I heard a caller to NPR this morning saying the mission to Mars was a waste of money to go and look at rocks. I guess that we are lucky that everyone in history has not felt that way about exploration. Crazy guys like Columbus, Lewis and Clark, John F. Kennedy and Neil Armstrong. I can certainly see his point, we are going to look at rocks, but we are there for so much more. What if we find something unexpected that's not found on our planet that helps cure cancer or HIV. Even if we don't find anything we didn't expect, just developing this project creates new technologies that are some of the the first of their kind on Mars, such as a laser-firing instrument for checking elemental composition of rocks from a distance., or a first-of-its kind automated flight-entry system to sharply reduce its speed.
I know a project like this costs money, but I believe that missions like this on to Mars and past missions to the Moon have benefits, some that we see and some we don't, that far outweigh the costs.
Monday, August 6, 2012
Monday, April 16, 2012
Doing for Others
I have 3 sons. Two of them are in their 20's and have grown up to fine young men. The third son just turned 3 years old.
As an older father, and having helped raise two sons, I have been looking for ways to improve my parenting skills and make sure the youngest son grows into a good man (fortunately I have a built focus group with the older two).
I will probably in future blogs discuss different ways that I will accomplish my goals, but the thing he and I decided to to this week is to help someone out every week for the whole year.
Today he asked my how come a man was standing on the street corner holding a sign. I explained that times were tough and he is asking for help. He then wanted to know why I didn't help him; I didn't have a ready answer for him.
You can't really explain to a 3 year old how some of the people out there are not honest, and you can't be sure if they really need the help, or if they are just running a con. But upon reflection, does it really matter if they are running a con or not? I'm trying to teach him compassion and generosity and the only way to do that is by example.
So this week we decided to help one of our neighbors pick up the trash from her yard. She is older and has trouble bending. It only took 15 minutes and she was grateful.
We won't limit ourselves to one a week, but we will at least try to give someone a hand once a week. Whether it's helping someone with a chore, donating clothing to a shelter, or giving someone a handout, if we feel safe in doing so, we are going to help.
My son is already a loving, caring young boy. I want him to stay that way and think of others before himself.
So next time we see someone on the corner we'll go ahead and give them a buck or two and then we will have helped someone who needed it, and even if they didn't really need it, my son will be learning to care about his fellow man.
As an older father, and having helped raise two sons, I have been looking for ways to improve my parenting skills and make sure the youngest son grows into a good man (fortunately I have a built focus group with the older two).
I will probably in future blogs discuss different ways that I will accomplish my goals, but the thing he and I decided to to this week is to help someone out every week for the whole year.
Today he asked my how come a man was standing on the street corner holding a sign. I explained that times were tough and he is asking for help. He then wanted to know why I didn't help him; I didn't have a ready answer for him.
You can't really explain to a 3 year old how some of the people out there are not honest, and you can't be sure if they really need the help, or if they are just running a con. But upon reflection, does it really matter if they are running a con or not? I'm trying to teach him compassion and generosity and the only way to do that is by example.
So this week we decided to help one of our neighbors pick up the trash from her yard. She is older and has trouble bending. It only took 15 minutes and she was grateful.
We won't limit ourselves to one a week, but we will at least try to give someone a hand once a week. Whether it's helping someone with a chore, donating clothing to a shelter, or giving someone a handout, if we feel safe in doing so, we are going to help.
My son is already a loving, caring young boy. I want him to stay that way and think of others before himself.
So next time we see someone on the corner we'll go ahead and give them a buck or two and then we will have helped someone who needed it, and even if they didn't really need it, my son will be learning to care about his fellow man.
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