Creation

April 2, 2021 12:46pm

I’ve written about the possibility of our physical universe extending in both directions (micro and macro) infinitely. That is, perhaps everything we see is part of some as yet unknown subatomic particle in the next level up from us. And that level, in turn, part of a similar subatomic particle in the next level? This same scenario could go the other direction too: small universes hidden in places too tiny to be known to us. And all this “creation” found in infinite levels extending to both the larger and the smaller….forever.

While dwelling on this possibility, I realized that time might also change from level to level. Recall that I’ve speculated that our universe (with a lifespan of trillions upon trillions of years) may have been created and destroyed quadrillions upon quadrillions of times. So, it is only a small step to imagine that our universe is lodged on a particle in the next largest reality and that particle is in the cylinder of an engine running at 3,000 rpm and some kid is revving that engine whose spark is the big bang in our small space where our universe is recreated, life evolves, consciousness is achieved, and someone with too much time on his hands, speculates that the 3,000 sparks per minutes might translate to 3,000 instances of our universe/cycle, each lasting 100 million trillion years in our own time frame.

This is only slightly crazier than the experience of going out on a dark night to stare into those voids where there are no pinpoints of light, and realizing you are looking down into an abyss whose bottom cannot be seen.

Easter

April 4, 2021 8:21am

Another resurrection Sunday; I consider Christ and his words. His was a truly radical life regardless of belief or faith. He taught non-violence, forgiveness and love to a race awaiting a militaristic Messiah who would free them from Roman oppression. But what did he say about himself? Did he claim to be the Messiah? The most direct evidence is found in the story of the Samaritan woman at the well who said, ” I know that Messiah is coming….” Jesus responded, “I am he.”

If Jesus was just a man- a delusional Jewish mystic, where did his message originate?

In the Rigveda, we find Nasadiya Sukta 10:129 which uses many ideas and words similar to the creation story in Genesis. The Bhagavad Gita predates Christ and shares some of his teachings so he may have heard of these ideas and applied them to his own time and place – still, it was a radical departure for a Jew

Time and Flow

April 5, 2021 o:23am

Once upon a time, there was a young couple with a young daughter. One day, the daughter came to the couple with tears in her eyes and her hand on her throat. She had swallowed piece of candy and it appeared that she could not breathe. The father panicked, grabbed the child, spun her upside down and slapped her on the back to no avail. When this did not dislodge the candy, he had a vision of the dead child lying on the floor and he felt the horrible loss and knew that he would later think how wonderful life had been only moments before when the child was happily playing. In this nightmare future that flashed in his mind, was the realization of how quickly all can be lost, dreams , plans, hopes, ….life. He would want a do-over until his own death freed him and life would never be the same. After this vision, which took only an instant, he handed the child to his wife and called 911, knowing that help would arrive too late at their rural home. Just as the call was answered, there was an eruption of stomach contents as the wife saved the child’s life. The father never got over the feeling that all could change in seconds and that once past the divergence of possible fates , no prayers, no wishful thinking could reverse the flow of time.

Cave Drawings

April 14, 2021

Anatomically modern humans appeared somewhere between 100k and 200k years ago and while we equate consciousness with cave drawings, jewelry, and burials, which began about 40K years ago, it now appears that consciousness may have developed prior to those signs of self-awareness.

What, if anything, comes after the explicit self-aware consciousness we associate with modern humans? If we perfect robots and AI, might they not one day develop beings much like we are now and consider them the ultimate creation to seed the universe with life since they would be mentally adaptable, self-healing, and self-reproducing?

Blueberries

April 17, 2021 8:15am

Yesterday, I worked on the new blueberry enclosure – designed to keep critters (mainly birds) from eating all the berries. At 65 years and 8 months of age, I now must admit that time holds the upper hand! The little bit of light work I do these days, leaves me sore all over and I hobble around like an elderly person the next day until I warm up.

How did this happen? I used to enjoy hard work and have done my share roofing houses and putting up hay when the temperature hovered around 95 degrees! I now recall with amusement, my (much earlier) contention that if people just remained active as they got older, they could be fit until their death. Now I’m spent after weed eating for an hour or emptying a small trailer of 1000 pounds of mulch. it may be time to acknowledge my age….but first, one more project. I have 10 tons of rock on hand and another 40 tons to be delivered for a stone cottage I’m building. I dug by hand the footer – two feet wide and two feet deep for the walls, plus a five by eight hole three feet deep where the fireplace will sit. The whole excavation was filled with 13 yards of concrete. This was a little stressful….once those trucks arrive, it gets pretty hectic and there’s no backing out! Some of the pour was above grade and you just pray the forms you built will hold. I hate concrete work!

Anyway, this should be interesting as I lay one or two rocks a day….OK, maybe four.

Music

April 24, 2021 6:46pm

I just got back from the Goodwood jam. It had been raining most of the day so I decided to go down there and sit in. Those players are all much better than me but it provides some inspiration for improvement.

On the way home, I noticed all the rock outcroppings on the side of the road, wet and seemingly mute….but I imagined their song, “you are a brief tribe; we will be here long after you are gone.” And the rain carried away minute particles of the rocks which will indeed be there long after we are dust.

11:22pm

I led such a small life, so ordinary so plain, and yet it is unfathomable and mysterious. I cannot begin to understand its meaning. Married to one loving wife for 36 years, father to two beautiful and good daughters, son of wise parents, descendant of ancestors who fought for and helped build this country. And yet….and yet? I fail to grasp its purpose. Where does it lead – and why? The texture of life impressed upon my very soul and I left to interpret its patterns with no guide, no code. Until….fatigue sets in, sleep beckons, and I succumb to that final irresistible desire – that dream.