Right now I am visiting my parents. No sunshine but winter is beautiful. There is definetely occation for cross country skiing. We have always feed birds during winter so there are various birds outside my window. I like the “Domherre” with their red front. Talgoxar are also beautiful. Very colourful and bright.
There is an economical forum in Davos where global leaders meet to discuss economical issues. Recently I have been thinking about economics, and the expression “Behavioural economics” crossed my mind. That is interesting because of the combination of biology and economy. What makes you do the shopping you actually do? Planned shopping versus unplanned shopping. Or both.
Last time I wrote about economics, I wrote about the “economical synapse” with special emphasis on economical autoreceptors with different feed back loops and interactions. This time, I write about behavioural economics. It is interesting because I connect my biological knowledge with economics. This is what I have learnt from mentors Professor Carlsson (autoreceptor) and Professor Engel (behaviour). From a citizen´s point of view; a few noticable changes have occured in Sweden with regard to economy 2016. We have new bills. Of particular interest is the new 200 SEK bill. That is like in Norway. So for me it is like a monetary union with Norway. Another change is that the medicin is free for children younger than 18, also like in Norway. I am just waiting for Sundays off. That would be very good because we need a day off for recovery. To harmonize society with biology. When I was in Norway I heard that Gyllenhammar suggested a fusion between Norway and Sweden in the early 1970´s.
However, it should be noted that Norway is not a member of the European Union. Schengen treaty is used instead. This collaboration developed after the second world war and is a kind of peace treaty. Today is different. The world has changed a lot since then and I rather talk about Europe. This because I believe decisions should be taken as close to people as possible. Subsidiarity principle. Like in Sweden; where “Landstinget” is not needed because that can be held by “Kommuner” instead.
Another argument of talking about Europe is that this will generate a better so called “flow” between various countries. And not just Europe, but also with other countries in the world. I have used the word “étanche” and that is a very good description of what I refer to. A free trade between countries generates peace.
From what I understand there is a lot of talk about 4th industrial progress. Industry meeting biology. Biology is one of my main interests in life and I have a very interesting example where biology meet industry. A memory I have from school.
In England in the 19th century, I think, they started to use charchoal. That generated a lot of new possibilities. A new kind of enery made a lot of things possible such as the use of machines to make production faster. However, a lot of environmental effects were observed. There was a butterfly that could hide from birds when it landed on white birches. The butterfly had the same colour as the tree and could thereby hide from birds. No dinner for the birds. However, the charchol made the birches black and this was a great problem for the butterflies because they were white. The birds had the butterflies for dinner. This environmental pressure made som biological change for the butterlies. They could change colours and harmonize with the colour of the black birches. The butterflies became black and could thereby survive.
This is a very happy story I think. How the butterflies could adapt to environmental changes and survive. Industry interacting with biology.
Wishing you all a happy Sathurday!
Anna