Re-thinking Life !

In an earlier post , I wrote about the increasing risk factor of cancer primarily attributed to smoking. I also wrote that Lebanon has the highest smoking rate among Arab countries, the highest cancer rate among developing countries, and competes developed counties in cancer rates. Many smokers want to stop but do not know how. They start with the will to do so, but often falter because there is no incentive. Telling them that they might die or get cancer as a result does not have an effect, as suggested by studies in psychology. This is  where Samer Gharib invented  Slighter (Smart Lighter). He used tracking technology and gamification to help the smoker track and v lessen his smoking by first having him being aware of the smoking habit and then by getting incentives to lessen his smoking. Slighter follows the basic routine of Learn, Control, Break. Slighter tracks your smoking habit so that you are aware of it. It triggers whenever you use it to light your cigarettes. Slig...

Last week, we had a visitor from a nearby village in Bekaa, Lebanon. He kept apologizing for  his not paying frequent visits, as the wont with typically Lebanese villagers, because his brother’s wife, Amal, was still undergoing excruciating  larynx cancer treatment in Beirut. Amal is only 19, has a son, and her husband is only 20. The villagers call him ‘walad’, kiddo,  because he got married at a young age. The doctor says that the cancer has spread in most parts of her larynx and that ostracizing the malign cells without killing the healthy ones is getting harder by the day. The doctor says, “ Don’t let your hopes high”.  The listeners hearken at the story of Amal’s ordeals of the invasive, malignant cancer with compassion but not with surprise. In this in-land Lebanese village, and many, many others in Lebanon, cancer incidences are ubiquitous. During  my short summer stay, I incessantly hear about or know of the death of a man, the diagnosis of a woman, or t...