Mankind is like a Magnet

When studying basic physics we are taught about the fundamental structure of magnetic iron.  We are told that a piece of iron contains countless little molecules of iron that form dipoles.  These dipoles are each a molecule sized magnet.  If one could isolate one of these dipoles it would align like a compass with the magnet field around the earth.

The difference between a magnetized piece of iron and one that is not a magnet is the randomness of the orientation of these dipoles.  It is much like a democracy, each dipole votes for a direction to point.  In a true random piece of iron there is no magnetic field produced because the dipoles cancel each other out.  For every dipole pointing in a particular direction, there is another pointing in the opposite direction.  If we can influence this random arrangement, the piece of iron becomes what we call “magnetized.”

I find a striking similarity between this fact about iron and magnets and mankind.  We too can each be seen as a dipole.  We have our opinions, beliefs, needs, tendencies, etc.  Our direction regarding such things is based on the influences that we have met during our time alive.  The dipole metaphor can be extended to include the fact that our opinions are always changing.  From day to day or even minute to minute our ideas evolve.  The question, as it pertains to mankind, becomes a question of majorities over time.  Our small life (approximately 100 years) has a very small influence on the true nature of mankind.  Our individual correctness is always a function of the direction we take in the moment of decision in everything we do.  Decisions cause results and create impact on others.

The overall nature of mankind is a function of the net sum of our individual orientations.  Over the history of man we can follow the influencers that affected our politics and religious beliefs.  The history of God revealing himself is told quite completely in the Bible.  The gift of instructions on how to live our lives was perfectly demonstrated by Jesus the Son of God and the inspiration available to us at every minute we live in the Holy Spirit.  These are without doubt primary influencers of mankind today.  Even the dialog offered by those claiming to be atheist for the most part is biased toward respect for each other and life.

The fact is that God has biased us toward love regardless of our beliefs.  We are in His image!

It is not possible to understand the big picture in our lifetime and probably in the time that our Universe has remaining.  The only thing for sure is that each of us has to decide moment by moment which way to point. 

I choose toward God as I understand to be correct.  I accept the lessons taught by Jesus and the guidance offered by that small voice inside my head, The Holy Spirit.  At least my dipole is influenced to help as much as possible.  Now, you the reader must make your choice.  No, you cannot choose to not be a dipole!

By: David C Mims Sr. 

God's Investment Plan

107,602,707,791 people are estimated to have lived on earth since 50,000 BC. Each one has played a role in the history of man and the evolution of our knowledge and understanding of everything.  Each person wants to understand their purpose in the big picture of God's plan, but none are able to do it with total confidence.

To improve our ability to grasp the magnitude of the problem, a comparison with the human body can be made.  We have learned that our cells all have unique purposes and, based on their type and location in the systems of the body, each have a very important contribution to make.  As with people, cells live different lengths of time.  There are about 200 different types of cells in our bodies, but there are 100,000,000,000,000 eukaryotic [living, individual, reproducing] cells in the body.  That number exceeds many times the total number of humans that have ever lived.  Realize that the body as a whole lives many times longer than most of the individual cells that define it.  In this mental model we must imagine ourselves as individual cells in the body of humanity.  The mystery of life then becomes analogous to the pondering of any single cell on the impact that it has on the overall mission of the body in which it lives. Imagine answering the question asked by a single mucous cell as to how it is going to contribute to any achievements that the body itself will realize. 

As with the mucous cell it is not possible for any one of us to understand the mission of the body that we compose.  The body of humanity, as far as we know, has lived for over 52,000 years, but we as individuals are privileged to have contributed a mere single human lifetime to God's plan.  The Bible is a history record looking back without revealing the future plan in detail.

Not knowing the big picture creates a problem.  It means that we must have an action directive in order to honor our best potential.  God provided this directive in the best instruction possible through the demonstration of His nature through the life of Jesus Christ.  Jesus showed us how to act and as importantly, how to LISTEN!

Jesus said on the cross, "Father forgive them; for they know not what they do."  It is obvious that we do not have the capacity to understand but we are forgiven!  We must LISTEN to that smallest voice in our minds for the guidance that we need to choose well at each moment of our lives,  If we do that, we will make the correct choices and not be a wasted resource in God's investment plan.

Learning Wheels - Published August 2013

"Learning Wheels"

Living in the world today, each of us is challenged with the need to learn and teach, but waiting for others to provide for our needs in these areas is not a wise strategy.  Learning Wheels merges systems and learning theory to provide a new way to deal with this challenge.

Learning Opportunities are easy to see, but they are normally in a state of chaos and rarely fully exploited.  The mental models presented in this book can act as a vaccination against that chaos and provide a springboard to getting more out of every learning opportunity.  Note that only you need to change in order to benefit from these concepts. 

The thesis of this book is; “If we as individuals can learn to be aware of learning opportunities and if we can couple that awareness with the skills required to adapt to the situational nature of each opportunity, we can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of learning for ourselves and others.”

The Continuum Concept

I love the continuum concept.  When we create continuum we define concepts in terms of extremes. (“Warm” --- “Hostel”) or (“Dominant” --- “Submissive”) 

These models are easy to visualize and are excellent ways to create behavioral models used in teaching and group facilitation.

In the context of God it is not quite the same.  In that context a continuum, to be accurately expressed can only be (“God” --- “Absence of God”).  Sin is many times defined as “Absence of God”

A trap is created when we replace “Absence of God” with another entity such as Satan in that it gives equal power to that named entity.  The entity is then inferred to have a conscience and maybe even an agenda.  

How many times have we found ourselves trying to balance “Good” with “Evil?”  The false continuum I describe here sets us up for many mental errors.  The result is that many times we become confused and turn to blaming God for allowing His Absence to rule.  It's not even logical!

The fact is that it is our individual responsibility to recognize that we are in God.  His voice is there to help us in the form of the Holy Spirit that Jesus taught us.  

Forget Satan!  He does not exist if we face reality, all of the possibilities, including the universe, God, the "I Am."  Facing God we can live the model that Jesus created when he said, "Get thee behind me Satan!"

"I Am" Face to Face

The beauty of God’s world is revealed by the mathematical principle of multiplication.  For example: One God = 1 Holy Spirit x 1 Father x 1 Son, the one in Three.  The equation can even be extended to include each of us as 1 x 1 x 1 x 1 still equals “The One”, the I Am, The Living God.

The problem with us as individuals is that we see with a finite ability to understand reality.  Our understanding is based on the mathematical principle of addition.  We think in terms of 1 + 1 + 1 = 3.  We count things, time and people and see multiplication as a more efficient way to add.  As we add our diversity of opinion the numbers increase with time and imagination approaching infinity.  The more we learn the more we realize we do not understand.

At some point in our lives we realize that one number is constantly decreasing, the number of days until we return to the way it was before we were born. 

Pondering the end of life we again are offered the opportunity to see “I Am” face to face.  Once we start to see the true nature of God we can see the “All in One principle” again.  What we do and believe matters, but in the big picture it changes nothing.  In God all things are possible including the Good and Bad acts and events of life, but in the end God remains the one, “I Am”

The perpetual presence of God's Grace. . . . . .

Some say that blessings come one day at a time. I have found that they come much more frequently than that!

Are We Returning to the Middle Ages?

Educators have known since Socrates that maximizing exchange with and between students while encouraging conversation and debate, to be a key to improving learning.  

Today's teachers are frustrated by the fact that they cannot pursue those and other effective approaches because of a myriad of reasons.  The bottom line is that we do design Learning Events, but they are only partially effective at allowing or encouraging learners to function interactively.  

Students all too often, aside from their immediate circle of friends, are not involved with nor do they have any desire to know what their classmates are interested in or what they have found to be easy or difficult.  In college lecture settings with lecture halls full of students, Learning Events are more like concerts than classes.  In those settings learning is very much an individual affair.  

The current trend in education is toward less emphasis on dialog between learners.  Teachers today must rely on what test results tell them.  Some experimental schools are taking this model even further as they encourage independent study and self-paced learning.  Computer Managed Instruction models use algorithms to make decisions as to what the student needs next and when they have reached competency in a particular subject.  Technology has allowed teacher span-of-control to increase reducing costs, but with a corresponding reduction in time available for one-on-one instruction.  

In these new schools teachers use their time to manage learning problems, as signaled by the Computer Managed Instruction algorithm.  Typically small group sessions are only conducted with groups of students having similar challenges. 

I find it interesting that in this model the students who have the easiest time learning the content are the ones that get the least opportunity to work in groups, a destructive archetype.  

Yes, our current education systems and new innovations do create "Learning" although more self-contained.  

We need to look very carefully at the impact being made in the area of Online Education. 

Albert Einstein said: “I fear the day that technology will surpass or human interaction.  The world will have a generation of idiots.”

Each new program struggles with Einstein’s humorous insight currently being demonstrated by the contradictions being created.  For example; How to be online or distant and meet the need for contact with the teacher and other students?  Such contradictions create complicating concepts and new terminologies emerge in the vocabulary of training design.  We now have descriptive terms like Distance Education, Residency Requirement, Asynchronous and Synchronous Learning, Online Education, E-learning, Computer-Based Training, Computer Managed Instruction all provided to help describe available options.  

The process of choosing a college or degree program has become more complicated than ever.  Those in the process of making those decisions today have begun to realize that having a degree means little if the holder does not have true competence in the subject.  No successful company is going to compensate us for incompetence, at least for long.  

It is true that technology has opened many new avenues in education, but has also impacted the quality of training effectiveness and the dynamics of interpersonal relationships.