be healthy

Learn the right way to respond when you're cornered by the boss

I was sitting at this meeting with Ottinger. He’s a good guy. I mean, he doesn’t know any more than he should, but that’s okay because he’s in Marketing.

Anyhow, Lafferty, who’s the head of Finance, is going on about his usual subjects, but then wanders on to something or other. All of a sudden, nobody knows what we’re talking about.

This is a critical juncture. Not knowing what you’re talking about is a common enough condition in any meeting, but the chairman is in this one, sitting at the end of the table, regarding his cuticles, and the display of not knowing what you’re talking about in front of the boss is something most of us would like to avoid.

So we’re all very nervous now, because Lafferty is blathering about stuff nobody cares about, and there’s a chance he’s going to turn to one of us and ask for a comment, and bang! all will be revealed, to somebody’s detriment. And, sure enough, I see Lafferty’s body turning toward me and Ottinger, and I know it’s going to be one of us. And then, yes! I see the finance guru’s warm, tender gaze skitter over me and focus on my marketing buddy. “Dick,” says Lafferty to Ottinger, “I was wondering what the marketing implications would be if we initiated that kind of venture in the near or intermediate term.”

And there is silence as Ottinger looks at Lafferty with absolutely no expression whatsoever, even though I know what is in Ottinger’s heart and mind. He looks down at his notes with a thoughtful game face, and then up again, poised to speak.

How many times has this happened to you? You’re called upon to act, formulate a response, or initiate a movement of some kind in public--and have no friggin’ idea what’s expected of you. Smaller players cave under that kind of pressure. The big ones don’t because they have perfected the ultimate executive capability: the fine art of faking it.

When the chairman of a multinational corporation is presiding over his annual meeting and a shareholder asks where the out-year revenues are going in this challenging economy, do you think the chief executive gives him a precise reply to something that is unknowable? Nah. He fakes it.

When a mogul is stopped on the red carpet at a big industry event and is asked when his acquisition of Poland will be approved by the SEC, he doesn’t say, “Are you kidding? How should I know?” He says, “We’re working with the appropriate folks in Washington and have every expectation of success. Now get out of my way.” In short, he fakes it.

When you ask the big, shiny head of a Fortune 500 company about any detail of any situation, chances are the guy--who is flying at 35,000 feet and pays attention to every issue for about 2 minutes, max--has no idea what you’re talking about. So he fakes it.

How? How do the big boys play the game so that the emptiness of their skulls doesn’t have a deleterious effect on the plumpness of their wallets? More important, how can you play, too?

Let us return now to Ottinger. He has been asked a question to which his common sense and experience have no rejoinder. He will now fake it because at that operation he is--take it from me--one of the best. There are, it turns out, a host of techniques he can apply. Which does he choose? Let us enter the world of quantum reality in which all things are possible. Here are the seven different ways he could answer the question.

TACTIC #1: THE BLOW BACK

“Jeez, Fred!” Ottinger barks back at Lafferty. His voice is low and modulated, but there is molten steel behind it. “That’s not the kind of thing I can just pull out of my butt and lay out on the table without a full wash and rinse of the numbers. Can you provide that right now?”

“Gee, no,” says Lafferty. “Let’s revisit it at the next meeting, huh?”

With this technique, the unwanted incursion is met with force, pushing the offending interrogator back on his or her heels. This is designed to buy the faker time to find out what the heck is going on and create the impression of competence, which, as you know, is what business is all about. The impression, I mean.

TACTIC #2: OBFUSCATING REQUESTIONING

“Well, actually, I’m not quite sure, Fred,” replies Ottinger thoughtfully. “I guess that would depend on your assumptions about the cost of both capital and labor at that point in time, as well as how bullish you want to be about the international back end. What were you thinking regarding those issues?”

“Well,” says Lafferty, riffling through his notes in confusion, “I . . . er . . . um . . . “

“Let’s move along,” says the chairman, annoyed that Lafferty has introduced details into a meeting dedicated to generalities.

Here, Ottinger has brilliantly turned the inquiry into a series of unanswerable queries to be dealt with by his tormentor. Think of a shuttlecock lazily going over a badminton net in one direction, and being returned at 40 times the speed.

TACTIC #3: ISSUE REPOSITIONING

“Wow, Fred,” says Ottinger, “while that question is certainly an important one, don’t you think we should discuss the pricing models we’ll be employing over the next several weeks instead?”

“Yes,” the chairman murmurs. “Pricing. How about that, Fred?”

Score! Once again, our hero has triumphed, this time using a tactic known to laymen as Changing the Damn Subject. This is a lot more difficult than it looks. Those in need of tutoring in the discipline need only watch one of the occasional press conferences held by the president. He’s a master at it. Lacking that, any politician will do, since men in that line of work respond only to questions they (1) know the answers to and (2) feel like answering. You need to be fast on your feet and extremely aware of which subjects can gain traction in the room.

TACTIC #4: RAPID DEFLECTION

“Yes, that’s a very interesting question, Fred,” says Ottinger, playing with his $250 Mont Blanc. “To me, it sounds doable, but it’s tough for Marketing to come down one way or another without input from Purchasing.” He then turns to Mondello, the head of that function. “What’s your take, Sal?”

“I’d have to look at it with a couple of my guys and get back to you on it,” growls Mondello, looking as if he’d like to kill both Ottinger and Lafferty. The meeting then moves on to other things.

This tactic is most effective when there are several other people in the room, but it can even work in a one-on-one situation.

“I know that Bailey in Finance has been studying that. Let me check with him and get back to you.” The truth is, any serious matter is probably the province of more than one person, and if the spud can be juggled briefly and then tossed aloft to the next guy, so much the better.

TACTIC #5: GOING FOR THE JOCULAR

“Which reminds me of a story,” begins Ottinger, with a grin. “Guy goes to the doctor. Doctor says, ‘I have good news and bad news--which do you want first?’ ‘I’ll take the bad news first,’ says the guy. Doctor says, ‘Well, you have cancer, and you’re going to die.’ And the guy says, ‘My God, that’s terrible--what’s the good news?’ And the doctor says, ‘You see that receptionist out there? The one with the big boobs? I’m screwing her!’ “

The whole place erupts into meeting-appropriate chuckling. “What’s that got to do with anything?” asks Lafferty, nonplussed.

“Exactly!” says Ottinger, to additional chuckles. What a dude!

Our man Ottinger decided to entertain the group rather than deal with the problem head-on. Those who can’t tell jokes (and their number is legion) may insert a stupid golf story, a metaphorical road caper (“Jeez, was I drunk last night!”), or another tale of quasi-interest. It doesn’t matter that the response is not direct. The message you’re conveying is that life is too short to deal with effluvia like Lafferty’s. Those whose efforts fall flat should watch stand-up shows on Comedy Central to see how mediocre comedians deal with bombing. And remember, you can always score a laugh by putting yourself down: “What’s that, Lafferty? Sorry, but I’ve got enough wax in my ears to open a candle shop.”

TACTIC #6: ELECTRONIC BRAIN DEATH

“Hmm?” asks Ottinger, so deep in concentration at the object in his hand that nothing in the room can penetrate his troubled gaze. It is, of course, his BlackBerry. What awful thing could be on it? Why, it could be . . . anything! Or . . . nothing!

“Is everything okay, Dick?” says one timid voice.

“It . . . may . . . be. . . . “ Ottinger continues to scroll down the message in front of him, vaguely appalled but coping.

Who in the room has not been confronted with some nightmare over that little digital friend? Who will not sympathize and immediately forget the everyday nonsense that bozos like Lafferty present us with?

TACTIC #7: NOT FAKING IT AT ALL

At long last, the most powerful move of all, for those with the moxie and sheer cojones to perform it. Watch this . . .

“I really couldn’t tell you, Fred,” says Ottinger, gazing with utter cool at the doodles on his yellow legal pad. “I haven’t been briefed on the matter, know nothing about it, and therefore won’t waste the time of this room pretending that I do. Let’s revisit the subject off-line and let the group move on to stuff we can all at least pretend to know something about.”

For the strong, the proud, the guys who at some point just don’t give a damn, the truth can be the best defense. And knowing when to use it?

Ah, well. That’s the whole game, isn’t it?

I can’t tell you everything, you know.

15 things you don't know about your penis

1. Smoking can shorten your penis by as much as a centimeter. Erections are all about good bloodflow, and lighting up calcifies blood vessels, stifling erectile circulation. So even if you don't care all that much about your lungs or dying young, spare the li'l guy.

2. Doctors can now grow skin for burn victims using the foreskins of circumcised infants. One foreskin can produce 23,000 square meters, which would be enough to tarp every Major League infield with human flesh.

3. An enlarged prostate gland can cause both erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation. If you have an unexplained case of either, your doctor's looking forward to checking your prostate. Even if you're not.

4. The average male orgasm lasts 6 seconds. Women get 23 seconds. Which means if women were really interested in equality, they'd make sure we have four orgasms for every one of theirs.

5. The oldest known species with a penis is a hard-shelled sea creature called Colymbosathon ecplecticos. That's Greek for "amazing swimmer with large penis." Which officially supplants Buck Naked as the best porn name, ever.

6. Circumcised foreskin can be reconstructed. Movable skin on the shaft of the penis is pulled toward the tip and set in place with tape. Later, doctors apply plastic rings, caps, and weights. Years can pass until complete coverage is attained. . . . Okay, we'll shut up now.

7. Only one man in 400 is flexible enough to give himself oral pleasure. It's estimated, however, that all 400 have given it their best shot at some point.

8. There are two types of penises. One kind expands and lengthens when becoming erect (a grower). The other appears big most of the time, but doesn't get much bigger after achieving erection (a shower).

9. An international Men's Health survey reports that 79 percent of men have growers, 21 percent have showers.

10. German researchers say the average intercourse lasts 2 minutes, 50 seconds, yet women perceive it as lasting 5 minutes, 30 seconds. Are we that good or that bad?

11. Turns out size does matter: The longer your penis, the better "semen displacement" you'll achieve when having sex with a woman flush with competing sperm. That's according to researchers at the State University of New York, who used artificial phalluses (ahem) to test the "scooping" mechanism of the penis's coronal ridge. Next up: curing cancer.

12. The penis that's been enjoyed by the most women could be that of King Fatefehi of Tonga, who supposedly deflowered 37,800 women between the years 1770 and 1784 -- that's about seven virgins a day. Go ahead, say it: It's good to be king.

13. Better-looking men may have stronger sperm. Spanish researchers showed women photos of guys who had good, average, and lousy sperm -- and told them to pick the handsomest men. The women chose the best sperm producers most often.

14. No brain is necessary for ejaculation. That order comes from the spinal cord. Finding a living vessel for said ejaculation, however, takes hours of careful thought and, often, considerable amounts of alcohol.

15. The most common cause of penile rupture: vigorous masturbation. Some risks are just worth taking.

Research by the editors of Men's Health Germany

How clean is your drinking water?

Before you folks in Phoenix start screaming, let us say that your water is safe to drink. You don't need to tap a cactus, because what's flowing from the faucet is A-okay. So how come the F? While your H2O is safe, the water in 99 other cities is cleaner. We examined the most recent data on levels of arsenic, lead, halo-acetic acids and total trihalomethanes (linked to cancer), and total coliform bacteria, plus the number of EPA water-system violations from 1995 to 2005. All the water supplies came in below the EPA's Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) for 2005, although some, like Denver's, are farther below the MCLs than others. As for water-system violations--given for exceeding an MCL or making a monitoring mistake--many cities (uh, Phoenix) racked up thousands. This doesn't mean today's water is tainted, only that there's a history of problems. Still, as glass-half-full types, we'd say that our first-world water supply is generally first rate.

100. Phoenix, AZ F

99. Indianapolis, IN F

98. Charlotte, NC F

97. Los Angeles, CA F

96. Charleston, WV D

95 Fort Wayne, IN D

94. Hartford, CT D

93. Greensboro, NC D

92. Billings, MT D

91. Raleigh, NC D

90. Yonkers, NY D

89. Manchester, NH D

88. Newark, NJ D

87. Columbus, OH D

86. Seattle, WA D

85. Columbia, SC D

84. Burlington, VT D

83. Bakersfield, CA D

82. Salt Lake City, UT D

81. Oklahoma City, OK D

80. Orlando, FL C

79 Sioux Falls, SD C

78. Cleveland, OH C

77. Las Vegas, NV C

76. Boise, ID C

75. Houston, TX C

74. Jacksonville, FL C

73. El Paso, TX C

72. Portland, OR C

71. Anchorage, AK C

70. Bangor, ME

69. Toledo, OH C

68. San Diego, CA C

67. Durham, NC C

66. Tampa, FL C

65. San Jose, CA C

64. Fort Worth, TX C

63. Tucson, AZ C

62. Tulsa, OK C

61. Grand Rapids, MI C

60. Jackson, MS C

59. Lubbock, TX C

58. Chicago, IL C

57. Cheyenne, WY C

56. Pittsburgh, PA C

55. Boston, MA C

54. Milwaukee, WI C

53. Sacramento, CA C

52. Providence, RI C

51. Madison, WI C

50. Austin, TX C

49 Wichita, KS C

48. Miami, FL C

47. Washington, DC C

46. Cincinnati, OH C

45. Minneapolis, MN C

44. Colorado Springs, CO C

43. Little Rock, AR C

42. Omaha, NE C

41. St. Louis, MO C

40. Albuquerque, NM C

39. San Antonio, TX B

38. Wilmington, DE B

37. New York, NY B

36. Philadelphia, PA B

35. Riverside, CA B

34. Spokane, WA B

33. Atlanta, GA B

32. Aurora, CO B

31. Dallas, TX B

30. Corpus Christi, TX B

29. Lexington, KY B

28. Arlington, TX B

27. Detroit, MI B

26. Buffalo, NY B

25. Richmond, VA B

24. Rochester, NY B

23. Fresno, CA B

22. Louisville, KY B

21 San Francisco, CA B

20. Des Moines, IA B

19. Jersey City, NJ B

18. Lincoln, NE B

17 St. Paul, MN B

16. Fargo, ND B

15 Anaheim, CA B

14. Modesto, CA B

13. Nashville, TN B

12. Birmingham, AL B

11. Fremont, CA A

10. Honolulu, HI A

9. Montgomery, AL A

8. St. Petersburg, FL A

7 Oakland, CA A

6. Baltimore, MD A

5. Memphis, TN A

4 Norfolk, VA A

3. Kansas City, MO A

2. Baton Rouge, LA A

1. Denver, CO A

You need a water filter but figure you're covered by the one in your refrigerator's water dispenser. You figure wrong. Most fridge filters remove only offending flavors, with those they miss masked by the ice-cold temp. "The colder temperature numbs your sense of taste," says Tom Boving, Ph.D., a professor of hydrology at the University of Rhode Island.

Last year, the Better Business Bureau took nearly 1,200 consumer complaints about water-testing companies. The most common scenario: A door-to-door salesperson performs a free water test, claims you're drinking sewage, and then sells you thousands of dollars in filtration equipment. Of course, in reality, your water may be just fine. "In most cases, you're pretty much guaranteed it's a scam," says Steve Cox, a spokesman for the Council of Better Business Bureaus. To double-check a dire warning, contact your local water company. (Go to drinktap.org/consumer dnn/ and click on "Find it here!" to locate your provider.)

Diabetes is linked to poor lifestyle

People who suffer from job burn-out may be prone to developing type 2 diabetes, research suggests.

An Israeli study of 677 mostly male, middle-aged workers found those affected by burn-out were nearly twice as likely to develop the condition.

When the possible effect of blood pressure levels was eliminated, the risk was more than four-fold higher.

The study, in Psychosomatic Medicine, suggests stress can be added to other factors known to increase risk.

Unhealthy and stressful lifestyles are definitely a contributing factor in this Natasha Marsland Diabetes UK

The researchers, from Tel Aviv University, said they included obesity, smoking and lack of exercise.

Lead researcher Dr Samule Melamed said: "Emotional burn-out may pose a risk to health.

"Earlier studies have found it to be associated with cardiovascular disease risk, sleep disturbances, impaired fertility and musculoskeletal pain.

"Our finding suggests that the potential damage to health may be greater than suspected and it may also include a risk of diabetes."

Cannot handle stress

The Tel Aviv team found people who experienced job burn-out were 1.84 times more likely than others to develop type 2 diabetes, even when factors like age, sex and obesity were taken into account.

The researchers looked at a smaller sample - 507 workers - and tried to statistically eliminate the possible effect of blood pressure levels.

This revealed that burned-out workers were then 4.32 times more likely to get type 2 diabetes.

Dr Melamed said: "It is possible that these people are prone to diabetes because they can't handle stress very well.

"Their coping resources may have been depleted not only due to job stress but also life stresses, such as stressful life events and daily hassles.

"Knowledge and implementation of stress-management techniques, such as exercising, getting enough sleep, dieting, assertiveness training, may prevent burn-out or reduce it before it becomes chronic, thereby reducing the potential risk of physical health impairment."

Fat deposition

Natasha Marsland, a care adviser at the charity Diabetes UK, said other studies had also suggested a link between stress and type 2 diabetes.

She said: "Stress can cause high blood pressure, which is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes, but it can also cause fat to deposit around the waist which is also a huge risk factor.

"Working long hours in stressful environments leaves little time for physical activity.

"Unless people find the time to fit in 30 minutes of physical activity a day, the diabetes epidemic will continue to get worse."

Ms Marsland said type 2 diabetes used to be found only in people over the age of 40, but was now increasing at an alarming rate in younger people.

She said: "Unhealthy and stressful lifestyles are definitely a contributing factor in this."

It is estimated there are 750,000 people in the UK who have type 2 diabetes, but do not realise it.

Smoking cigarettes causes the same changes to the brain as using illicit drugs like cocaine, a study suggests.

US researchers compared post-mortem brain tissue samples from smokers, former smokers and non-smokers.

Their findings, published in Journal of Neuroscience, suggested smoking causes changes to the brain which are evident years after someone has quit.

A UK expert said the changes might explain why smokers found it hard to stop - and why they then relapsed.

Smokers were found to have higher levels of these enzymes in the nucleus accumbens, a part of the brain that processes information related to motivation and reward, which virtually all illicit drugs act upon.

But levels of both enzymes were also found to be high in the area of the midbrain that responds to dopamine, which acts as a "reward chemical" in smokers and former smokers.

The same changes had previously been seen in the brains of rats given repeated injections of cocaine and morphine.

Writing in the Journal of Neuroscience, the team led by Dr Bruce Hope, said: "The present study confirms that drug-induced neuroadaptations [brain changes] observed in animals can also be observed in humans."

The researchers suggest that the differences seen in both smokers' and non-smokers' brains "may contribute to long-lasting alterations in nicotine-induced reward and addiction in humans".

The researchers say this suggests that the changes persist long after smoking has ceased and could contribute to drug relapse.

Dr John Stapleton, of the National Addictions Centre at King's College London, said: "It would be surprising if taking large doses of a drug such as nicotine many times a day over many years did not result in lasting changes in the brain.

"The new results may take us closer to understanding these changes.

"The key question remains as to whether such changes are partly responsible for the intractable nature of smoking and relapse after many months or years of stopping."

Special forces sometimes have to stay awake for 48 hours or more

A controversial drug which can keep people awake for days has been tested by the UK military, MPs have been told.

Modafinil pills - known on the drugs scene as "zombies" - are used to treat the rare sleeping disorder narcolepsy.

The Ministry of Defence reportedly stockpiled thousands of pills ahead of the Iraq war but they have never been given to combat personnel.

Defence contractor Qinetiq told the commons' science committee the drug had recently been tested for military use.

Qinetiq scientist Dr Anna Casey told the Science and Technology Committee the MoD funded research into stimulant and performance-enhancing drugs and dietary supplements.

"One is always looking for something that would give military personnel an extra edge," she told the committee which is investigating the use of such drugs in sport.

'Safety concerns'

She said the military was not under the same constraints as the International Olympic Committee, which had banned Modafinil and another stimulant, Ephedrine, which she said had also been tested by the MoD.

But Erythropoietin, or EPO, which is used by athletics drug cheats to boost the production of red blood cells had been ruled out due to "safety concerns".

She stressed that no illegal substances were being researched by the MoD.

But she said Modafinil had been "shown to enhance physical and mental performance".

"There is still research going on into things like that. It doesn't mean they are being used. We are keeping an open mind," she told the MPs.

Modafinil has also been trialled by the US and French military but its use remains controversial.

'Zombies'

It works by "turning off" a person's need to sleep, and allowing them to remain mentally awake for days on end.

Its makers say there are no side effects, but experts are worried about the drug being abused.

In the US, where it is easier to get hold of, revising students and clubbers are known to use it to keep going.

Speaking after Wednesday's hearing in Westminster, Dr Casey said Modafinil had recently been tested by Qinetiq, formerly known as the Defence Research Agency.

It had not yet been approved for use by British soldiers but Qinetiq had asked the MoD for funds to carry out further tests, she said.

"It is worthy of further research," she told the BBC News website.

'Human science'

Ephedrine, which is similar in effect to amphetamine or "speed", had so far been ruled out for use by British combat personnel due to its side effects, which included anxiety.

But caffeine was "something we may well end up using in the future," she added.

She said the MoD was also funding research into "human science", including the enhancement of the physical and mental performance of combat personnel.

Among other things, scientists are investigating new dietary supplements and remote monitoring technology, allowing soldiers' physical performance to be tracked in the field.

Under pressure

The consortium will also be looking at ways of improving the performance of combat personnel in hot climates such as Iraq, to cut down the amount of time, currently about a week, needed for them to acclimatise.

There has long been a demand for reliable stimulants for use by special forces, who may be expected to go 48 hours or more without sleep, and pilots on long flights.

The issue came under the spotlight in April 2002, when two US military pilots mistakenly bombed a Canadian infantry unit in Afghanistan, killing four.

During the ensuing legal arguments, the pilots' lawyers said they had felt under pressure to take amphetamines before the mission.

The question of which pill to take illustrates the personal aspect of the decision to study philosophy. Do you live on in ignorance (and potentially bliss) or do you lead what Aristotle called 'the examined life'... The Matrix is a film filled with religious and philosophical symbolism. The plot supposes that humans live in vats many years in the future, being fed false sensory information by a giant virtual reality computer (the Matrix). The perpetrators of this horror are machines of the future who use humans as a source of power. Humans are literally farmed. The central character of the film, Neo, is presented to us in the opening part of the film as a loner who is searching for a mysterious character called Morpheus (named after the Greek god of dreams and sleep). He is also trying to discover the answer to the question "What is the Matrix?" Morpheus contacts Neo just as the machines (posing as sinister 'agents') are trying to keep Neo from finding out any more. When Morpheus and Neo meet, Morpheus offers Neo two pills. The red pill will answer the question "what is the Matrix?" (by removing him from it) and the blue pill simply for life to carry on as before. As Neo reaches for the red pill Morpheus warns Neo "Remember, all I'm offering is the truth. Nothing more." The film as a whole and especially the choosing scene is deeply compelling. Why is the choice between what you believe you know and an unknown 'real' truth so fascinating? How could a choice possibly be made? On the one hand everyone you love and everything that you have built you life upon. One the other the promise only of truth. The question then is not about pills, but what they stand for in these circumstances. The question is asking us whether reality, truth, is worth pursuing. The blue pill will leave us as we are, in a life consisting of habit, of things we believe we know. We are comfortable, we do not need truth to live. The blue pill symbolises commuting to work every day, or brushing your teeth. The red pill is an unknown quantity. We are told that it can help us to find the truth. We don't know what that truth is, or even that the pill will help us to find it. The red pill symbolises risk, doubt and questioning. In order to answer the question, you can gamble your whole life and world on a reality you have never experienced. However, in order to investigate which course of action to take we need to investigate why the choice is faced. Why should we even have to decide whether to pursue truth? The answer in short, is inquisitiveness. Many people throughout human existence have questioned and enquired. Most of them have not been scientists or doctors or philosophers, but simply ordinary people asking 'what if?' or 'why?' Asking these questions ultimately leads us to a choice. Do you continue to ask and investigate, or do you stop and never ask again? This in essence, is the question posed to Neo in the film. So what are the advantages of taking the blue pill? As one of the characters in the film says, "ignorance is bliss" Essentially, if the truth is unknown, or you believe that you know the truth, what is there to question or worry about? By accepting what we are told and experience life can be easier. There is the social pressure to 'fit in', which is immensely strong in most cultures. Questioning the status quo carries the danger of ostracism, possibly persecution. This aspect has a strong link with politics. People doing well under the current system are not inclined to look favourably on those who question the system. Morpheus says to Neo "You have to understand that many people are not ready to be unplugged, and many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system that they will fight to protect it." The system also has a place for you, an expected path to follow. This removes much of the doubt and discomfort experienced by a trailblazer. Another argument on the side of the blue pill is how does anyone know that the status quo is not in fact the truth? The act of simply questioning does not infer a lack of validity on the questioned. Why not assume that your experience is innocent until proven guilty? Just accept everything? So if the arguments for the blue pill are so numerous, why take the red pill? Why pursue truth even though it may be unpalatable and the journey to it hard? In the film, Neo risks death to escape the virtual reality and discovers a brutal reality from which he cannot return. As he discovers the trouble with asking questions is that the answers are not necessarily what you want to hear. To justify taking the red pill we might ask what is the purpose of an ignorant existence? Further still, what is there in merely existing? Simply existing brings humans down to the level of objects; they might have utility or even purpose, but where is the meaning? Existence without meaning is surely not living your life, but just experiencing it. As Trinity says to Neo, "The Matrix cannot tell you who you are." Don't mistake the edge of your rut for the horizon Gari Jones

Given the potential disadvantages of choosing the red pill, the motivation for discovering the truth must then be very strong. The film makes much of this point. Trinity says to Neo "It's the question that drives us, Neo." and Morpheus compares the motivation for Neo's search to "a splinter in your mind - driving you mad." The motivation for answering the question is obviously strong as the answer will help us to find the meaning in our lives.

What we are looking at here is the drive to answer a question, but the key to this is what drove the question in the first place. The asking of questions about our environment our experience and ourselves is fundamental to the human condition. Children ask a seemingly never-ending stream of questions from an early age. It is only with education and socialisation that some people stop asking these questions. However, we remain, as it were, hard-wired to enquire.

This is an inevitable consequence of consciousness. A being with a mind, conscious of itself and its existence, experiencing a reality, needs to organise the data that it receives from its senses. Simply observing and recording does not allow for consciousness. It is what we do with that information that allows us to think. In order to process and store the vast amount of information received, the human brain attempts to identify patterns in the data; looking for the patterns behind what is experienced. This is asking questions of the sensory information, and requires reasoning. By definition a conscious mind seeks to know. Knowing something requires more than just data, but intelligence or reasoning applied to that data. To attempt to obtain knowledge we must therefore question the data our mind receives; thus, consciousness questions.

So the metaphor of the journey to truth that Neo takes is complete. The journey starts with a question, there is a search for the answer and the answer may be reached. This shows us that the journey does not start with Neo choosing between the pills, or with ourselves deciding whether to question. The act of asking the question is itself the starting point as the aim of asking the question is to seek truth and knowledge.

We have established that consciousness is aware and seeks knowledge and that thus the conscious mind must question. To question is to seek the truth and start on the journey to knowledge. Therefore the choice between the pills is surely made for us. The fact that we are conscious appears to require us to take the red pill.

However, this can be simply countered by someone who would prefer to take the blue pill. They may wish to seek the truth in a different way, or in a less mind jarring set of circumstances. They can choose the blue pill and not deny their consciousness, but to stop seeking the truth entirely would be to deny their consciousness.

Thus we are philosophically driven to seek the truth and the act of questioning whether to seek it is in itself seeking the truth. As conscious minds we will always seek the truth. However, the choice over the red or blue pills is not solely a choice between whether to question or not, it is a personal choice on the method of discovering the truth.

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Step Aerobics: Effective in Modifying (Cholesterol) Profiles

You may have known that step aerobics can burn calories and is a good exercise for the heart, but did you know that research specifically has found step aerobics can step up your good cholesterol levels.

A study published in the Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness found step aerobic exercise significantly raised the HDL- cholesterol levels of the study participants. This small, eight-week study followed 45 sedentary female Turkish college students. Fifteen of the women participated in step aerobic exercise and another 15 did traditional aerobic dance. Each 45-minute session was done for three days a week. The remaining 15 women in the study continued to be sedentary. At the study's conclusion, the investigators from Baskent University in Ankara found that both groups of active women showed a significant reduction in their overall cholesterol levels compared to the sedentary group.

Regularity and frequency of exercise tends to bring HDL levels up more dependably. The more vigorous the exercise is, the better, from the standpoint of overall health benefits. It can provide a challenging workout and is a great choice for those who enjoy exercising to music in a group. Step aerobic, also helps develop the hamstrings, with complimentary development of the gluteals (the "buttock" muscles) and the quadriceps.

Bench step up, is like climbing hills in the comfort of your own home or gym. You are basically lifting your body repeatedly against the force of gravity and powering your hamstrings, quads, and gluteals in the process.

How to Perform:

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Warm up for 10 minutes by performing light jogging, stretching, and range-of-motion activities for the trunk, low back, hips, quadriceps, hamstrings, calves and Achilles tendons.

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Begin from a standing position on top of a step bench, with your body weight on your left foot and your weight shifted toward the left heel. The right foot should be free and held slightly behind the body.

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Lower the body in a controlled manner until the toes of the right foot touch the ground, but maintain all of your weight on the left foot.

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Return to the starting position by driving downward with the left heel and straightening the left leg, and then switch over to the right leg.

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It is recommended that you start out with a 15-20-minute workout every other day. As your muscles and heart become used to the workout, you can increase the duration to 60 minutes daily.

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After the aerobic exercise session, you should cool-down by doing low intensity movement or by walking for 5-10 minutes and then stretching the same muscles that were stretched before.

Remember:

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When stepping up, you should lean at the ankle, not at the waist to avoid stress on the lower spine. Maintain absolutely upright posture with the trunk throughout the entire movement

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The platform should be no higher than 4" when beginning the program. As you advance and your body becomes better conditioned, you can increase the step height to 10". Keep in mind that no step height should force your knee above a 90-degree angle in order to avoid injury to the knee.

If you experiences knee pain while using a step bench, use a lower step height, or see a sports medicine doctor, or consider another form of aerobic exercise such as cycling, elliptical training, or walking.