1/ Healthy: Lüften
There is a well-known habit among Germans called lüften [lyftn]. Lüften means to air, or to ventilate, by opening the window(s) daily, even in winter. Bringing in a needed recycling of the re-circulated interior air and improving the equilibrium with the outside climate.
Despite thicker walls in German homes, ensuring fresh air is a priority. In contrast, many US homes lack proper ventilation, leading to poor indoor air quality. Tighter building designs, while energy-efficient, trap pollutants indoors. To counter this, simply opening windows or using fans can drastically enhance air quality.
Not the most energy efficient but you’ve got to admire the effort to bring fresh air into the home each day. This easy practice not only refreshes your surroundings but also uplifts your mood, offering a practical blend of science and folklore for well-being.
2/ Wealthy: The Enigma of Big Numbers
(1) 300,000,000,000 - stars in the Milky Way Galaxy
(2) 30,000,000,000,000 - cells in the average adult body
(3) 105,000,000,000,000 - world economy in dollars
In a world inundated with staggering figures, from the cosmos to government budgets, our human brains grapple with understanding excessively large numbers. We're intelligent beings, yet comprehending such vastness eludes us. Part of the reason for this is that our brains are built to compare, not count.
The Cognitive Barrier: Why Large Numbers Baffle Us
Our brains have limits and beyond a certain point, numbers lose meaning. The brain is optimized to recognize small quantities because smaller numbers are what people tend to interact with most on a daily basis. Research has shown that when presented with different numbers of dots, both children and adults can intuitively and rapidly recognize quantities less than three or four. Beyond that, people have to count, and as the numbers get higher, intuitive understanding is replaced by abstract concepts of large, individual numbers.
This bias toward smaller numbers even plays out day to day in the grocery store. When researchers asked shoppers in a checkout line to estimate the total cost of their purchase, people reliably named a lower price than the actual amount. And this distortion increased with price – the more expensive the groceries were, the larger the gap between the estimated and actual amounts.
Think about it, you can visualize 5 things and maybe up to 100 things. Just picture a large crowd gathered. But when talking about millions of things our ability to visualize completely fails. Trying to imagine a million people is as useless as trying to imagine a billion people.
By using numbers for our whole lives, we’ve built up our intuitions to “feel” that 10 is a lot bigger than one, and that 100 is a lot bigger than 10. But we have no such “feeling” about a quadrillion versus a trillion. In fact, we might not even know which is bigger. Even when we see them written out:
1,000,000,000,000,000 versus 1,000,000,000,000
Indeed, our eyes could easily miss that one is a thousand times bigger if we’re not paying close attention. But thankfully, there are some tricks we can use to help us make better sense of numbers like these.
Strategies for Dealing with Big Numbers:
I. Subitize to relatable quantities: Break down larger numbers into groups of recognizable numbers, notably into 2s, 3s and 4s.
For example, instead of showing 20 items in a mass show 5 groups of 4 items.
II. Create “perspectives”: Contextual clues – “perspectives” – can enable people to comprehend large quantities like distances, dollar amounts, population sizes, etc.
Why do perspectives work? They show context.
For example: 1 million seconds is nearly 12 days, whereas 1 billion seconds is almost 32 years.
Share the “hard numbers” first, but then provide context that enables your audience to make sense of those numbers.
For example: upgrading your car to a more fuel-efficient model can save you $1,200 on gas annually, a reduction of 40 percent. To put it in perspective, that's akin to driving for four months without spending a dime on fuel.
III. Change the Unit of Measurement: We’re often confronted with excessively large figures that would be better expressed with a different unit, like switching from feet to miles (or meters to kilometers), from ounces to pounds, from seconds to years, and so on. That said, be sure to avoid units for which you don’t have an intuitive grasp. Most people, for example, have little intuitive sense of how much a tonne of weight is.
Despite these tricks, there are limits. Ultimately, understanding vast numbers often requires trusting (and knowing) the math. So next time you hear an astronomical figure, remember, while it might stretch your mind, there are creative ways to make these colossal numbers a bit more tangible.
3/ Wise: Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front
Love the quick profit, the annual raise,
vacation with pay. Want more
of everything ready-made. Be afraid
to know your neighbors and to die.
And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery
any more. Your mind will be punched in a card
and shut away in a little drawer.
When they want you to buy something
they will call you. When they want you
to die for profit they will let you know.
So, friends, every day do something
that won't compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands.
Give your approval to all you cannot
understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
has not encountered he has not destroyed.
Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millenium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.
Say that the leaves are harvested
when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.
Put your faith in the two inches of humus
that will build under the trees
every thousand years.
Listen to carrion -- put your ear
close, and hear the faint chattering
of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world. Laugh.
Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts.
So long as women do not go cheap
for power, please women more than men.
Ask yourself: Will this satisfy
a woman satisfied to bear a child?
Will this disturb the sleep
of a woman near to giving birth?
Go with your love to the fields.
Lie down in the shade. Rest your head
in her lap. Swear allegiance
to what is nighest your thoughts.
As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark the false trail, the way
you didn't go.
Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.
In conclusion, let us remember that health, wealth, and wisdom are interconnected aspects of a fulfilling life. Embrace authenticity, seek evidence, and cultivate meaningful connections as you embark on this journey of personal growth toward a life well spent.
Stay healthy, wealthy, and wise.
With warmth,
Fernando R.F.
(Note: This blog is not written by a medical or financial professional. It's important to consult with a healthcare professional before making significant changes to your diet or lifestyle, especially if you have any underlying health conditions. They can provide personalized guidance tailored to your individual needs. It is important to do your own research and determine the best course of action together with an expert.)
Go Deeper:
https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/improving-indoor-air-quality
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/we-need-to-improve-indoor-air-quality-here-rsquo-s-how-and-why/
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/visualizing-the-105-trillion-world-economy-in-one-chart/#:~:text=Visualizing%20the%20%24105%20Trillion%20World%20Economy%20in%20One%20Chart
https://gizmodo.com/how-to-comprehend-incomprehensibly-large-numbers-1531604757?source=post_page-----4f3dad23ce01--------------------------------
https://www.wsj.com/articles/grasping-giant-numbers-is-far-from-second-nature-1490952621?source=post_page-----4f3dad23ce01--------------------------------
https://theconversation.com/brains-are-bad-at-big-numbers-making-it-impossible-to-grasp-what-a-million-covid-19-deaths-really-means-179081
https://www.oratium.com/your-brains-law-of-large-numbers/#
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subitizing
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2858036.2858510