibility. The vision of Camelot led a generation towards anti-war protests, women’s liberation, civil rights and political reform. Heroes arose from common people like Eugene McCarthy, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King and the Chicago Seven (to mention only a few).  I remember being involved in protest marches and the New Democratic Coalition.  This was long before I began to develop a certain futility in politics.  At the time, I thought I was part of this new Camelot.  Little did I sense, the impending doom that threatened Camelot from within.  Have you ever noticed that most of the evil that threatens our fantasy worlds comes from within?  Perhaps that is because the evil is a potential in each of us.  This is the issue that I will explore tomorrow.   Where does the evil come from?

Have you ever thought about the role of fantasy in your life?  What are your favorite fantasy worlds?  What joy do you get out of these worlds?  What characters do you identify with?  Why?  Do you have too much or too little fantasy in your life?  Why?

What is the role of good timing in our lives?

19 Mar 2012 Leave a comment

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized

Good timin, a tick a tick a tick a tick a
timin is the thing it’s true, good timin’ brought me to you.
These lyrics were written by Jimmy Jones in the sixties. He was one of the early rock and rollers.  The song suggests the importance of timing and falling in love. I have always wondered about the idea of “good timing.” It seems to be something that can account for so much good or bad in the world.  A friend of mine’s son was killed in a car accident on the way to pick his parents up at the airport as they returned from vacation.  He was only 29 years old.  A young woman was killed while running on the street when a car veered into her path and struck her. She was 18 years old.  A two year old toddler wanders outside on a cold night and dies of exposure.  A different time of day, a different day and a different season and all these people would still be alive.
Another person starts a business to sell disk operating systems and becomes the richest person in the world.  Sam Walton starts a retail discount business fifty years after Sears, Penney’s, Wards, Grants, Woolworths, Target and K-Mart and creates the largest discount store in the world.  Mary Poppins and the Wizard of Oz both were released during some very troubled times in America and went on to become blockbusters. Their message of hope and optimism came at the right time for millions of people who needed some inspiration.
What does it take to get good timing? Can we develop good timing or is one born with good timing, or is it simply luck. I have never been a believer in the idea of luck making anyone successful.  Some pundit once said “luck is where preparation meets opportunity.  This suggests that we are the master of our fates and not the victim of random chance. I see a great deal of evidence of this definition of luck when I look at successful writers, businesspeople, athletes and artists.  
Many people believe that timing comes from God.  It is a gift from the creator and the world unfolds according to God’s unseen laws. There is no luck and no serendipity.  There is only a predestination that is beyond our ability to know or understand.  Of course, if we have free will, then this would contradict a view that says God ordains all events.  Humans could not be free if the world was governed by predestination.   
So how do we account for the factor of good timing?  Is timing the one element of success that is random or is timing a factor that is also in our control?  Is timing something we can get better at?  How good do you think your timing is? Where would you improve your timing if you could?  Perhaps by understanding the role that timing plays in our lives we have a better chance of adapting it to our needs or perhaps we must reconcile ourselves to the fact that we are not always masters of our fates. 

Do you see the relationship between humor and time? It really is funny!

16 Mar 2012 4 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized

I was in the Arizona City coffee shop yesterday and picked up the Casa Grande paper called the Dispatch.  One of the headlines was “More Time to Kill?” and it was an article about the execution rate in Arizona which is one of the busiest in the nation.  I thought “well that would be a good subject for a blog but perhaps too heavy for a Friday.” So lets take a subject that is more fun and save the heavy stuff for next week.  By the way, next week Karen and I are driving back to Wisconsin by way of Texas so I may miss a blog or two depending on where we are staying.  I will have my laptop though and since most motels now have WiFi,  I really should have no excuse except for laziness. 
Time and humor seem to be related.  Have you ever noticed that a good comedian has an extraordinary sense of timing?  For a comedian to be funny, their timing has to be spot on.  A comedian has to sense the pulse of the audience as well as gauge the temper of the day.  For instance, jokes about 911 would probably not sound funny even today due to the seriousness of the tragedy.  However, comedians often joke about minor disasters and other failings when the time seems right.  Some comedians get away with telling racist and sexist jokes. They are able to sense the mood and nature of the audience. They also have an excellent sense of the Zeitgeist.  The Zeitgeist is a German word that roughly translates to “tempo of the times or the sign of the times.”  During the sixties, many of us took ourselves very seriously but today we can look back and joke about hippies, Woodstock, flower children and many of the quaint ideas we had back then.  Just look at how silly the dress and clothes look from back in the sixties. We thought we were so cool then and now we laugh at how clownish we all looked. 
If you watch the evening talk show hosts, they are masters at getting the timing just right with their audience. Even when they flub a joke, they are able to make an instant comeback.  Not only do they have to have excellent timing for their jokes but the selection of guests is very critical as well. All of us want to see guests who are current in the public mind for one reason or another. Perhaps they have an upcoming movie, divorce or some other noteworthy event. If they are not connected to any significant happenings, we are not likely to be as interested in them.  Being a celebrity has a great deal to do with timing as well as talent. Great celebrities are great marketers.
How do you deal with humor in your life? What in your life today can you laugh at that you might not have been able to years ago? What do you regard as so serious today that you do not ever thing you could laugh at?  What if you are wrong?  Is your life so serious that you cannot find anything humorous about it?  How could you add more humor to your life? How could you find a sense of better timing in your life to deal with humor? When was the last joke you told? 
 
 

Beware the Ides of March!

15 Mar 2012 2 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized

March 15th is the “The Ides of March” in the Roman calendar.  On this day, it was foretold that Caesar would meet his doom.  His wife warned him not to go to the senate but you no doubt remember his famous reply “Cowards die many times before their death, heroes die only once.”  Alas, Caesar went bravely to the senate and to his death.  In Marc Antony’s famous eulogy speech for Caesar, Anthony said about Caesar: “The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones; so let it be with Caesar.”   Perhaps it is a coincidence that this line from Shakespeare’s play “Julius Caesar” started resonating with me in my sleep last night. “The good that men do is oft interred with their bones.”  Perhaps it has to do with my recently reading the biography of Thomas Paine.  
Thomas Paine has been called by some the Father of the American Revolution.  His short monograph Common Sense helped to spread the ideas of the revolution.  According to Wikipedia: 
“It was passed around, and often read aloud in taverns, contributing significantly to spreading the idea of republicanism, bolstering enthusiasm for separation from Britain, and encouraging recruitment for the Continental Army. Paine provided a new and convincing argument for independence by advocating a complete break with history. Common Sense is oriented to the future in a way that compels the reader to make an immediate choice. It offers a solution for Americans disgusted and alarmed at the threat of tyranny.”
Based on his contributions to the revolution, many people even consider Paine to be one of the founding fathers along with Jefferson, Adams and George Washington.  Yet did you know that all of these men had repudiated their friendship with Paine and when Paine died in 1809 only 6 people attended his funeral.  Indeed his bones were later disinterred and to this day no one knows where they are.  Instead of being feted and admired, he died hated and ignored.  Today it is probably safe to say that not only has the good that Paine did died with him but few probably know or even care what brought so much opprobrium down on him.  Let’s take another case where the good that a man did was interred with his bones.  
In 1846, the United States of America went to war with Mexico. The major cause of the war was the fact that the USA annexed the state of Texas which Mexico still regarded as her territory.  The Mexican American War was not very popular in the USA and many regarded it as a naked bid for taking territory away from Mexico.  This feeling of naked aggrandizement continues to rear its head today amidst much of the anti-immigration rhetoric that gets thrown around.  Some regard the number of illegal immigrants as a wave of revolution forming a sort of “Reconquista” of California, Texas, Arizona and New Mexico by dint of the large number of Hispanics now occupying these areas.  
Nicholas Trist (1800-1874) was an American diplomat appointed by President James Polk to negotiate a treaty with Mexico.  This treaty is known as the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and was signed on February 2nd1848.  Trist had very strong feelings that Mexico was being treated unfairly and he wanted the peace treaty to be fair.  He did not have many supporters in the USA for his position.  Polk decided that Trist would not be tough enough on the Mexicans and ordered Trist home.  Through some subterfuge Trist ignored the instructions of Polk to return home and continued to negotiate with Santa Anna.  The end result was a treaty that actually ceded less territory than Polk and the expansionists wanted but still considerably more than Trist felt was fair.  It was a clear case of “to the victors, go the spoils.”  Trist later said of the treaty:
“My feeling of shame as an American was far stronger than the Mexicans’ could be.”
Trist was immediately fired for his insubordination, and his expenses during his time in Texas were not paid. Trist never held another major government position and was blacklisted in government for most of the rest of his life.  He died in relative ignominy.  A man who bravely stood up against public opinion and the President of the United States to do what he thought was right.  “The good is oft interred with their bones.”  In this case as with Thomas Paine, the good is ignored and the man seldom discussed in any American history lessons.  
As I write this blog, I am struck with the number of “unsung” heroes and heroines throughout history who now lie obscure and forgotten.  Perhaps a blog on these individuals would be a fitting epitaph and endeavor for someone to undertake.  As you go about the “Ides of March” today, think about someone who stood up for truth and justice when it was not popular.  Think about the quote that:  “The test of tolerance comes when we are in the majority and the test of courage comes when we are in the minority.”  – Ralph Sockman.   Who do you know who should be written about in the blog?  Who do you know who fits the quote that: “The good is oft interred in their bones?”  Drop me a comment; I would love to hear from you. 

What can we do to get more enjoyment out of our life?

14 Mar 2012 Leave a comment

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized

“Savor Time” like you would savor a good meal!  It is interesting that we can talk about savoring a good meal but when is the last time you heard anyone talk about savoring time? We seem to move so fast that time to savor time is practically non-existent.  So how would it feel to “savor” time?  When we savor a good meal, we linger over it, tasting every morsel very slowly and with great attention and concentration.  We let the flavors drift into our body and we enjoy the smells and texture of the food.  A steak has one aroma, roast chicken another and a good salad quite a different set of aromas and tastes.  Can you imagine trying to enjoy a good meal if there were no aromas and textures to the meal? 
If we were to do the same thing over every morsel of time and over every portion of time, would that make our appreciation of our lives any different or any better?  It just might. I think we could all gain a greater appreciation for moments of happiness, sadness and loneliness. Funerals give us a time to savor the flavor of sadness.  Funerals become healing time for the survivors.  The time to linger over the flavor of death is essential to the healing process.  Weddings are a time to taste and smell the flavor of great happiness and romance. Family holidays give us equal portions of nostalgia and joy as we reunite we those whom we have not seen for months or years. It seems like we need special events in our lives before we can take time to “smell the roses.”
What if we could learn to savor time on a regular basis?  The time you are alive and well today may someday be a great banquet that you will never be able to feast on again. Every day I wake up healthy and well fed is a day of abundance.  If I do not take the time to savor these days, I am missing out on the joy of living. When I finally learn to appreciate the days that I have to savor, it might be too late. 
A few years ago, a fish market in Seattle became famous and started a “fish” fad.  The workers there did something very novel.  They had fun at work.  They got their jobs done but they took the time to savor life while still at work. Their lives were not on hold from 9 to 5 and they were imminently absorbed with each moment of their day.  Many organizations started “fish” training and while it was well intentioned they did not really see the point. It was not just about throwing a fish or even having fun, it was about savoring each minute of life.  It was about being fully in the present and not living in the past or future.  
See if you can savor just a few morsels of time today. Which ones did you find worth lingering over? What was the experience like? How much more enjoyable would life be if you could savor time more?  If you did not find any good morsels, then ask yourself why not?  What would it take for you to find some times that were worth savoring? Do you have enough good tastes in your life? Where can you go to improve the quality of your “banquet?”

Short

13 Mar 2012 Leave a comment

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized

Let’s talk about “short” today.  I will not presume to give you the meaning of short.  In life, many of the best things are short.  In fact, we aspire to short some times.  For example, we almost all like:
  • Short stories
  •  Short sermons
  • Short courses
  •  Short speeches
  • Short equations
  • Short explanations
  • Short directions
  • Short naps
  • Short doctors and dentist visits
  • Short lectures
  • Short trips
  • Short sales
  • Short commutes
  • Short list of things to do
  •  Quickies
I decided to write a poem for this blog on the subject:  Here is a poem dealing with things that could fit the above list:
SHORT:  By John Persico Jr. 
Yes, sorry for the humor, but that is the poem.  I am not sure if it will qualify for the world’s shortest poem, but I would bet it is in the running.  
A long time ago, as opposed to a short time ago, I received a phone call from a potential client.  He asked me if I could do a five day course on quality improvement in one day.  I could not believe the stupidity and arrogance of the man.  To think that I would be able to, much less even want to cut all of our vital extremely important information down into one day.  This was the height of stupidity and arrogance.  I turned him down, I hope politely.  Slightly later in the day, I was talking to Jim York who was our sales manager.  I was regaling him with the story of the above client’s arrogance, naiveté and ignorance.   Jim asked who it was and would I mind if he called him.  I said of course not and give him the client’s name.  A few days later I saw Jim again and he told me he was going to do the one day class for the client. I smirked and thought to myself “well, better you fall on your face, then me.”  When I next ran into Jim, I asked him how the class went.  He said very matter of factly:  “It went very well. The client would like us to do more of these short classes for them.”  I was completely chagrined because of course I was hoping Jim would have fallen flat on his face.  Short beat long at the track. 
Years later I was at a Demontreville retreat in Lake Elmo.  I attend these 3 day retreats every year and they are a shortened version of the 30 day silent retreat fast advocated and made part of the Jesuit regime by its founder Ignatius Loyola.  I was sitting listening to a sermon briefly describing the purpose of the retreat and what we could hope to get out of it.  This was my fifteenth or sixteenth retreat and I already knew the answer to both of these questions.  However all of a sudden it struck me.  I had been attending these wonderful retreats for over 15 years and they were “shortened” versions of the original 30 day retreat.  My head filled with memories of my arrogantly telling Jim York how we could never condense our material into a short one day class and even if we did, it would be worthless.  I have since wondered if I could do a 3 hour Jesuit retreat or even a 3 minute retreat.  I suppose anything is possible if you have the desire and imagination. 
 
My moral today is that we should never laugh at anything even if you are sure we understand it.  Perhaps short is better than long for many things.  Some of the greatest leaders in history were short people and many actors wear elevator shoes to look taller. Maybe we should try to make things shorter rather than bigger. Do we really need bigger cars, bigger homes, bigger motorcycles, and bigger portions?  Maybe we need to makes things short and simple.  
What are your favorite short things?  Do you have a list of short things that you enjoy? Are you sold on bigger is better or can you think of things that you can improve by making them shorter?  Who is your favorite short person or short story?

Monday: A new start or the same old thing?

12 Mar 2012 Leave a comment

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized

Monday seems to be the day of the week that people hate the most.  It is the beginning of the work week for many of us.  We mostly think about the difficulties and problems that lie before us.  Few people wake up on Monday morning feeling like they do on a weekend or vacation day.  I try to make my Mondays different.  I start out each Monday with the following reflection: “I give thanks for this new day and a new start. I give thanks for my health and for my friends and for my family and for my wife.”  Monday is special for me because it is a new opportunity.  It is a chance for a fresh start. It is my “Groundhog Day.” 
Regardless of what went wrong last week or the mistakes I made, my reflection reminds me that this is a new week and a chance to start over. I could easily succumb to the negative thoughts about Monday but my reflection reminds me what I wonderful day it really is. It reminds me of my blessings and that today is a new opportunity. Why start off the week with a down feeling?  Life is a series of opportunities that are presented to us each day.  The time I have on Monday is no different than the time I have on Saturday or Sunday.  I choose my life by the choices I make with the time I have. So do you.   
There are no Mondays or Saturdays; these are only labels that we put on time and the great cycle of life.  These labels are simply conveniences and instead we turn them into traps. We have Mondays, Hump-days, TGIF days, work-days and holidays.  Each of these days is what you make out of them.  Each one is a potential to live a new life and to have a new beginning. 
Do you see Mondays as a day to dislike or can you see Mondays as a springboard to a new beginning and a new life? Which way would you rather see Monday?  What would make your life a new beginning this Monday?  It is a choice for you to make.  What is your choice today?  
By the way, I don’t usually ask for anyone to read a specific blog or to make a specific comment, but the blog on “Progress” that I wrote last Thursday was one I was hoping to get more comments on.  I spent nearly three hours on that blog and I was disappointed that I did not receive a single comment.  If you have the extra time today would you go back and read this blog and leave me just one comment?  You will help to make my day.  THanks for the extra time.  Remember to think today “Thank God Its Monday!” A new start!

What is dead time and how can we make it productive?

09 Mar 2012 Leave a comment

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized

What does it mean when we say it is: “Dead Time?”  One definition is: “Dead time is the time on a job lost by a worker without his fault.”  A second definition deals with time that cannot be recorded between two events as measured by some type of electronic measuring device.  Dead time for us personally seems to be the time in our lives when we cannot accomplish anything due to some problem or failure that literally stops time for us.  In my life, dead time is the time just before I fall asleep or the time when I am waiting in traffic and cannot do any work.  It is the time that it takes in the morning for my mind and body to start functioning. 
Each of us has many examples of dead time in our lives. Some of us have more of it then others.  Often, we try to find ways to make such dead time productive but it is not always possible to do so. Cell phones have enabled a great many people to use the “dead time” while driving to and from work to make important business calls or transactions. Some people make this “dead time” productive by playing audio book CD’s in their tape drives and using the time to learn something or to be entertained. We have a great many instances of dead time in each of our lives.  Some of these times are foreseeable and inevitable. Some happen randomly and unexpectedly.  Like, when you are taking a short ride and get stuck in a major traffic jam.  You can easily lose an hour or so when this happens.
How much dead time do you have in your life each day?  What do you do with your dead time?  Are you able to turn it into some productive use?  Could you use it to relax or even to meditate?  Few of us do enough relaxing or meditating.   Either of these could be a very productive use of time.  Does dead time really have to be dead?  It all depends on your creativity.

Are we making progress as a nation?

08 Mar 2012 2 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized

Progress is our most important product.  I remember this line from the GE exhibit at the 1964 World’s Fair in New York.   I took myself there for my high school graduation trip.  I went by myself and stayed with my Uncle Paul and Aunt Lola in Long  Island.  I remember my Uncle Paul saying “See the exhibits that don’t cost anything, they are the best ones.”  I followed his advice and had a wonderful time for three days before going home.  I was by myself and could see and go and do anything I wanted to each day.  My only concern was money.  Now it is 48 years later and I still remember the saying “Progress is our most important product.”  The questions I would like to explore today is what is progress and are we as a nation making progress?  
The On-line Merriam Webster dictionary has the following definitions for progress:
Definition of PROGRESS
1 : a (1): a royal journey marked by pomp and pageant (2): a state procession b: a tour or circuit made by an official (as a judge) c: an expedition, journey, or march through a region
2 : a forward or onward movement (as to an objective or to a goal) : advance
3 :gradual betterment; especially: the progressivedevelopment of humankind 
Progress involves time since it implies by any of the above definitions that time is moving and things are changing as time moves.  Things change either for the better or the worse over time.   Thus progress and time cannot be separated.  However, what if things are going backwards in terms of progress?   I often ask people I know if they are happier today than they were 20 years ago and by and large most people say yes.  I think that is interesting since most of the people I know are getting older but they still say they are happier. Nevertheless, my survey would not be a very accurate measure of progress.  Not only because of the small sample size but obviously it is not very representative of the entire population.  But what if we had a measure that was more accurate?  One potential model that comes to my mind is based on the Consumer Price index.   This metric is a composite of items that we often buy (called a bread basket).  Their average value or prices are used to calculate the Consumer Price index.  Generally things get more expensive from year to year. However, overall well-being can be somewhat determined by looking at prices versus wages. If wages go up faster than prices, we are better off.  On the other hand, if prices go up faster than wages we are worse off.  This latter situation leaves most of us very unhappy.  I hate to think that the upcoming presidential election will be based on the price of gasoline, but it is a distinct possibility.  
So what if we had a composite measure of progress?   I suggest that such a metric could be used and it would indicate whether or not we are making progress as a nation.   I would call this index “The National Progress” index and I would include the following.  I will give a brief explanation of each metric and the latest data on it for over the past 10 – 100 years or so.  If the metric is green then we are making progress.   If it red, then we are going backwards.  One problem that still remains is a good way to combine the data from each measure into an overall metric.  Perhaps some of you can suggest a way that this could be done.  I am going to cite results for the USA but this could also be used in other countries.  I am going to base my basket of measures on six indices that I think should be used to measure progress.  
Infant Birth Mortality:  This measures the mortality rate for newborn children and is one measure of the health and well-being of a nation.  This level has steadily decreased until the average for the USA is 6.8.  Minorities are higher and as a nation we have slipped in the overall country rankings to 40 in the world. However rates for all groups in the USA have decreased and many would argue that decrease is the most important factor. We are dropping in world standings but there is little doubt that we have improved dramatically in this area.   I give this metric a green.  
Homicides Per Capita:  This is a measure of the violence and respective fear in a society from personal harm.  The Homicide rate in 1950 for the USA was 4.6, it has fluctuated from a low of 4.0 (1957) to a high of 10.2 (1980).  The rate for 2010 was 4.7.  State by state and city by city these rates vary from a low of 1.2 to a high of 52.  Rates also vary by ethnic group.  Longer term trends going back to the 16th century suggest a continuing decline but looking rates since 1950 the outlook is not as positive.  Furthermore, one can argue that overall crime statistics are more important then any single statistic but again the question arises as how do you combine these to create one overall crime index.  Another problem is the rate of incarceration in the USA.  We have one of the highest rates in the world for prison inmates, not to mention our rate for capital punishment.  Overall, I have to rate us in the red for this statistic due to the variability of the data and the problem we have with prisons and capital punishment.  By the way, I am not against capital punishment but it has not solved the problem or made our neighborhoods any safer.  It also costs us a great deal of money with little apparent results.  
Longevity:  This is the length of time we live.  I will not even bother going into historical data on this statistic.  We all know that longevity has increased dramatically over the past hundred years due to increases in medicines, sanitation, education, research and hospital procedures.  Average life span in 2009 is 78.2 and the death rates for 10 of the 15 leading causes of death decreased significantly between 2008 and 2009, including for heart disease, cancer and stroke.  While there is a difference by ethnicity for life spans as well as by gender, all groups in the USA have improved dramatically since 1900.  I give this one a strong green. 
 
Real Disposable Income Per Capita:  This metric measures the money we have left after subtracting the principal, interest, taxes and insurance and all other obligations from a workers monthly net income. It is sometimes called discretionary income or net disposable income.  In a way, you could say that this metric determines how much fun you can have in life or at least how much you can spend on nonessentials such as movies, vacations, casinos, concerts, golf, fishing etc.   The data here (http://www.advisorperspectives.com/dshort/updates/DPI-Monthly-Update.php) shows that for the past 20 months there has been no growth in disposable income. Looking back to 2000, the data shows an overall 14. 6 percent increase in disposable income.  I would have to give us a red in this metric.  Bear in mind, this metric does not show income growth by wage levels or any other socio-economic divisions. I would suggest that the strong growth in upper 1percent income levels over the past twenty years may seriously skew this metric.  I find it very difficult to hear anyone who has more disposable income now than they had ten years ago. On the other hand, concerts, casinos and restaurants still seem to be doing a flourishing business. 
Average National Intelligence:  A book (IQ and the Wealth of Nations) by Robert Lynn and Tau Vanhanen argues that differences in national income (in the form of per capita gross domestic product) correlatewith differences in the average national intelligence quotient (IQ). The authors further argue that differences in average national IQs is one important factor, but not the only one, contributing to differences in national wealth and rates of economic growth.  The USA ranks 19thout of 82 nations.  There is considerable controversy over the concept of IQ as a measure for anything since it is very problematic in terms of providing a valid metric for intelligence. Many would argue that IQ measures nothing but cultural differences in terms of what the test makers think is valuable to know.  
The Flynn Effect deals with the issue of how the general IQ scores of a population change over time.  In his study of IQ tests scores for different populations over the past sixty years, James R. Flynn discovered that IQ scores increased from one generation to the next for all of the countries for which data existed (Flynn, 1994). This interesting phenomenon has been called “the Flynn Effect.”  The reasons for these increases in IQ are still being debated.  As it stands, these increases in IQ would indicate that each generation in the USA and elsewhere is smarter than the preceding generation.  Without a firm explanation of the Flynn Effect, we are shaky grounds trying to answer the key question here “Are people getting smarter are dumber.”   My own bias as a teacher for the past 40 years is that students are indeed much smarter than they were when I was in school.  They have much more of a sense of politics, economics and street sense than my generation ever had.  On the other hand, tests show the USA to be falling behind in science and math scores compared to other nations.  I would have to give a green here to the metric for Average National Intelligence.  I would give a red score to our schools though if I had a way to give them a report card.  
Human Respect:  How do we measure respect for each other as people?  Do we measure hate crimes or the rise in hate organizations over the past twenty years.  (See the Southern Poverty Law Center for data here (http://www.splcenter.org/).  Do we measure the increased role of women and minorities in government and the labor force?  Do we measure the rise in lawsuits for workforce discrimination or the increase in women and minority CEOs?  Depending on where you look and your perspective, you might see less respect for people or more. I will use for a metric here the number of women and minorities that now hold government jobs in the US and the number of women and minority CEOs in the Fortune 500.   I think these might be the best indicators of how much progress we have made as a nation in respecting people.  I could also add Gay people here but I suspect that the numbers would not really reflect the total number of Gay people.  Religious preference might also be an indicator of respect but I will forego this for now since the data is not as readily available.  An interesting resource for those of you who want to make world comparisons on this issue is the following by Karen Bird (The Political Representation of Women and Ethnic Minorities in Established Democracies)
The most recent data for women and minorities in government shows the number of women and minorities in senior-level jobs increased in fiscal 2010, according to a new report from the Office of Personnel Management. Women represented 31.2 percent of senior-level positions in fiscal 2010, up from 30.4 percent in fiscal 2009; blacks made up 6.7 percent of the top government jobs in 2010, an increase from 6.4 percent in 2009. The proportion of women and minorities in General Schedule grades 13 through 15 increased by 7.9 percent and 9.4 percent, respectively.
Currently, 12 FORTUNE 500 companies are run by women, down from 15 last year, as three left their posts and were succeeded by men. In 1995, not one Fortune 500 CEO was a person of color. Today, 19 Fortune 500 companies are run by people of color. Seven are Latinos, five are African American and seven are Asian American. I think the data shows that although the Fortune 500 does not reflect anywhere near a gender or ethnic profile of the general USA population; there have been increases for both women and minorities in this rarified atmosphere of corporate America.  I would have to put a weak green in this metric for human respect. We still have a long way to go.  
So there you have it, my six metrics of progress.  I am going to be criticized for not including technology and science metrics.  There is little doubt that we have made great strides in technology and scientific explanations of the world.  I would include a metric for these if I could find a good one and I am open to suggestions.  What metrics do you think I am missing? What metrics would you add to my basket?  Do you think we are making progress as a nation?  Why or why not? What do you think it would take to make progress?  How could you help?

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