The Whole is Greater than the Sum of the Parts

A little thought expirement.

Gravity at the basic level is attraction between two different sets of mass. The dandelion seeds floating in the air past the window have gravitational pull on the Sun.  The sun has a much stronger pull on the floating dandelion seed, however.  Pretty simple. Newton made the subject popular.  Props to the man for making it cool to be aware of our surroundings.

Now the second part to it.  The pull of gravity attenuates with distance.  In other words, the sun's gravitational pull is weaker on the dandelion seed than the pull that the earth has, because the earth is right here.  The proximity of the earth to the dandelion seed trumps the incredible mass of the sun.  There is some famous law that I discovered because of Google and Wikipedia.  It's called the inverse square law.  Its the mathematical formula for calculating the attenuation of forces with distance.

So why am I talking about this?  Well, because it's a principle.  And because the inverse square law is a principle, it applies to more than just things with mass.  And with this principle, there are two parts to the equation: size and distance.

Let's talk about distance first.

What does this mean? For starters, we love the things in life we are closer to, or more familiar with.  Spending time with a loved one increases the attraction, for example.  We also become more emotionally connected to a job the longer we work at it. I would even hypothesize to say that the same rule applies - The strength of our relationships is equal to the inverse of the square square of the distance of that relationship.

In other words, if you want to have a better relationship with someone, you have to get closer to them.  If this is a novel idea, here's a few ideas to practice.  If this is old news, you're probably already doing these things.

- talk openly about how you feel to grow closer emotionally
- spend quality time together to be close (literally)
- Introduce proper physical touch. Even bros can hug it out once in a while
- Teach and learn with the other person
- Seeing new things and having different experiences naturally bond people.

Relationships, especially familial relationships, should be a strong bond strengthened by few to no barriers.

Distance directly effects strength.

The second part of the equation has to do with the size.

The larger footprint of a person or organization, the more powerful the pull.  The United States, for example, has such a large impact of the world not because of wealth, but rather because the sheer number of wealthy individuals in the country.  Apple has a larger impact on the world than a small company like HP.  In another sense, a larger relationship like mother-son, or even grandma-granddaughter is much stronger than a relationship between 2nd cousins.

Size directly effects impact.

Coupled together, size of a relationship with its impact and distance of a relationship with its strength compose the indicator of power.

Power increases when two or more parties come together because of the multiplier.  As an example, organizations that are larger tend to have an easier time recruiting.  Larger organizations also have more power.

So, in the end, our lives become more meaningful when we align with something larger than ourselves.  Religion, sports, and especially our countries instill pride and contribute to a feeling that we are something important.  So, get out there and get involved.  But choose wisely.

Around and Around

I've been waiting for this semester for the past year and a half.  Coming home from Jerusalem was a bummer. Having Ashley leaving on her mission was like getting the wind knocked out of me. The whole time I was waiting. Waiting to change the world. Well, the time came around when my travel buddy came home and first thing I wanted to do after we got married was travel. Obviously. I thought Mexico would be a great idea. We could work on our Spanish, setting up schools would be more than enjoyable, and we would have the time of our lives. Well, sometimes there are better plans out there. As I've been finding this semester. Ashley just likes to make my life better. After talking and figuring out we wanted to get married, the opportunity came up for her to do a field study in India. She was elated. I was excited - to get out of Provo at the very least. I've never really thought of India before. It's growing on me. I mean, its as populous as China. So it should be sort of a big deal.
Traveling always brings new ideas and fresh perspectives. So I'm excited to start my blog again and to have Ashley write as well. She loves people, and so there's no doubt that we are going to love being in India.  Top three things that we will love:



1. Learning about Hinduism
2. Learning about Indian customs
3. Meeting everyone. This really will be #1. We just haven't met very many people from India yet. So we're going to let it grow on us.

We leave at the end of May and get back in August. I am going on an adventure!

February 14

 

One of my favorite things to do

I figure its time to be a little more honest with myself.  I'm getting married.  And I'm pretty excited about it.  The best way to love someone is to show it, and its kind of nice to hear it to once in a while.  Valentine's day is my absolute favorite day.  I'm not really big into celebrating things.  I am big into loving people, especially this girl.  So in honor of the best day on earth, here are the top 3 reasons I love my fiance :)
1. I can't help but smile when I'm with her. The saddest moments in my life have been when she's away, and the happiest moments have been with her.  Life is pretty simple with us.  As long as we have food and Ashley isn't freezing, we will be smiling.

We snapchat pictures of us to us

2. We are always having fun.  Whether we are driving in the car, doing homework, or just snapchatting each other, it's always a blast.  I think about 2 people in this world think I'm funny.  If Ashley isn't one of them, she's at least getting a pretty good kick out of laughing at me.  I don't know how many times I've ended up rolling on the floor I've been laughing so h
3.  We focus on the right things.  I love being able to talk about anything, anytime.  I also love how we have a focus on the spiritual things such as the temple, caring about other people and cultures, and how to have Christ-like love.

Maximizing Life

Life is about change.  Refusing to change is a death wish, or a life of misery at best.  Complacency is the downfall to many companies. I decided to make a death row of companies that failed to change.
                                                   









So what is the best way to grow and to avoid failure?  To make mistakes, and to make those mistakes quickly and then get over them.  Making mistakes means being vulnerable.  Not vulnerable in the sense of being taken advantage of.  Vulnerable combined with courage.  Faith is not necessarily a correct word either, because faith is a principle means of learning.  Faith is based off of a source of knowledge that already exists, or truth.  Vulnerability is the willingness to act learn.  In a sense it is the complement to faith. 

Take it from Ken Robinson. In his inspiring talk, he humorously tells why we need to change in the most important sector of infrastructure - education. While not perfectly easy, becoming vulnerable and desiring to change will just make life better.

Throwback Thursday

I haven't blogged for a while.  So I think I will.

I am in my last year of my BYU education.  The experience has been incredible, and I know I am not done yet.  As I start interviewing across the country, there are a few thoughts I wanted to get out in the open. These thoughts are on happiness, because honestly that is all that really matters.

1. Happiness comes from people.

As I was writing that I instinctively put computers instead of people.  I work with computers all day and hate it.  I don't hate my job, I hate that the computer doesn't respond.  Computers can't feel.  Computer apathy has slowly seeped into my mind.  I don't feel as much as I would like to.

2. Happiness comes from doing what is right for the right reasons.

Don't get me wrong, doing the wrong thing for the right reasons and even the wrong thing for the wrong reason sometimes appears to bring happiness.  Like success in a sport, true happiness comes from practicing the right way and performing to that standard.  Success may not always come, but it will come more often than if poor principles are practiced.  

Really happy people are able to be happy because they get both parts of this.  They understand that they need to do right, and they are doing it for the right reason.  Many people have good intentions, but getting around to doing it is another issue.