Review: Inferno

Inferno by Dan Brown

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Dan Brown has done it again; with Inferno, he has taken his readers on a whirlwind adventure through symbology, mystery, and history. This time, though, there was an added twist; the story invites us to assess our own action as part of the human community and world.

I'll avoid spoilers and just leave my thoughts at what's written above, but I easily give this novel 5 stars and invite you to also descend into the "Inferno".



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Metric Day the easy way

Today is the 10th of October. As with previous years, I choose to recognize today as "Metric Day". I last wrote an article about Metric Day in 2011 and, in the time since then, I've noticed that many people in the United States of America are becoming more comfortable with the International System of Units (SI) [Wikipedia]. I'm not suggesting that those individuals are comfortable with its use, but it certainly seems that a growing number of people are recognizing the convenience of it in our global community. (Similar to the change I have witnessed in the public opinion of Daylight Saving Time.)

The use of SI is wide-spread and those who are unfamiliar with SI find themselves somewhat isolated in a growing global community. Today, I hope to provide some easy-to-remember tips to those individuals who are curious about SI, but are reluctant to adopt its use.

Conversationally, we often discuss the environment and our own comfort within it. As a result, common units of temperature are often cited and discussed. Rather than wrestle with a more accurate mental conversion or calculating one using a computer, try to remember the tips below; it might speed your conversational comprehension and free up your mind for the social aspect of agreeing that 30°C is rather warm.

QUICK TEMPERATURE CONVERSION

F minus 30, divided by 2 ≈ C
C multiplied by 2, add 30 ≈ F

People find themselves discussing distances internationally for a variety of reasons. Perhaps you or someone you know is in the US military and stationed abroad. Or maybe you have a friend interested in joining you on a 5 kilometer run, but they hesitate because they're only comfortable running 3 miles. I hope the quick methods below will help you or your friend adjust quickly to the measurement most familiar.

QUICK DISTANCE OR SPEED CONVERSION

mi divided by 5, multiplied by 8 ≈ km
km divided by 8, multiplied by 5 ≈ mi

ANOTHER (LESS ACCURATE) DISTANCE OR SPEED CONVERSION

mi divided by 3, multiplied by 5 ≈ km
km divided by 5, multiplied by 3 ≈ mi
(This second set of distance conversions might be noticeably less accurate for numbers higher than 10)

Technology has allowed our ever-growing population to become evermore connected. Borders and boundaries begin to fade in meaning as we correspond and collaborate with people instantaneously, regardless of our location or theirs in world. In a world of dizzying communication, using the same measurement "language" is the difference between clarity and confusion.

Water is necessary

What do you need? What is essential to every day of your life? In the world of instant gratification, global communication, and relative safety, you might find yourself thinking that you "need" more than truly necessary: Food, Water, Shelter.

When I wrote the survival series, it was about educating people whose basic needs are met in their daily lives. My hope continues to be that those articles can be a helpful resource and provide the knowledge which could save lives in unexpected situations. However, today is Earth Day and I'd like to take a more globally aware view.


URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:D-P005_Kein_Trinkwasser.svg

There are far more people in this world who live in a state of basic survival need everyday than those whose needs are met. People lacking proper nutrition, basic safety/security, and the most basic life need: water. In my articles about the human population reaching 7 billion, I mentioned some statistics about water and sanitation.

Lack access to safe drinking water (1.1 billion): 17.74%
and/or
Lack access to basic sanitation (2.6 billion): 41.93%

Years ago, I briefly shared a video from charity:water about their projects to bring clean drinking water to people around the world. Two years ago, I saw another video from them that I've been thinking about since.

URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCHhwxvQqxg

The necessity of water to life is unmistakable, so too are the detrimental effects on the people and communities lacking clean water. Now and again, some people in the developed world are shocked into a life without basic needs (e.g. New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, New England after Hurricane Sandy, the disastrous Carnival Triumph cruise ship). It's in those situations that basic survival skills become the focus of every moment; imagine living always in that state. As the video notes, the time spent trying to meet our basic needs is time that can't be spent on developing ourselves and our community.

Not everyone has the resources, desire, or freedom to lend to the needs of others, but we all feel stress when our needs are being threatened. By keeping an awareness and empathy about that stress, maybe we can each make an effort to recognize and connect with others, helping to improve the overall human condition with the simplest kindness.

The tipping point of 7 billion

According to research on population density and growth [Science Magazine] this year, estimates are that the human population will reach 7 billion sometime in the next two weeks. You will recall that I began this year with an article discussing the importance of valuing our balance with the planet and the fellow inhabitants of it. The moment for each of us to recognize our place as one of 7 billion is nearly upon us.

As I detailed in another article at the mid-point of this year, "we need to also open our minds to the diversity and beauty of what it means to be human". Each human on this wonderful planet is an organism of unique evolutionary elegance. As we approach 7 billion, I implore you, each reader, to recognize how much you value your community (family, friends, etc.) and also accept that every person -- friend or foe -- has a community which they also treasure and value.

Try to take a step back in your own mind; imagine that you can look through another person's eyes. Especially when making decisions which will affect another being or a community of beings, consider what actions you would wish to have taken toward your own community. Some choices do result in necessary consequence, but weigh the necessity of each reaction upon the quality of the action. In a group as large as our global human community is about to become, it is far too easy to become detached from the very ethics and connections which make us distinctly human.

[sounce]

Consider this, "between now and 2050 the world population will increase by 2.3 billion" [Singularity Hub].
With such drastic growth coming, excercising empathy and understanding will become paramount. Our technological, data-driven world, separates us from the human interaction. Consider your community, consider your network of connections, value every human you meet, greet, email, link, like, or poke. We are each one in 7 billion; meaning, we our each unique and different, but we are also each as inconsequential as the people we choose to ignore.

7 billion "typical" humans

In an article published at midnight (UTC) on January 1st, I drew attention to the fact that this year (2011) the human population of our planet will reach 7 billion.

As part of their seven-part series on the subject of "Population 7 Billion", National Geographic took a look at "The Face of 7 Billion" [National Geographic] to study the "typical" human.

["The Face of 7 Billion" - National Geographic]

Right now is the date and time of the midpoint (182.5 days) of this year (2011-07-01 12:00:00 UTC). Inspired by the statistics National Geographic presented, I want to gather my own and add some detail to what we understand of our humanity.

PRIMARY LANGUAGE

Mandarin Chinese (845 million): 12.43%
Spanish (329 million): 4.84%
English (328 million): 4.82%
Arabic (221 million): 3.25%
Hindi (182 million): 2.68%
Bengali (181 million): 2.66%
Portuguese (178 million): 2.62%
Russian (144 million): 2.12%
Japanese (122 million): 1.79%
German (3 million): 0.04%
sum of all others: ≈ 62.75%

According to a statistical study by Ethnologue, over 62 percent of the human population doesn't recognize one of the top 10 languages as their primary language. Our ability to communicate with words is something which makes us somewhat unique among other animals. Even so, the breadth our diversity is clearly evident in this first statistic.

RELIGION

Christianity (2.1 billion): 30.88%
Islam (1.5 billion): 22.06%
Hinduism (900 million): 13.24%
Irreligious/agnostic (theistic) (550 million): 8.09%
Atheistic (550 million): 8.09%
Chinese traditional religion (394 million): 5.79%
Buddhism (376 million): 5.53%
Animist religions (300 million): 4.41%
African traditional/diasporic religions (100 million): 1.47%
Sikhism (23 million): 0.34%
sum of all others: ≈ 0.1%

In 2005, Adherents.com listed "Major Religions Ranked by Number of Adherents". As you can see in my summary, no one religion is in the majority. In fact, if we combine the irreligious and atheistic, we see that those who are not religious and/or are atheistic rank 3rd among the beliefs of humanity.

WATER AND SANITATION

Lack access to safe drinking water (1.1 billion): 17.74%

and/or

Lack access to basic sanitation (2.6 billion): 41.93%

The numbers above are from a UNICEF (UNICEF is the United Nations Children's Fund) estimate in 2005. Thanks almost entirely to humanitarian efforts throughout the years, especially by the UN*, those percentages have gone down. Today, almost 90% of humanity has access to safe drinking water, but that remaining 10% is still serious as it constitutes nearly 700 million people in our world of 7 billion.

LITERACY

Age 15 and over can read and write: 82%

Much of the human population is literate, which is very important considering the impact that education has on the other demographics I've listed. That said, it's worth noting that "over two-thirds of the world's ... illiterate adults are found in only eight countries (Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Pakistan)" [CIA World Factbook].

If we seek to balance our relationship with our planet, as I suggested in January, we need to also open our minds to the diversity and beauty of what it means to be human and check our "resolve to becoming an organism who seeks the balance of a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship with Earth and the other approximately 6,999,999,999 people on it." ["2011: The year of 7 billion" - INDY Blog]

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* To be honest, I think the United Nations deserves far more recognition for all it does in the way of improving the lives of humans all over Earth. The organization and the people who truly drive its efforts are nothing like the portrayal in minds and media: the bureaucratic soap-box for arrogant and selfish politicians.

2011: The year of 7 billion

2011-01-01 0:00:00 UTC
Welcome to the year 2011*!

This year, the human population of our planet will reach 7 billion.
That fact alone is immensely significant, considering our population was only 2 billion 81 years ago.

National Geographic is launching a seven part series "Population 7 Billion" to draw attention to the impact of our species' growth on Earth. (I've embedded the 3 minute promo video in this post.)


YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sc4HxPxNrZ0

As the promo points out, it's not that there isn't enough space; it's that we, as a species, lack a balance for our planet to sustain us at our current growth rate. Allow me to paraphrase it another way....

If we were the essential bacteria within one's digestive tract, we've long passed the point of helping our host with necessary process of digestion and have become an internal infection: We would be killing our host. (Mutualism vs. Parasitism [wikipedia])

In the year 2011, resolve to becoming an organism who seeks the balance of a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship with Earth and the other approximately 6,999,999,999 people on it.

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* 2011 actually began for Earth 14 hours ago in Kiritimati, Christmas Island, Kiribati [Time and Date.com]; Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the standard international time reference, therefore I'm using it.