I try! Believe me, I really really try.
But I just can't get myself to swallow all the spoon-fed pablum that seems to be the primary diet of right wing religious fanatics and far right conservatives.
I mean, talk about an unhealthy diet. I get a stomach ache reading the stuff, and the labels I'd put on it would not pass muster at the department of food and drugs.
Now... I confess; I also have some major bones to pick with those who play way out in left field. I'm a nice guy and I'm in favor of a helping hand. But, at some point folks need to demonstrate the willingness to stand on their own two feet.
I'm a registered independent. My pragmatic nature requires empirical thinking. The theoretical is based on guesswork and conjecture. It works well in science fiction but falls short of being factual or even applicable in most instances. I tend to give more attention to planning than conducting. If I stray from practical thought it's in deciding if demonstrable conclusions are worth pursuing.
It's clear to me that separation of church and state was intended by our founders. It's also a wise idea. Religion belongs in the home. It's an individual and family matter. It's a choice; no more or less deserving than any other personal choice. Crying about where God can or cannot be displayed rings hollow. Both sides have overstepped reasonable boundries. While I don't subscribe to the concept of an omnipotent creator, I married a devote christian and we blended well. It's a simple matter of allowing individuality as opposed to foisting beliefs on others. My spirituality belongs to me.
It's also clear... to me, that government is too big. It's also clear, to me, that won't change without a major revolution, at least not soon; and it's not a practical solution. That kinda puts us in deep do-do. I hope Mr. Obama has a big shovel. He is, at least, a ray of sunshine peeking through the gunmetal gray clouds that have lingered for the past eight years. He was't my first choice. But he was and is a better alternative than the other choices provided.
I don't need my government to be my big brother. I already have one and he's a pretty cool guy, thank you very much. Nor do I need my government inventing excuses and/or lies to play world cops as a way of filling the coffers of corporations and cronies. Forcing a redistribution of wealth is not the answer. But neither is widening the divide. In a free enterprise society one must wonder why failing companies are thrown a life raft by government. Would a mom and pop business receive the same consideration?
Yes .... 911 was a tragedy. And yes we need to be alert to attacks at home. But I've seen more illusions, at Disney's Fantasyland, that are far more believable than Bush and company's theatrics and scare tactics cloaked in pretence.
My country, and the world, is in an economic slide. We have an outgoing president to thank for much, but not all of it. I have not seen such incompetence in Washington since the mid 60's. I have no doubt Mr. GW Bush will go down in history as our most incompetent president. He was no Ronald Reagan and certainly no JFK.
I try to stay away from political and religious skirmishes. I don't always succeed. I've had my say and I'm hoping for better days ahead.
28 December 2008
24 December 2008
Dino DNA?
The death, this year, of Jurassic Park creator, Michael Crichton brought a couple things to mind: First, that I have all the movies and it would be fun to rewatch them; and second, memories of my first year in college... when I thought I wanted to be a geologist and discover ancient digs revealing earth's history.
That thought vanished pretty quick as the more I learned the more I became disallusioned with how much we really don't know and frustrated over how we got there, with nary an answer in sight. I dropped the class after one semester and long since put those frustrations behind me. But, these days I have too much time on my hands and I enjoy exploring useless topics. And so... here I go, off to my own little Jurassic Park.
Unlike Michael Crichton's, my Dinoland is not overrun by giant scaly lizards and winged meat eaters created by hollywoods finest. Instead, I chose to build it with what we really have .... a bone, billions of fossil fragments and lots of great imagination that creates myriad theories, which have given rise to exact replicas to more than 1200 dinosaurs of various sizes and temperments. Imagine my disappointment when I discovered that big T-Rex at the museum came from a manmade mold.
I'm laughing here, but check it out. That is really all we have. Well... I take that back. We do have some confirmed uncoverings of fraud. Disgraced scientists who got caught seeding digs to win research money. All this doesn't make my Jurassic Park nearly as exciting as Michael Crichton's, but it is interesting.
As I often say, I am inflicted with pragmatism. Back when I took that class, one requirement for success, according to my professor, was that I change my way of thinking. "There is no room in discovery for pragmatism," I was told. "Think circular," he said, "if you want to be successful".
Now... circular thinking is pretty simple. I liked that part because Im a simple kind of guy. The problem is, one gets caught up on the circumference of that circle going 'round and 'round and 'round. It's a real dizzy experience. If your ride happens upon a promising fossil you get to stop spinning and do some real work, figuring out what it is and how old it is, as well as the age of any surrounding earth. That's where the real genius of circular thinking comes into play. To determine the age of the fossil you need only determine the age of the surrounding rocks. To get the age of the rocks you simply figure out the age of the fossil. One confirms the other. Duh?
That task completed it becomes time to theorize a number of scenarios that paint a picture of what you think you found and how it lived. No problem. Just get back aboard that circular merry-go-round. As you're spinning, glance out at the world around you and select a currently living animal that closely fits the one in your fossil scenario. Reach out and grab it, like that brass ring... and presto, Gumbysaurus is born. The idea being that since we really don't have a clue, it's reasonable to conclude that like animals had like habits over the ages.
The only thing left is to put it all together, real scientific like, and present it to someone in authority who will buy into your dizzy creation. That shouldn't be too hard since he probably has his own circle. Like minds, spinning around the edge of a circle, reach like conclusions.
As if all this is not enough, all this likeness opens many doors to new and exciting dino scenarios that must also be true... at least from the confines of your circle.
That thought vanished pretty quick as the more I learned the more I became disallusioned with how much we really don't know and frustrated over how we got there, with nary an answer in sight. I dropped the class after one semester and long since put those frustrations behind me. But, these days I have too much time on my hands and I enjoy exploring useless topics. And so... here I go, off to my own little Jurassic Park.
Unlike Michael Crichton's, my Dinoland is not overrun by giant scaly lizards and winged meat eaters created by hollywoods finest. Instead, I chose to build it with what we really have .... a bone, billions of fossil fragments and lots of great imagination that creates myriad theories, which have given rise to exact replicas to more than 1200 dinosaurs of various sizes and temperments. Imagine my disappointment when I discovered that big T-Rex at the museum came from a manmade mold.
I'm laughing here, but check it out. That is really all we have. Well... I take that back. We do have some confirmed uncoverings of fraud. Disgraced scientists who got caught seeding digs to win research money. All this doesn't make my Jurassic Park nearly as exciting as Michael Crichton's, but it is interesting.
As I often say, I am inflicted with pragmatism. Back when I took that class, one requirement for success, according to my professor, was that I change my way of thinking. "There is no room in discovery for pragmatism," I was told. "Think circular," he said, "if you want to be successful".
Now... circular thinking is pretty simple. I liked that part because Im a simple kind of guy. The problem is, one gets caught up on the circumference of that circle going 'round and 'round and 'round. It's a real dizzy experience. If your ride happens upon a promising fossil you get to stop spinning and do some real work, figuring out what it is and how old it is, as well as the age of any surrounding earth. That's where the real genius of circular thinking comes into play. To determine the age of the fossil you need only determine the age of the surrounding rocks. To get the age of the rocks you simply figure out the age of the fossil. One confirms the other. Duh?
That task completed it becomes time to theorize a number of scenarios that paint a picture of what you think you found and how it lived. No problem. Just get back aboard that circular merry-go-round. As you're spinning, glance out at the world around you and select a currently living animal that closely fits the one in your fossil scenario. Reach out and grab it, like that brass ring... and presto, Gumbysaurus is born. The idea being that since we really don't have a clue, it's reasonable to conclude that like animals had like habits over the ages.
The only thing left is to put it all together, real scientific like, and present it to someone in authority who will buy into your dizzy creation. That shouldn't be too hard since he probably has his own circle. Like minds, spinning around the edge of a circle, reach like conclusions.
As if all this is not enough, all this likeness opens many doors to new and exciting dino scenarios that must also be true... at least from the confines of your circle.
19 December 2008
Truth is Elusive
One of the nice things about being retired is the abundance of available time. Time to explore the things that silently pass us by in our obsession with managing the day to day toils of work, play, relationships, and other mundane contrivances of "modern man".
Ensconced in our "Me" world, and all that surviving it requires, we get mentally lazy. The result, in large measure, is a degree of unquieted faith. We blindly trust strangers to give us information and we gladly accept their conclusions ... all too often without question. It must be true ... because he/she is an academic scholar or a member of the clergy. Truth is blurred by our ignorance and our lack of time or interest in questioning or focusing for ourselves. I mean... why bother, when we can pick up a book or google it. Notwithstanding myriad opinions and contradicting discoveries, we have a tendency to go with whatever sounds best to us. It feels good ... hence it must be true.
I find that strange.
I also find it strange how easily the masses accept theories and hypotheses as fact; passing them along as reality. The result? Much of what we think we know is not factual at all. But it gives us a sense of intellect and knowing; and in this fast paced world that seems to be good enough. Besides... we're too busy to question or it's really not important.
The difficulty in all this is that once fiction morphs into fact it is almost impossible for the real truth to be accepted. Change history? How dare you!
For me ... a fact is something that is true - ALWAYS. Anything less is a theory, idea, or possibility. Give me evidence of a single instance of a fact straying from ALWAYS and it becomes a "sometimes occurrence" with new possible answers. Truth is elusive.
Ensconced in our "Me" world, and all that surviving it requires, we get mentally lazy. The result, in large measure, is a degree of unquieted faith. We blindly trust strangers to give us information and we gladly accept their conclusions ... all too often without question. It must be true ... because he/she is an academic scholar or a member of the clergy. Truth is blurred by our ignorance and our lack of time or interest in questioning or focusing for ourselves. I mean... why bother, when we can pick up a book or google it. Notwithstanding myriad opinions and contradicting discoveries, we have a tendency to go with whatever sounds best to us. It feels good ... hence it must be true.
I find that strange.
I also find it strange how easily the masses accept theories and hypotheses as fact; passing them along as reality. The result? Much of what we think we know is not factual at all. But it gives us a sense of intellect and knowing; and in this fast paced world that seems to be good enough. Besides... we're too busy to question or it's really not important.
The difficulty in all this is that once fiction morphs into fact it is almost impossible for the real truth to be accepted. Change history? How dare you!
For me ... a fact is something that is true - ALWAYS. Anything less is a theory, idea, or possibility. Give me evidence of a single instance of a fact straying from ALWAYS and it becomes a "sometimes occurrence" with new possible answers. Truth is elusive.
04 December 2008
Got A Minute?
TIME - a fundamental quantity present throughout the known universe -- and beyond.
So, what about this elusive concept called time?
My theory:
Before time, there was nothing. "Time is the single continuum that witnessed the birth of space, in which all else came to be."
Poets lose themselves in time, searching for words to describe it. Ivy Schex's To Everything There is a Season, allots time to every event and purpose under the Sun; as defined in Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8.
Scientists attempt to warp it, bend it, break it, slow it down and speed it up; all to no avail. Time is everywhere, and nowhere. The one universal constant that invokes itself in all that is, ever was... and ever will be. Time is the one true god. For, even if there exists an omnipresent entity that created all there is, he/she/it would have been preceded by Time, if only for a moment.
We divide time up like so many slices of pie, to give order to our lives. Along the way, we abuse it, misuse it and, often, lose it; unconcerned that we can't get it back. We buy time, sell time, rent time and waste time. Sort of like I'm doing here. Yet, time goes on... unaffected.
We have learned to measure time, yet we have never viewed it's outer reaches. The further we travel through time, the further away time travels. We sometimes speak of the end of time, but time has no end. Before anything else, there was time. After all else is gone, only time will remain.
Because all else happens, in time - time, by its nature, reveals a structure. Time has infinite length, width, breadth, depth, and weight; and embraces an as yet unnamed fifth dimension. Perhaps, also, dimensions not yet imagined.
We speak of saving time... yet time moves on, with or without us. We look foward in time and backward in time. We can't see it, feel it, or slow it down. Yet, we travel through time unimpeded.
Time belongs to no one... and everyone.
That said, it's time to end this discourse and thank you for your time.
... and so it goes.
So, what about this elusive concept called time?
My theory:
Before time, there was nothing. "Time is the single continuum that witnessed the birth of space, in which all else came to be."
Poets lose themselves in time, searching for words to describe it. Ivy Schex's To Everything There is a Season, allots time to every event and purpose under the Sun; as defined in Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8.
Scientists attempt to warp it, bend it, break it, slow it down and speed it up; all to no avail. Time is everywhere, and nowhere. The one universal constant that invokes itself in all that is, ever was... and ever will be. Time is the one true god. For, even if there exists an omnipresent entity that created all there is, he/she/it would have been preceded by Time, if only for a moment.
We divide time up like so many slices of pie, to give order to our lives. Along the way, we abuse it, misuse it and, often, lose it; unconcerned that we can't get it back. We buy time, sell time, rent time and waste time. Sort of like I'm doing here. Yet, time goes on... unaffected.
We have learned to measure time, yet we have never viewed it's outer reaches. The further we travel through time, the further away time travels. We sometimes speak of the end of time, but time has no end. Before anything else, there was time. After all else is gone, only time will remain.
Because all else happens, in time - time, by its nature, reveals a structure. Time has infinite length, width, breadth, depth, and weight; and embraces an as yet unnamed fifth dimension. Perhaps, also, dimensions not yet imagined.
We speak of saving time... yet time moves on, with or without us. We look foward in time and backward in time. We can't see it, feel it, or slow it down. Yet, we travel through time unimpeded.
Time belongs to no one... and everyone.
That said, it's time to end this discourse and thank you for your time.
... and so it goes.
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