This blog has been approaching its boiling point inside me for a while, so I am pleased to say I'm finally making it happen. Consider this first post an introduction, to set the stage for future posts. I hope you find my thoughts and ideas refreshing and nourishing, and more importantly useful, in what I see as an increasingly complicated endeavor to shape a positive future for our existence.
First, let me inject a few necessary doses of "universal perspective"...
Think about ourselves. Think about your lifetime; next, think about the beginnings of our history books, the two-millenia-year-old writings of the Bible; think about the eons it must have taken for our intricately-designed human species to evolve from the first cells of life (as we define life here on Earth)... and compare those time frames to ETERNITY. Now think about the size of your home, and how far you stray from it on an average day; think about the farthest travel destinations you've reached, and consider the farthest destination a human being has reached (which would be our next-door neighbor, the Moon)... and compare those to the UNIVERSE. How often does the average person even think about the Universe, let alone anything beyond their immediate surroundings? Not often enough, but I'll get into that later. Anyway, as if you needed a reminder, the Universe is big. Really big. INFINITELY big - at least I believe so, until it can proven to have limits, but really, how could it? What would be beyond such limits? My point is, the scales of time and space (and the existence of other dimensions) are far beyond our comprehension, and we as individuals, or even as the human race, are nothing compared to everything.
To help back up this point, I'll cite an example of something astronomers at least claim to know, regarding the vastness of the Universe: according to an article I read recently, scientists recently discovered a massive reserve of water in a quasar 30 BILLION TRILLION miles away. Being this far from Earth, the quasar observed is actually the quasar that existed 12 BILLION years ago, since that's how long it has taken it's light to reach Earth... and light travels pretty darn fast! The amount of water discovered is estimated at 140 TRILLION times that of Earth, and 100,000 times the mass of the Sun. This water vapor covers an area hundreds of light-years across (a light-year is about 6 trillion miles). If you are beginning to feel small and insignificant, then good, that's my goal.
Sometimes a visual aid is more powerful (if you've gotten this far, this is a MUST SEE):
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120312.html
Finally, one more dose of "universal perspective", with a grave twist: there exists a list of unavoidable catastrophic events that we face; events that could wipe us out in an instant, or over time. A cataclysmic celestial impact with Earth, or a detrimental chapter in the life of our aging, yet intensely powerful and precariously close "nuclear reactor" star, the Sun, are simply a matter of time (for example, read this: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2012/28jun_alienflare/). Saving the discussion of colonizing beyond Earth (in an effort to avoid potential extinction caused by such events) for another post, I'll say we've become fairly good at keeping watch over such threats, but so far our ability to mitigate them is questionable at best, as I would expect it to be for a while, if not for eternity. Some things are just not meant to be controlled... or even possible to control. For example, something tells me that if the Sun starts to slow-cook us to death (or vaporize us in an instant), blowing it up or somehow suppressing its frying capabilities are not options, as some of us might like to think. The purpose of these examples is to humble us back into our place, so as to honor, appreciate and support not just our existence, but the existence of everything, in a more realistic, responsible and successful manner. Such a mentality is also essential to getting the most out of this blog.
You may be sensing a negative tone (as you may in future posts), but in exchange for my apparent pessimism (or more accurately, realism), I promise to shed an optimistic light on things, and to offer what I think are potential solutions to some of the problems we face, as these are my primary motivations. Barring unavoidable events that could render us extinct, I think we'd all prefer to believe we possess the ability to secure a positive future, both as individuals and as a whole. It would therefore seem logical that we'd strive to share a reasonably common positive vision for humanity, and to plan and act accordingly, together, successfully. I used to believe this was possible; however, not only does human history tell us otherwise, but it has become increasingly apparent to me that such an endeavor is unrealistic and unnatural. It seems we have very little, if any, control over our destiny; rather, it is some Higher Power that has control over us, over everything... and for this power to work for us, we need to work with it. If we could somehow all agree and act on this concept, my original dream may yet be possible, but we obviously have a long way to go. I will for certain be discussing this in more detail in upcoming posts.
First, let me inject a few necessary doses of "universal perspective"...
Think about ourselves. Think about your lifetime; next, think about the beginnings of our history books, the two-millenia-year-old writings of the Bible; think about the eons it must have taken for our intricately-designed human species to evolve from the first cells of life (as we define life here on Earth)... and compare those time frames to ETERNITY. Now think about the size of your home, and how far you stray from it on an average day; think about the farthest travel destinations you've reached, and consider the farthest destination a human being has reached (which would be our next-door neighbor, the Moon)... and compare those to the UNIVERSE. How often does the average person even think about the Universe, let alone anything beyond their immediate surroundings? Not often enough, but I'll get into that later. Anyway, as if you needed a reminder, the Universe is big. Really big. INFINITELY big - at least I believe so, until it can proven to have limits, but really, how could it? What would be beyond such limits? My point is, the scales of time and space (and the existence of other dimensions) are far beyond our comprehension, and we as individuals, or even as the human race, are nothing compared to everything.
To help back up this point, I'll cite an example of something astronomers at least claim to know, regarding the vastness of the Universe: according to an article I read recently, scientists recently discovered a massive reserve of water in a quasar 30 BILLION TRILLION miles away. Being this far from Earth, the quasar observed is actually the quasar that existed 12 BILLION years ago, since that's how long it has taken it's light to reach Earth... and light travels pretty darn fast! The amount of water discovered is estimated at 140 TRILLION times that of Earth, and 100,000 times the mass of the Sun. This water vapor covers an area hundreds of light-years across (a light-year is about 6 trillion miles). If you are beginning to feel small and insignificant, then good, that's my goal.
Sometimes a visual aid is more powerful (if you've gotten this far, this is a MUST SEE):
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120312.html
Finally, one more dose of "universal perspective", with a grave twist: there exists a list of unavoidable catastrophic events that we face; events that could wipe us out in an instant, or over time. A cataclysmic celestial impact with Earth, or a detrimental chapter in the life of our aging, yet intensely powerful and precariously close "nuclear reactor" star, the Sun, are simply a matter of time (for example, read this: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2012/28jun_alienflare/). Saving the discussion of colonizing beyond Earth (in an effort to avoid potential extinction caused by such events) for another post, I'll say we've become fairly good at keeping watch over such threats, but so far our ability to mitigate them is questionable at best, as I would expect it to be for a while, if not for eternity. Some things are just not meant to be controlled... or even possible to control. For example, something tells me that if the Sun starts to slow-cook us to death (or vaporize us in an instant), blowing it up or somehow suppressing its frying capabilities are not options, as some of us might like to think. The purpose of these examples is to humble us back into our place, so as to honor, appreciate and support not just our existence, but the existence of everything, in a more realistic, responsible and successful manner. Such a mentality is also essential to getting the most out of this blog.
You may be sensing a negative tone (as you may in future posts), but in exchange for my apparent pessimism (or more accurately, realism), I promise to shed an optimistic light on things, and to offer what I think are potential solutions to some of the problems we face, as these are my primary motivations. Barring unavoidable events that could render us extinct, I think we'd all prefer to believe we possess the ability to secure a positive future, both as individuals and as a whole. It would therefore seem logical that we'd strive to share a reasonably common positive vision for humanity, and to plan and act accordingly, together, successfully. I used to believe this was possible; however, not only does human history tell us otherwise, but it has become increasingly apparent to me that such an endeavor is unrealistic and unnatural. It seems we have very little, if any, control over our destiny; rather, it is some Higher Power that has control over us, over everything... and for this power to work for us, we need to work with it. If we could somehow all agree and act on this concept, my original dream may yet be possible, but we obviously have a long way to go. I will for certain be discussing this in more detail in upcoming posts.
For now, suffice to say I hope to open as many minds as possible to the intricate web of natural forces in our world - I mean, Universe - that I feel we should strive to better recognize, understand, learn from, concede to, embrace and work with, in order to maximize the quality of our existence, let alone preserve it. I'll cover a variety of topics, including nature and science, religion and spirituality, politics, business and economics, war and violence, technology, the media, sociology and psychology, to name a few. I will do my best, within the limits of human flaw, to write from a universal, unbiased, honest perspective. Please give me a respectful nudge if you feel I'm straying from that.
That's it for now, thanks for reading, and please stay tuned. I have so much to share, and not only look forward to sharing with you, but I want to hear from you. Remember, this blog is not about me, you, the human race, or our world... it's about the Universe. Be good, and enjoy the ride...
No comments:
Post a Comment