Monday, March 27, 2017

Change The World

Albert Einstein once said, ~Imagination is everything. It's the preview of life's coming attractions.~ Let me ask you this question, have you used your imagination more or less now as an adult than when you were a kid back in the day? I think it's safe to say as an adult there is the tendency of having a lack of imagination because of focusing on the personal, as well as professional realities of life. However, there is most definitely a tremendous amount of untapped potential when an initial idea starts out small to the point where it gradually steamrolls into something much bigger than anyone could possibly ever imagine. What it primarily comes down to is thinking up ways in being able to give rather than receive/take to the point where what's being imagined has its benefits for all of mankind.

Without a doubt, being able to learn and understand sign language is considered to be a useful life skill to where you're able to tap the imagination witnessing 2 or a group of individuals sharing a silent conversation. Thinking about it further, to be able to learn and actually sign is one thing, but being able to clearly listen/convey what's signed is truly amazing beyond belief. Essentially, the imaginative concept became an absolute reality in 2016 by way of 2 University of Washington Undergraduate students inventing what they refer to as "SignAloud'' gloves, which recognize hand gestures. Thomas Pryor and Navid Azodi thought of and implemented them to the point where they invented an innovative new way to communicate, whereby putting their own modern twist to sign language so much so that their dynamic duo deservingly earned a $10,000 student prize.

If you think about it, utilizing one's imaginative talents in regards to having the vision impaired to participate in physical recreation is an immensely creative idea, especially if the idea was formulated by members of a bomb squad unit. Of course, it can certainly be difficult to fathom and yet its been done by members of the Kanawha County Bomb Squad who put their unique electronic skills to good use as it involved an Easter egg hunt. To be more specific, the bob squad unit created beeping Easter eggs giving the visually impaired kids the opportunity to take part in a traditionally fun event that they don't normally get a chance to be a part of, which has been a growing trend among bomb squad units across the country. You see, their efforts not only create an incredibly enjoyable experience, it gives the bomb squad unit itself a way to make a much deeper connection with them as well.

For the question can be asked to those who have diabetes, does continually checking your blood sugar and adjusting it with insulin or a snack cause you to be sometimes annoyed by the process? Have you always imagined a better process that doesn't frustrate you at times? I fair to guess the answer would be a resounding yes. A possible solution to the annoyance has been developed/imagined by Medtronic known as The Artificial Pancreas. For the most part, it's a simple process of simply attaching an iPod-sized device to the body and it measures the blood-sugar levels every 5 minutes then provides more or withholds insulin as needed. The device aims to render the seemingly tedious process obsolete. Fortunately, it has just been recently approved by the FDA and it's commercially available this year much to the joy for the 1.25 million people living with type 1 diabetes.

In retrospect, a person's imagination can certainly bring about some new and interesting changes in the way we go about our daily lives. True, not everything that has been thought up and then created has been a juggernaut of beneficial success. Hey, you have to break a few eggs in order to make an omelet right and in this particular case it's a few mental eggs. Oftentimes, the greatest ideas have produced countless inventions and not to mention innovations that simply started out in the imagination of the human mind. A human mind that if put to excellent use with other minds to solve/figure out ways to help each other rather than selfishly gain for financial purposes then the world would be a much better place don't you think? In the end, our own imagination can be an unstoppable force in thinking up endless ideas and if we work together in a positive way then each one of us has the power to change the world for the better.

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