The Global Ideas Blog

Big Brother for grown-ups

As the latest UK Big Brother (no. 5) descends into drunken brawling, my attention turned to an idea submitted some time ago which would, in effect, try to create a Big Brother for adults....a reality TV show that stimulated thought and interest. Sounds dull, I know, but bear with me. The idea (here: Big Brother - 12 different religious or academic participants), by "G" from Oz, is as follows:

My suggestion is to change the selection criteria for the householders I have two different suggestions:

1 - twelve religious leaders (e.g. Catholic priest, Buddhist Monk, Prebyterian minister, Jehova's witness, hindu, muslim, pagan etc) and give them ethical or spiritual quandaries to solve as well as physical tasks. I think this would be terribly interesting although not very saucy for your average trogladite.

2 - My second idea is similar to the first however instead of religious leaders you put academics in: A counsellor, A genetic engineer (or some such), a historian, a sociologist, a lawyer, a medical doctor, a psychologist, bioethicist, a theologian etc) and give them similar quandaries to solve as well as physical tasks.

I think it would be a very interesting concept, not only to see what manner of ethical and spiritual leaps and bounds can be made from group discussion but also to see how representatives from different membership groups can act together to accomplish physical goals through team work.

Who knows if it would work, but even if the quandaries proved dull, they might still slag each other off behind their back.....

Abba to Zappa

Oh, this is great......Abba To Zappa. My top score? 2890. The perfect thing for a Friday afternoon....and, needless to say, a great idea.

The Anti-game....

In reading about Wired's NextFest, their annual dabble into futuristic technology, I stumbled across a marvellous idea/invention: Brain Ball.

It's essentially a game in which your brainwaves control the movement of a ball; the more relaxed the player, the more likely they are to win. As the makers put it, "Brainball is a game where you compete in relaxation. The players' brainwaves control a ball on a table, and the more relaxed scores a goal over the opponent." This also means it turns all the "normal" rules of a game upside down...the more relaxed, even disinterested, is more likely to win. The competitive type, with adrenaline pumping, will be the loser.

Interestingly, the technology could have wider uses, such as being used to help hyperactive kids or those with ADHD....