To Alpha Centauri or The Bronx and Mississippi?

I don’t know Yuri Milner.  I know that he made a lot of money by backing some of the biggest Internet social media companies.  I know that about two years ago he decided to use  $100 million of his own money to launch a project called Starshot, to explore outer space, way outer space.  His goal was to find a method to send measuring devices to our nearest star, Alpha Centauri, which is about four light years away.

Space.com

Now, four years doesn’t sound like an impossible amount of time to get to another planet, but, despite the “warp speed” button on the Millennium Flacon, going the speed of light is something that cannot be done, except by light.  Undaunted, Mr. Milner has assembled a top team of  scientists and engineers who want to be a part of this project, and they have come up with ideas that they feel, theoretically, could go almost 20% of the speed of light, if they can work out the many difficult details.  At that speed it would take 20 years to send tiny devices to Alpha Centauri.  What they would send would be a herd of very small chips. like the ones that are in your phone.  They would be sent there by a push from an array of focused lasers, which would give them a giant push, and get them up to 20% of light speed.

Will this work?  That seems to be only part of the mission of this mission.  The real fun is just getting all these skilled people to think and act together attempt to conceptualize technology, execution, and the future.  The odds of getting the machines there, getting them to work during the few moments of fly by, and then getting them to send data back through four light-years of space in manner that can be received and interpreted, are quite small.  But they have $100 million to start with, and about thirty years o figure it out.

Fascinating, encouraging, and hey, it’s his money.

EXCEPT:

I was reading an update on the Starshot program in this mont’s Scientific American, which I still get in hard copy after all these years, even though it isn’t even American any more. The articles have been cut down to three or four pages to cater to an audience with today’s attention span. 

so I was able to keep reading new articles about attempts at using the scientific method to discover other factors that influence our lives.  Science continues to do this even if the results are not 100% accurate, and the struggle for confirmation usually demands “further study.”  The lack of clarity is part of what makes the real quest for knowledge unending.  Nobody, knows it all; even if they think they do.

About ten pages further along in the same issues (March, 2017) is an article by Kimberly Noble, who is a professor of neuroscience at Columbia University Teachers College.  She has studied the effects of poverty on children’s brain development and, not surprisingly, she has found that children who spend their early lives in homes with the lowest socio-economic level show impairments in their cognitive functioning.  These impairments are not due to their genetics, or race or location, as all those factors were controlled, they are due to not having enough of whatever is needed to develop their brains to their full potential.  This includes food, social and cognitive stimulation, attention, heat, stability, and all the other parts of life that come with poverty.

She cites that there are some programs that are somewhat effective and helping children who live in poverty to overcome those dangers, such as Head Start.  She also states that correlation does not always imply causality, as there may be other factors that just haven’t been discovered that may actually be the cause of these cognitive deficiencies.  So, this theory requires further study.

One type of study she suggests would be just to give the families money.  She wonders if fancy education or training programs are necessary, or if that would just be spreading the money around to consultants and teachers, and not the families who are poor.  Why not just give them money and see what good it would do?  Her “hypothesis is that increased family income will trigger a cascade of positive effects for these families.” And that these effects will show up in the  improved cognitive skills of these children.

Her experimental design is to give 100 families $333 a month.  That’s a bit of money.  But not much.  It’s almost $4000 a year.  It’s certainly something, if you have nothing, but not enough to really move anyone out of poverty.

That’s when I began to connect the two articles in my mind.  What if, in addition to his fun and fascinating interstellar Starshot project, Mr. Milner could see his way to dropping another $100 million of the estimated over $3.1 Billion he has parked around the world on Dr. Noble’s project.

Then we could really study what it would mean to a family’s life, including brain development, stability, achievement and future, if they could move out of poverty and into the lower-middle class.  

For around $100 million, 500 families could get $40,000 a year for seven years.  i would begin it at the birth of a child, just like Dr. Noble is doing. I don’t know what would happen; that’s why we do studies.  But my hypothesis would be that after seven years most of the families would have found a way to be able to keep running at that level on their own. It would allow them a better chance at keep the partners together.  It would give them a better way to have one parent at home while the other one worked, and each parent could find work without having the home fall apart or the kids go unsupervised.  It would allow them to keep jobs making $11 an hour long enough to move up and stating making $20 an hour.  Or it would allow them to go to school and get training to make $105,000 a year. It would relieve the stress that comes from not making the rent, or from choosing whether to pay for food, shelter or medicine. Perhaps even give the family resources to get a car, which would get them to work regularly and on time.

This kind of stability would assure that the child receives proper nourishment and proper attention from two parents; parents who would be relaxed enough so that the child would not be subjected to the tension that comes with poverty.

What this study would also be doing is testing the theory behind a guaranteed annual income. That is something that will come more into focus when self-driving trucks are introduced, along with all the other robots that will run our factories, deliver goods, clean our streets and suck the pollution out of the air.

So, if any of you reading this know how to get in touch with Mr. Milner, tell him to talk to Dr. Noble and see if they can work out the details.  You can tell him I sent you.

•   *   *  *   *   *   *

Really, I strongly believe that both of these functions, basic research for space exploration, and practical research on child and family development, obviously should be paid for by our government.  That’s what governments do well, when they are allowed to function.  Mr. Milner, and all of those who possess  the top .1% and the1% and even the top 5% of wealth in this country should pay a lot more taxes to allow the government to do things like this for all of our citizens.  They should do this because the system in this country is designed to help those people become innovative, to take risks, and even to fail and try again.  They have benefitted greatly from the rules that were written to help them.  They should pay some it back to allow the society to benefit also, That way our society can develop more innovators and more problem solvers, using the talent of people from all socio-economic groups.

However, we are living in an upside-down time.  A time when science is bad and anger and scapegoating innocent people is in vogue.  We are still being sold the myth that rich people are better at distributing money, and that giving them more of it helps those with less.  We hear this often, even though it has not worked for over thirty years.  

But that is a discussion for another time.  Almost every other time it seems, which is good, because maybe, if it discussed enough, things will change.

Until then, whisper in Yuri’s ear, or anyone out there who you know who has $100 million that they don’t want to leave to their great-grandchildren because it will ruin their lives.

The Day After

Now it’’s Thursday, after the Tuesday which was the last day in my office, except for cleaning out the draws.

Tuesday was much more difficult and complex than I thought. I had a full day of appointments.  It was my last meeting, as a therapist, with all of them.  It was my last day of being a professional, in that capacity, after forty-three years.  

Two days ago I was talking about the frustrations, about how I often felt that my job was a lot like having to redirect a tide that has been coming in, every day, for years, over the same path.  There was just so much I could do to change to constant flow of the water, the moon and the earth.  There is also the realization that those forces continue whether I am in my office or not.

Today, the day after, my feelings are much different than I had expected.  Instead of that frustration mixed with relief, I feel much more a sense of loss, mixed with satisfaction.

Each hour I said good-bye to someone I had been intimately involved with ( in a professional way, of course) for anywhere from six months to twelve years.  Two of them I have actually known for almost twenty-five years, as they have returned to visit me through several life changes.  I know the names of their parents, children, lovers and friends better than I know the names of my aunts and cousins.  We have been together through losses, tragedies, addictions, bad decisions, distorted thinking, and serious illnesses.  We have also been able to achieve marvelous successes, in recovering, in business, in relationships, in finding ways to put their lives back together.

During the past two weeks I have said good-bye to my last ten patients.  It is very gratifying to say that they all are doing well.  Only one of them requested a referral to another therapist, which was fine.  But the other’s, even the two who are completely nuts  

(diagnosis code:WOW) feel ready to take on the world on their own.  And they are.  Three have new, better jobs, two have moved to better places and feel secure, two are in new relationships, one is getting married and one is pregnant.  Marvelous stuff!

Don’t let me mislead you here.  There were dozens of others who I have referred out, or let go over the last two years who will not do as well.  They are part of the frustrations that haunt me.  The ones I stayed with until the end are the ones who I knew were doing a lot to pull things together.  

The point I want to make is that while there are still huge problems in our society, and worse problems in the rest of the world, yesterday really made it clear to me that we, as a species, are social creatures.  We live better, feel better, and do more when we feel connected to other humans.  That makes up a large part of what I did for people: I was there for them.  They knew that. I understood them, as best as I could. I didn’t judge them. I helped explain them to themselves, and I tried to nudge them in a better direction. For many of them I was the only one who ever did this for them.  Many had been pushed around, neglected, demeaned, ignored, abused, pressured, rejected and worse.  

It was their responses to me that kept me doing this for over forty years. I know I received so much for almost everyone I saw.  Most of the people I saw came to trust me.  They were able to tell me things that had happened to them, or just about the thoughts that ran through their minds Things they had never told anyone. I took that as an honor.  It was a great feeling to be granted this special privilege.

I am not a religious person.  I do not expect to experience a great spiritual awakening. I am very comfortable not having complete explanations for things, yet knowing that somewhere there is a cause for every effect, and that someday it may be made clear and understandable.  I don’t believe in uncaused (miraculous, paranormal) causes.

I have listened to the stories of thousands of people.  I have seen the rich and poor, and everyone in between.  I have seen geniuses and some who take a bit longer to understand things.  I have seen people of all races, creeds, national origins, sexual proclivities, and different levels of power. I have seen many people who have very unique beliefs.   

        I have come to some conclusions.  The most important one is that their is no intrinsic way to rank order who is worth more, or who is more important.  Money and material wealth are clearly false goals.  There is no real meritocracy.  Every soul, every spirit, every mind has the same value. We are a species who are both blessed and cursed by being able to wonder why we are here.  We are all here, and despite the many advances in medicine and science, at some point, we will each be gone.  It is up to each of us to find our place in the world, to try to figure out what we feel is right and important. We each have to do what we need to do to stay alive, stay connected, find some pleasure and find some satisfaction.  

Its not an easy task.  It is a life long process of trying to get it right, without having any idea of what “it” is. Usually we find our answers with other people, in mutually caring relationships.  We do this first with people who are very close to us, and then with others, in our communities, in our societies and in our world.

Now, like all of my former patients, I am movin’ on to the next stage, eager to see what kinds of interactions that will bring. Change is difficult, but it can also be exciting.

A life of the Times

My life seems to have melded with the current way of being.  Information, tasks, people, roles, ideas, news, opinions, all pour in constantly, with no interruption.  There are times when I can't really tell if a thought comes from something I just read, something someone told me, or was actually an idea of my own.

Often, it feels as if my life has been divided into several separate segments that barely overlap.  My work life, sitting in my office, seeing my patients, wondering, thinking, planning what to do for them and how. this has gone on for over thirty years.

My family, which has been with me even longer, has changed greatly over time.  I am still a husband, but now with a wife who wants to ease into the next stage of life.  I am a father, and now a grandfather, which is a very different role, with very different expectations, responsibilities and really, a very diminished amount of authority.

It is also much easier.

I have friends and activities that are further and further away from work, as many of my friends have eased up, or have stopped working.

I have a life of ideas in my head, especially since I have begun to think about the talk I will deliver, which I find interesting and stimulating, and which is putting me in contact with totally new ideas and new people.

It is all very busy, which is good.  It gets confusing, and difficult to prioritize, but I can work it out.
the main thing is to keep going and stay healthy.

And also not to get upset by a missed field goal as time expires.

Summer, again, briefly

Wow, it's been a while.

That's becasue it's summer and there is so much to do.  so much to do without thinking about it.

Right now I am officially on vacation for a week.  Before this I was working days and then taking off whenever I could.  Here in New England, when the sun comes out you had better be there because it all ends quickly. It doesn't matter if you're out to get in the water, hit a ball, ride a bike or just take a walk; the time is short.  We don't get Spring, except for about three days.  It goes from 42 degrees and drizzle to 87 degrees and heat.

Work in the summer is different.  There are fewer patients but they are nuttier. Everyone half same takes off and gets outside.  The fragile ones go into crisis. It's the heat, the moon, the outside.  It's the alcohol, the half naked women, the resentments.

The day before I was leaving I get an emergency from someone I had not seen for three years. Falling apart, laying on the floor of the H.R. office crying.  The next day I guy I hand't seen for four years comes to my office ten minutes before my first appointment.  He needs to talk.

"Some people claim that there's a woman to blame." And they are correct.

But tomorrow the Grandgril comes, and after Elmo, I'm one of her favoirtite guys. Let's go to the beach.