Shift Happens!
 

Thanks to an email I received from the Massachusetts Senior Mentor, I stumbled over a GREAT inspirational video! It definitely outlines why we in FIRST do what we do! Not only that, but it's titled after our favorite catchy Andymark slogan:

"Shift Happens"
http://www.glumbert.com/media/shift

And yes, you can digg it ~__^

Check it out! I was impressed!

Re: Shift Happens!
 

Amazing video. It definitely has an outstanding impact and highlights both statistical technological improvements, but also the need for the improvement of our country as a cohesive whole in order to better compete with countries such as China and Japan. I loved the part about Nintendo > US Government :P
*Two thumbs up, Joe Matt style* :p

Digg it!

Re: Shift Happens!
 

Shift does indeed happen.

This is an amazing and inspiring video.

Andy B.

Re: Shift Happens!
 

Scary statistics! The presentation did not seem credible since it did not state their references. Any ideas?

Re: Shift Happens!
 

Wow, ouch, OMG, What, and dats crazy all in one.

Re: Shift Happens!
 

I dont think you can just make up stats and things like that.

Re: Shift Happens!
 

In all honesty, you can make up ANYTHING.
Haven't you ever heard the "67% of all statistics are made up on the spot" line?

But I'm not sure where the facts or from, or where the video originated.
And I didn't notice any credits when I watched to find its maker either...

Re: Shift Happens!
 

Don't put too much stock in anything that's posted on a website. It's slick, it's flashy but where did all those amazing "facts" come from?

Re: Shift Happens!
 

People and companies do it all the time.

Re: Shift Happens!
 

of course it can all be false,..........but it still makes you think, true or false.

Re: Shift Happens!
 

Precisely

Edit: Thanks Art (post 17) for providing resource information

Re: Shift Happens!
 

Can you, y'know, anti-DIGG something? There are a lot of compelling arguments to be made for improving the United States' education system and I'm sure that at least one of them doesn't rely on characterizing foreign schoolchildren as this big, bad thing that's coming to steal your job.

Re: Shift Happens!
 

Very interesting video, some of which I think is highly credible, however.... I remember a book that I read in high school called 1984 (great thought provoking book) that seemed to try and forcast the future and not do such a great job at it. Basically, what I'm trying to say here is lets just see what the future brings and deal with it then. .....Though I'd like cheaper laptops....

Re: Shift Happens!
 

Krass is right........americans are taught things that will help them succeed in society, and the society is american....what we learn also helps in other areas that affect the world and affects us. What are taught to further America and solve problems here which would eventually solve problems in the world.......but US first. Its hard to judge what country is smarter than another if you ask me.

Re: Shift Happens!
 

Interesting, but I also don't believe it and would love to see some research back up some of the statistics...

A quick look at one figure (the 351 babies born in India during this presentation) shows a little of the sensationalism...

It's a 6 minute movie...
Which means:
3510 births per hour
84,240 births per day
30,747,600 births per year

According to https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications.../print/in.html in 2006 there is:

A population of 1,095,351,995
Birth rate of 22.01 births per 1000 people

So, that means:

24,108,697.41 births per year
66,051.23 births per day
2,752.13 births per hour
275.21 births per presentation

Still a lot, but quite a bit from the claimed number in the presentation...

Anyway...

Re: Shift Happens!
 

My teacher actually showed this to my class one day and she got it off of some university's website. I don't know which one, but if I find the time, I will ask her. I think that it is actually credible because of the fact that she got it off of there.

Re: Shift Happens!
 

This video reminded me a lot of Spaceship Earth at Epcot. All they need is for Walter Cronkite to narrate it. ;)

If there is anything the Information Age has taught me, it's that Google is your friend. [Read: Here's the film's references for their statistics] :p

Here's a little background information about this video:

Re: Shift Happens!
 

Wow, that was really well put together. It really evokes a feel of teamwork and coming together to fix things. I wish I was more a part of this, but I'm just a volunteer...:mad:
Wish I could be in some of those shots.

Re: Shift Happens!
 

Just having a link to the BLOG someone got their "information" from doesn't make it a credible sources. Very Few of these claims are based on primary sources. The majority of them are from a single author (Ian Jukes) who does not sources his own paper. Others are simply a quote without context or someone's personal opinion.

This Vid is interesting Drama, nothing else.

Re: Shift Happens!
 

I read George Orwell's book 1984 not too long ago, and although I agree entirely that it was an excellent thought provoking book I disagree that it was meant as a prediction of the future. I think his purpose for writing it was to paint a picture of a rather extreme totalitarian setting with the intent of raising controversy and opposition to such events. The title may suggest that it was an image of the future, but in fact his title originally was to be The Last Man In Europe. This was changed due to suggestion from the publisher.

Even today you can find references almost weekly in the news to 1984, as every issue surrounding privacy is highly contested and suggested as being just one step closer to the totalitarianism of Orwell's society. This just proves that issues addressed in a book written almost sixty years ago are still relevant today, despite the title suggesting a fictional society of twenty three years ago.

In comparison, this is a compilation of facts and statistics (now mostly backed with sources) largely relating to the world as it currently stands. I as well find them fascinating. Although I don't think the US will find itself jobless and economically crushed in five years, I do think we are on a slippery slope regarding our position in the world. If things aren't addressed soon, then the dominant role we have taken for granted as a country could be lost very quickly. The best way to go about solving this is to accept the facts at hand and seek out a solution.

Even if we are all personally morally committed to the greater good of our own country, many corporations are not - and our own actions quite often don't reflect such a position.

- Jeff

Re: Shift Happens!
 

No matter if all the sources can be found, it is still very thought provoking. It kind of forces you to see different perspectives that I know I normally wouldn't take the time to acknowledge. It was fascinating, to say the least.

Re: Shift Happens!
 

So it doesn't matter that it could all be made up and not based on fact? What if i made a vid based on articles from TheOnion.com? would it still be fascinating?

Re: Shift Happens!
 

....and then, the Terminators appeared.

If countries would stop being so dang competitively "us vs. them" and instead SHIFTED their focus to "all of us vs. the world's problems", perhaps we'd live in a better world?

If people focused their efforts on raising the standard of living in poorer and less developed countries, perhaps we wouldn't have to worry so much about the influx of illegal immigrants, because they might actually want to stay in their own countries and enjoy and appreciate the better life we helped create for them?

Fix education here. Get more engineers here. Solve our problems, but instead of letting those solutions stop at the border, pool resources with the engineers in other countries. Collaborate and share the benefits of technology with the entire world. Stop trying to improve and hoard resources on your small patch of land at the expense of everyone else.

And I'd kindly suggest to the world's people that we work harder at making the world a better place for children to live in before bringing so many dang children into the world. We're only making it harder on ourselves.

Humans can be a greedy lot.