This is a post inspired by TED.com’s ingenious section that I hope someday to be on, even if I have to make an uninvited guest appearance and run like a demented would be stripper across the stage and into the gentle waiting hands of security.
I have spent a good sized wedge of today listening to the incredible short video clips of amazing individuals from all walks of life and the ideas that they have developed to solve the problems that they have encountered in the world. Most of these individuals are ordinary people that have used their own unique creativity, experiences and talents to make real and lasting change in hundreds of thousands of peoples lives.
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I would put out the challange to you that, if they can do it, why can’t you?
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I trust this is going to be one inspirational roller-coaster ride of a post for all, with the possibility of chocolate cake and ice cream afterwards.
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Josh Silver – Is Giving People Sight
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An incredible man whose visual presentation hammers home the real life problem of the need for glasses and the lack of qualified optometrists in the world. He saw the problem and exactly how many people are effected by it, and then he went and produced an idea to solve it. Over 30,000 people around the world can now see because of this mans passion and refusal to sit still.
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John La Grou – Is Saving 20,000 Lives
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Using his passion for invention and electronics John and his team develop a way to eliminate electrical fires, protect children and reduced the worlds energy usage all in a simple 10 cent chip.
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Adam Grosser – Is Giving 1.6 Billion People A Fridge
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Adam focuses on the idea of using thermodynamics to completely remove the need for electricity giving access to safe food for millions of people.
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Daniel Kraft – Is Saving People’s Precious Backsides
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Daniel saw the destruction his was causing to the marrow donors backsides by stabbing it over 200 times with a syringe during donor sessions and so developed a more effective and less intimidating procedure. Many peoples rear ends will be thanking him for this.
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Michael Pritchards – Is Producing Safe Drinking Water For All
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Although this is actually not new technology, I happen to know because it is one of the businesses I am involved in, Michael is passionate about what he is involved in. He saw the Tsumai, got angry and set out to make a difference. I kind of imagine him being very much like the incredible hulk when he get angry. Lots of tearing clothes, turning green and deepening voice, that sort of thing.
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Kary Mullis – Is Creating Radical Weapons For The War On Bacteria
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You should listen to this buy because he is at least 80, dislikes cops planting marijuana in his car, has a personal vendetta against stratocaccous and is an absolute creative genius who took an unsolvable problem and applied it to a completely different field for incredible results.
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Woody Norris – He Is An Accidental Inventor who “Aims” sounds
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“Virtually Nothing Has Been Invented Yet” What a statement to live by and Woody, the Robbin Hood of the inventing world, has 15 innovations and 44 patents to his name that backs up his favorite phrase. I think he probably has a lair deep underground where he invents his ideas, lets hope he continues to use his talent for good and not evil or someone will have to call in Bond.
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Listen To The Call
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We are not all problem solving physicist’s, error correcting engineers and earth saving electricians but we all have talents and skills in areas that others may not.
We all also have unique life experiences and it is the combination of your passions and your life experiences that is the well from which your creative ideas will flow. Whatever your age, or whatever the field you are in, be inspired by these people to take action.
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Find the problems that exist and don’t wait for others to solve them, you get out there and make the innovations that will save lives, reduce global warming, relieve pain and improve peoples lives.
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There is rarely a better person then you to solve the problems that you see in the world and, as in the words of Woody Norris, Virtually Nothing Has Been Invented Yet.”
Check out the Ingenious section at TED.com for more excellent examples of people who have taken the call to action to see a problem
Also, if anyone can come up with an idea to stop me eating quite so much chocolate in one sitting then It would it be greatly appreciated because I am currently feel very sick. Ideas below please and here is a joke to get your creative juices going.
Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson go on a camping trip. After a good dinner and a bottle of wine, they retire for the night, and go to sleep.
Some hours later, Holmes wakes up and nudges his faithful friend. “Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see.”
“I see millions and millions of stars, Holmes” replies Watson.
“And what do you deduce from that?”
Watson ponders for a minute. “Well,
Astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets.
Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo.
Horologically, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three.
Meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow.
Theologically, I can see that God is all powerful, and that we are a small and insignificant part of the universe.
But what does it tell you, Holmes?”
Holmes is silent for a moment.
“Watson, you idiot!” he says. “Someone has stolen our tent!”
And here is some visual cake, which is the next best thing to physical cake.
Great post. I was going to fall asleep at a “normal time” until I came across all of these videos. Now I have to lay awake wondering how I can help the world. Cheers!
Hi Casey,
You are welcome. I make it my personal mission on this site to drastically reduce the worlds average number of hours asleep one wide eyed reader at a time.
Genius! This goes contrary to a popular thinking style that says: find YOUR problems and try to solve them. Often, It’s only when we are productive individuals, when we are able to help others in the world solve their problems that we can truly solve our own problems. We are connected.
Eduard
Cheers Eduard,
I have never really been one for conventional thinking and generally try to kick it hard in the private region whenever possible. Hopefully this post and the excellent guys in the video will inspire people to do the same. We can have a good old kicking session.
Well i see you had a busy day lol. seeing you streak across TED will be something that I have got to see, but i will need counselling after so please warm be ahead of time coz that stuff isn’t cheap.
Done James
I loved the work Michael Pritchard did. Plus I want to see a British remake of the American version with Edward Norton of Incredible Hulk (like you said) with Pritchard.
Thanks for sharing…
David Damron
LifeExcursion
I think it will be a blockbuster David.
I’m also a big fan of TED – and might be a bigger fan if you streaked across the screen one day! What a great goal – to do something so amazing that you could actually legitimately end up on TED. We should all have that goal. As for how to eat less chocolate? Maybe eat enough to puke. I never want to eat what I puked for years afterward.
Hi Carmen,
Welcome to the site. I would have to eat an incredible amount of chocolate to make myself puke…I mean a really disgusting amount.
I hope Kraft didn’t throw out those syringes! Just like how people that have bad habits they want to change go to a hypnotherapist to get cured, we could have totally started a program where we go into big office buildings, give a motivational speech on creating the life you want, and then stab anyone right in the ass who didn’t believe us. Personally, I rather think I might get great pleasure out of stabbing anyone that has a suit and tie on, says things like “Can I stir fry an idea in your think-wok?”
Speak. Stab. Laugh. Repeat.
Ash you wonderful person, I never cease to laugh at you comments.
Speak, Stab. Laugh. Extra sneaky stab when they are down. Repeat.
Well, thanks for the post, is really inspiring.
As for the chocolate addiction, I would suggest to try something more powerful. Bungee jumping or swimming with the sharks. Well, maybe not swimming with the sharks, but something that would raise your adrenaline level past the mark you feel the need to reach by indulging chocolate pleasure. Subsequently, I will also look at the context: do you eat chocolate when you’re happy? When you’re angry? When you feel the need to be motivated? Identifying the context could also help you identify the replacements for chocolate.
Or you could just realize that, as in any other addiction, you’re giving your power away to something else.
Hi Dragos,
Done the swimming with sharks – 7 foot bull sharks actually, and bungee jumping is on the list. Can you combine bungee jumping with chocolate? Kidding, thanks for the advice my friend.
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