The Google of Desire
500 Words on Thursday | Written by Lee Schneider
What are you looking for? People are searching Google for “oil spill in gulf of mexico.” St. Louis, MO is the world’s epicenter for people typing in “how to find a boyfriend.” The number one city searching for “sex” is Delhi, India. The number one city searching for “peace” – Edmonton, Canada.
I’m going to follow the high (Canadian) road and try some Google searches before hoisting a cold drink and paddling a kayak into the Labor Day sunset. Here are my results, not all of them real.
Normally this Google search returns an administration that is wrongheadedly driven to job generation by building more roads, more airports and increasing our dependency on fossil fuels. That’s my read on Laura Tyson’s recent New York Times op-ed piece.
But when I did this Google search, I got something that didn’t suck. My search returned a president who delivers on his promise to build a green infrastructure for America, with solar and wind power. His administration helps move us away from oil, cars and bad mortgages and into something smarter – new online technologies and training and a green economy.
This returns yoga studios that offer classes by donation, like YogaCo and Yogis Anonymous, in Santa Monica. You simply pay what you think the class is worth. Your class is not some recurring charge on your credit card, or a health-club membership, or some other obligation like changing the oil in your car. The health club, credit card model of yoga doesn’t teach us as much about ourselves. As Max Strom writes in A Life Worth Breathing, we can’t use the methods we commonly employ in business and commerce to learn about ourselves. It’s like using a hammer to brush your teeth. Money needs to change hands for yoga classes, but just in a different way.
This search returns links about Bruce Lipton, a biologist who is leading a re-examination of Darwinian evolutionary theory. He spoke at a great event that I attended this week. Bruce says that Darwin’s concept of evolution, the “survival of the fittest,” has led humanity into competition and war. He thinks evolution is really about “survival of the fittingest” – successful species are those that adapt, fit in with nature and play well with other species. If we understand this in time, and stop killing the planet, Mother Nature might not need to cast us out of her garden.
This returns a link to this video, which is coffee porn for the overcaffinated engineer mind. The search does not return any links to Starbucks, which has a good health plan for its employees but teaches them to make an indifferent espresso, a great tragedy for dopamine delivery.
My dream Google search returns news of Architecture for Humanity’s efforts to rebuild in Haiti, Black Entertainment Television’s financing of local housing materials manufacturing in Haiti, and World Shelters’ work here and abroad to put a roof over everyone’s head.
Eastern Nebraska. Huh. Always wanted to know that.
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Lee,
But Lipton overlooks the 7,000 years of competition and war before Darwin–no doubt way before: Cro-Magnons vs. Neanderthals. Certainly 19th century “philosophers” seized on the theory and it became “Social Darwinism;” a good excuse for imperializing “inferior races.” An aura of legitimacy for colonial aggression. It’s always about the money. Except in yoga class.
I Googled this: “Beautiful 45-year-old interested in qigong, tai chi chuan and literature–independently wealthy or at least holding a job. With 50% percent of her teeth, minimum (flexible on that point).
Oh yeah–I also Googled “world peace.” Unlikely that either is in the cards.
Bob
Yes, I checked world peace in Google also, but it’s not a “trending search.” Not many looking for it – yet. I’ll have to ask Bruce about that 7,000 years. His ideas do get close to Lamarck, who believed that a giraffe could will its own neck to get longer. A theoretical flaw? Not sure. But I’m still fascinated with what Bruce has to say. He’s worth catching – a vibrant lecturer.
Lee,
I disagree with Lamarck based on my own empirical evidence. I’ve been “stretching my neck” for years–and it’s still the same length. I thought I could will myself out of the “Irish Curse” (drink like a fish and hung like a horse–a sea horse) but it ain’t happening, either with the Law of Attraction or positive action. I will offer a counter-theory based on my experiences “polishing the clown.” Now do you see why I googled a hot 45-year-old?