Crisis = Danger + Opportunity

A recent issue of Giant magazine was all raves about Al Gore and his "An Inconvenient Truth" campaign. His book talks about how our generation needs to face the harsh reality about global warming crisis, and step up to the plate to do our bit to minimize fossil fuel usage. Gore recommends taking inspiration from the chinese symbol for crisis, which is actually a combination of two symbols - one for danger and another for opportunity.

Now, I'm really passionate about cutting down on oil and coal reliance. I believe in hybrid cars, solar power driven homes and fluroscent lighting. I wonder what the shape of the world would've been today if the shameful desecration of democracy seven years ago had not happened in Florida, and an environment lover had stepped into oval office instead of a ... (no, I must refrain from unpleasantries).

For now, however, I'm loving Gore for the insightful example he has provided. I love hidden tips like this - they make great dinner table discussions, not to mention great ice-breakers in bars. So I searched online for the said chinese symbol, and it brought me to a number of links talking about this exact duality. Seems like it's quite a cliche. But, buried somewhere in there was a link to an insightful website by Victor H. Mair, a professor of Chinese language at the University of Pennsylvania. Victor flouts this cliche, and very passionately so. He flogs the horse from so many angles, that it seems almost ridiculous that anybody could come up with the comparison at all.

Factual information aside, it almost seems a pity that the chinese character for crisis was not intended to involve a yin-yang fusion of danger and opportunity (and I hope I've not offended the professor in any form by my usage of the words yin and yang). I find it very disappointing when I find out that a perfect romanticism isn't. I've not heard a rebuttal to the professor's views, so for all I know, his comments might be based on misinterpretations.

However, no matter what oriental linguists intended, the message is clear - we have a crisis at hand, and therein lies the opportunity. I see this as not just an opportunity to redeem ourselves (very spiritual), but also to invest in the promise of the future. It's evident that we are going to run out of oil sooner or later. It is also evident that transportation only needs to get faster and more reliable in the future. I think it's a great investment opportunity if we can find the right thought leaders in the industry. It's also a great opportunity for researchers and inventors. But most of all, I think that this is an opportunity for you and I to lead by example - to have a story to tell our grandkids about how the clean air they breathe is yet another thing they need to thank us for.