Chamber Corner
Silver City-Grant County Chamber of Commerce Director Romeo Cruz will provide a weekly column to the Beat, featuring items and announcements of interest to the community.
Our Brain at Work
- Category: Chamber Corner Chamber Corner
- Published: 19 April 2023 19 April 2023
Although airlines still employ pilots, a lot of the work of flying a commercial aircraft is done with an automated flight system, known to most of us as an autopilot. Unlike the one famously portrayed in the movie "Airplane!" the autopilot does not feature an inflatable man in a pilot's uniform. It's a small, highly advanced piece of equipment that uses global positioning, weather data, and other factors to determine the safest, most efficient route to a given destination. On most days, 45,000 flights arrive safely, attesting to the effectiveness of these systems.
The human brain is much more advanced than an autopilot system, but the two have a great deal in common. Our brains are wired to create routine, so much so that we often go about our days on our own form of autopilot. This isn't just conjecture – studies on the brain have demonstrated that our brains build neural pathways for everyday activities. Creating strong neural pathways in the brain are vital to survival. They make certain activities, such as driving a car or getting dressed, easy enough to accomplish without much thought. Imagine if you had to use the same amount of attention to unlock your front door as you would to solve a differential equation. Strong neural pathways allow us to turn our attention to matters of great significance without giving up our ability to accomplish everyday tasks. It seems like the best of both worlds.
Lessons From the Heroes of the Bataan Death March
- Category: Chamber Corner Chamber Corner
- Published: 05 April 2023 05 April 2023
Eighty-one years ago, the Japanese Army occupied the Philippine Islands. General Douglas MacArthur had fled, leaving thousands of American soldiers, and their Filipino allies at the mercy of Japan. The Japanese gathered them all together, nearly 78,000 men, and marched them 65 miles through interminable heat, with little water and food, to a centralized prison camp. Torture and summary execution were commonplace, and those who managed to survive the hunger, exhaustion and thirst could be bayonetted on the side of the road without warning.
On April 9, we remember this particular horror of war as the Bataan Death March. Rather than focus on the abject cruelty that comes with the clash of cultures with the machinery of modern warfare, I would rather focus on the tremendous heroism, tenacity, and bottomless well of strength that enabled so many men to survive. It is here, rather than in the exploration of human depravity, that we might find some positive light in such a dark moment in history.
The Business Balancing Act
- Category: Chamber Corner Chamber Corner
- Published: 29 March 2023 29 March 2023
Hubris is often synonymous with pride, but it is pride of a particular kind. Hubris is the belief that one has risen above the gods and can therefore do no wrong. In Greek tragedy, hubris was a fault that invariably called down the wrath of Olympus, leading to misery and ruin for those cursed with it. Bellerophon, Odysseus, Achilles, and Oedipus all suffered for this fault. The story of Icarus is a prime example of this kind of pride. Blessed with his father's engineered wings, he ignored all the warnings he was given, and flew too close to the sun. It melted the wax that held his wings together, and he plummeted to his death.