Random thoughts and thought experiments I’ve had this week.
This is my fifteenth entry into the 1001 challenge to write one thousand and one words everyday throughout the month of November. Leggo
Thought Experiment 1 — What if we always had the answers?
Imagine if every human invention, every academic and scientific breakthrough, was a result of an endless complication of our problems, rather than actual progress? What if we could naturally do the things we seek to do, but have been taught are unable to do? What if we could extend our lifespans without medicine? What if we could divine the secrets of the universe, without a laboratory? Or a microscope? What if we could connect to other people without feeling anxiety? Or being misunderstood as a result of emotional filters?
Imagine if we once knew this, but then the knowledge got lost at some point — either as a result of an ancient war, or near extinction — and the dark ages that followed wiped everyone of their memories. Or rather than wiped out, imagine that the wisdom of that age was shattered into fragments, and so the people in the dark ages, started to propagate pieces of information as the whole truth? And we never recovered, and since then, we’ve come up with more and more elaborate but meaningless theories, because the gift of thought is limited, and can never fill the gap left by those ancient humans that once interacted with the gods?
Random Thought 1 — Humanity needs to hear from the gods again
Humans acquisition of knowledge, grows in two ways. There’s the conventional method which consists of building on the discoveries of past knowledge seekers, perfecting these discoveries, and sometimes creating new connections between the bits of knowledge they acquired. Then, there’s the exploration method, in which a person learns the techniques of past knowledge seekers, only to understand the principles of knowledge seeking; uses these principles to create new methods, that will allow him go where others haven’t, and thus add a new field of knowledge entirely.
These two methods complement each other, and have been the engine that drives scientific and artistic progress. The exploration method is fluid and maintains pace with the changes in the world, and the conventional method perfects the discoveries made by explorers. However, as time passed, knowledge seekers, increasingly lean towards the conventional method. As a result, different variations of the knowledge gained by the explorers of old, are continually created. In addition to the knowledge losing potency, these variations are also causing fragmentation, because knowledge seekers are grouping into factions based on the variations they support.
The balance needs to be tipped, the explorers need to be revived, people need to go beyond the current axioms, and create new ways to see the world. It’s difficult, it’s a path laden with failure, but it’s worth it. Humanity needs to hear from unknown, the realm of gods and magic, once again.
Random Thought 2 — The fear of death is the enemy
Nobody wants to die, which is as well, because for all we know, death is no fun. However, there’s a difference between a healthy respect for your own mortality, and a chronic aversion to thinking about your eventual, unpredictable demise. The former recognizes the fragility, and brevity of human existence; it not only recognizes it in thought, but in feeling as well; a feeling that has permeated the shell of habit that coats every human. The latter on the other hand, is terrified of death, and because of this, lives under the illusion, that there is an abundance of time for frivolities and baggage. The people of the former, abhor time wasting, which is not the same as spending time doing nothing. They also possess a clarity and an urgency that come from not knowing death’s time of arrival. Those of the latter, flounder under expectations, both personal, familial, and societal. They spend time chasing the goals and granting the wish of others. They abhor the emptiness of idleness, but are experts at being meaninglessly busy. They are unfocused, and have no direction, because they think they have all the time in the world.
Life is a privilege, a miracle, and a chance for expression. Unfortunately, it is on lease, and we are prevented from knowing when returns will be required. It is not guaranteed you’ll live to a hundred, neither is seventy guaranteed; tomorrow is more likely, but it isn’t a certainty. You can go anytime, make sure you died chasing your soul.
Thought Experiment 2 — Fragments of our souls
Imagine that life is an act of creating our souls, and that we have certain talents and inclinations; that we are unique mixes of matter that vibrate at unique frequencies. Imagine that each person is the only one who can hear this frequency, and that the life mission of every individual, is to discover the underlying message of his or her vibration?
Imagine this is to be carried out by chasing our curiosities, and systematically ignoring, or eliminating the layers of expectation (both conscious and unconscious), and conditioning society has placed in our psyches. Imagine that your mission is to cut through the illusion of life that your environment presents, all the while following your unique frequency, and as you successfully destroy each level of conditioning you discover a fragment of your soul. Imagine that these fragments, are contained not just in interests, but in people, places, moments, and so on; places you can only reach if you’re determined to live a life that’s true to your call? Imagine that when you die, the test that determines whether you go to heaven, or are sent back to earth, is the number of fragments you were able to recover while you were on earth? Imagine that?
