Vast. Unending. Infinite. Endless. Forever. Eternal. Immortal. Ceaseless. Never-ending. Timeless. Measureless. Immeasurable. Interminable. Unlimited. Unbounded. Illimitable. Immense. Limitless. Boundless. Everlasting. Perpetual. Undying. Always. Evermore. Hereafter. Persisting. Enduring.
Aside from the fact that these twenty-seven words are synonymous, they also share a very distinct connection to the human condition. That condition being that it is inevitable for things to end. All around us we observe the death of things. Yet, as such, we also know, through physics, that matter breaks down into its simplest form, energy. And thanks to Newton, we know that energy can neither be created nor destroyed. So even though this law sits at the core of our interpretation of the understanding of our universe, it posits an idea that, as human beings, we cannot fathom.
Mathematics gives a very good example of infinity, all numbers simultaneously. Not any given number, but all numbers at once. Real and imaginary. Whole and fractionated. Positive and negative. Numbers so big and small that we have no names or use for them, and everything in between. Even this cannot be truly and fully understood by even the most brilliant minds. Eternity is completely beyond the grasp of our mental prowess. Astrophysicists are forced to coin terms like "the observable universe", because it is so large that even our most advanced technologies cannot see the ends. And it is growing and away at a faster rate than we can even attempt to travel.
Now let's bring in the notions of parallel universes and the multi-verse. The universe in which we exist and can observe our perception of reality is so vastly immense, that even as the most intelligent lifeforms we know of, we cannot truly understand the amount of space it contains. Now what if instead of being a solitary bubble in a vacuum, we were but one bubble in a cosmic bubble bath of infinite possible universes. All of which are like our own, yet slightly different from all others.
Imagine a circle so big that the lines seem to be straight instead of curved. A "straight circle", if you will. Now go outside and tell me where Earth curves. We live on a planet so capacious that we perceive it to be flat, even though we know better. But only for five hundred years or so. And we have a sun that can fit millions of earths. A galaxy that can fit millions of suns. A universe that can fit millions of galaxies. And they do exist in those quantities. Our galaxy alone has more stars than you can name in your lifetime.
Yet we continue to attempt to make sense of it all. We create words to express our latest ideas. Defining words we have no understanding of. We have religions which give eternal life to their deities, yet fail to realize what that means. Existing before time began and long after it ends. To our linear idea of time, this is impossible. Yet think long and hard about that list of words I gave you. If eternity can't exist, why do we have so many words for it? Isn't it more logical to deduce that our notion of time is flawed? Yet we continue to use an antiquated ideal that makes daily life functional, instead of searching for a better solution. The measurements we have created only pertain to us and our immediate environment, and contains no relation to the rest of our galaxy, much less universe. Our idea of time is just as arrogantly ignorant as believing in geocentrism. It is narrow-minded and simplistic even in its most basic definitions. It forces us to accept time as linear, thereby limiting our creativity, intelligence, ambition, imagination, and desire to discover an alternate explanation.
As intelligent beings, how can we expect to be successfully cohesive and live as one species, as the rate of change is demanding, when one of our most basic and fundamental precepts of our world is logically flawed? I am not an environmentalist, by any stretch of the imagination, but if the human race, the only race which matters, cannot let history reside in the past and begin to work collectively on a global scale, and in symbiosis with our planet, then we will rain down the impending doom upon ourselves. We will be the end of our existence. And there will be no one to blame. All will be culpable. It is long passed time to significantly change our mentalities for the better. We must transcend those archaic notions of boundaries, states, territories, countries, nations, and even continents. We must put aside our religious, spiritual, cultural, ethical, and philosophical differences. We must put all of our collective efforts into answering the most important question humanity may ever face. This is the game-changer. Can we stop being parasitic and become symbiotic, and how?
Aside from the fact that these twenty-seven words are synonymous, they also share a very distinct connection to the human condition. That condition being that it is inevitable for things to end. All around us we observe the death of things. Yet, as such, we also know, through physics, that matter breaks down into its simplest form, energy. And thanks to Newton, we know that energy can neither be created nor destroyed. So even though this law sits at the core of our interpretation of the understanding of our universe, it posits an idea that, as human beings, we cannot fathom.
Mathematics gives a very good example of infinity, all numbers simultaneously. Not any given number, but all numbers at once. Real and imaginary. Whole and fractionated. Positive and negative. Numbers so big and small that we have no names or use for them, and everything in between. Even this cannot be truly and fully understood by even the most brilliant minds. Eternity is completely beyond the grasp of our mental prowess. Astrophysicists are forced to coin terms like "the observable universe", because it is so large that even our most advanced technologies cannot see the ends. And it is growing and away at a faster rate than we can even attempt to travel.
Now let's bring in the notions of parallel universes and the multi-verse. The universe in which we exist and can observe our perception of reality is so vastly immense, that even as the most intelligent lifeforms we know of, we cannot truly understand the amount of space it contains. Now what if instead of being a solitary bubble in a vacuum, we were but one bubble in a cosmic bubble bath of infinite possible universes. All of which are like our own, yet slightly different from all others.
Imagine a circle so big that the lines seem to be straight instead of curved. A "straight circle", if you will. Now go outside and tell me where Earth curves. We live on a planet so capacious that we perceive it to be flat, even though we know better. But only for five hundred years or so. And we have a sun that can fit millions of earths. A galaxy that can fit millions of suns. A universe that can fit millions of galaxies. And they do exist in those quantities. Our galaxy alone has more stars than you can name in your lifetime.
Yet we continue to attempt to make sense of it all. We create words to express our latest ideas. Defining words we have no understanding of. We have religions which give eternal life to their deities, yet fail to realize what that means. Existing before time began and long after it ends. To our linear idea of time, this is impossible. Yet think long and hard about that list of words I gave you. If eternity can't exist, why do we have so many words for it? Isn't it more logical to deduce that our notion of time is flawed? Yet we continue to use an antiquated ideal that makes daily life functional, instead of searching for a better solution. The measurements we have created only pertain to us and our immediate environment, and contains no relation to the rest of our galaxy, much less universe. Our idea of time is just as arrogantly ignorant as believing in geocentrism. It is narrow-minded and simplistic even in its most basic definitions. It forces us to accept time as linear, thereby limiting our creativity, intelligence, ambition, imagination, and desire to discover an alternate explanation.
As intelligent beings, how can we expect to be successfully cohesive and live as one species, as the rate of change is demanding, when one of our most basic and fundamental precepts of our world is logically flawed? I am not an environmentalist, by any stretch of the imagination, but if the human race, the only race which matters, cannot let history reside in the past and begin to work collectively on a global scale, and in symbiosis with our planet, then we will rain down the impending doom upon ourselves. We will be the end of our existence. And there will be no one to blame. All will be culpable. It is long passed time to significantly change our mentalities for the better. We must transcend those archaic notions of boundaries, states, territories, countries, nations, and even continents. We must put aside our religious, spiritual, cultural, ethical, and philosophical differences. We must put all of our collective efforts into answering the most important question humanity may ever face. This is the game-changer. Can we stop being parasitic and become symbiotic, and how?
hodor:
How were we not friends!?
captainhoagie:
inorite?