Ah Humans!

Red Knot bird and Horseshoe crab

A program aired on PBS's Nature.

Lessons learned

- Nature’s creations are so complicated and so intertwined.

- Through out Human history, so many species have tasted our wrath. Are Red Knot birds next?

- Whenever you whine think about Red Knot bird. It makes the migration from Chile to Arctic every year to breed. Compared to its journey, is your situation really that bad?

All in the context!

~Embedded in the context~

I was thinking about why it is difficult to understand others and what really does matter? It seems to all depend on the socio-economic-political context that you live in. Seems pretty logical and banal, but do you really put yourself in other's shoes? So, regarding the two questions that started the blog --

Generation gap:
It is the difficulty in understanding the embedded context of other generations. With your "rational and logical" thinking, you can probably never understand.

What really does matter?
Unfortunately, not the majority of the time we spend on. I had the good opportunity to live in different continents. So, what used to seem like important & "something that must be done" in one place becomes utterly inconsequential in other. This should be clear from the above 'context' post. The sooner one realizes this and realizes what is really important, the closer one is to the elusive happiness (I think).

Elevator

Who hasn't used elevator - one of the luxuries of human achievement?

Come to think about it elevator is an interesting topic.
I don't think individuals like enclosed spaces..in that sense Elevator design seems flawed. I guess that is why one is that much excited in a glass elevator (box).
As long as one are alone in a box, it doesn't bother. As soon as other join -- it becomes very awkward. Not only are you in a box, now you have to share it. Not knowing what to do in this situation, people are desperate to get out. So individuals came up with ingenious behavior. They often

• Stare at the 'floor indicator' -- as if to make the elevator go faster OR
  
• Stare at the door -- open ASAP OR
• Stare at the floor -- probably thinking that they shouldn't have gotten into this box in the first place
  

Unable to bear the deafening silence, one brings up inconsequential topic (news, weather etc. etc.) -- all in vain to shorten the eternal ride and get out of the box.

P.S. Is there elevator etiquette?