Good Parent

A good general rule is to ask your children more questions than they ask of you.

Responsible for Waste

An idea that I had for a science fiction story is a world in which each person is personally responsible for all of the waste that they create. I think it the differences between our society and this fiction would be interesting to come up with. Why can we throw away trash?

Education Voting Trends

One of the most direct indicators of which party a person will vote for is education level. The greater a persons education level the more likely they will vote liberally. As this is somewhat common knowledge in political circles, wouldn't you think that liberals would be more fiercely in favor of increasing opportunity for higher education?

Bored in Class

Whenever I am bored with what is being discussed in class I make comments linking what is currently being discussed with future topics to advance discussion past boring topics.

Asking Question

Whenever I ask a question, before I do so I always try to think of what a possible answer might be. This not only helps me phrase my question more accurately but also prepares me for my response to their response. I feel like not enough people do this or are aware that they should.

Song Lyrics

I think it would be cool to write song lyrics for a duet alternating lines and each person's lines would make sense independently and together but with different meanings.

Obsolete Jokes

I think an interesting stand up routine would be to tell obsolete jokes. For example observational comedy about typewriters. The key would be to make sure that the topic is familiar to the audience but is also well known to be obsolete.

Tax Allocation

I think that the best way to poll people to see what issues they care about would be to make a list of what percent of tax money each service is allocated. People would not only get to see the per person costs of government services, government would be held more accountable for their spending in each area, and the government would be able to see more accurately what fiscal issues the people care about.

Edit: just found this. I would like more detail but it is a good start. http://www.whatwepayfor.com/default.aspx?f=2784

Morning Classes

I think early morning classes should provide free energy drinks for the students who want them. Staying awake during these classes can be difficult for some students and the minimal costs of an energy beverage would be vastly outweighed by the benefit of the knowledge gained by being more awake.

Weight Loss Strategy

I think a good technique for loosing weight would be to have your spouse keep a running list of the food you eat.

Judgement

I respect people who have the ability to be judgmental without being condescending.

Choice

I read this in a textbook on thought manipulation. "If presented a choice between two different gains, the less risk is more often chosen. If presented a choice between two different losses the higher risk is more often chosen."

A New Producer

An interesting way to shoot a movie that I have never seen before would be to film an actual person's life without them knowing. You could add events into their actual lives for additional drama. You would then edit the scenes to coherent movie. Afterwards you could have the person who you film to watch the film, add comments and insight and possibly do voice overs and narrate their thoughts.

A Younger Self

It is interesting to think about how differently you used to think when you were younger. You used to be completely lacking in particular logical abilities. No wonder children need constant looking after and still manage to screw up so much.

Waiting on A Friend

I think that it would be cool to engage in a different activity for every person you wait for. For example, you have a sketchbook and you work on a different sketch when you are waiting for each person you know.

Inspiration

Inspiration is something that you can't force, you can only set up circumstances where you are more likely to become inspired. These circumstances are what you have done/seen/hear/thought and what you are doing right now. Inspiration helps to overcome the punishment of effort.

Gambling

When making a bet you should take into consideration the odds of the other guy cheating through bribery, collusion, or other types of cheating. Subtract the chance from your original odds to find a built in house-edge to any bet you would make

Target Demographics

If you are starting a company that appeals to people who like rap, make the name of your company or product a word that is very easy to rhyme with.

Improving Transportation

I think that if a person were to come up with a way to improve transportation it would make a more significant impact than almost any other area of advancement. Multiply the amount of time saved by the amount of people it would affect, astronomical improvement in world efficiency. As a result we should have more people spending time thinking of ways to improve transportation on a fundamental level, like improving the four-way-stop. I almost want to spend the rest of my life in this pursuit, but it is not a topic I am interested in at all.

Counting Calories

Deciding not to eat something because it has too many calories sound like something lazy people would do. "Oh i would eat this thing that I would really enjoy, but I would have to engage in activity that would burn those calories." You can choose any activity!

Birthday Present

For a friend's birthday, get $20's in one dollar bills, write happy birthday in red sharpie over George Washington's face. sneak into your friend's bedroom and put each dollar into the pockets of 20 different articles of clothing. on the dollar that you place in their ugliest pair of pants, sign your name.

Dining Table

Centerpieces at a dining table can be distracting and block views between people. My idea is for a table with a dropping center so centerpieces can be displayed but be out of the way.

New Purpose for Business

Business models are designed to maximize profits, what if a business was created that was designed to maximize the number of, self sufficient, employees. each employee adds to the company value that is only slightly greater than their salary. It might be a government project to combat unemployment.

New Restaurant

I thought that a cool idea for a restaurant that is just starting out would be to ask homeowners in the area what their favorite dishes to order at a restaurant are and then to have those choices available on the menu. Or the restaurant could ask what are favorite dishes that are too time consuming or difficult to make.

Losing an Argument

Start an argument and then lose on purpose. Would this make the other person happier for “winning” the argument. It seems like even though this is the supposed goal of an argument in my experience it is not the anticipated reaction. Some people will not accept a resignation in an argument. Winning an argument might be the supposed goal but it doesn’t seem to make the winner very happy.

Speeding Tickets

I would like to see the relationship between getting pulled over and given a speeding ticket and reduced driving speeds. Also, if the ticket is what makes the difference or if just being pulled over makes the difference.

Backwards Truck

Backwards truck with the bed in the front.

Backwards Truck

Backwards truck with the bed in the front.

Lawn

I think that grass shouldn't be the only option for a lawn. I would probably choose something that grows more slowly but is still durable/comfortable enough to walk on. There has to be a type of ground cover that is a reasonable alternative to grass.

One Word

I thought an interesting poem would be a poem that describes the depth of one particular word.

Cliches

The more you know, the more you realize what things are cliches. This allows fr you to be able to use them more responsibly and express yourself more exactly.

Cleaning Clothes

Clothes or bed sheets that clean you while you use them.

Physical Attraction

I think that physical attractiveness can be broken into 4 categories. Genetics, fashion, hygiene, and fitness. Genetics is the only one that you can't do anything about. Some people are just born with unattractive genes but you can hopefully compensate with the other three. Good fashion can improve your physical attractiveness just by spending money. If you don't have large amounts of money to spend on clothes that are almost guaranteed to make you look good, you will have to develop an eye, but with practice this is not too difficult. Hygiene is an element that should be done anyways just for health, but it can also improve attractiveness. Lastly, fitness is also important for health, but it is also can be the most important of the four elements.

Explanations

What is more important for the advancement of society, the ability being able to explain a process, or the ability getting the correct answer?

The Money Taboo

There is this economic principle called "The Money Taboo" which basically states that in many cultures it is taboo to discuss an individuals income/expenses. One of the negative results of this taboo is an increase in frictional unemployment because workers are unaware of how much better the job across the street pays, because it is never discussed in polite conversion. I think people should actively attempt to change our culture, in order to improve the economy for the working class. People who make excessive amounts of money will be ashamed, people who make less than competitors will be motivated, and the minimum wage will become more effective as a tool for raising other low wages and benefits.

Coming of Age

I define the "coming of age" period as the time when a youth realizes that they can create their own opinions. At first these opinions are half-hazard, unoriginal and often conflicting. This can lead to poor, misguided and/or confusing actions.
Some youths go through this period briefly and instead of finding their own path, just latch on and imitate those people they look up to or consider successful, frequently parents.

Eulogy

I started writing a eulogy for my dad and then I stopped because I realized how morbid it was. Then I thought that the stuff I had written was pretty good and I might as well hold onto it because I was going to need it eventually. This last thought was so morbid that it convinced me to completely destroy what I had written. But I didn't.

Learn Your Craft

Every day should contain within it at least one attempt to improve at your craft. Otherwise can you truly claim to be passionate about it? I think everyone should have this level of passion towards at least one thing.

Reality Shows

I think that reality shows are just examples of Utopian societies. They allow for the viewing into a world where the larger more important problems are removed and trivial problems are amplified in importance to take their place.

Shallow People

The "shallow people" who don't examine their lives don't really need to examine themselves because they are shallow and boring anyways. I realize this is a circular definition.

Named for Success

I wonder if people named after famous people are more likely to become successful in the areas that they were named after, even if they achieve a normalized level of success in the other fields. That's why I'm naming my kid (JOKE)

Pleasure

I think that it is interesting that as different as people are, we all derive pleasure from almost the exact same activity.

Carpool Coordinator

I think a good idea for a website would a carpooling website that would maximize carpool efficiency. Each person would enter in their home location where and when they need to go and when and where they would be willing to drive. If a large enough community were to use this service I think that it could become enormously efficient. Benefits included, decrease in traffic, less necessary road construction due to expansion and wear in the roads, increased community atmosphere, saves time for people not driving as they could engage in other activities.

Pay Scale Crimes

I think that fines and criminal penalties should be scaled up and down for income and life expectancy.

Beautiful People

I think that all people are too complex not to be inherently beautiful.

Extremes vs. Moderation

Does society prefer individuals who live lives of extreme highs and lows or ones of moderation, assuming that they average out the same. Which is better from the perspective of the individual.

Zero

I have a theory that if you add up all the good things and all the bad things in the universe it adds up to zero. I apply this to many things, but mainly for luck and emotion. The amount of good luck and bad luck that an individual has over their lifetime should add up to zero in the end, as probability would suggest. Therefore, you shouldn't be disappointed when you experience something that is unlucky, because it just means that you will experience an equal amount of good luck in the future. For emotion the amount of happiness (aka positive emotions) a person has is equal to the amount of pain (aka negative emotion) they experience in their lifetime. This happens because of how we adjust to our surroundings. If we become used to something good happening then its happiness strength is less. This also makes it so that if something bad happens instead, the strength of that negative feeling is stronger to counterbalance.

If emotion does add up to zero then it would help to prove an additional theory of mine. I believe that people who use drugs, injecting happiness artificially, will experience an additional amount of negative emotion as the scales of emotion are forced to counterbalance leaving with a net total of the same amount of total pleasure and pain. So if you chose to use drugs you are just deciding to have larger swings of emotion rather than a more constant an moderate level. As a person who usually doesn't have a very large swing of emotion it is one of my reasons to use as I am often jealous of people who experience larger ranges of emotion as I feel it is a better way to live life.

New Holiday

I think that the voting day should be on a national holiday so there would be more incentive and avilibilty to vote on that day.

Inmate Internet

I think it would be a cool social experiment to give all inmates in a prison personal computers and internet access and see what they do with their time. All it would do would be to give them the power of knowledge and communication. Maybe they would become beneficial members of the internet community, or maybe they would all join 4chan.

Comic Photo Book

A comic book with live pictures instead of graphic art.

The Big Unit

Randy Johnson is a great name for a porn star.

Cluttered Life

Life has too many layers of detail and context to easily capture in art without appearing cluttered.

Lollipop Head

People shouldn't have hair if they want someone to come close with their mouth. Hair should be used as an out of bounds line. This is why I grew a beard, to keep all kissing centered on the mouth. This is also why I don't care about armpit hair. I think guys who shave themselves bald like to have their heads licked like lollipops.

Flower Stampede

When animals walk through the forest, do they try to avoid trampling pretty flowers?

Memory Overlay

I should make a list of the most common human experiences.

Amazing

"I am prepared for amazing things to happen" - Me You and Everyone We Know

Indications of Failure

Before you initiate a plan, you should ask yourself, "If I were to do this, what would be signs of impending failure". Also, continue to ask yourself this question throughout execution.

Making Paper

When a tree is cut down 8% of that tree becomes pulp and that 8% pulp represents 4% of the tree's value. Pulp, as used for paper, is essentially a waste product, if it were not turned into paper in many situations would just be burned. No tree farming companies harvest for the primary purpose of paper, although there are subcontractors who certainly sub-specialize.

Given a Point

Being a skilled artist requires attention to which details should be included. Art can be a simplification of truth through focus. Artists can decide the focal point.

I Think I Can: The Business Man

If rappers really live extravagant lifestyles, to them, are most songs about average days? If I were to rap in a similar style, would it be about going to the office and working on spreadsheets. It can be entertaining to hear the stories of people living out your fantasies. I wonder if many rappers believe in self actualization.

When is Possible

Could this have been made in any era, or only now?

Decisions

I leaned that when people have a difficult decision to make they usually chose the decision that is already made for them.

Wake Up Facing a Wall

Life will find a point to awakened you to limitations of potential, in societal, physical, and psychological forms. This usually happens at puberty and 40.

Hills

A supportive motif in a novel/movie. A young kid (Carl) loves biking, goes biking with all the neighborhood kids. All the kids make a big deal about going to the big hill to ride down really fast. Carl likes going fast down the hill, the wind in his face, but at the bottom of the hill he realizes and laments the fact that he has to go back up. While slowing making it back up the hill he thinks to himself that real life isn't like the TV shows, you never watch the kids on TV go up back up the hill, only enjoying the ride down. More plot occurs, and then at the end of the story the Carl, now an adult has to go live at his old house,(for whatever reason, death of parent ect.) Carl, still a lover of bicycles goes out to rediscover the neighborhood he grew up in. Riding around Carl realizes that the hill that he truly likes best, happens to be the one at the end of his street. It has all of the features that he truly desires.
This story shows character development, realizing his own passions, some of which he shared with (the media/neighborhood kids aka. society) such as biking, and some of which were unique passions, not enjoying the big hill and speed/adventure as much, but rather preferring his own unique taste.
This story also provides a moral, that more often than you would realize, that which you enjoy the most, the "perfect hill" is right in your backyard. While it is important to try other things to experience and realize your what your true passions are there is nothing wrong with finding out your mom really does make the best lasagna.

Extinction Equality

Why are people are so much more concerned with the extinction of animals over plant species.

Frog Prince

Unlike Frog Prince, most people try to make a good first impression and start with their best foot forward. As you get to know them, they settle into their natural selves revealing internal amphibious natures.

How to Judge

I like to ask, “How do you spend your free time?” It's the best question I know to find out about someone.

Infinite Life

We will never experience death, time only exists as it is being perceived. Time is only perceived when we are alive. Therefore, from the perspective of the living, death is asymptotic and life lasts an infinite time. Death is like spaghettification.

Relative Happiness

Happiness is relative to total emotion experienced, (possibility) everyone has different averages and/or ranges, modes of emotion.

Human Stock Market

A child stock market, invest in a child, raise them until they get to the point where they can start to pay back, with interest of course, the cost of their upbringing, long term investment, potential high interest pay out, ability to manage own risk level. Bonus: emotional connection.

Career

I want a career where the knowledge I need for my job is also useful for living life.

Extremes

Does ours or other societies favor a constant middle or to tend towards extremes? Which one is really better-not just what society dictates.

Public Speaking

Not enough people have the capability to practice public speaking, practice is the best way to get great public speakers.

Sleep Deprivation

I wonder where the intersection point is for "time gained from sleep deprivation" and "loss of productivity from not having enough sleep".

Admitting Mistakes

Although it is somewhat rare for someone to admit that they were wrong, it is even more rare for someone to admit that they are continuing to be wrong.

DUI's

Do you think the amount of DUI's leading to accidents is inflated because the people who would make the decision to drive under the influence are the kinds of people who would be more willing to engage in dangerous driving tactics even if they were not impaired?

Society's Wealth

We, as a society become more and more wealthy as we create more and more, non perishable items. Because we as people are perishable we would pass down the non perishables so each next generation would start off at a more wealthy starting point. This seems like it should have a greater impact upon standard of living than practically any other factor.

Music Emotion Connection

I believe that the music industry is corrupting people's emotions. Music influences emotion, the music industry manufactures music and thereby manufactures specific emotions to be felt and to eventually become comfortable to the person who listens to the music and feels these manufactured emotions. Eventually this leads to people feeling more comfortable with these manufactured emotions rather than the impossibly complex emotions that we as humans feel naturally. Only through independent music, each artist truly expressing their own complicated emotions thought their music can we overcome this corruption of natural feelings.

Best Musicians

I think that the best musicians are the ones who's favorite songs are the ones they wrote themselves.

Hippies

I find it a little odd that the stereotype of hippies does not necessarily match up with their beliefs.

Snoring

I wonder if people realize how large of an impact snoring must have on people going deaf. Just because you're asleep doesn't mean your ears are off, that is around 6 hours of loud noise right next to your ear. I don't think this knowledge has been appropriately spread.

Prison

There are a lot of aspects about prison that I think would be good for me.

Prison

There are a lot of aspects about prison that I think would be good for me

Alcohol Limit

Is the legal limit for driving a boat the same as it is for driving a car?

Pops in your head

You know how there are two different types of thoughts, thoughts that you think out word for word, and then the type that just pop into your head all at once. What is the significance of this?

Rebellious by Nature

I never really had the opportunity to be rebellious as a kid because all of my interests were things that pleased adults. This is too bad because I am truly rebellious by nature.

Nickname 2

If you are called by a nickname you can reach additional levels of depth to your personalty that people without nicknames are unable to accomplish. By allowing an inner circle of relations to call you by your real name, you can make these people feel like they have really gotten to know you even though all that was formed is an extremely shallow connection.

Nickname

I think if you were for a position as an elected official in a category that no one cared about you should get a nickname and put it on the ballet. I would be more likely to vote for someone with a nickname than someone who didn't, if I was to know no other differences (sadly a large part of the voting population.

Mad libs

When I was a kid I bought a mad lib book and filled out everything with the words butt and fart. Then I farted my butt off.



\\Not true by the way

Planing for the Future

It is difficult to plan for your future when you don't know who you are going to be in the future. The most practical solution seems to be to look back on your past and track the static qualities. Then when planning for the future plan only around those qualities.

Perfection

I never believed in perfections existence
for all we've achieved we at best get subsistence
and we have grieved for finding such resistance
from these bounds I'm relieved but still attempt the distance

Taste

It seems that eating is to taste as, listening to music is to hearing. However, cooking doesn't seem to be as valued or taught to the extent playing music.

Bad taste

The world is much cheaper for people with "bad taste". Maybe I should change my taste preferences, but how much can they change and to what degree are they "built in"?

Future

In a future society one day the laws of the world will exactly coincide with an individual's inborn moral compass/common sense.

Car Window

There should be a child lock for the back window of cars so that you can turn off the lock and roll the window all the way down

Tattoos vs. Ties

More tattoos than ties

The Sweet Smell of Success

If "It doesn't matter if you win or lose as long as you try your best". Does it matter if you are successful if you didn't try your best? Is this why I have never felt successful.

Photography Appreciation

I never really appreciated photography as an art form because I felt that it was to simple to capture beauty. Nature is inherent beautiful and such exacting detail will doubtlessly capture some of it. Now I appreciate its unique ability to capture emotions.

Watching

I watch the watchers and speak for those who listen,
I search for eyes that sparkle and cast pearls to make them glisten

Carriage

I saw a broken down car on the side of the road being pulled home by a horse and I thought to myself, “I wonder if that’s how the horse drawn carriage was invented?”

Sleep

I woke up this morning at 8, hit the snooze till 3
Cause it’s hard to show up late, when you got nowhere to be

Leadership Legacy

Leaders during times of peace and prosperity are rarely remembered. I hope current and future narcissist leaders are not motivated by this knowledge.

First Day

I want to be capable of creative expression, irrespective of form.

Is our military socialist?