Great topic — agree with you that ‘the voters’ decide who’s fit and who isn’t. Although it’s worrisome to consider that this information could be misused, we can’t afford another GWBush (nor Cheney), IMHO. We all make mistakes; the farther up in any organization we go, the more our mistakes are magnified, and the less chance we have to correct them in a timely fashion (at least, as a general rule).

Political leadership needs to be held to some better kind of ‘vetting’ process. Someone can be a good elected without a lot of technical background as long as they’re fair minded, a good listener, and can make a decision (and stick to it). But in an age of complex technologies and complex organizations, we need a far better process than ‘who’s ahead in the polls’ or ‘who has raised the most money’.

To me, the voters need to decide.
But their decisions have to be based on information that is more informative, and better grounded, than polls and fundraising.

If polls and fundraising were the keys to presidential success, GWB would be a fine prez. I think we all agree that’s just not cutting it as methods to ensure that someone is qualified to make decisions that impact all of us

Happy reading!

Maddy – thanks for that. I’ll take that as high praise ;)

and kenoshaMarge:

Who by the way gets to decide who is fit and who isn’t?

that’s an easy one – the voters.

perris: love that link about McCain fronting for Blackwater. thanks.

Mnemosyne: thanks for sharing that evocative memory of your family’s friend hearing FDR – that summons up a whole diffferent era. thank you.

nonplussed: loved your wry observation on VA care.

CaroylnU: I’m glad the humor came through – and glad you like the piece

darkblack: guilty as charged! ;>

FunnyDiva2002 @ 30:

Yeah, well…
Guess nobody’s brain is perfect!
;-)

….mine sure isn’t!

CT@47: that sounds like a real burden for you and your son – hope a pediatric neurologist starts up practice on your island.

ekunin@61 – what an intiguing idea…I really like that (and I’m so glad i’d never be asked to do it!)

kathieinmn@101 – your work sounds so interesting – I wish you would go into your own observations and experience plus research; I think we’d all learn a lot from you.

thanks also to the many commenters who let me know they liked the piece – I appreciate your taking the time to read it.

Enjoy that dinner!
My ’squishy diva’ is desperately seeking some good REM cycles; off to bed…

your errata are fascinating: can’t waiit to read more

and now to eat….

I read this post as a great primer for an important topic’; helping people recognize that we all have brains, and we all need to take care of them. Teachers, physical therapists, and school psychs deal with ‘brain stuff’ (brain research, brain anatomy, brain functions) all the time. So do people who design software.

I didn’t read this as a diagnosis, but rather as an appetizer to a long overdue topic of great significance. We all need to share this information and use it to make better decisions about how we teach, advise, guide, learn, and take care of ourselves.

——————
Errata for anyone interested — Kirk, have we been reading any of the same books…?

“The Paranoia Switch: How Terror Rewires Our Brains and Reshapes Our Behaviors“, Martha Stout (2007). Great information about how the brain reshapes itself in response to stress and trauma, and how to address these problems. It’s written for the general public. And in an age where it’s increasingly clear that extended trauma is implicated in some students’ learning disabilities, the research implications are very important for many areas of public policy.

“This is Your Brain on Music“, (2007) by Daniel Levitin gives a great rundown of brain structures, particularly those involved in listening to, enjoying, and analyzing music. (My takeaway: more kids would do better in math if they were given more music lessons and provided with instruments and instruction. This would make an **awesome** Book Salon subject sometime!)
Extra bonus: Howie Klein gives a recommendation on the back cover of the paperback version!
http://www.yourbrainonmusic.com/

“Proust and the Squid: And Science of the Reading Brain” (2008)by Maryanne Wolf. Explains the brain and its functions, as they relate to reading. (And she also covers different types of writing systems, including Chinese and Japanese, which many people in the software industry might find useful.) She does a great job of explaining how reading is ‘generative’ — a creative process that expands in leaps and bounds.
—————

Software involves designing stuff in hopes of helping more people ‘think better’. So it’s not a big surprise that some of the more visionary minds out of the software industry would fund more brain research.

For instance, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has put significant resources into moving forward better understandings of brain anatomy and neurology. More at:http://www.alleninstitute.org/

Also, the mind behind Palm Computing wrote a fascinating book on brain anatomy and the biology of learning. More at: http://www.onintelligence.org/index.php

To me, your post on ‘the squishy diva’ is a sign of the times, and also underscores that we need to be mindful about how we take care of ourselves, others, and how we use our knowledge to make better decisions (about elections, as well as about our daily lives and finances.)

His skin tone leaves a lot to be desired in general, he needed much better consumption of B vitamins, vit. E, essential fatty acids … if he had just started as soon as he got back to America, given his life circumstances, it would have helped a lot