The Nature of Ideas and Problem Solving

As humans we are naturally curious. Her curiosity draws us to explore the far reaches of the universe as well as the depths of our oceans. But I can fast as our universe there is another plane equally as immense. Little is understood about the human mind. Technological advances in medicine help us understand more about the biology and physical makeup of the brain. But what do we really know about human consciousness and what makes us who we are?

Mankind Obsolete

Now more than ever we are required to problem solve at a massive scale. The tools at our disposal require understanding of advanced concepts that would have been considered unfathomable by those just a few generations ago. But is that enough to take everything available to us today at face value? At what point will we ourselves become obsolete by our own advancements? It is this premise that leading scientists predict will become more important in the near future.

The Search for Consciousness

Modern science is seeking to answer a question that has baffled mankind for thousands of years. They refer to it as the search for consciousness. Consciousness is something we all possess. It is both remarkably simple yet unknowable in its concept. Consciousness, quite simply, is that which makes us who we are. Consciousness is what makes us unique from every other individual on the planet. Like the riddle of the snowflake, among the population of nearly 7 billion people no one person is the same.

Where Do Ideas Come from?

Steven Johnson of Oxford University explains how great abstract ideas are created from the use of substances. In our history, consumption of alcohol was our predominant source of enlightenment. Today, coffee is our new substance for eureka moments. We typically believe that an idea is a single

thing but it is really a network on the most basic level. At the most basic level and new idea is merely a new network of neurons firing together. It occurs at the moment when the combination of everything we know can exit intercept points.

Ideas from Peers

In the realm of ideas it would seem the image we envision the scientists working alone in his lab is the least conducive to problem-solving. We as humans are social creatures. Just as our ideas form in the realm of imagination, so they also form within the social circles of our peers. By simply seeking solutions to our own problems we are on the cutting edge of resolving the problems of our world. Scientists agree the best thing you can do when working towards a solution to a problem is to present it to a group.

Thousands of Heads Are Better Than One

Today we have access to the largest think tank in the evolution of our human history. Many of the challenges that stand in the way of our creativity have already been overcome by others. With the advent of the Internet, often we can find solutions to our problems simply by searching the Internet. However, we may become discouraged after hours of searching with no viable solutions to be found. Imagine for a moment what this means. There are hundreds of billions of pages of content on the Internet. And of all those pages, no one has presented a solution to your unique individual problem. How special does that make you in simply pondering the particular question? We often feel that this new age of technology and the Internet simply further isolates us. In some ways perhaps it does. There is some growing anxiety that technology will outgrow us and we will simply become obsolete as a result. If this is true, then our only option is to get out into the world, gathering groups and cultivate mutual ideas!

Secrets to Quality Articles

There are a few pitfalls and challenges you may run into when you first dive into writing online content. You already have a talent for writing and you can easily convey a genuinely friendly feel to your content. But even a monkey with a typewriter produces content. What separates you from the crowd is your Being a talented writer will set you high above most of the competition. But you will soon learn that you have to model your content to what the network client wants. Here are some tips to help you get an idea of what to expect when submitting online content and how to get more of your articles sold.

Go with what you know.
It's a given you should only write about topics you are very familiar with. Personal experience in the field is a plus when providing information to readers hoping to learn from what you have to offer. But this doesn't mean you are limited to a narrow range of subjects. You have a unique insight on more topics than you may be aware of. Keep an open mind when choosing topics for your articles.

Use search engines for topic ideas. Most networks separate article topics by category. When searching for good article topics, I find it helpful to do a Google search of a specific category in the provided list. For example, good search keywords in the automotive category would be, "automotive" and "article." By searching these two categories, I get potential automotive topics from the results. I rarely click on a link as it is not my intent to rehash the same article. I'm simply sparking my interest and hoping to remember a personal automotive experience that I can write about that provides a new perspective and helps my readers.

Follow the guidelines.
Often a network will include editor notations explaining why an article was not accepted for upfront pay. Pay heed to these notations. Remember the goal is to provide useful information that serves to help readers. Articles offering your opinion or those that you cannot verify with reputable sources will not strike a chord with your readers. I like to copy and paste the notations of my editors and use them as a checklist to review my articles. I will compare my articles to my saved editorial recommendations even before checking for grammatical errors and proper sentence structure. This gives me an idea of the changes I need to make to ensure a stronger presentation.

Editors can be your best resource.
We have all searched for solutions online only to find thousands of links to useless information. Likewise, during our searches, we have come to know where we will typically find useful information related to our searches. This is a result of good editing. Editors read a massive amount of submitted articles daily. Most editors are successful content writers themselves with a good eye for what will perform well. If your article sells well to your editor, it will have a greater chance of receiving an upfront offer as well as earning you more in performance pay.

Little Known Fact: Editor's notes can help improve your articles. If your articles are frequently getting denied for the same reason, you should incorporate the editor suggestions into your rewrite. Rather than getting frustrated and scraping the article, use the suggestions to make the article stronger. Both you and the editor's want the best content possible. For this reason, the best tool in your writing inventory is your editor!

Follow your page views.
Your page views are an invaluable real time way to keep track of what performs well. Readers vote with their clicks and when they are genuinely interested in your topic, this will reflect in your page views. You may want to delve deeper into your knowledge of that particular topic to take advantage of that public interest.

These are just a few tips to help you get started as a new writer of online content. Even if you are an established writer and have simply ran dry of ideas, these tips can help you rekindle your creative flame. Overall, the best advice is to not give up. If you have a passion for writing, this is a rewarding career field. Don't be tempted by the masses seeking to game the system and spin articles. Your original quality content will always outshine their attempts to manufacture talent.

Online Content: Maximizing Your Earning Potential

Earning well in online content isn't very difficult when done correctly. Writing online content as a career is more than simply submitting content and getting upfront pay or earning performance pay. The goal should be to get the most from every article. Here we will discuss some commonly overlooked aspects of writing online content.

Profiles and Resumes 
It is always important to build a strong profile to allow readers to get to know you better. Often, by simply providing a face or identity to your work you can separate yourself from the myriad of bots , hacks and spinners out there seeking shortcuts and hashing out garbage content. Also, some networks require a profile before you are allowed to post content. A resume is simply a detailed profile that includes links to your already published works. You should not apply for networks that require a resume until you actually have a library of published content to show.

Building Networks 
You should build your own network where you will submit your content before you even begin writing. These include networks that offer upfront pay, revenue share sites, personal blogs, and websites. This will help you to establish several different ways to earn from every article you write. This maximizes the overall performance of your content over time.

Upfront Pay Networks 
Sites that offer upfront pay should be the first place you submit your online content. I only use one reliable upfront pay network. The content that your network pays for upfront often requires the content to be exclusive . You cannot repost it anywhere else after it has been purchased. This is a good way to get paid quickly but the review process can be slow. For this reason I initially post all my articles on my upfront pay network for daily review. Those accepted I get paid for. Those not accepted for upfront pay we will cover next.

Revenue Share Sites 
I'm not disappointed when an article isn't accepted for upfront pay. I can still resubmit the articleto myrevenue share sites while retaining the right to republish. The articles which my upfront network doesn't accept are not useless. First, they have been reviewed and often proofread for errors you may have missed. This means they are typically ready for quick submission to your revenue share sites. These sites pay you a percentage for the amount of page views you receive from your articles over time. Your earnings grow with your accumulated page views over time. I like to think of this in terms of interest payments. My residual income gradually increases from revenue share sites over time.

Personal Blogs and Websites 
Monetize your personal blog with ad networks after you have produced some content. Some blog hosting sites have easy to set up partner ad networks within the dashboard to help you apply to have ads hosted on your site. Once accepted you can begin to earn from advertising sold on your blog. Once accepted you can also apply to have your personal website included on your list of approved sites to host their advertising. You can resubmit each of your articles to both your blog and your website.

Can Our Natural Instincts Help Us in the Real World?

In 1898, two lions repeatedly raided the railroad workers building a bridge over the Tsavo River in Kenya. The advance of progress into the lions' territory had depleted the herds which they depended upon as their natural food source.

Facing starvation, the lions adapted. Are we more cunning than a herd of antelope or wildebeests? Could we protect ourselves in mass from stalking lions? The answer is no.

The lions became so adept at hunting man and disappearing back into the brush they were considered ghosts possessed by evil spirits. The greatest hunters in the world were frustrated time and again by the lions. It was only dumb luck that finally resulted in their deaths. This is an extreme example but raises a good question. If lions can adapt their natural instincts to outsmart man, can we adapt our own natural instinct to thrive in the real world?

As a species, man is a strange animal on this planet. We have altered our environment to suit our own needs. It goes without saying many humans have failed to adapt to the world they have created. People are homeless and starving. People are struggling to survive day to day. And we are killing each other on a mass scale as a result.

Failure to adapt leads to extinction for all creatures and we are no different. But it need not be this way. We have natural instincts that we rarely use as a result of having everything provided for us. Hindsight, conscience, and determination are our strongest natural instants and we require them for adaptation and survival. We may not consider these as natural instincts but they are.

After a year of working at my dead end job I found myself laid off again when the market plummeted. I had no seniority and was among the first to get the axe. I went against all three of my natural instincts which led to my fate. In hindsight, I realized I had become complacent at this job with no real determination to better myself. My conscience constantly haunted me. I knew I should have been working toward my personal goals. I dreaded waking up every morning to go to this job and the accumulated stress of this job literally affected my health. I was constantly fatigued and depressed. I would spend all of my off hours lying in bed as depression crept in.

Hindsight is like exam results. You get your paper back and see the problems you missed inked in red and the correct answers provided. You know you will see these problems again on the final. Instead of thinking of hindsight as a source of regret, I now think of it as a learning experience.

Conscience is something we only relate to our sense of morals. We know it's wrong to harm others. We know this not simply because it is written somewhere as a rule, but because feel it inside. When I was working at my dead end job I knew it felt wrong. It literally felt like the laws of time and space were altered by my presence there. Every minute felt like hours. At the end of every day it felt as if I had been robbed of a vital portion of my life. I knew with every fiber of my being that I was not meant to be there.

I came to a point where I no longer cared if bills got paid or if I even had groceries to eat. I plotted my escape as if it were a prison. I collapsed in the parking lot one afternoon after clocking out. I was literally ordered by my doctor to quit that job. Today, the mere scent of their food makes me physically ill. This is an example of the role conscience plays in our everyday lives. If you have a job like this you can relate. Imagine how animals we keep in captivity feel.

Determination is a valuable instinct and can be a positive or negative factor in our lives. For much of my life, I was determined to work myself into an early grave just to earn enough to survive. I was only making my employer wealthy with no real prospect of advancement for myself.

It was only when I directed my determination toward my personal goals did I begin to achieve success in my life. If I had to work for someone else, it was to learn from them what I needed to further my own goals. I used what little I earned from them to finance my personal business goals. If I had nothing of value to learn or profit from a potential job I wouldn't take it.

We often ask why the wealthy strive to get richer. It's because their wealth is a secondary asset to their goal. They are driven by determination to excel and cannot easily stop. The lions of Tsavo were in no way starving. They were raiding the railroad camps daily at their peak and sometimes twice a day. They had acquired a taste for their prey and were driven by their need to hunt.

Lions are predatory creatures driven by their instincts. Once we as humans find something we are passionate about we are no less driven to pursue it. We don't do it for the money.

Source:

Tsavo Man-Eaters

Workplace Stress and Health

Previously Posted on FullofKnowlege.com

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Article Mills: The Care and Feeding of Your Article Farm

If You Don't Care For Your Farm, It Will Not Produce.

It's an unflattering term, 'Article Farm'. It draws to mind thousands of lowly writers huddled together in cramped, unsanitary conditions tapping away at their keyboards for mere pennies a month. The advertisers get leads and sell their products, the corporation gets the ad revenue, and the writers get just enough to buy a cup of coffee to stay awake to keep pecking away.

I have been chastised for my naughtiness as a writer as many times as I have received accolades. I can't help myself, it's part of who I am to jump my fenced enclosure and get into the beautiful editors pastures. I'm promptly returned to my place but, take your eye from me for a moment, and I'm out again chasing my publishers. On the article farm, corporations don't fit in. They don't appreciate their livestock and are especially irritated at typists like myself. In corporate article farming you, as a writer, are a production line by product and your thoughts are a commodity. Nothing more.

There was once a Utopian concept of this industry operated by a small mom and pop team. Everyday they entered into the farm and spoke with us and gave us encouragement. We were well cared for, no one took more than their fair share and everyone benefited. Our keyboards were sleek in design and our minds sharp and agile. We produced the best content and eager consumers rallied to read our new and unique perspective of the current events. The mom and pop were very happy. And we were as well. Until they sold us to the corporation and moved to Barbados.

Slowly our conditions began to go down hill, we were fed less and less and expected to produce more and more. Our content suffered as a result and those troublesome writers like me led to slaughter. I escaped my confines for one last time and wandered the lonely hills and valleys until I found another small and happy farm. The owners are gentle and encouraging and their contributors are happy and talented. I often wonder how my old beloved masters would react if they witnessed the conditions of their writers under the cold hand of the corporations. I can only hope my current home at Full of Knowledge never sells out as well. Time will tell.

Sources/Resources

Previously Posted on FullofKnowlege.com

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Minimum Wage: Over 60 Million Americans are Slaves in 2013

Ironically, finding the statistics of just how many Americans are earning minimum wage is near impossible. The closest I found was 2010 showing only 4.4 million. This is a bit askew considering one unconfirmed source speculated 30 million in 2006. What's the big secret? It would seem the number of Americans working for slave labor should be commonly posted Internet knowledge. It should be right up there beside our gross national debt and the Kardashians.

Everyone I know earns minimum wage. That's right, I said it. My employer earns more than I do but we don't revolve in the same circles. So perhaps it's time for your favorite naughty writer to update the system. Perhaps the Internet moguls let this tidbit of vital information slip their busy agendas. By my count, there are roughly 320 million United States citizens in America with an estimated 50 - 70 million earning minimum wage. This statistic is a highly speculative shot in the dark. I searched well over 100 online sources and found this to be a highly guarded statistic. So perhaps we should try another approach. Let’s rename this article and call it "Death of a Paycheck". Or, we can call it "Definition of an American Slave". Take your pick, I'm good either way.

Merriam Webster defines Slavery as “drudgery, toil and submission to a dominating influence. The state of a person who is a chattel of another.” The closest representation of a slave in America I can remember was before the Civil War. Slaves were provided shelter, food and water and basic clothing in return for labor. They were considered the property of the plantation owners. According to history, slavery was abolished in America in December of 1865.

I took my own paycheck and a calculator to do some figuring. Based upon my average taxes and basic living requirements, I wanted to see if I qualified to be a modern day slave in America. Taxable Monthly Gross Income for 160 hours x $7.25 (Minimum Wage) = $1160.00

Federal Withholdings are 10% of gross income. . 10 x $1160 = $116 - $1160 = $1040

State Withholdings are 3% of gross income. . 03 x $1160 = $34.8 - $1040 = $1005. 2

7% Sales tax comes out of every dollar spent. . 07 x $1005. 2 = $70.35 - $1005. 2 = $934.85

Our property tax monthly is $43.33 - 934.85 = $891.52 (Tack on $300-$1000 if you rent).

Banking Fees: $5.00 - $891.52 = $886.52 (A simple checking account is required to even cash your check.)

Mandatory liability insurance: Average is $114.52 monthly. $114.52 - $886.52 = $772.00

Car Tag: My tag was $249.96 / 12 months = $20.83 monthly. $20.83 - $772.00 = $751.17

Power bill: average is $150.00 - $751.17 = $601.17 (Don't try to leave it off. The power company will come and literally saw your pole down.)

Water/Sewer: $25.00 - $601.17 = $576.17

Gasoline: $75.00 x 4 weeks = $300.00 - $576.17 = $276.17. (If you pay rent you are now a starving slave. You require food stamps to survive.)

Groceries: (1 Person) $160.00 - $276.17 = $116.17

Phone Service: $42.33 - $116.17 = $73.84 (A phone is required by most employers.)

Amenities: $73.84+ - $73.84 = Debt (Amenities include soap, shampoo, toilet paper, washing powder and such for the month.)

There you have it. I have worked full time at minimum wage for a whole month. I earned just enough to pay for shelter, food, and transportation costs to and from work. I don't require clothes because I have a uniform. Raising my minimum wage will not help me. The basic costs of living will simply rise along with it. I earned nothing for my labor. I am the definition of a modern day slave according to Merriam Webster. You should try working 160 hours a month and still getting nothing if you think being unemployed is tough.

Sources:

40% of Americans earn less today than 1968 minimum wage earners

Merriam Webster definition: Slavery

Earn Money Online Writing Articles

I had never considered working online as a viable source of income. I considered 90% of everything on the Internet a reinvention of junk mail. Instead of filling my mailbox full of scams and get rich quick schemes, the con artists now filled up my email. But having been unsuccessful at finding a job in my career field I was willing to give it a shot.

I soon realized I was going to have to put some research into the task. The keyword search for potential online jobs resulted in the millions. The top ranked pages and thousands following were obvious scams. I began to consider a proposal requiring websites to have a license and a standard of practice as a novel business idea. Seeing so many others seeking to dupe the public inspires little faith in my fellow man.

I had overheard a few of my college friends mention writing online content for extra income. It had been years since I wrote a proper essay. But I gave it consideration. I gathered a list of sites that seemed legitimate and signed up. I posted a generic article rewritten from one of my college essays. This work had been well vetted by college professors and I knew it to be above average compared to what I had seen posted on the sites. The topic remained relevant and it had no problems getting published on each of the sites. The going rate for a piece of online article content averages about 1/1000 of a penny per page view. I was familiar with the ludicrous sums of money companies invested in advertising. I considered even the supposedly legitimate sites paying fractions of a cent for articles outright criminal. I gave up the notion of sweating out online content for such an insulting return.

A week later, I happened to look into my Paypal account and saw an additional $20.00 from the site I had submitted my article. I returned to the site and checked my account dashboard and was surprised to find my article had received over 20,000 page views. 6 more articles per day of the same quality and relevance performing at the same rate would have earned me $900.00 in a week! Of course I did not expect that sort of return but the outcome had shown me there is money to be made in this business.

For the next month I began writing content and submitting it to various networks. I had gotten lucky with my first article which continued to outperform my other submissions. But my other content was doing okay considering I had not ever written professionally before. But there were some pitfalls I had to overcome to do this well and earn a substantial income to justify the time I put into it.

As I mentioned, it had been years since I had written an essay that required proper grammar and sentence structure. It's surprising to me how little I understood the English language in its written form. My wording and ability to form a colorful descriptive using quality word choice was never an issue. But I employ a raw freestyle method of writing in order to convey my feeling to the reader. This results in some horrid results in grammar and structure that must be meticulously proofread before it can be considered viable for readership. I had to work on breaking these old habits. I still have difficulty with this resulting in much of my content being returned for errors requiring rewrites.

The quality and quantity of articles are the two defining factors in earning well from online content. Continuously rewriting to correct errors reduces the amount of time I have to produce more content. I realized this was greatly affecting my potential income. As well, if an article slips by an editor with such errors it reflects poorly on the network and the author. My literature professor would say, "It's simply poor form, dear fellow."

Writing creatively is a craft. It takes years of practice to do it well. And it takes real talent to place mere words in an arranged order that captivates and holds the readers' attention. No different from a sonnet or concerto, one note off key ruins the entire performance. In this respect, writing becomes more than an effort to earn money. The content is a reflection of the writer. Editors can help but they are only human. The responsibility and dedication to present readers with the best content ultimately lie with the writer.

Resources:

Yahoo Contributor Network

FullofKnowledge.com

Blogging with Google Adsense

Previously Posted on FullofKnowlege.com

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