Deep Caves and Backyards

Great discoveries can be made not by exploring the deepest caves and the highest mountains, but by investigating and observing the world around us. Some of the greatest discoveries, such as Archimedes eureka moment when he discovered the Archimedes Principle, we're found by observing everyday details. As with Newton and his dicovery of gravity, the most fundamental information can come from just observing simple life. Leonardo da Vinci, famous for the Mona Lisa also spent a great deal observing everything around him, enabling him to make amazing inventions way beyond his time, such as his flying contraption.

The story of how Archimedes proves that discoveries can be made by observing little details. The story of how Archimedes and the Golden Crown is one we were told as children. King Heiron II of Sicily gave a jeweler a bar of gold and told him to make a crown. When the king received his crown however, he suspected that the jeweler substituted some of the gold with a cheaper metal and pocketed the excess gold. The king asked Archimedes to verify whether the crown was genuine or not. While Archimedes was taking a a bath, he noticed that the objects in the bathtub was displacing some of the water. He observed that the object displaced the same mass of water as the object. With this sudden epiphany, legend has it that Archimedes ran out of the washroom, wet and naked yelling "Eureka!". Although perhaps Archimedes never ran out of the washroom naked, it was the observation of simply water being displaced that allowed Archimedes to discover the Archimedes principle.

Another legend of a discovery made by observing simple everyday details is the story of how Isaac
Newton discovered gravity. One day, when Newton was sitting under an apple tree at his mother's
house, an apple fell on his head. He began questioning why the apple always fell down words. After
more contemplation, he concluded that the apple wasn't falling downwards but drawn to the Earth's

core. He then connected this with celestial bodies, such as the moon, sun and stars and realized that
everything draws other objects, or has a gravitational pull. Because of the simple observation of an
apple falling down a tree, Newton was able to discover one of the most important discoveries in
science.

Leonardo da Vinci was a man who liked questioning the world around him, from why thunder lasted longer than lightening to why the sky was blue. Through observing corpses of animals, he was able to see exactly how the muscles moved and how each body system interacted with each other. He also
studied birds and aerodynamics, buying then freeing birds to study them in flight. He also studied bats, for the wings of his designs resembled bats. wings, with pointed ends, like bats. In his notes, he also mentioned that he studied kites and their flight as well. Through these observations, he was able to create the base of airplanes and helicopters, a huge breakthrough in human history.

Although some may argue that Darwin created the theory of evolution by exploring the Galápagos Islands, observing what is around us can provide us with important information as well. Deep caves may be a source of human history, but through nature, we can find much more answers that can help the development of human beings. Through observing nature, we now have electricity, the SpecialRelativity  theory and more. The greatest discoveries are sometimes not found by exploring the unknown and going to extreme places, but right under our noses hidden from plain sight. Perhaps the nest great discovery will be in your backyard.

A happy place

Fluorescent lights blinked upon porcelain tiles.
Blue walls. Blue bands. Rooms of the unknown.
No, the hospital was not a happy place.

Huddled out on a street in Vegas.
Used guitar. Used shirt. Song for change.
No, the streets were not a happy place.

Hide in a corner, hope they go.
One laugh. One word. Crimson tears fall.
No, the hall was not a happy place.

Paint a picture, plant a seed.
Throw a dollar, give the needs.
Lend a hand, set them free.
Step ahead and do the deed.

The hospital becomes a safe haven,
The streets hold smiling faces.
School becomes a loving home,
The world is a happy place.

Buying a Macbook Pro

After one year of vigorating work in delivering newspapers and helping neighbours with their gardens, there was finally enough money to buy a Macbook Pro. Every month, the hard earned money from newspaper delivery was stored away into a saving account along with any addition money earned from neighbours. This said, I was still a couple hundred short, but it was all covered in the final purchase. 

Unfortunately, I had enough money for the laptop around the time of the release of the iPhone 6. The nearest Apple store had a huge line jutting out of its doors. A man wearing a blue hat flied up and down the line, barking orders and typing frantically into his machine. A plain RESERVATIONS sign was raised above the impatient bobbing heads of the line. For a while, we stood in the line, waiting to book a reservation until we realized the line was only for iPhone 6 buyers. As we made our way into the usually vacant store, it was flooded with viewers and prospective buyers. People waited to be able to experience the iPhones and iPads while others tried to catch a salesperson’s attention. When we finally reached the Macbook after pushing and bumping through the throng of customers, we waited for service. 

There were only so many workers that day. A man rushed to us, looking like he was about to help until he suddenly pulled out his iPhone and quickly booked us into the reservation list. Other salesmen rushed around the store trying to find their appointed customer. Ten minutes passed, and finally, a lady with a kind happy face walked over. My mother began to speak, but was halted as the lady pulled out a laptop and started typing. She gestured to her ears and mouth, then shook her head. She was deaf mute. 

Leaning over her shoulder, I see that she had written: How may I help you today?

Smiling back at her, I type an explanation of what we were interested in buying. She punched our order into her service iPhone and walked towards the back of the store. Instinctively, we began to obediently follow her until she turned back around and waved us back to our booth. She opened her laptop again and told us to wait here for her and gave us an apologetic smile. Confused, we watched her go. 

She returned a few minutes later with my Macbook Pro. Her movement were slow and careful, unlike the rushed and blurred strides of the other Apple salesmen. Setting down the new laptop, she pulled hers out again and began to carefully explain other offers. She told us about a 15 minutes set up and about cases for the Macbook. We asked her a few more questions concerning return policy and such, where she kindly answered. When our personal set up assistant arrived, she tapped my shoulder and offered me her winning smile and gave a laugh. Though she couldn’t talk, it was nice to her beautiful laugh. 

Back at home, with my wonderful new laptop, I was content. Though the process took longer than I had expected, it really didn't matter. What was several minutes more compared with quality service?

Little Decisions and Huge Consequences

Everyday we make thousands of small decisions, but these decisions can have major impacts on our lives, and even the lives around us.  Although we see our everyday dicisions as insignificant, overtime they can have a a major effect on humanity. For example, Eve from the bible eating an apple seems like a small decision, but it transformed the rest of human history. In 1966, an American man by the name of Alfred E. Kahn published an article about the effects of small dicisions and his inspiration was the Ithaca railway. The death of many people on the RMS Titanic was also because of many small decisions.

The story of how human were banished from the garden of Eden is an example of how small disicions can have a huge consequence. God created the Garden of Eden and filled it with many trees bearing fruits. He created all the animals, including Adam and Eve the first humans. He told Adam and Eve that they could eat the fruit of any tree, except for the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The two humans promised and lead a happy life free from pain and turmoil. However, one day, A snake convinced Eve to take a fruit from the Forbidden tree. Although eating the fruit was a small decision, it would soon have a huge consequence. Eve then convinced Adam to take a bite as well. Right after eating the fruit, they were able to separate right and wrong, but more importantly, they began to age and would die. Because the two disobeyed God, they were forced to leave the Garden of Eden and introduced hardship and toil to humans. The act of taking and eating the fruit was small and seemed insignificant at the time, but small acts can lead to huge consequences.

The essay by Alfred E. Kahn published in 1966 talked about how small decisions could lead to undesired outcomes. His inspiration for this essay came form the Ithaca Railway. At that time, the railway was the only reliable way to get in and out of the city and was always open, even in
unfavorable weather. However when a new airline was introduced, plus a bus company, people began making the decision to take the bus and ride the airplane to get out of the city. Less and less people
were using the railway, and thus it had to close. Perhaps no one saw taking the bus as a huge decision, and in fact, it is not, but these small decisions accumulated overtime causing a major means of transport to shut down.

A collection of small decisions were the cause of the sinking of the RMS Titanic. The ship was said to be unsinkable and the crew did not pay as much attention to the safety of the passengers, therefore there were less lifeboats, only enough for about half of the passengers, therefore many died in the freezing waters. The captain of the ship, Edward J. Smith wanted to beat the maiden voyage of the Olympic, the Titanic's sister ship and the Titanic was sailing full speed in an area known to have icebergs. If the captain decided to go slower, the ship may have been able to maneuver around the iceberg. Also, the binoculars were locked, and the lookouts did not have access to them during the fateful night, making it harder for them to spot icebergs. Perhaps if the binoculars were not locked up, the lookouts would be able to spot the iceberg.

Little decisions do have a large scale impact of the future. Looking at each decision individually, perhaps the decision would seem insignificant and not a big deal, but perhaps when looking at small, everyday decisions, we need to look at them as a whole, rather than individually. As the example of the Ithaca Railway and the sinking of the Titanic, each little event contributes to a larger and maybe more important consequence. Little decisions, unlike what many people think is many times the beginning of a great event.