Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Breaks

Posted by Duncan Drennan at 09:19 Tags: , , ,
I am sure you have been in that situation where you are struggling to solve some problem, and then you take a break (maybe a nap or shower) and suddenly – WHAM – the solution hits you right between the eyes. Our minds are in continual process even when we are not aware of it.

Taking breaks changes us. Long or short, they matter because we allow ourselves to change the focus of our minds, and that change in focus allows us to think more clearly about all the other things. When we are deeply involved in something (be it a hard problem or the daily matters of life) our perspective narrows and taking a break helps to open up our perspective – we get a new view on the world.

I have been able to take a long break from life and travel in the USA for a month. Travel always changes our perspective, and this trip gave me much to think about. Returning to my business and normal life probably gave me even more to think about. For the next while I will be focussed on some engineering design and process issues that I think can be improved upon, but I will continue to discuss the environment and how we and engineering interact with it.

For now, some thoughts on my USA trip:
  • America has a throw away culture. Everything is paper, plastic and polystyrene and meant to dumped after using. Restaurants, coffee shops, rest rooms and homes – waste is everywhere. Americans generate far more waste than South African's do.
  • I did not see energy saving bulbs anywhere (except my brother's house). Energy crisis? What energy crisis?
  • When we see stats and numbers about waste and energy usage they are typically based on American studies. Due to the the above points it may not be fair to impose those numbers on South Africa. That means we need our own numbers, and our own measures. Using the US yardstick against ourselves will yield false results.
  • We need to make sure we move towards a culture of efficiency, reuse and longevity – away from a culture of waste.
  • It is hard to get a decent cappuccino. It is even harder to get it in a ceramic cup (I learnt to ask for a "to stay" cup on my last day).
  • We need to learn how to be patient on the road. The Americans are really patient and courteous drivers. Most people's instant reaction would be that they have more policing. Is it more, or is it the style that matters? Also, do we really need to be policed to behave well?
  • You can get just about anything you can think of (except a decent cappuccino).
  • Nobody really knows or cares what happens in South Africa. We fool ourselves when we think our economic fortunes are closely tied to our political situation.
  • South Africa has a soul, character and diversity which I am absolutely ecstatic to come home to.

3 comments :

  1. Anonymous9/30/2008 2:07 pm

    Hi Duncan,

    Sounds like you had an enlightening visit to the states. I am always interested in the opinions of people encountering American culture or at least the experience. Your take on it did not disappoint. I wonder what part of the country you traveled to, as there are definite discrepancies within the country (i.e. The mid-west vs. the east coast vs. the south vs. the west coast are all very different).

    All in all though, I would agree with your assessment of peoples' wasteful nature in the US. If more people would take the time to be just a bit less wasteful we would all be much better off. I look forward to your future writings about engineering and process issues, especially as they relate to energy conservation.

    ~Chris Gammell

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  2. Duncan Drennan9/30/2008 4:48 pm

    Hey Chris,

    We travelled to Niagara (stayed in Buffalo), New York city, Versailles in Missouri, North Carolina and Atlanta. Mostly on the east coast, but quite a variety of people.

    Obviously when you travel you tend to encounter more situations that easily lead to waste (like eating out), which is different to "normal". A lot of places seem to have modelled the way they serve food and drink on the McDonalds way, which generates a lot of unnecessary waste. Most places in the world (including SA) have those elements, they just seemed to be more pervasive in America, and seem to have filtered into people's homes and lifestyle.

    Why should people drink a cup of coffee in a paper cup when they are sitting down in the shop? All it would take is one question, "To stay, or to go?" What would happen if all the Starbucks started asking that?

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  3. Unknown10/06/2008 7:28 pm

    Great post Duncan,

    I too was in the US recently, pretty much my first extended stay, and it was surprising to experience their culture first-hand. Mostly it made me think that it is easy to level the same sustainability expectations at the US thinking that the culture is similar to our UK one, but the implications and need for change are much more significant there - made me appreciate the size of the challenge for the US. I hope I can incorporate these concerns into my designing in the future, using some first-hand experience of US culture (handy if I'm ever working on an international product). That's why travel is so great for us! I wish flying wasn't so darn bad for us, othetrwise I'd do more!

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