The resilience... of the Gold Rush?

“Because, you know, resilience – if you think of it in terms of the Gold Rush, then you’d be pretty depressed right now because the last nugget of gold would be gone. But the good thing is, with innovation, there isn’t a last nugget. Every new thing creates two new questions and two new opportunities.” - Jeff Bezos

Well, if you didn’t know it The Gold Rush is over. Yes, the legends live… and the story inspires… it began in 1848 at Sutter’s Mill, a lumber mill in California where Gold was discovered. Once the word got out they came in droves… the “forty-niners” or gold seekers looking to make a quick fortune. Getting to this land of milk and honey was no easy task at the time… these immigrants had to suffer substantial hardship to reach the “mother lode.” Sill, they came… many found what they were looking for… Gold, and lots of it. 300,000 people showed up. Half arrived by sea, and half by land. This is the event that put San Francisco on the map! A small Podunk of a town prior, the place went from 200 to 36,000 residents lickity split.

I think some of these stories must add to the mystique of the field of Geology. Prosperity is often associated with high adventure whenever there is $$ involved. The Gold Rush is but one example of the valuable resources that we’ve discovered within the earth… found… mapped… mined… and utilized.

Back to Bezos… resilience… using the term to describe the ability of a body to recover from stress or strain… whenever we utilize a resource at a rate that is faster than mother nature can replace it, it’s not considered renewable… maybe that’s ok, while I care about our environment, I’m personally not all that caught up on this question…. except for knowing that we should strive to be good stewards!

Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Fortunately, we have innovation… the ability to create… adapt… change… and invent. One thing we look to from innovation is value… for if it’s not all that valuable to someone, innovation is simply novelty, right? And that, in a nutshell, is why innovation is the greatest nugget of Gold you’ll ever find!

Gold is a very valuable commodity. What do you feel is most valuable to you today?

Geology LITE is a post series here at I’m Just Thinkin’. It’s a light-hearted view of just about anything related to the earth. As an Earth Scientist I enjoy learning and sharing about the wonderful creation that God has given us to enjoy during our life here. You can read the other Geology LITE posts by clicking here.

The post Geology LITE: The Gold Rush first appeared on I'm Just Thinkin'.

The post Geology LITE: The Gold Rush appeared first on I'm Just Thinkin'.

Here are the posts to date in the series:

• Geology LITE: Rocks for Jocks
• Geology LITE: Teaching Kids About the Earth
• Geology LITE: Road Trip
• Geology LITE: The Icelandic Volcano
• Geology LITE: Bimini Road
• Geology LITE: The Guatemala Sinkhole
• Geology LITE: How to Find a Good Rock
• Geology LITE: There’s Money to be Made in Afghanistan…
• Geology LITE: The Map
• Geology LITE: Have You Tried Licking It?
• Geology LITE: You Might Be A Geologist If…
• Geology LITE: Just How Does A Geologist’s Brain Work?
• Geology LITE: When the map, the mountain and The Word don’t jive

Stay tuned more to come 🙂

The post Geology LITE: The Series first appeared on I'm Just Thinkin'.

The post Geology LITE: The Series appeared first on I'm Just Thinkin'.