People always wonder where the magic went, waking up to face each day; life getting dimmer and grayer with every receding dream. The magic never went away. You’ve simply become blind to it.
A large number of people believe maturity is the end all, be all to human development. We have to progress to that logical plane where everything had a reason and everyone a purpose. There is no room to be wild and spontaneous. One must have responsibilities and keep obligations. Well I say otherwise. Responsibilities are the chains that bind us and obligations the bars of our own make. Why does everything have to make sense? Why must we all have a purpose?
Now I’m not an immature man. Far from. I understand the need for certain responsibilities and the reason for certain obligations. After all, in this world, trust is an important thing. But I call shenanigans on forced responsibility and unnecessary obligation. Why should I take a job I don’t like? Why do I need that expensive car, those trendy clothes, or social status? And should others look to me, why is it my obligation to lead them? Why should I have to watch what I say or how I act to serve as a role model? Why can’t I simply be me, others be damned? There is a thing in life called choice and should others ignorantly follow in my footsteps then let the lemmings spill over the cliff. At least I have enough forethought to step aside at the last moment because I see the cliff rather than the guy’s back in front of me, placing my trust and safety in a guy whose face I’ve never seen.
This is the world we live in. We’re expected to “grow up”, set aside our wonder and instead question question question and prod prod prod to find out why, yet when the answer is right there before us we refuse to see it. Growing up is all about denying your true self. We build this armor around us of past memories and fashion glasses of former experiences not realizing that all we’re really doing is cutting ourselves off from the world and distorting the reality around us. Reality is only what we make of it. Our minds and perceptions filter what really surrounds us and sadly maturity means narrowing that broad horizon to a slit which allows only the slimmest of wonders to slip through.
Children are wonderful and I’ll tell you why. They don’t have past experiences to cloud their view of the magnificent world around them. Everything is new and special and welcome. Children aren’t afraid. They see no reason to lie to themselves. They don’t worry about what their place is in the world. They only worry that they don’t have enough time to experience everything there is to offer.
That is what life is. It is experience. Maturity, true maturity, shouldn’t be a limiting thing. You shouldn’t sell a part of your soul because you have something to prove. You should confine yourself to an existence that smothers your lusts to be.
The magic children see and we are too blind to notice is simply the wonder of life. There are still so many experiences out there no matter how old you are. So much to learn and discover. If we’d just let go of what has been, let the scales fall from our eyes, the blazing light of existence would reignite that smothered flame of our souls. Take every moment for what it is. Not what you think it represents. Find that magic.
People call me immature. But you know what? I don’t live for them. I live to be. That may make me giddy and to some apparently careless, but it’s my life and I don’t want to regret one single part of it. Life is experience people. Stop taking the safe road. Set off for that horizon. Follow your dreams. Create your destiny. Never settle for less than what you’re worth because you are worth far more than any material object you could ever own.
Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Me
I am not expecting anyone to understand the complexity that is me. Neither I, nor my ex-wife, ever understood what I am. I am a miasma of so many emotions; a conflicting series of wants, needs, and desires. Sometimes I wish I were in a different time. A simpler time. I feel so out of place.
I know you don't know what I mean. Maybe you do. I pressed myself so hard in my youth. I had to achieve the impossible as soon as possible. There was not ime to waste. I had to be the prodigy. I had to change the world. When I failed, I faced depression beyond belief. I wanted to be so much more than I am. Then reality finally came and I began to see I am only human. That is an amazing thing.
I loathe those who strive for perfection. Man was never meant to be perfect. We all have flaws. No one will ever be perfect. No one can ever achieve the impossible. I believe that is part of my hatred for Christianity. That faith lashes one for their inablity to live up to a standard; a standard of a man who liekly never existed, and if he did, he did not exist in the form that he did.
The human condition is one of learning. It is a lifetime of stumbling, of discovery, of self-assertion. There are those who do not understand this or who refuse to. I do not hate any race, any sexuality, any view. I realize we are all diffrent. We are all unique. For anyone to hate a person becuase of who they are is short sighted, shallow, and ill-informed. We are all special in our own way.
I know I may be rambling. I am quite intoxicated as it is, but I felt it important to share my views. So many people fail to understand those strangers just a few feet away; fail to hear what it is they wish to express. We are all human beings who speak a shared language, yet are incapable of understanding what we mean.
I'm a solitary man; a lonely man. I wish there were those who understood me. But I have come to realize mine is a lonely path of discovery. I envy you, those who have those to join them on their path of discovery. Learn from these precious moments given to you as I struggle forward hoping to understand why I am and what I was meant to be.
I know you don't know what I mean. Maybe you do. I pressed myself so hard in my youth. I had to achieve the impossible as soon as possible. There was not ime to waste. I had to be the prodigy. I had to change the world. When I failed, I faced depression beyond belief. I wanted to be so much more than I am. Then reality finally came and I began to see I am only human. That is an amazing thing.
I loathe those who strive for perfection. Man was never meant to be perfect. We all have flaws. No one will ever be perfect. No one can ever achieve the impossible. I believe that is part of my hatred for Christianity. That faith lashes one for their inablity to live up to a standard; a standard of a man who liekly never existed, and if he did, he did not exist in the form that he did.
The human condition is one of learning. It is a lifetime of stumbling, of discovery, of self-assertion. There are those who do not understand this or who refuse to. I do not hate any race, any sexuality, any view. I realize we are all diffrent. We are all unique. For anyone to hate a person becuase of who they are is short sighted, shallow, and ill-informed. We are all special in our own way.
I know I may be rambling. I am quite intoxicated as it is, but I felt it important to share my views. So many people fail to understand those strangers just a few feet away; fail to hear what it is they wish to express. We are all human beings who speak a shared language, yet are incapable of understanding what we mean.
I'm a solitary man; a lonely man. I wish there were those who understood me. But I have come to realize mine is a lonely path of discovery. I envy you, those who have those to join them on their path of discovery. Learn from these precious moments given to you as I struggle forward hoping to understand why I am and what I was meant to be.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Know and Love Your Asshole
In any group there are three kinds of people: The leader, the follower and the asshole. It never fails and try as you might, no group will be successful without all three elements present.
The leader leads, the follower follows, and the asshole questions the leader and antagonizes the follower. All three factions are crucial to the dynamics of any group. Without the asshole, the leader wouldn't conquer the little challenges such as keeping a group together, while the follower wouldn't learn to stand up and solve an issue on their own. Assholes truly are a needed commodity in the world. Unfortunately for the group, the job of an asshole is to be an asshole. Trust me; it's not as easy as people may think. We've got a tough job despite it being only a single track agenda. I was told as a child that I could be anything I wanted to be when I grew up, so I became an asshole. It's a thankless job, and it's not easy to fill the shoes of a good asshole. We're often ostracized from "normal" social groups for being too ‘verb adjective', but – that's what we do. We are also painfully undervalued. Be that as it may, I feel it is my duty to try and shed light on the two distinct breeds of assholes.
Think of this as my way of saying that your today sucks, but that doesn't mean my tomorrow has to.
A good asshole will always have:
A sense of humor.
A good asshole can make almost anything funny, even jokes about themselves. However, making anything funny isn't enough; they've got to know when it's appropriate to make something funny and when to plain shut up. If someone asks "Do these pants make me look fat?", the good asshole will respond with a light hearted "No.", give a pregnant pause and follow up with "The fat makes you look fat." The bad asshole will simply reply with a "yes." It would have been better to say nothing because "yes" isn't funny.
Someone to kick when they are down.
Often times we come across someone who is having a bad day. The good asshole will remind their victim that certain aspects of their life sucks or that, despite various other achievements, there is one irritating challenge not yet met.
This can be best seen in the "Do these pants make me look fat?" question where their victim obviously has concern about their weight and it is likely that this is the unmet challenge.
A bad asshole will devalue the achievements already attained by their victim or make a general statement about the status of various elements in their victim's life to a degree of being downright ugly (which, from a 3rd person perspective, is funny to a good asshole).
Someone to remind them that they are an asshole.
All assholes know they are an asshole. They're told this religiously, but a good asshole needs to be encouraged to continue to be a good asshole, or they go bad very quickly. Good assholes love to make someone laugh (though often it is themselves who laugh). As such, assholes are in their own rights attention whores – narcissistic attention whores, but attention whores nonetheless. It is important to note that the reminders given to assholes must be gentle.
Assholes can take being treated accordingly, but nagging an asshole about being an asshole does one of two things: Makes them a bad asshole or makes them a follower. On the same token, forgetting to remind the asshole that they are about to miss a perfect moment to be an asshole will confuse and dilute the asshole into becoming a mindless drone.
Trust me when I say this – the only thing worse than a bad asshole is an ex-asshole. They're unfunny with horrible timing and really bad taste. They strive for a level of excellence that they'll never achieve – like the 70-year old grandma who still lives in her whoring glory days by wearing a Limited Too ensemble to the grocery store. You know the deal - sports bra that supports... nothing, "hooker red" lipstick that serves to only accentuate the unique hue of antique yellow her teeth have become, 6 months overdue for a re-dye red hair in an 80's coiffe/bouffant thing, a tattoo of what I'm guessing was a baby that now looks like a tattoo of Edvard Munch's "The Scream," spray tanned leather covering she calls "skin," and booty shorts that say "juicy" which are loosely draped over the ass yet is somehow shoved up it as if to indicate that her ass was eating the shorts.
Intelligence and Self Control.
A good asshole has some degree of intelligence. People love to hate the smart asses, but their points are generally well founded. It happens to be that their means of delivery can seem sophomoric and infantile with respect to the topic. People will laugh with the good asshole or smart ass, whereas they'll laugh at the dumbass bad asshole or not at all. Thus, the dumbass counters the point of pimping themselves out for the laugh of the crowd.
I have never heard anyone say, "What's this guy doing here, he's such a smartass."
I have heard people say, "What's this guy doing here, he's such a dumbass."
Furthermore, a good asshole won't be too much of an asshole with the wrong issues or will refrain from being an asshole altogether. Good assholes know when it's time to be an asshole. Bad assholes do not.
A sense of self worth.
This can be best summed up as "Poor planning on your part doesn't constitute an emergency on mine." One might also infer that when comparing the good and bad asshole, it is akin to the comparison of a geisha and a butterfly girl; the geisha gets respect although she in essence is a whore, while the other gets no respect and is also a whore.
A good asshole will know when it is inappropriate to whore themselves out for the laugh. An ugly baby is funny, while a dead baby isn't.
The bad asshole will try to make them both funny at exactly the wrong time, while the good asshole will make only the former funny at the right time.
Effective time management
Assholes, good and bad alike, know the value of their time and in general are great people to go to when you have time management issues. This isn't to say that the price of consultation isn't light, or that you'll like their solution, but it is to say that the good asshole will manage your time effectively to get the most from and for you. While the bad asshole also manages time effectively, they'll simply tell you to go away as a form of better managing their own time by not wasting it on you. In short, at least the good asshole will help you.
So, next time you run into a good asshole, be sure to let them know that they're doing a good job of being an asshole by calling them an asshole. They'll be an asshole to you for it, but you deserve it.
The leader leads, the follower follows, and the asshole questions the leader and antagonizes the follower. All three factions are crucial to the dynamics of any group. Without the asshole, the leader wouldn't conquer the little challenges such as keeping a group together, while the follower wouldn't learn to stand up and solve an issue on their own. Assholes truly are a needed commodity in the world. Unfortunately for the group, the job of an asshole is to be an asshole. Trust me; it's not as easy as people may think. We've got a tough job despite it being only a single track agenda. I was told as a child that I could be anything I wanted to be when I grew up, so I became an asshole. It's a thankless job, and it's not easy to fill the shoes of a good asshole. We're often ostracized from "normal" social groups for being too ‘verb adjective', but – that's what we do. We are also painfully undervalued. Be that as it may, I feel it is my duty to try and shed light on the two distinct breeds of assholes.
Think of this as my way of saying that your today sucks, but that doesn't mean my tomorrow has to.
A good asshole will always have:
A sense of humor.
A good asshole can make almost anything funny, even jokes about themselves. However, making anything funny isn't enough; they've got to know when it's appropriate to make something funny and when to plain shut up. If someone asks "Do these pants make me look fat?", the good asshole will respond with a light hearted "No.", give a pregnant pause and follow up with "The fat makes you look fat." The bad asshole will simply reply with a "yes." It would have been better to say nothing because "yes" isn't funny.
Someone to kick when they are down.
Often times we come across someone who is having a bad day. The good asshole will remind their victim that certain aspects of their life sucks or that, despite various other achievements, there is one irritating challenge not yet met.
This can be best seen in the "Do these pants make me look fat?" question where their victim obviously has concern about their weight and it is likely that this is the unmet challenge.
A bad asshole will devalue the achievements already attained by their victim or make a general statement about the status of various elements in their victim's life to a degree of being downright ugly (which, from a 3rd person perspective, is funny to a good asshole).
Someone to remind them that they are an asshole.
All assholes know they are an asshole. They're told this religiously, but a good asshole needs to be encouraged to continue to be a good asshole, or they go bad very quickly. Good assholes love to make someone laugh (though often it is themselves who laugh). As such, assholes are in their own rights attention whores – narcissistic attention whores, but attention whores nonetheless. It is important to note that the reminders given to assholes must be gentle.
Assholes can take being treated accordingly, but nagging an asshole about being an asshole does one of two things: Makes them a bad asshole or makes them a follower. On the same token, forgetting to remind the asshole that they are about to miss a perfect moment to be an asshole will confuse and dilute the asshole into becoming a mindless drone.
Trust me when I say this – the only thing worse than a bad asshole is an ex-asshole. They're unfunny with horrible timing and really bad taste. They strive for a level of excellence that they'll never achieve – like the 70-year old grandma who still lives in her whoring glory days by wearing a Limited Too ensemble to the grocery store. You know the deal - sports bra that supports... nothing, "hooker red" lipstick that serves to only accentuate the unique hue of antique yellow her teeth have become, 6 months overdue for a re-dye red hair in an 80's coiffe/bouffant thing, a tattoo of what I'm guessing was a baby that now looks like a tattoo of Edvard Munch's "The Scream," spray tanned leather covering she calls "skin," and booty shorts that say "juicy" which are loosely draped over the ass yet is somehow shoved up it as if to indicate that her ass was eating the shorts.
Intelligence and Self Control.
A good asshole has some degree of intelligence. People love to hate the smart asses, but their points are generally well founded. It happens to be that their means of delivery can seem sophomoric and infantile with respect to the topic. People will laugh with the good asshole or smart ass, whereas they'll laugh at the dumbass bad asshole or not at all. Thus, the dumbass counters the point of pimping themselves out for the laugh of the crowd.
I have never heard anyone say, "What's this guy doing here, he's such a smartass."
I have heard people say, "What's this guy doing here, he's such a dumbass."
Furthermore, a good asshole won't be too much of an asshole with the wrong issues or will refrain from being an asshole altogether. Good assholes know when it's time to be an asshole. Bad assholes do not.
A sense of self worth.
This can be best summed up as "Poor planning on your part doesn't constitute an emergency on mine." One might also infer that when comparing the good and bad asshole, it is akin to the comparison of a geisha and a butterfly girl; the geisha gets respect although she in essence is a whore, while the other gets no respect and is also a whore.
A good asshole will know when it is inappropriate to whore themselves out for the laugh. An ugly baby is funny, while a dead baby isn't.
The bad asshole will try to make them both funny at exactly the wrong time, while the good asshole will make only the former funny at the right time.
Effective time management
Assholes, good and bad alike, know the value of their time and in general are great people to go to when you have time management issues. This isn't to say that the price of consultation isn't light, or that you'll like their solution, but it is to say that the good asshole will manage your time effectively to get the most from and for you. While the bad asshole also manages time effectively, they'll simply tell you to go away as a form of better managing their own time by not wasting it on you. In short, at least the good asshole will help you.
So, next time you run into a good asshole, be sure to let them know that they're doing a good job of being an asshole by calling them an asshole. They'll be an asshole to you for it, but you deserve it.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Pondering Reality...
I know this site is notorious for its comedic/satirical, rather than overtly intellectual, content. Over the past month I've been mulling around numerous thoughts which have sprung up from my Psychology and Philosophy classes.
First and foremost, the human body is an amazing creation. How it came to be has been endlessly debated for well over a century and a half. Was it evolution? Was it the hand of God? Well, I'm not here to enter the fray of life's origin. I'm just here to posit some of my thoughts for you to chew on. Whether you swallow or spit is really your choice.
My studies have revealed how the human body is constantly evolving. I do not mean over periods of centuries or millennia, I mean during one's lifetime. The human brain is an excellent example with how it rewires and alters its shape and functionality based on stimuli. In effect, our thoughts control and affect us. We are the products of reason, thinking, and reaction.
Now I've believed as far back as I can remember that we create our own realities. There is no real right or wrong. It is what we instill faith in which makes something real. Examples are God creating the universe versus the entire process coming about from a raw, untamed force of energy exploding outward in a "Big Bang". For some the former is real. For others it is the latter. We build our lives around beliefs, create realities from thought.
Where does thought come from? Perception. But what we perceive is governed by the flesh we find ourselves in. What we see, hear, taste, smell, and feel is radically different from other species and thus not real to them. Our reality is not their reality. It is solely ours. Does that make it more important? Does that humble us in knowing there are shared realities? In fact, how would our realities look should our eyes be capable of seeing beyond the limited spectral plain we now perceive or if we were unable to taste.
Philosophy and science can be difficult subjects to bring together. Science requires true quantifiable evidence leading to a single answer for phenomena whereas philosophy is open to interpretation. What philosophy has shown me is how we structure our conscious realities around us, try to explain the reasons we act. Yet science would say we do not act but simply react. We have been reacting since the "Big Bang", or God's shove (whichever you prefer). Every action has been the result of a prior action, known in philosophy as Determinism. Without a prior act a future act cannot be. If one were to follow this theory to its end, then all action began from one single action yet if action cannot happen without prior action then how can action be at all? Surely everything has a beginning and end. But what if that is merely our view of reality corrupting what it truth? We measure time, action, and event based on temporal structure: past, present, future. Does time really function that way or is it merely a construct of our reality based on limited perception? What if life is truly a circle, constant renewal, growth, collapse, etc. What if there is no beginning, no end, but a constant. Science says energy can neither be created nor destroyed. How did this all arise? Is growth impossible? Collapse as well?
In fact, what if our lifetime is the equivalent of a small town nestled in a valley upon the whole of the Earth. All we see and know is what happens in and around us yet we are part of something larger despite not perceiving it. We cannot see what we believe to be tomorrow over the ridge nor yesterday because of a shroud of mist. Yet it is there just as we are. What if every point functions at the same time yet we cannot perceive it. What if time really is more frequency than passing, layers rather a one way road. What if all were now and as easy to touch as the screen you read this upon.
What interests me most about the human form is its ability to manipulate energy, mostly at the subconscious or unconscious level. Thoughts, sensations, sight, etc. are all nothing more than the body converting energy into electrical, chemical, or some other form which is then deciphered and translated by the brain. Our bodies are repositories of energy. Our souls, that initial spark struck by the union of sperm and egg, flares in our flesh. Thus our soul is really manipulated energy. That force out there in space which governs gravity, light, and so much more at the macro level is within us at a sort of micro level. Yet our manipulation of energy is more than the simple process of chemical reaction, kinetic power, or electrical discharge. We manipulate energy into sentience; consciousness. What does that truly mean? In manipulating energy into creating our personalities what does that say about our flesh? What does that say about death? If energy cannot be destroyed do we dissipate into all things? Do we rejoin some lost galactic whole? Or does our energy signature somehow hold? Do we become a packet of energy, like a transmission, which holds together and continues to survive beyond the flesh? If we were to continue beyond physical death what would that type of existence be like?
Science has shown energy is useless without the physical. The physical manipulates energy, turning into a thing of creation. Could life be the evolution of energy? Could we be giving thought to that once raw, unbridled force? From destruction comes construction.
And what does this say concerning the prior subject of Determinism? If everything can only happen due to a prior act, then do we really have choice? Are we bound by some fate instigated eons ago which continues to play on through us? And if we have no choice then are our thoughts really illusions? If we cannot change things, if we have no control over events, then our thoughts can't truly be unique but the combination of prior events, actions, and material. Thus we serve no purpose for ourselves but only for whatever began the process yet if the process began blindly then we are all struggling forward blindly. Is the individual really real or does it exist simply because that is how we perceive the process of existence?
Energy has evolved and continues to do so through the physical world, but if we truly do have some control over it through our bodies then imagine when we are able to consciously manipulate it. I do not mean through machines but by thought. If all began because of some prior event, mindlessly started perhaps, what if our will became powerful enough to break the onward cycle and we became strong enough to alter our reality beyond perception.
So many large ideas. So much muddling and meandering. What do I truly believe? All I can say is I believe in the right to discover. That is the only way to learn.
First and foremost, the human body is an amazing creation. How it came to be has been endlessly debated for well over a century and a half. Was it evolution? Was it the hand of God? Well, I'm not here to enter the fray of life's origin. I'm just here to posit some of my thoughts for you to chew on. Whether you swallow or spit is really your choice.
My studies have revealed how the human body is constantly evolving. I do not mean over periods of centuries or millennia, I mean during one's lifetime. The human brain is an excellent example with how it rewires and alters its shape and functionality based on stimuli. In effect, our thoughts control and affect us. We are the products of reason, thinking, and reaction.
Now I've believed as far back as I can remember that we create our own realities. There is no real right or wrong. It is what we instill faith in which makes something real. Examples are God creating the universe versus the entire process coming about from a raw, untamed force of energy exploding outward in a "Big Bang". For some the former is real. For others it is the latter. We build our lives around beliefs, create realities from thought.
Where does thought come from? Perception. But what we perceive is governed by the flesh we find ourselves in. What we see, hear, taste, smell, and feel is radically different from other species and thus not real to them. Our reality is not their reality. It is solely ours. Does that make it more important? Does that humble us in knowing there are shared realities? In fact, how would our realities look should our eyes be capable of seeing beyond the limited spectral plain we now perceive or if we were unable to taste.
Philosophy and science can be difficult subjects to bring together. Science requires true quantifiable evidence leading to a single answer for phenomena whereas philosophy is open to interpretation. What philosophy has shown me is how we structure our conscious realities around us, try to explain the reasons we act. Yet science would say we do not act but simply react. We have been reacting since the "Big Bang", or God's shove (whichever you prefer). Every action has been the result of a prior action, known in philosophy as Determinism. Without a prior act a future act cannot be. If one were to follow this theory to its end, then all action began from one single action yet if action cannot happen without prior action then how can action be at all? Surely everything has a beginning and end. But what if that is merely our view of reality corrupting what it truth? We measure time, action, and event based on temporal structure: past, present, future. Does time really function that way or is it merely a construct of our reality based on limited perception? What if life is truly a circle, constant renewal, growth, collapse, etc. What if there is no beginning, no end, but a constant. Science says energy can neither be created nor destroyed. How did this all arise? Is growth impossible? Collapse as well?
In fact, what if our lifetime is the equivalent of a small town nestled in a valley upon the whole of the Earth. All we see and know is what happens in and around us yet we are part of something larger despite not perceiving it. We cannot see what we believe to be tomorrow over the ridge nor yesterday because of a shroud of mist. Yet it is there just as we are. What if every point functions at the same time yet we cannot perceive it. What if time really is more frequency than passing, layers rather a one way road. What if all were now and as easy to touch as the screen you read this upon.
What interests me most about the human form is its ability to manipulate energy, mostly at the subconscious or unconscious level. Thoughts, sensations, sight, etc. are all nothing more than the body converting energy into electrical, chemical, or some other form which is then deciphered and translated by the brain. Our bodies are repositories of energy. Our souls, that initial spark struck by the union of sperm and egg, flares in our flesh. Thus our soul is really manipulated energy. That force out there in space which governs gravity, light, and so much more at the macro level is within us at a sort of micro level. Yet our manipulation of energy is more than the simple process of chemical reaction, kinetic power, or electrical discharge. We manipulate energy into sentience; consciousness. What does that truly mean? In manipulating energy into creating our personalities what does that say about our flesh? What does that say about death? If energy cannot be destroyed do we dissipate into all things? Do we rejoin some lost galactic whole? Or does our energy signature somehow hold? Do we become a packet of energy, like a transmission, which holds together and continues to survive beyond the flesh? If we were to continue beyond physical death what would that type of existence be like?
Science has shown energy is useless without the physical. The physical manipulates energy, turning into a thing of creation. Could life be the evolution of energy? Could we be giving thought to that once raw, unbridled force? From destruction comes construction.
And what does this say concerning the prior subject of Determinism? If everything can only happen due to a prior act, then do we really have choice? Are we bound by some fate instigated eons ago which continues to play on through us? And if we have no choice then are our thoughts really illusions? If we cannot change things, if we have no control over events, then our thoughts can't truly be unique but the combination of prior events, actions, and material. Thus we serve no purpose for ourselves but only for whatever began the process yet if the process began blindly then we are all struggling forward blindly. Is the individual really real or does it exist simply because that is how we perceive the process of existence?
Energy has evolved and continues to do so through the physical world, but if we truly do have some control over it through our bodies then imagine when we are able to consciously manipulate it. I do not mean through machines but by thought. If all began because of some prior event, mindlessly started perhaps, what if our will became powerful enough to break the onward cycle and we became strong enough to alter our reality beyond perception.
So many large ideas. So much muddling and meandering. What do I truly believe? All I can say is I believe in the right to discover. That is the only way to learn.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Life on Mars
Recent news has revealed the possibility of life on our planetary neighbor, Mars. It is not simply an astounding moment when humanity may finally open up to new perspectives on the origins and diversity of life, but also a redefining of what it is to be human. There are those in the scientific community who doubt the data, not surprising in a community where many prefer gradual change rather than radical redevelopments (such as the acceptance of the helio-centric model, the Theory of Relativity, etc.). A positive note is that recent polls show over 65% of Americans believe in the possibility of the validity of the findings of life on Mars. What follows is the article:
Martian soil analyzed 30 years ago by NASA 's Viking landers might contain life, according to a controversial new study that one scientist called "bogus."
A scientist has called a report saying soil on Mars may contain microbial life "bogus." The report was based on a new interpretation of data first collected 30 years ago.
The dry, freezing Martian surface could be home to microbes whose cells are filled with a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and water, said Joop Houtkooper of the University of Giessen, Germany. But other scientists are skeptical of his results, which is the latest in a long series of contentious claims about what the Viking landers might or could have found.
Houtkooper reanalyzed data from the Gas Exchange (GEx) experiment carried out by the robotic landers in the 1970s and speculates the martian soil contained detectable amounts of life.
"It comes out to a little more than one part per thousand by weight, comparable to what is found in some permafrost in Antarctica," Houtkooper said.
Norman Pace, a microbiologist at the University of Colorado, is skeptical of the new claims. "It sounds bogus to me," Pace told SPACE.com. "I don't consider the chemical results to be particularly credible in light of the harsh conditions that Mars offers."
The findings were presented by Houtkooper at the European Planetary Science Congress in Potsdam, Germany this week and are detailed in a recent issue of the International Journal of Astrobiology.
The GEx experiment detected rises in oxygen and carbon dioxide gas in soil samples collected on the martian surface.
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"If we assume these gases were produced during the breakdown of organic material together with hydrogen peroxide solution, we can calculate the masses needed to produce the volume of gas measured," Houtkooper explained.
Houtkooper and his colleague Dirk Schulze-Makuch from Washington State University speculate that an organism based on hydrogen peroxide and water could survive the harsh martian climate, in which temperatures rarely rise above freezing and can reach -238 degrees Fahrenheit (-150 degrees Celsius) at the poles. The hydrogen peroxide would act like antifreeze for the cell, preventing its insides from crystallizing due to the cold.
Hydrogen peroxide-water solutions also tend to attract water, so the alien organisms could scavenge water molecules from the Martian atmosphere, the thinking goes. However, if such creatures were exposed to too much water or atmospheres with high humidity, they could theoretically die through over-hydration.
The researchers think this could account for the anomalous GEx results. The experiment exposed samples to water vapor which might have killed any hydrogen peroxide-water microbes died. The resulting breakdown of their cells would release oxygen and their organic compounds would react with the hydrogen peroxide to release carbon dioxide, water vapor and traces of nitrogen.
Houtkooper thinks the microbes could be detected by NASA's Phoenix lander, which launched on Aug. 4 and will arrive at Mars next May.
While rare, terrestrial organisms are known to use hydrogen-peroxide. The bombardier beetle, Brachinus Crepitans, uses a 25 percent solution of hydrogen peroxide to shoot steam into the face of pursuing predators.
No one suspects there are any beetles on Mars. But most experts have yet to rule out the possibility of microbial life.
"There does not appear to be any basic reason why hydrogen peroxide could not be used by living systems," Houtkooper said. "While organisms on Earth have found it advantageous to include salt in their intracellular fluids, hydrogen peroxide may have been more suitable for organisms adapting to the cold, dry environment of Mars."
But Pace, the University of Colorado microbiologist, thinks there is one very important reason why hydrogen peroxide life is unlikely. "Hydrogen peroxide inside cells is deadly in terrestrial kinds of cells," Pace said. "In fact, that's one way that our cells combat bacteria, by producing hydrogen peroxide locally."
For Pace and many other scientists, the definitive experiment performed by the Viking landers was the gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) test, which was capable of identifying substances by their chemical makeup. That test failed to turn up evidence of organic compounds. "That's the interesting experiment. Everything else can be explained chemically," Pace said.
Some scientists have speculated the oxygen results from the GEx test came from peroxide-containing iron in the martian soil.
Martian soil analyzed 30 years ago by NASA 's Viking landers might contain life, according to a controversial new study that one scientist called "bogus."
A scientist has called a report saying soil on Mars may contain microbial life "bogus." The report was based on a new interpretation of data first collected 30 years ago.
The dry, freezing Martian surface could be home to microbes whose cells are filled with a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and water, said Joop Houtkooper of the University of Giessen, Germany. But other scientists are skeptical of his results, which is the latest in a long series of contentious claims about what the Viking landers might or could have found.
Houtkooper reanalyzed data from the Gas Exchange (GEx) experiment carried out by the robotic landers in the 1970s and speculates the martian soil contained detectable amounts of life.
"It comes out to a little more than one part per thousand by weight, comparable to what is found in some permafrost in Antarctica," Houtkooper said.
Norman Pace, a microbiologist at the University of Colorado, is skeptical of the new claims. "It sounds bogus to me," Pace told SPACE.com. "I don't consider the chemical results to be particularly credible in light of the harsh conditions that Mars offers."
The findings were presented by Houtkooper at the European Planetary Science Congress in Potsdam, Germany this week and are detailed in a recent issue of the International Journal of Astrobiology.
The GEx experiment detected rises in oxygen and carbon dioxide gas in soil samples collected on the martian surface.
Currently experiencing technical difficulties. Please refresh page or try again later.
"If we assume these gases were produced during the breakdown of organic material together with hydrogen peroxide solution, we can calculate the masses needed to produce the volume of gas measured," Houtkooper explained.
Houtkooper and his colleague Dirk Schulze-Makuch from Washington State University speculate that an organism based on hydrogen peroxide and water could survive the harsh martian climate, in which temperatures rarely rise above freezing and can reach -238 degrees Fahrenheit (-150 degrees Celsius) at the poles. The hydrogen peroxide would act like antifreeze for the cell, preventing its insides from crystallizing due to the cold.
Hydrogen peroxide-water solutions also tend to attract water, so the alien organisms could scavenge water molecules from the Martian atmosphere, the thinking goes. However, if such creatures were exposed to too much water or atmospheres with high humidity, they could theoretically die through over-hydration.
The researchers think this could account for the anomalous GEx results. The experiment exposed samples to water vapor which might have killed any hydrogen peroxide-water microbes died. The resulting breakdown of their cells would release oxygen and their organic compounds would react with the hydrogen peroxide to release carbon dioxide, water vapor and traces of nitrogen.
Houtkooper thinks the microbes could be detected by NASA's Phoenix lander, which launched on Aug. 4 and will arrive at Mars next May.
While rare, terrestrial organisms are known to use hydrogen-peroxide. The bombardier beetle, Brachinus Crepitans, uses a 25 percent solution of hydrogen peroxide to shoot steam into the face of pursuing predators.
No one suspects there are any beetles on Mars. But most experts have yet to rule out the possibility of microbial life.
"There does not appear to be any basic reason why hydrogen peroxide could not be used by living systems," Houtkooper said. "While organisms on Earth have found it advantageous to include salt in their intracellular fluids, hydrogen peroxide may have been more suitable for organisms adapting to the cold, dry environment of Mars."
But Pace, the University of Colorado microbiologist, thinks there is one very important reason why hydrogen peroxide life is unlikely. "Hydrogen peroxide inside cells is deadly in terrestrial kinds of cells," Pace said. "In fact, that's one way that our cells combat bacteria, by producing hydrogen peroxide locally."
For Pace and many other scientists, the definitive experiment performed by the Viking landers was the gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) test, which was capable of identifying substances by their chemical makeup. That test failed to turn up evidence of organic compounds. "That's the interesting experiment. Everything else can be explained chemically," Pace said.
Some scientists have speculated the oxygen results from the GEx test came from peroxide-containing iron in the martian soil.
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Reality
What is real save what I believe,
An illusion all mistakely weave
Around themselves like a collar,
A shroud through which to see.
My whims, my words, my wishes
All carve the 'real' from the darkness.
My world is structured
By the power of will,
With a foundation of experience
Upon which stands a thrusting tower,
Piercing Heaven,
Housing pulsing emotion.
Overtime, my heart reveals
Its traitorous designs.
Each beat steals faith,
Instills doubt,
Wakens me from dreams;
This tower my prison.
Each quake of my heart threatens me,
The beating uncertain.
It rules me.
Tyrant, sadistic despot
Who pains me
Refusing serenity.
But his grasp slackens
And my flesh surrenders.
My tongue dries
As ragged rasps
Pass my cracked lips
Like smoke from a dying fire.
My soul ascends from the vast desert.
Life, once grand, becomes a ruin
As the real collapses beneath me
Crushing life,
Ceasing thought,
And the abyss does swallow my tower.
An illusion all mistakely weave
Around themselves like a collar,
A shroud through which to see.
My whims, my words, my wishes
All carve the 'real' from the darkness.
My world is structured
By the power of will,
With a foundation of experience
Upon which stands a thrusting tower,
Piercing Heaven,
Housing pulsing emotion.
Overtime, my heart reveals
Its traitorous designs.
Each beat steals faith,
Instills doubt,
Wakens me from dreams;
This tower my prison.
Each quake of my heart threatens me,
The beating uncertain.
It rules me.
Tyrant, sadistic despot
Who pains me
Refusing serenity.
But his grasp slackens
And my flesh surrenders.
My tongue dries
As ragged rasps
Pass my cracked lips
Like smoke from a dying fire.
My soul ascends from the vast desert.
Life, once grand, becomes a ruin
As the real collapses beneath me
Crushing life,
Ceasing thought,
And the abyss does swallow my tower.
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