San Jose, California (The Adobo Chronicles) – By now, most people with Internet access are familiar with the ice bucket challenge intended to raise funds to help find a cure for Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease.”  ALS is  a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS often leads to paralysis.

The challenge involves people either dousing themselves with a bucket of ice and posting a video on social media, or making a  donation to the ALS cause.  Unfortunately, many people, including celebrities like Mark Zuckerberg and Martha Stewart chose to douse themselves with ice instead of making a donation.  While the challenge campaign has gone viral, donations were not at levels the campaign organizers had hoped for. In California, Governor Jerry Brown reminded people to consider the state’s water shortage before accepting the ice bucket challenge.  “They should just donate,” he said.

Now, a similar campaign has been launched on the Internet to help raise funds to find a cure for selfitis. (Recently, the American Psychiatric Association officially declared the taking of selfie photos and posting them on the Internet a mental disorder).  Instead of a bucket of ice, the selfitis challenge involves people dousing themselves with hot water, or making a donation.  Most people are choosing to donate.

While no official numbers have been released by either the ALS or the Selfitis groups, there is great speculation that more funds have been raised by the hot water bucket challenge.

Moral of the story: pick your challenge wisely.