Five thoughts, ideas, insights, or quotes to power up your mind to think differently and creatively about life and who we are. Put all previous thinking away and open up a brand new world of the Supermind. YOUR SuperMind.
This week – Capitalism.
Since the 1950’s Capitalism has been the means by which most societies function and run. This is where private operators create and manufacture products, goods, and services that are then offered for sale in free markets with the price eventually decided by supply and demand. After World War 2 it was seen as the shiny new concept that would guarantee a better standard of living for all and greater financial freedom for the majority.
Yet, here we are a matter of only a few decades later and millions around the world are suffering from this very same system that was meant to alter their life for the better. And that means SuperMind Saturday has to turn its thinking onto the subject.
1. Who has really won?
Capitalism sold itself as the way everyday people could improve their life. If they ‘bought’ into the system – produce, purchase, profit, produce more, purchase more and so on – they, and all of us, would end up winners. But the end result today is more everyday working people and families in debt and struggling. Winners once have become losers now despite following the capitalistic way. Which leads us to the stark question that must be faced.
Who has really won from Capitalism? And who will keep winning if we continue to follow it?
2. Capital end game.
The design of any system is to achieve a goal. Some goals are included in the overall plan. They are part of the structure of the system so that the overall targeted result occurs more efficiently or readily. So, bear that in mind whenever you are told about ‘the system’ you may get involved with or brought into. Now, let’s look at capitalism. Yes, it’s about a wider range of production that is freely available. This is part of the structure as mentioned above. But what is the end game? Where is it all leading?
Is Capitalism merely for the few to have more capital? Is that its real end game?
3. Done to debt?
There is a well known phrase which says, credit where credit is due. In real terms this means credit given to those that have worked and earnt it. But in finance circles it has become credit where credit is available. This change in ready made credit has been what has driven all of the extensive consuming in the last few decades. But that credit for those who have less earnt it has only added to spiralling debt as people purchase to keep up with others (I have looked at debt separately in SuperMind Saturday). Truth is we’ve been done to death financially and become drowned in debt.
Has Capitalism just been an excuse to increase debt? And who do we all owe to and pulls the strings?
4. Technological threats.
We are all well aware of the growing use of technology. Technology has been expanding in almost every area of our lives. It’s promoted as being helpful to us; giving us more time away from tasks and duties so that we can live more and enjoy it. But……if technology is replacing what we did, it means we don’t do it anymore. And those tasks we don’t do are jobs and employment. From technology to AI, what people did high-tech is taking over from humans. Capitalism is funding and leading this. Less people to pay and support, less administration and costs. What does that REALLY lead to? More profits and even more money!
Has technology become the reverse threat to us under Capitalism?
5. What ‘Ism’ would work?
Capitalism has been the widest ‘ism’ in use for modern life. It has taken over the others that existed at various times in history and in various parts of the world. There has been socialism where everything is in collective ownership and puts social welfare for all as the priority rather than private profits for some. Of course there has been communism too. This promotes a classless state with common ownership (usually by rulers) and resources distributed to meet need. Plus, at the other end of the spectrum we’ve seen fascism and idealism to name but two. But, we are in a mess and need something soon before it all collapses. To the end…
What ‘Ism’ should we now adopt? What hasn’t been tried or what new idea could there be?
Ok, that’s another SuperMind Saturday done. Thank you for being here for the SuperMind time. Keep thinking about these. We need more minds thinking about this issue and the others issue on SuperMind Saturdays. Why? Because it’s needed. Because the world requires new thoughts and ideas. Perhaps YOURS!!
That is the common belief. That success comes from being incredibly clever, highly talented, and immensely creative. Or you must be truly innovative, an ahead of the curve inventor, or plain genius.
In other words success comes from special people doing or forming something special. Special, ground breaking, or through some life long dedication that finally bore fruit decades later.
This may sound familiar (unless you are a young TikToker or YouTuber who believes it can all come overnight viral style).
But, it’s a myth.
True success is equally likely, if not more expected, from those who stick to the extra simple others have never ever considered.
Because simple often turns out to be superb!
Small but successful.
The very best ideas often stem from basic need.
Someone has a problem so sets up something simple to help that ends us being very lucrative.
It’s 2005 and British student Alex Tew was trying to find a way to help fund his studies. He was beginning a 3 year business management course at the University of Nottingham. Concerned that after graduating his student loan repayments would cripple his finances for a good many years to come, he needed to create some ongoing income. One evening while looking at a computer screen and seeing the many pixels in its resolution, he had a brainwave.
He decided to set up a simple basic homepage with a million pixels and sell each pixel to businesses for $1 each (he chose US Dollars as there were far more business organisations in the States). For their $1 the business could add their logo and a hyperlink so when a viewer to the site hovered over it they could click into that organisations website.
With set up costs of only $50 the site went live in August 2005. Word of mouth soon spread and Tew decided to send out a press release when he made his first $1000 which the BBC picked up followed by technology site The Register. Within a month sales were over $250,000, and by New Year’s Eve 1,000,000 pixels had been sold.
From one simple idea looking at a tiny dot on a computer screen.
Scramble for Success.
Scrambling eggs was one on the first cooking skills we learnt in the past.
A simple task our parents taught us to help us start to make our own food. But, that simplicity seems to have disappeared.
On YouTube today over 17 million people have viewed a simple video on how to scramble eggs. Add to that nearly 6 million have watched a video on how to change a flat tyre on a car. And 3 million needed a video to be able to change a lightbulb.
Surrounded by every type of technology available, the modern mind is incapable of everything simple.
And that is where all the amazing opportunities exist in the world. We can’t do simple, so we seek out those who can or those that see the simple and turn it into something we need, want, or crave. And the simplest of all…is play.
When Joan Anderson went back to her native Australia in the late 1950’s she saw young children playing with wooden hoops made from left over barrels they spun round their waist. It reminded her of Hula girls from Hawaii and decided to make a version and called it the Hula Hoop. She thought it could be a perfect toy for kids everyone could afford. She took the idea back to the USA and used plastic instead of wood to keep costs low and for safety and to make them lightweight and easy to use.
The product flew off the shelves and in America alone it sold in excess of 25 million hoops in the first two months with sales of over $45 million. To this day they are still on sale and as of 2023 more than 21 million hoops were still being sold each year.
One massively lucrative product developed by one simple case of watching children play.
It’s all simple, and it’s all out there!
Simply Look.
The best ideas respond to our lives.
They match what we need, what makes our life less difficult, or support how we live. Try and find someone who would walk your dogs, look after your garden, clean your house, or do your ironing twenty years ago and you’d be hard pushed.
As life changes all manner of ideas for services and products spring up to match that change. It has always been this way. With life now fast changing at a pace even MORE ideas will be required as society evolves in this technological age.
With a growing reliance on technology we have taken our eye off simplicity even though we will never replace its presence in our lives. Which is why millions want to know how to scramble eggs or pump up a tyre or even how to find the trip switch after a power cut**.
If you keep your eyes open everywhere you go, in the end simple will leap out at you.
The glaring gaps that haven’t been filled by an idea or concept because we’re moving so fast no-one else has spotted it. It won’t happen overnight but slowly and surely, what’s missing will appear. What most people don’t have that you have worked out you can create or offer.
Spotted it in the size of a dot on a computer screen or children playing with makeshift plaything.
Make the shift yourself, look for simple and simple may bring you major success!
**1.4 million watched a video on YouTube to able to do this!
Five thoughts, ideas, insights, or quotes to power up your mind to think differently and creatively about life and who we are. Put all previous thinking away and open up a brand new world of the Supermind. YOUR SuperMind.
This week – Gambling.
Having a little flutter is a popular pastime. Many of us like a little bet now and again for fun or for extra pleasure watching the big game on TV. That’s innocent enjoyment. But, it’s a habit that’s gone from an excited buzz if you might win a few pounds, to an out of control habit that’s costing thousands. Betting has become all out gambling, and it’s spreading like wildfire. Time for SMS to get to the heart of things.
1. Is Winning Addictive?
When we have a bet it’s fun. But, it also adds a decided thrill especially if it looks like we are going to win. When we start we play for low amounts so win or lose, it’s still enjoyable. However, as we learn and do better we up the ante waging more amounts to win more money. Everyone blames gambling as an activity for this. But, what if gambling merely reflects a human trait that is the real culprit powering the show? Winning and feeling like a winner.
Is the emotion of winning the real addiction we are caught by?
2. Online off the scale.
At the start of this century if you wanted a wager you had to find a bookmakers. You couldn’t just have an urge to place a bet and be able to do so in an instant like today. Betting previously meant a) you really wanted a bet on a team/horse you fancied and b) you had to walk or drive to a local bookmaker. It wasn’t just an easy action. It took some effort. Therefore, only the true follower of a sport tended to bet. Roll onto the Internet era. Now any adult at any time of day can bet on almost anything very quickly. It’s too easy and too available.
Is the real gambling problem the internet itself?
3. More pressure, more fun needed.
Globally, life is now very pressured for most of us. We have to work harder then ever at higher costs than ever just to struggle to maintain our past standards of living. It feels very stressful and worrying and life seems a constant day after day battle for many to make ends meet. This equates to burnout, mental overload, health issues, and financial difficulties. With all that hanging over us we feel like we are losing. We need to connect to something that makes us feel like we can be winning again. Something that’s fun and not fear.
Is the growth in gambling merely a response to the sheer pressures in life these days?
4. Keep it real, keep it rationed.
It is hard to deny that gambling is rather out of control for a growing number of people. Whether it’s due to the online availability or to escape the pressures of life as noted above, whatever the exact reasons, gambling issues have surged. If you want to be place a bet, spin a slot machine, or purchase scratch cards and lotteries, there’s nothing you can’t gamble on 24 hours a day. With plenty becoming addicted, they have lost the skill to keep in control. Maybe then it’s time for controls to help out. Time to restrict online betting to no more than an hour a day or some membership programme to limit betting elsewhere to agreed limits.
Should gambling be rationed in nationally monitored schemes?
5. Gambling with other people’s lives.
I’m going to finish today with a simple wisdom disguised as a joke from the famous late British comedian, Tommy Cooper, He said, ‘Gambling has brought our family together. We had to move to a smaller house’. When gambling gets out of control it’s not just the person losing the money, everyone in their lives can become the losers too. Their family and loved ones – bills not paid, debts rolled up, no money for proper food or for clothes, no holidays etc and friends – never see them due to being almost bankrupt, can’t afford to go out. And add to this, changed behaviour such as becoming more aggressive, distant, forgetful. The present is a mess, the future bears not even thinking about…
When we gamble too much, we gamble with the lives of those closest to us too.
Ok, that’s another SuperMind Saturday done. Thank you for being here for the SuperMind time. Keep thinking about these. We need more minds thinking about this issue and the others issue on SuperMind Saturdays. Why? Because it’s needed. Because the world requires new thoughts and ideas. Ones from people like you. Let’s bring our SuperMinds together!
See you next time for more super thinking.
Photo attribution – free to use under Piaxaby Content License bymetalboy and pixelheart.
In the past you would most likely be on your own. There may have been others dotted around the world, perhaps even some who lived near you, but you had no real way of contacting them, never mind knowing where they were.
Beliefs used to be lodged just in our own minds.
And that’s where they stayed, doing little harm, appearing now and again, with a little flurry of activity by yourself. But, it was just some personal viewpoint. An unusual, maybe weird, but still plausible belief you had.
No-one got hot under the collar, life went on.
Then….along came the internet.
And all manner of beliefs exploded into life.
This thinking is alien to me.
Our beliefs used to be pretty harmless.
You went to the pub and some fella would tell you after a few pints that the moon landing was faked. Or maybe it was that Elvis was still alive. Hey, even you might have thrown in that aliens lived among us and the Royal Family were all from another planet.
You shared your stranger beliefs and went home to bed.
Not so today. Where you previously lived in a world of one, belief wise, now you can search for and connect to a whole community of others that know where Elvis lives and that Prince William is from Venus.
This tells your mind that what you believe IS true. Other people all round the world have the same view so clearly it is an unchallengeable fact. This cements further into your mind helped by accessing this online community of self believers every day further fixing in that conviction.
The trouble is, this is generally the law of averages at work.
You only need a group of 30 people and, on average, you will find someone with the same birthday as you. Go online and on social media with a few billion users, there will be those that think like you think.
It’s less meaning, and just more mathematical.
Firm your foundations.
Our beliefs are the very bedrock of our lives.
They are the foundation of how we live life, behave, communicate and connect, and think. No-one exists without this foundation. It’s your operating manual for your whole existence.
As it’s that crucial to everything you are and experience, you have to base this foundation on solid ground. On beliefs and thinking that can be backed up and strong to hold all things up for you. Otherwise it’s akin to building a skyscraper on sand. It (your beliefs and life) can collapse around you.
This can include incorrect negative beliefs about yourself (no-one likes me, I am ugly etc) as well as the Universe is a hologram or the Bible contains secret codes when the second coming will occur.
Wilder thoughts may feel good, but you can’t form a good life from them.
Thinking the Loch Ness monster is real is lovely, but it most likely won’t pay the bills, find a life long partner, and develop a career path that will serve you. Don’t get me wrong; believing that is your freedom and go fill your boots. It just won’t do anything supportive for your life.
And that’s what thoughts and beliefs are meant to do.
Celebrity or nobody? Naughty or nice?
Beliefs can help us, or hold us back.
It’s not just the weird and wacky that do that. It’s our own personal set of hang ups that achieve that every single day. The ones that go round our head and drive our actions and decisions. Like mice on a wheel.
Some hold us back – we truly think we’re never going to be successful, never meant to find a proper partner, that the world is against us and others along those lines. Ones that confirm in our head that we are a nobody overall.
Others elevate us – we consider we are going to be a star, or are an important person, someone who expects to be treated as royalty, and one others want to be around and look for. Ones that prove, also in our head, that we are a celebrity.
Truth is, many of us struggle to find that middle mental ground.
The balanced centred that knows, for example, that we have great potential and are as worthy as anyone else. With it that we deserve as good a life as possible and can be successful in our own way but not arrogant or self important with it.
This equates to the title of this post – everything really IS in our mind. Whether we are good or bad, happy or sad, saint or sinner, talented or completely unskilled.
From Nessie to NASA, being a born loser or winner, it’s what we believe in our head.
Believe better, but believe real.
Beliefs feel real.
The more we repeat them, the more they become absolute truth to us.
Neural pathways are built in the mind, like superhighways full of fast cars, that transmit hyper quick reactions due their regular use. This means no other thinking can interrupt those thoughts at those rocket like speeds.
Therefore they are the ones that hit the awareness and keep hitting it and filling it up. Making them THE beliefs that are authentic to you.
So whether you believe you are destined to always be dumped by a partner, or that UFO’s are everywhere and a government conspiracy, it will become your dominant thinking.
But, these don’t progress your life.
They don’t do anything expansive, productive, and helpful to you. You need to test them by taking them on. Did Elvis REALLY serve you down the chip shop? Are you ACTUALLY always being ignored for promotion? And is it true that you, as much as anyone, will never have money in your lifetime?
Get the answers to where your mind isn’t improving your life and you will discover one massive truth.
That what you believe really IS in your mind.
Then you can change it and change your life for something better!
Five thoughts, ideas, insights, or quotes to power up your mind to think differently and creatively about life and who we are. Put all previous thinking away and open up a brand new world of the Supermind. YOUR SuperMind.
This week – Life After Death.
The only thing guaranteed to happen to every single one of us is death. No-one gets off this planet alive. But when we do is it the end? Do we walk through death’s door never to return? Or is there life after death and another world or whole new existence? SMS probes the possibilities.
1. Bodies or Spirits?
Death is our last bodily experience on Earth. But maybe that body was only built for a physical mortal life. Once it comes to and end we metamorphosise into another type of body that is more a spirit form. A spirit type essence that we wouldn’t understand so we are not built with the knowledge of this. We don’t ‘know’ but we sense something. A kind of inner knowing instinct.
Are our senses that there is another existence beyond this one accurate? Can we trust them? Or is to all pure hope?
2. A forever soul?
Around the engine of a car is the body. A specially constructed shell that houses the powerhouse of the vehicle. Maybe then, our human body is also a shell that houses our own force that powers existence. As the body lasts as long as our human life does, if we go on what is our own inner power element everything is based on? That forever part? The No.1 belief of those who say we can’t ever dies is the so-called soul. The never ending personal essence that is part of everything that is and will be. One that exists right here now as we live our mortal years.
Do we have a forever element? And is that a soul? What is a ‘soul’?
3. Can we prove it?
Life after death is a belief, just like whether there is a heaven or a hell. So too though is the view that death is only death. We will all find out one day but until then, whatever deaths leads to we have to wait and see. Now the growing band of spiritualists would counter otherwise. They would cite plenty of examples of those who have ‘come back’ to share proof of their existence in the afterlife. Could that be the only proof we have? There could be another way….
As science is so advanced now, can we use it to begin proving life after death?What is the best way to do this?
4. The danger of knowing.
As it stands right now, life ends when we pass away. Done. Ended. Finito. Armed with that fact we focus on building the best and/or happiest life possible between cradle and grave. We take risks but overall nothing cavalier or perilous as we want to survive and stay alive as long as possible. The threat of death and our final demise leads us to choosing a measured path through life.
But, if we DID know that there was another life to come how would we live this one? Would the world fall apart as there would be no ultimate consequence to our actions? And is it THIS reason why we aren’t granted true knowledge of afterlife living?
5. Is one life enough anyway?
Now this whole post has been based upon on a core assumption. That people would want to live on in some form. It’s most people’s natural instinct after all. It may not be a human type existence, but, well, it would be life after all. But what about those who think one life is enough? There are those who want one life and to cram as much as possible into it. For them it’s about the experience rather than the life. So….
Is one life enough if we live it our way? Do we really want to keep on living again and again with no seeming end?
Ok, that’s another SuperMind Saturday done. Thank you for being here for the SuperMind time. Keep thinking about these. It’s good to have some depth to thinking. We need more minds thinking about this issue and the others issue on SuperMind Saturdays. Life takes on a whole new meaning when we do!
See you next time for more super thinking.
Photo attributions – Free to use under Pixabay Content License by Ajale and geralt
Five thoughts, ideas, insights, or quotes to power up your mind to think differently and creatively about life and who we are. Put all previous thinking away and open up a brand new world of the Supermind. YOUR SuperMind.
This week – Debt.
It’s a money world today. Make no mistake about it. Look around. Everywhere you turn money shows itself. But that becomes an addictive attraction to us humans. If we haven’t naturally go it, we spend it to pretend we have and to show off to others. With life defined by social media these days, individual self image drives human behaviour. See and be seen. But, that means spend and be spending. The end result? A few more online followers but a heap of debt. And in 2026 we are in debt more than ever before. SMS delves in and asks whether debt is a good thing…..or not!
1. What are we paying for?
The average non-mortgage debt per adult in the UK in 2024 was £6300 each. In the USA the average total consumer arrears in mid-2025 was $104,755. In both countries and countless others the debt-to-income ratio is increasing to scary levels. As for the UK, in the latter part of 2025 that figure was 116.9%. Or nearly 20% ABOVE what earnings are. We owe far more than we bring in money wise. Costs have increased over the years but debt has spiralled at a faster rate.
What are we paying for? What is causing us to truly be in debt beyond what we can afford?
2. Priority Pounds and Dollars.
At the turn of the Century most people’s priority spending was household related bills, clothing and footwear, social entertainment, and a small number of holiday costs. Today those priorities have clearly changed. Expensive brand new or fast cars clog the roads. Bigger and better homes are sought out. Trips and vacations are now multi times a year and now to far flung places. We socialise all the time, wear the best designer gear, and seem rarely at home to save some finances.
Why has our priority spending changed and why do we feel we have to do it?
3. We didn’t do debt….now we do.
Being in deficit used to be a stigma. A kind of social failing that we were horrified anyone finding out about. Not today, no way. It’s a normalised factor of being alive. Once the credit gates swung open at the end of the last Century, debt is as everyday as profit. We no longer blink at having liabilities we owe or taking them on. We have changed in relation to this aspect of money management. Therefore…
Do we need to rethink our relationship with debt being OK?What mentality should we develop?
4. Slaves to the system?
Ralph Waldo Emerson observed, ‘A man in debt is so far a slave’. He could well be right. Debt keeps us firmly part of the system. It keeps us working and striving to generate the income to pay down the debt. In some cases due to interest, that debt accumulates meaning again working more and more to cover the growing financial burden. It’s a merry go round that’s far from merry that many can’t get off. They were given (loaned/advanced) to help out that has so much extra added to it, they have to pay to the masters who owned the original funds.
Are we slaves to the financial system? Are we merely working to keep others in wealth while we have debt?
5. Who does everyone owe?
Historically if we had a debt it was to a bank or financial institution. Low level stuff to purchase a used car, update the bathroom, or buy a small starter home. Nowadays we seek advances for absolutely anything – from our weekly salary to money for once in a lifetime trips that are now once a year or less. But, this is and always has been consumer debt. Individual members of the public. Not any more. Today it is complete countries that are in debt. The world can’t all be owing each other. Which leaves this bigger question…
Who is behind the mass creation of debt, and how can we stop them and this?
Ok, that’s another SuperMind Saturday done. Thank you for being here for the SuperMind time. Keep thinking about these and other issues raised on here on SMS. We need more minds thinking about this issue and the others issue on SuperMind Saturdays. Why? Because it’s needed. Because the world requires new thoughts and ideas. Ones from people like you!!
See you next time for more super thinking.
References – UK Parliament – researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7584/CBP-7584.pdf.
