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28

Feb

Apps for Apes Point the Way to a Happier Life

by Meredith Mullins on February 28, 2013

Three orangutans making choices about apps for apes to live a happier life

What should we do today?
© Thinkstock

Making Choices Count

“What do you want to do today?”

“Dunno. How about you?”

“We could hang around for a while, then get something to eat.”

“That sounds good. But we do that everyday.”

“We could try that virtual drum app on the iPad.”

“Yeah, I like that one. Awesome rhythms.”

“Or the koi pond app. I love those shimmering fish swimming in the turquoise water. It’s relaxing. Even when I’m calm, though, I like to tap that screen and watch those koi scatter.”

“Bring on the iPads!”

This conversation could be among any group of friends. In fact, however, it’s how I imagine Bonnie, Kyle, and Iris start their day at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington D.C.

They’re orangutans. And, like many others in 13 zoos around the world, they are part of the Apps for Apes program.

Orangutan paints with apps for apes to live a happier life

Orangutan artist at work
© Orangutan Outreach/Engel

Apps for Apes (sponsored by Orangutan Outreach) offers a variety of technology choices for orangutans to enrich their lives. It’s well known that orangutans are intelligent, but who knew they also have a geek streak?

When I first saw stories about this program, I sensed there were some valuable lessons to be learned. The apps provide a daily dose of mental and physical stimulation and that little dash of spice to keep things interesting. Isn’t that a good idea for all of us?

Oh, I see. A little spice can make us happier.

Thoughtful Orangutan ponders making choices to live a happier life with apps for apes

Hmmm. Life is full of interesting choices.
© Thinkstock

Lively Life Adventures

What else can I learn from my orangutan friends? With a 97% overlap in DNA between orangutans and us humans, I imagine that they have trouble, just like us, deciding what to do each day.

If there are free hours, why not have access to some entertainment, some digital stimulation, some new sights and sounds? Why not enrich life with new adventures?

Oh I see. Everyone’s life can be a little happier by making energizing and creative choices—and that includes the lives of our friends in the primate world.

Variety is Vital

Great ape keepers know how important it is to vary the daily lives of orangutans to keep them from getting bored or depressed. The caregivers provide variety in food, toys, and social interactions—all geared toward a happier life.

Now, they can also add technology—and give the animals a choice of interactive books, cameras, and apps that offer even more variety for stimulation and creative challenge.

Orangutan with iPad making choices to live a happier life with apps for apes

Orangutan studies his animal friends
© Orangutan Outreach/Center for Great Apes

Freedom of Choice

The Apps for Apes program puts iPads at the fingertips of these intelligent creatures and gives them freedom of choice to select what appeals to them.

The animals are never forced to play with an iPad. They have to show interest. And they do!

They love painting, playing the piano or xylophone, pounding out a percussive riff on the drums, or just watching koi swim. Take a look in the video below.

If video does not display, watch it here.

They also like looking at themselves (not unlike the most vain of us humans). When Mahal, an orangutan in Milwaukee, first saw himself on camera, he raised his hands and clapped. With all due humility, he gave himself a standing ovation.

Orangutans also like seeing other folks in the animal world. Soon, they’ll be skyping each other from one zoo to the next or friending one another to keep in touch. Can Angry Birds’ competitions be far behind?

Oh, I see. Choosing our own activities frees us to be who we really are.

Kindred Spirits

Every time I watch a video of a great ape or see photographs like those posted here, I feel we are kindred spirits.

And, as with any kindred spirit, there is much to be learned—the vitality of variety, the importance of making creative selections, and the need for freedom of choice.  Going ape for apps is just a plot line. This story is really about making good everyday choices for an adventurous, rewarding, and happier life.

Baby orangutan looks hopeful about making choices to live a happier life with apps for apes

Kindred spirits
© Thinkstock

To support Orangutan Outreach, you can donate an old iPad (or send a check). Orangutans are critically endangered in the wild because of rapid deforestation and the expansion of palm oil plantations into their rainforest home. If nothing is done to protect them, they will be extinct in just a few years. 

VIA Smithsonian’s National Zoo.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

 

Innovations/Secrets to Life

25

Feb

This Life Lesson Ain’t No Lie

by Janine Boylan on February 25, 2013

woman with long nose, illustrating a life lesson about telling lies

Lies tend to catch up with you.
© Thinkstock

Have You Lied Today?

I did, even though one life lesson I’ve surely learned is: Don’t lie. 

I was at this restaurant where the service was impossibly slow and the food mediocre. I had to go into the kitchen to summon the server and request my check. When she sauntered out and gave me the bill, she asked: How was everything? My answer: Fine.

No, it wasn’t! But it was easier to tell a little lie than to have a confrontation.

According to a 2010 research study (Serota, Levine, Boster), on average, adults lie 11 times a week. Consider the US adult population of about 240 million x 11 lies a week x 52 weeks a year. You can see where the math is headed—we had 137 billion lies floating around in 2012! That’s 261,187 lies per minute.

No surprise. Lies have been with us since ancient times:

  • If Homer’s version of the Trojan War (circa 1184 BCE) is true,  the Greeks told a whopper when they placed the big wooden horse at the gates of Troy and said it was a gift.
  • In ancient Rome at Ephesus, a grand library was built in 117 CE with an underground tunnel that led to a brothel. That way Romans could say they were going to the library when they had other plans.
Toy blocks spelling "lie" to highlight a life lesson about telling lies

Lies block healthy relationships
© Thinkstock

And so it goes up to modern times when

  • Runner Rosie Ruiz slipped out of the pack of runners in the 1980 Boston marathon, took the subway to a mile from the finish line, and then ran the last leg of the race to be the first across the finish line.
  • Popular 1990’s Grammy-winning pop band Milli Vanilli didn’t sing even a note on their albums.
  • Presidential candidate John Edwards denied an extramarital affair and fathering a child out of wedlock.
  • Investor Bernard Madoff scammed billions from investors in an enormous Ponzi scheme over more than ten years.

Lies come in all sizes. Some affect the course of history and some cause relationships to run their course.

Why Do People Lie?

It’s actually a lot of work to lie. You have to create a believable story, deliver it convincingly, and then remember all the details so you’ll never get caught. All that makes you anxious!

Once you start with a lie, it’s hard to stop. Likely, you’ll be caught, and then facing the consequences of your lie can be horrible. In some cases, it can ruin everything you’ve worked hard for. Just ask Lance Armstrong. Or Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. Or Marion Jones.

So, why do people lie?

  • To save face: Sorry I didn’t respond—I never got your text.
  • To look better: I was on the first string in high school. 
  • To be nice: Your chicken stew is delicious.
  • To deflect or avoid blame: My husband made me late. Or: That green vase? No, I never touched it.
  • To avoid conflict: It wasn’t my decision, but I have to let you go.

See more everyday examples in Justin Barber’s clever “Truth and Lies” poster series.

Everyday lies can turn into a habit.  Habits can lead to careers built on lies:  No, I have never taken any banned substances.

disgraced biker, showing a life lesson about lies

Telling lies is stressful.
© Thinkstock

There’s a Good Reason Not to Lie

The Science of Honesty study, directed by Anita E. Kelly and and Lijuan Wang at Notre Dame, investigated links between lying and health.

Across ten weeks, one group in the study was directed to stop telling lies (both big and little), while the control group received no special instructions. Both groups answered questions weekly about their health and relationships and took polygraph tests about the number of lies they had told that week.

The results? The people in the study had an important Oh, I see moment. Both their health and relationships improved as they told fewer lies.

How Can You Change Your Ways?

According to experts, it may be easier than you think. Once you accept that everyone makes mistakes, you can make a short apology rather than a lot of excuses. It’s also easier to stand up and take responsibility for something that went wrong. And, as the participants in the Science in Honesty study advise, you can just decide to tell the truth about your accomplishments rather than exaggerating them.

Being truthful doesn’t mean that you have to be unkind either. Maybe you don’t so much like the fit and radiant green of your friend’s new pants, but you can zero in on something positive:  Hey, you’ll stand out in a crowd!

Oh, I see. I can find ways to be more truthful. Next time I’m in a mediocre, sluggishly-paced restaurant and the server says How was everything?, I can answer honestly: Well, this will certainly be something to write about! 

The Science for Honesty study, running from 2011-2013, is sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation. 

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

 

Life Lessons

21

Feb

Life Changing Moments: One Billion Rising in Paris

by Meredith Mullins on February 21, 2013

Women Dancing at One Billion Rising in Paris in a Life Changing Moment to Stop Violence Against Women

One Billion Rising in Paris
© Meredith Mullins

Stop Violence Against Women

A convergence of forces.

Start with  . . .

An ongoing annual event on Valentine’s Day to stop violence against women and girls (organized since 1998 by Eve Ensler, women’s rights activist and creator of “The Vagina Monologues”).

Fuel it with . . .

Recent brutalities, including the gang rape of Jyoti Singh in India, the shooting of Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai, and the alledged gang rape of a young woman in Steubenville, Ohio, by members of the high school football team.

Punctuate it with . . .

A world cry that enough is enough.

Decide . . .

To make this year’s Valentine’s Day a global day of action.

Add . . .

Media momentum and star power (Jane Fonda, Anne Hathaway, Anoushka Shankar, Rosario Dawson, the prime ministers of Australia and Croatia, the Queen Mother of Bhutan)

The result: One Billion Rising—Life Changing Moments for the World

Flash Mob at One Billion Rising, a life changing moment to stop violence against women

Flash Mob at One Billion Rising in Paris
© Meredith Mullins

Valentine’s Day: One Billion Rising

What were the goals of One Billion Rising as it staged a global flash mob, dance, and revolution on Valentine’s Day 2013?

  • To raise awareness
  • To bring people around the world together with one voice, in one act of solidarity
  • To demand an end to violence against women and girls

And, indeed, One Billion Rising met its goals.

We delivered facts to raise awareness: One in every three women in the world will be raped or beaten—one billion women. This is an atrocity.

We came together, in countries all over the world. We danced. We talked. We smiled as if we’d known each other for a lifetime. We grew stronger with numbers.

We, in Paris, felt a bond with those who “rose up” in India, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Brazil, Somalia, the U.K., Nepal, South Africa, the Philippines, the U.S. and every other country in the world, all of which had group action set for the day.

With our voices strong, we asked for an end to violence against women and girls.

Dancer at One Billion Rising, a life changing moment to stop violence against women

Rise up and dance
© Meredith Mullins

Oh, I See

It is possible to raise awareness with a global event. It is possible to feel a unity, a bond, across vast physical and cultural distances, with song and dance and justified cause. The reward was a joyful OIC moment, but there was need for more.

Oh, I Wonder

At the Paris gathering, I asked people why they were there and what would come next. I was relieved to hear that most had a plan.

Many were already a part of organizations active in women’s rights issues. Many vowed to continue the fight for strong legislation. Many said they would take action every day to transform the world. All were committed to justice, equality, and respect.

Who wouldn’t be, you ask? Too many. That’s why we have to make our voices heard.

Participant in One Billion Rising raises the one billion sign in a life changing moment to stop violence against women.

One World; One Billion Rising
© Meredith Mullins

Oh, I Hope

The V-Day roar was loud and clear. For one brief shining moment our voices amplified the message. An energy emerged—worldwide—and it was powerful. Life changing moments occurred. But the news cycle is short.

Now, one week later, the voices are a little fainter. Where will they be one month from now . . . one year from now?

Was One Billion Rising enough?

No.

But it’s a start.

Now . . . it’s time to change the world.

 

Others involved in the movement to stop violence against women:  One Billion Rising, Eve Ensler, RAINN, Amnesty International, The Advocates for Human Rights.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

 

France (Paris)/Making a Difference

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