What is "Thought Rising"?

Thought Rising is a blog for the intersection of ideas about software and engineering, politics and government, art and music and, of course, sports.  Perhaps there is a helping of philosophy thrown in and perhaps it is a bit about making the world a better place, but I don't have grandiose ideas.  Similar to the way that Ernest Hemingway disparaged "big words" and instead wrote his stories about real people with everyday words and still managed to conjure big emotions, I think that simple is better.

Removing  the shackles of obtrusive bureaucracy and those things that interfere with people living good lives and doing good work is a preoccupation of mine.  Perhaps its the engineer in me that is always trying to design a better solution to a problem.  For example, why are there so many auto accidents?  It's the wrong question. How do we make automobiles that can intelligently avoid accidents?  That's a winning idea and interestingly enough, there are people in the auto industry today that are trying to do just that.  There are plenty of  problems that are begging for answers.  When those answers do not materialize, it is largely because the wrong questions are asked or the issue is ignored entirely.

I can't write about shackles without mentioning government.  Our government, by everyone's observations, including the sitting president, is gridlocked.  It has been for at least 14 years and perhaps for decades, depending on your perspective.  I'd like to do my part to call people to action and to gain attention to the dysfunction of Washington, D.C.  It's very interesting, that our legislators at all levels of government feel a compulsion to legislate about everything under the sun.  It occurs to me that we have far too many laws and there are some things that simply don't require legislation.  Again, I think that this is an area to apply the KISS principle.  If life were codified by laws that touch every aspect of our lives, then it seems that life would be rather boring.  And if there weren't so many laws addressing so much minutia, our legislative branch might be able to actually get some meaningful work done.  Perhaps we also need a balanced budget amendment.

It would be an oversight to leave out mention of art and music in this first blog.  Art and music are without question the glue that binds us together as people.  Art and music are a cornerstone of culture.  Art and music have the capacity to transport us from the burdens of everyday life and allow our thoughts to rise up and see beyond the mundane.  Sports has a similar reach and, as a huge NBA fan, I must comment on sports from time to time, especially Basketball.  It is a joy for me to watch tremendous athletes doing their thing, so this blog will also offer some editorial comments about sports and entertainment.