Month: March 2012

Here’s a story from Detroit scheduled for release on Sunday, April 1st.

The major US auto manufacturers have announced they will begin equipping all 2014 cars and trucks with power assisted accelerator pedals.

The sixties brought the introduction of power steering. Power brakes followed in the seventies. Both advances began showing up in luxury models and trickled down over the years to all models.

It’s the opinion of the major car manufacturers in Detroit that the lack of foot pointing power is widespread enough that all models need to be equipped with power accelerators within a year and a half to avoid potential operational errors.

Internal studies funded by the “big three” have shown that Americans are heading down a slippery slope of sloth faster than expected.

We’re now not only exercising less, but actually avoiding exercise whenever possible. That trend, in combination with our standard American diet is resulting in newer levels of physical weakness.

The ability of many adult Americans to point their toes forcefully enough to depress an accelerator pedal has been steadily decreasing for the last 15 years the study claims.

The inclusion, by the American auto manufacturers, of the power assisted accelerator pedal is also seen as a leap ahead of the competition from Germany and Japan.

Catholics are known for not really reading the Bible. Their priests fill them in and I’m sure this isn’t just a Catholic trait. It’s in the interest of the priest class to control what information the flock has. But the flock’s getting smarter.

Though people with information often try to hoard and control it, the trend over time is for more people to become more exposed to ideas. And the scientific method contiues providing answers via a transparent process with answers that can be replicated.

Computing power continues to explode instead of increasing by drips; it doubles in power and halves in cost pretty much every two years. What’s going to happen as more and more people tap into internet that continues offering ever more information? Soon most people will have access to almost all the information and stories that everyone else has.

In the face of mysteries, most people seem to just want an answer because they don’t feel comfortable with uncertainty. And there are always people at the ready to provide the answer, even if it’s a guess or based on foolishness. But as mysteries are actually understood and explained, like that stars are really other suns – not pinholes in a shell above the earth, the providers of questionable and fantastical answers lose ground.

With easy access to good information it’ll be harder and harder for some people to persuade others, no matter if they’re sincere and wrong or simply con men. Any claims they make can be (easily) verified. Trust but verify.

How’s what you’re doing now working for you? How you’re framing an idea affects how well you can sell it to yourself. Figuring out which tribe you’re a part of helps.

Once you figure out the tribe you belong to, you’ll know what motivates members of that tribe. Then you’ll be able to “sell” a better idea to yourself more easily.

For example, before you eat another triple scoop cone, you might say to yourself  “Nothing tastes as good as being _____ feels.” Knowing your tribe you might fill in the blank with: being skinny, being healthy, being kosher, or whatever’s important to you. Maybe yours is a tribe of one and you just want to look better in your bat suit.

You may be able to make the sale to yourself; especially if at some level you don’t really want to eat that triple scoop cone in the first place, maybe just a single scoop will do the trick.

More and more people are shopping online, right?

I still like shopping in stores too, even though I’m not usually a buyer. I’m just interested in what’s available and like visiting stores. Then throw in the internet, it’s appealing if you’re a person who’s curious (or if you’re a curious person too I guess) and for shopping selection it can’t be matched by any store.

Where do most people shop online? My guess is at work. Followed by shopping at home and in neighborhood coffee shops. Would you rather be in a big box store pushing a cart or relaxing in a small coffee shop with more options than the biggest box store could ever hold?

What goes around comes around. I don’t think the big boxes that have altered the retail landscape are going anywhere soon. But there seems to be lots of business being transacted in the coffee shop nearby.