You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.

But, we know him as the Lord of Darkness, the Gatekeeper to Hell, as Satan. So, what happened to Lucifer?

One day, God decreed that all angels worship the image of God in his son, Adam. Lucifer refused the will of God.

I will not worship one inferior and subsequent to me. I am prior to him in creation. Before he was made, I was already made. He ought to worship me.

In a fight, Lucifer was banished to Hell and Satan was born. A man of God, becomes the Angel of Death. Just like that, he pledges to drag Adam and Eve down to Hell to exact his revenge on God.

We hear stories of Lucifer and Darth Vader, and don’t believe they apply to us. Some people make bad decisions that lead them down a dark path, but not me. We all think we know the difference between right and wrong, and what it means to be moral. But, if we were slowly becoming someone we never intended to be, how would we know? How do we know when our personality or moral become disengaged? At what point do good ordinary people become perpetrators of evil?

Dr. Philip Zimbardo has spent his life trying understand What makes people go wrong? We all know that a line between good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. For example, to be a hero, you have to be a social deviant. Heros go against the social norm which would be inaction, to save their own neck. But, some people go against that norm. So, where do you draw that line?

Dr. Zimbardo grew up in the Bronx where he saw many good friends turn to the dark side. Philip went on to study psychology at Yale and Stanford, where he would eventually be appointed professor. He was first involved in the notorious 1971 Stanford Prison experiment, which went tragically out of control. Since his childhood he has devoted his life to this cause. If that isn’t honorable in itself, I don’t know what is. His talk is mostly about the studies he’s been involved in, but the bigger questions are what he speaks for.

The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.

Srikumar works to help people bring attention to their negative mental chatter and mental models of our world. He uses a scientific approach to understanding the mind, connecting psychology and spirituality. He challenges his students to recognize their thought patterns and how they are affecting both the reality they see and the moments they experience.

• Do you have a tendency to put off things that you would love to do because they just don’t fit into your life now?
• Do you feel disappointed when you look at a decision you made and consider how much better your life would be now if you had made a different decision?
• Do you look at the horrific misery in the world and feel overwhelmed by the tragedy and your inability to make a difference?
• Do you find that when you sit down to relax or spend time with a loved one that you can’t fully enjoy it because you’re thinking about something unrelated to the moment?
• Do you consider what other people will think of you before you do something? Why?
• Do you look to the future for relief, happiness, fulfillment, or something you’re not getting now?
• Do you compare your life to someone’s and dream of having what they have?
• Do you feel like many of your conversations are superficial; you talk about things you have no real interest in, things that frustrate you, or you speak without passion in your voice?
• Do you doubt your competence and worry that someone is going to find out that you’re not as smart as they think you are?
• Do you make purchases on a whim and fill your house with stuff you don’t use?
• Are you worried about events that may or may not happen, like getting a promotion or not making a sale?
• Do you plan to fix your life after a major event, such as a raise, a marriage, or retirement?

Is your reality full of problems that make your life difficult? Start by considering the plausible alternate reality that there are aspects to your problem that are teaching you or that are challenging you to become a better person. That’s really what Srikumar does; makes you recognize who you are and challenges you to learn from yourself.

I would highly recommend his talk. I haven’t read his book, Are You Ready to Succeed?, but I am sure that I would stand behind his written words, too.

• Complaining is silly. Either act or forget.
• Thinking life will be better in the future is stupid. I have to live now.
• Being not truthful works against me.
• Helping other people helps me.
• Organizing a charity group is surprisingly easy.
• Everything I do always comes back to me.
• Drugs feel great in the beginning and become a drag later on.
• Over time I get used to everything and start taking it for granted.
• Money does not make me happy.
• Traveling alone is helpful for a new perspective on life.
• Assuming is stifling.
• Keeping a diary supports my personal development.
• Trying to look good limits my life.
• Worrying solves nothing.
• Material luxuries are best enjoyed in small doses.
• Having guts always works out for me.

The most memorable stories are those that universally relate to mankind. Personal struggles through moments in life, or life-long missions to reach a desired end. Inspiration from another who has Lost themselves, and how they found their way back. Why are we so drawn to witness others struggle? Do we take joy in others pain? Do we need our own problems validated by a reminder that others have problems, too? Are we looking for ideas or inspiration to help us jump to a resolution of our struggle for purpose?

Experience tells us that the solution to any problem results from gathering the right information. What can you do if some of the information is just not possible to hold? In fact, a great majority of our world and economy exists to find answers to questions with incomplete information. Often, these questions ask what is going to happen in the moments to come? Trying to predict the future is a valuable exercise in life and business, however it is easy to forget the information is always incomplete. We become dependent on an unpredictable future and forget about life in the present

In his deeply profound recollection, Abrams believes that it is the absence, and not the existence, of the information that makes life so enjoyable. If we had complete information, we could know with certainty the answer to any question. Life would no longer be exciting. There would be no more anticipation or mystery. Life would not be worth living without a journey, a struggle or details withheld. This simple fact is true in every aspect of life:

• careers - Where is this job leading me? Where am I leading this job?
• relationships - What is she thinking right now? What is he going to do next?
• family - Who might my children become? What keeps our family together?
• economics - Is the demand for enviro-friendly products really going to grow?
• politics - What will society need most desperately in 5 years?

All of this uncertainty boils down to the most deeply rooted mystery. The question few ask for fear of failure is simply, Who Am I? Life is constantly a struggle to give words and meaning to that indescribable essence.

The ignorance of that fundamental mystery might offer insight into it. In other words, we can learn something from an unsolved mystery. I know J.J. would agree that the answer to the mystery is not what people are after, but the pursuit of the mystery. Especially, if the mystery cannot be solved.

What is your life story?

Take a moment to look at each word, and consciously consider what it means to you. You won’t be disappointed!

Philippe offers that the further you understand (past and present) and envision (future) the evolution of humanity, the more important you will be to civilization. The deeper you understand the goals and the effect of your actions, the more you can contribute to our change. Our evolution. Our history. Our survival.

Philippe describes the evolution, or progress of society as a jagged line. We move from light to dark; civilization to barbaria. In barbaria, there is no need for beauty or design; there are other priorities. Despite the constant see-saw motion of forward progress and setback, the general trend is towards an increase in human advancement. Society presses on.

The beautiful story of civilization is our evolutionary mutation. For 4 billion years, our world has been changing physically and spiritually, in information and organization. Yet, we have gotten only as far as you see today. Ironically, every generation thinks they are the one; the final man and the end of this evolution. Philippe jests “We have mutate 4 billion years before, but because it’s me, we stop.”

The legacy we leave to the next generation are the tools produced in our lifetime of progress. When your story comes to a close, the next generation gets a blank slate and the freedom to write their own story.

Software running on mobile devices is the next clear evolution of the connected lifestyle. Entrepreneurs around the globe are betting that people want information on the move. Simple examples include locating businesses and friends based on physical proximity. How far can this evolution go?

The Economist ran a couple articles about using virtual-reality-style technology to augment our senses. Imagine directions from your in-car GPS device, overlaid on the road through your windshield. How about visiting a doctor who uses a pair of glasses to locate your blood veins before giving you a needle. Those examples only target our visual senses. We’ve all been to museums with audio guides for additional information about the displays. I am sure that prosthetic research has yielded a technology for augmenting touch sensitivity.

Those are just some examples of the products that have already been proposed. I appreciate that our young, tech savvy generation wants push the limits of technology. I know at least one person with a different perspective on the real value of these techno-fantasies. Jim Balsillie (RIM’s CEO) is not allowed to bring his Blackberry into his home, according to his wife. There is an important lesson in Mrs. Balsillie’s words; not all aspects of our lives are open to change.

Is every new technological innovation an improvement to society? Are there some parts our lives too sacred to be taken away from us? Are there some parts of society, or our planet, that will never change despite technological innovation?

Paul’s paper, headlined as How to Make Decisions, arrives at a theory on a general approach to making good decisions. Informed Intuition is described as a step-wise procedure.

Informed Intuition
1. Set up the decision problem carefully. This requires identifying the goals to be accomplished by your decision and specifying the broad range of possible actions that might accomplish those goals.
2. Reflect on the importance of the different goals. Such reflection will be more emotional and intuitive than just putting a numerical weight on them, but should help you to be more aware of what you care about in the current decision situation. Identify goals whose importance may be exaggerated because of jonesing or other emotional distortions.
3. Examine beliefs about the extent to which various actions would facilitate the different goals. Are these beliefs based on good evidence? If not, revise them.
4. Make your intuitive judgment about the best action to perform, monitoring your emotional reaction to different options. Run your decision past other people to see if it seems reasonable to them.

Yikes! Basically, he is telling you to understand your emotional intuition towards the decisions. Try describing the factors that are making you feel the way you do.

A crucial part of (group decision making) is becoming aware of the emotional states of others, which may benefit as much from face-to-face interactions involving perception of people’s physical as from purely verbal communication.

I have seen that empathy towards the thoughts and feelings of others, is delicate but crutial to society. I feel that with the rise of individuality, any attempt to understand someone else, especially when they are unable to describe themselves, has been lost. Few but the best leaders appear to have acquired this learned skill.

Are your decisions intuitive and reasonable?

They suggest that you use the power of social networking and free flowing nature of personal information to your advantage. Build a network of really great friends and keep up regular contact.

Understand that anyone can find out the intimate details of your life that you or anyone else posted online. What does this mean? You should deeply understand who you are what you want from your life. In the future, employers and partners will be directly targeting potential hires, instead of posting and waiting (the Web 1.0 way).

Labor trends point to the increasing importance of adaptability. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average worker currently holds 10 different jobs before hitting age 40. Job tenures now hover around four years.

Employees are more willing to pursue the next opportunity because they know that different responsibilities, people and situations will energize them in new ways. People are no longer looking for the holy grail of jobs; they want new experiences and new learning opportunities. They want to experiment with their careers. Society promotes career experimentation as highly desirable.

Interesting people care. Everyone has a few passions in their life, which they pursue relentlessly and love to talk about incessantly. In an ever growing sea of famous people not only do you need to be interesting, you need to be remarkable.

One of Obama’s promises is to build Government 2.0, and make the decisions of White House more accessible. I agree that opening up access to decisions by the governments, and the results of those decisions, can only make those decisions clearer. Even if a broader range of opinion inputs are not collected, at least it keeps people more sympathetic towards the government that Americans historically distrust.

All of the words that leave his mouth sound fantastic, but I would not have posted this commentary if there wasn’t a deeper message. His approach inspired me. It is Obama’s solid character that was the inspiration. Notice that the reason he wants to post the federal budget online is to make those in power more accountable for their decisions. I get the sense that he is present and clear in his understanding of real life. He presents himself with a strong sense of responsibility and honesty.

He says it himself; I bring judgment, vision, and character. To speak up forcefully for what I believe in. To stand up for what I believe in, even when it’s unpopular. These are the qualities I look for in a leader, and that’s why he inspired me.

Note: I am Canadian, and am not suggesting that any presidential candidate is any more worthy than any other.