The News and More

The new day is already here. And I’m already having a problem finding the right words to use. I can’t come up with a complete sentence…duh! My mind is going a million miles an hour and I can’t slow down! Help! Have I overdosed on the news?

Maybe not, but there is an awful lot of news to digest these days. And I was thinking of the word, unimaginable to describe some of it. After all, our world and our actions are only limited by our imaginations. For good or for evil…imagination drives us forward. Lack of imagination stops us in our tracks. For instance; in 1925 it was unimaginable that a great depression would grip this country. In 1936 it was unimaginable that one man would kill over 6 million people because of their ancestry. In 1938 it was unimaginable that Japan would attack our nation at Pearl Harbor and our fleet would lie in ruins. In 1943 it was unimaginable that we could turn this new power of the atom into a weapon so horrible. And after 1945 it is unimaginable that we might use it again. In 1960 it was unimaginable that a sitting President would turn out to be a criminal. And fast forward to the 21st century; it was unimaginable that terrorists would fly airplanes into buildings, killing thousands of innocents in their efforts to spread their brand of terror across the world stage. And around that same time, it was unimaginable that we would still be fighting a war in a far away land in the year 2007. But we are.

So, name your own unimaginable. It can happen.

And here’s a news story that may turn out to be unimaginable in its impact.

In Clue to Addictive Behavior, a Brain Injury Halts Smoking
By BENEDICT CAREY
“An injury to a specific part of the brain can instantly and permanently break a smoking habit, scientists reported.”

If this turns out to be true, as I believe it will; if addictive behavior can be traced to a specific physical defect, then our society will be changed forever. Because this is not simply a way to stop smoking. This will affect our perception of all addictive behavior.