Someone I know slightly has a prosthetic eye which she has already lost twice. Due to the involved process and cost of a prosthetic eye I am told she has been wearing an eye patch. So when I read about a man in England who has been fitted with a 3-D printed prosthetic eye, my interest peaked. When I first read about 3-D printing it was about how easy it would now be to make guns and it felt alarming. Since then the possibilities of 3-D keep unfolding. I recently did a podcast about 3-D homes, and 3-D prosthetics for limbs are being used in several countries helping with land mine victims and others. 3-D makes what it creates more affordable. And so it is with prosthetic eyes. They usually run several thousand dollars. With 3-D it could be as low as $50 although it is doubtful that is what they will end up costing. The man in England, Steve Verze is the first. They are looking for 40 more people to continue the clinical trial. They are assessing the 3-D printed eye for things such as movement, fit, comfort, mucous discharge. Already they know that the initial scan to print the eye which takes only a few seconds can lead to a better fit than a regular prosthetic eye and can better replicate the natural color of the eye. What is important about this news is that it is happening right now at the Fraunhofer institute for Computer Graphics Research and Fraunhofer noted that the process is made possible by the algorithms of its Cuttlefish:Eye software. In plain English that means it is not a dream, it is real and here now. To me it’s not just the 3-D printed eye, it’s what it stands for, the promise of it coming to life. When 3-D is used to better the lives of people as it aims to do with 3-D printed eyes, it is not only extending the potentials of 3-D, it is contributing to using technology to do what it was to do, that is to make a better world.
January 2022
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Non-Citizens Voting
New York City has done something which some will consider wrong but which according to my understanding of what’s good is a step in the right direction. It has given some 800,000 non citizens the right to vote in local elections. It only applies to green card holders and those holding work permits and the first election where it would apply is in January 2023. It goes without saying it is a debated law and some including experts say they do not know if New York City’s city council has the right to pass a law affecting voting rights. Still, it remains that in a democracy people are to have a voice in their fate, and voting is how we do it. Non-citizens live in the community, and pay taxes, they are involved and it seems only fair they ought to have a voice in the affairs of their city. There’s also the issue of inclusiveness. To my understanding humanity has to learn to be increasingly inclusive as a means to reach unity millennia from now. And this would be a small step. New York city is the largest city to pass such a law, towns in Vermont and Maryland already allow non-citizens to vote in municipal elections and non-citizens can vote in school board elections in San Francisco. It’s worth noting that several other towns in Illinois, Maine and Massachusetts are planning to allow non-citizens to vote. Needless to say it is controversial and some states like Colorado and Arizona have already passed laws preventing non-citizens from voting. It will continue to be controversial and as it does it is bound to foster discussion—perhaps a discussion that will deepen our understanding of what inclusivity means. That I believe would be very helpful to better understand how democracy works.
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Helping Refugees In Poland
The situation between Belarus and Poland is a complicated one, and the conditions of migrants from Belarus trying to enter the EU via Poland is even more so. Yet this complex political chess game forms the background for what I want to share, an example of human courage and solidarity. In this case one where poles are risking their lives to help the migrants. The article in The Guardian used fake names to protect them. Jakub, 38 has helped and hidden about 200 migrants. Others have too. They do not compare it to the Holocaust, but are aware of the parallels and inspired by the fact that many poles hid Jewish children. Jakub’s uncle was among those, so to him doing what he does is personal. The Polish authorities could arrest them because helping migrants is illegal. Regardless, people like Jakub roam the woods looking for signs of life such as discarded nappies or huts made from tree branches, bringing water, food, the offer of shelter. It’s dangerous for the migrants too. If caught they are sent back to the sub- zero temperature forest. They are all courageous, and show us that courage is not only for heroes.
We have come to have this negative picture of human nature, and of course we are all flawed. Still, because this picture is reinforced by so many films, computer games, cartoons and the like, we forget the other side, our better angels or whatever terms anyone wants to use. But it is that other side that helps us go forward, so when I encounter it I want to highlight it. That’s why what Jakub and those like him are doing in Poland is worth knowing about. They remind us that humans are more than their down side.