Read this:

Today the Milken Institute released an important study that demonstrates the heavy economic burden chronic disease places on our nation – and how much worse this burden could become in the coming decades if Americans don’t take measures to improve their health.

“An Unhealthy America: The Economic Burden of Chronic Disease” shows the current treatment costs of seven chronic diseases (cancers, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, stroke, mental disorders and pulmonary conditions) and the economic impacts of lost workdays and lower employee productivity across all 50 states and the nation as a whole.

It also takes an unprecedented look at how much these costs are expected to skyrocket as America’s population ages – and the drain on businesses and the economy.

Finally, but most important, Institute researchers have projected the costs and potential savings into two paths: the one we are now on, and one that could change the course of this personal and national economic burden if we take moderate steps through prevention and healthier lifestyles. The study is the first of its kind to estimate the possible avoidable costs if a serious effort were made to improve Americans’ health.

You can read more about the study on our web site (www.milkeninstitute.org) and view additional data at a web site we have created to post all of the state and national data: http://www.chronicdiseaseimpact.com/.  We believe this study will be an important addition to the ongoing debate over the costs of health care in the United States, and what can be done to reduce this economic burden.

How watch this:


Fast forward to 2:18 for something that will blow your mind...

Wow...

Hopped over to CNN.com for some reason today (try to avoid doing that as much as possible).  It's amazing what passes for news nowadays. 

The top stories are murder, murder, drug scandal, possible death, political bickering, bomb threat, semi-funny airshow story, political bickering, crime, murder, scandal, car crash.  Finally towards the bottom of the top stories we have an interesting article from Oprah.com and Who's Your Hero piece which seems pretty out of place with the rest of the grim stories.  Alas, we get back on track with Popular News (Mom seeks to remove girl's womb, kidnapping, scandal) and Video (death, murder, right to murder...er, carry gun :)).

Given what's being reported in the news these days it's not surprising that we're prescribing anti-depressants like they are going out of style (growth in prescriptions for anti-depressants has grown from 40 million scrips in 1988 to 150 million in 2004). 

Do yourself a favor. 

Quit your news addicition.

See my buddy Pavlina if you need more help with that.

You'll be happy you did.

:)

I love this guy.  So true.

A snippet from a conversation a couple of nights ago got me thinking about something.

It's really dangerous to equate money with value.

Consider these scenarios:

Scenario A: Let's say that I produce a crappy product and through some method manage to convince you to pay me $100 for it.  The product sucks and I don't really end up using it for anything.

Scenario B: Now let's say that rather than that I come over to your house one night and teach you a new skill that allows you to become more productive, have a better relationship with your spouse, whatever.  Oh, and I don't charge you anything for that.

Which scenario has resulted in more money exchanged?

Which scenario has resulted in more value exchanged?

The answer is obviously different for each question.

Or consider Wikipedia vs. Exxon-Mobil.  Wikipedia has resulted in tremendous benefits for millions of people.  However, it hasn't generated any revenue (outside of some donations).  Exxon-Mobil on the other hand generates billions of dollars in profits each year while at the same time playing a huge role in causing some major environmental damage.  While Exxon-Mobil definitely generates value (after all, it helps us get from point A to point B) I'd venture to say that the value it generates is somewhat out of whack compared to the profits it generates (in large part because it doesn't bear the costs of enviromental degradation). 

There are many examples of companies who have created tremendous value and profits to match.  I'd say Google is one.  Google has generated huge opportunities for entrepreneurs and allowed people better access to information than ever before.  Or Whole Foods.  They've grown to a multi-billion dollar company while promoting organic, local, sustainable agriculture.  No one's perfect of course but these are two examples of value generation largely aligning with profit generation.

Next time you get caught up in the the dominant worldview that money is king and value is secondary, step outside that social conditioning for a second and ask yourself "Is what I'm doing really creating value in the world or just money?"  The latter is pretty easy to achieve.  You could be a drug dealer or a stripper or find a whole host of more socially acceptable ways to "earn a living" that don't really add much value to the world.

But when your'e old and gray you'll want to look back on a life where you created true value and made the world a better place.

Why not start now?

A while back I blogged about micro-learning which I think is going to be an increasingly strong trend in the world of education.  In short, micro-learning is breaking up learning modules into bite-sized chunks that can consumed in isolation or in series.  It's respecting the fact that people are busier than ever and that the population is becoming more ADD-ish in its media consumption habits.

To that extent, we've recently launched a side project called 10Things.tv.  It's a series of short instructional videos for learning languages.  The initial videos teach Spanish but eventually we'll be adding other languages.  It's a great way to pick up a bit of Spanish before you head off on a trip or to whet your appetite to learn more.  Take a look at videos below and if you like them visit 10Things.tv for more.

“If we train for the impossible, the difficult becomes easy.”

I love that.  So true.

From here.