Today is a good day to...

I, like you, am a fan of Star Trek.  Not quite sure why, since realistically, they all sucked.  Sure, there are parts of each one that are okay, but overall, after 40+ years of it, how many really quality movies or episodes are there?  The one with the gaseous blob?  The one with the cheesy, heavy handed story?  The one that defies a logically consistent Universe?  The one where they go warp ten and turn into giant lizards but are saved because one of the women happened to be pregnant and the unborn baby had the cure?  Nah, just kidding, they all rock!  That's why we are all fans!

There is that Klingon saying that appears in a lot of episodes, "Today is a good day to die."  It implies that one has lived life to the fullest each and every day, all affairs are in order, didn't leave the oven on by accident this morning, I think I locked the front door, but did I let the cat out...  Well, you know what the saying really means.  But, what if it really was just a mistranslation?  With that wonderful segue:

Today is a good day to buy.  The Klingons were actually a renown race of shoppers, always willing to buy whatever was on sale that day.  The saying was to inform people that even though they valued the dollar, they know that "the economy" is defined as "the motion of money", so the best way for everyone to get rich and have a better standard of living was to buy.  Everyday.

Today is a good day to pry.  Sure, people hate nosy neighbors, but why?  Because they have something to hide, that's why!  Who knows what kind of insidious schemes they are planning to launch against proud, Klingon Warriors!  So, be sure to pry into your neighbors affairs as much as possible, every day perhaps, until you can find all of the dirt worth knowing about your neighbors.  Root through trashcans, payoff housekeepers, talk to their kids' friends - who knows what you will find!  Probably something that will save the world, so get crackin', for all are sakes!

Today is a good day to fry.  Wow, that one really hits home, so I'm guessing that is the most correct translation.  Every day is indeed a day to eat fried foods.  As we all know, evolution makes us crave that which makes us stronger, live longer.  If not, then we would all be dead by now.  And if we are religious people, what kind of god would make food that tastes so good without it being good for us?  Fried food, god's gift to man!  Evolution's answer to long life!

So go forth and live by the Klingon motto!  But, just to play it safe on which one they really mean, take a neighbor out for some tasty fried chicken and grill them.

The Edward

Order

I realized something the other day.  I was finally able to put together a coherent picture of what I value in life, and I was at peace.

People who "know" me "know" that I like Chaos.  Hang around me and you will see that I sprinkle Chaos here and there for no apparent reason.  I like seeing things change in Chaotic ways.  I remember when I got my first and only speeding ticket, I was so happy that I laughed the whole way home, because my life had suddenly changed in a way that I couldn't predict.

But a friend once said to me that I didn't love Chaos, that it was all a sham.  Well, I thought that was odd, because I believe she was the one that said I reminded her of Loki.  She went on to say that if I loved Chaos, then I would love children, because they are bundles of Chaos.  That was indeed a puzzler for me, something that sat in the back of my mind for six-ish years now...  then I had the aforementioned realization!  She was right, I do not love Chaos, but love Order - I had just confused the two.

What I love is the appearance of Chaos.

It was once said that "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic", which is something that I hold to be true.  My realization is that the same can be said about Order - "Any sufficiently advanced Order is indistinguishable from Chaos", and that is what I love.

There is this commercial that I love to watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QctBJj3Ilhk  From the outside viewer all of the events appear Chaotic, but from the point of view of a really insightful person it is actually a very Ordered set of events.

All of this matches my actual World View - what I think of the gods people call "trickster gods", like Loki, is that people view them from the wrong point of view.  They are not evil or Chaotic, but so very Ordered that it is beyond the scope of normal Humans like us to understand.  There is a SciFi novel I read a long time ago in which there were a group of people that lived thousands of years and they would do things that would seem random to normal people, but for them had payoffs hundreds of years in the future.  I loved that story and have modeled my life around it.

Summary:  Chaos is not what you think, it is probably just Order with a depth outside of your level of experience.  And that is how I view Chaos, something that I do not understand, but somewhere, some being does and to him it appears as Order.

The Edward

Power

When I was a kid, my brother and I read a lot of comic books.  I'm not sure if he read them for the same reason I did - they were prescribed for me.  The reading coach recommended them to my parents as a way to get me to start reading, in hopes of overcoming a problem, but that is too real world for this blog.  The important part, as always, is the comic books.

I read Richie Rich, The Archies, etc.  My brother read them as well, but he also read War-based comic books, which I didn't care for.  Every so often he pointed out interesting stories to me, by interesting I of course mean weird - even then, he knew I like unusual stuff... some people never change.

At the time, we both remembered every book we owned by the covers.  We could recall every story we had read, even though we had hundreds of books.  But after all of these years, there is only one story that really has stuck with me and it was one that my brother told me about from one of his War comics.  It was a story that changed my life.

The story was about a troop of men, they were supposed to pick up this one guy and transport him home.  He was a person who, when people heard his name, trembled in fear.  When they arrived at the spot to get him, they were shocked to find that he was dressed not in military gear, but in loose flowing clothes and only carrying two knifes, no guns or any real weapons.  He looked so passive and weak, that they didn't believe it was the person they were looking for.

They took him on the boat to take him home, but during the trip he was distant, never really talked with anyone.  They troop started making fun of him - they would pick on him, yet he never fought back.  They couldn't believe they were spending their time taking this loser home when they had a War to be fighting, and they were disheartened that this most feared person looked like a "queer".

The boat stops to take care of one last thing before going home and the whole troop gets captured.  They are facing overwhelming odds and knew they were all going to die or face a lifetime of torture.  Then the lone solider they were escorting snaps out of it and wields his knifes like an insane killing machine.  He slaughters all of enemies and when he gets to the last one on the edge of a cliff, the grabs him and jumps off the cliff taking the last enemy with him.  He saved the troop, killed all of the enemies, and killed himself in the process.

The troop was in shock (as was I - "Why did he have to die?", I asked).  They end up getting back to the base where they were to take the lone solider and there they hear his story.  He had become so good at killing that he went "insane" - he realized that there was no pointing killing, because no one could stand in his way.  He wasn't fighting the enemy, he was just slaughtering them like animals.  He changed his clothes, changed his look, and dropped out of this world mentally in hopes of not being challenged ever again.  When he had to give it up, he decided he would rather die than go back to his old life, so he did.

And that is my tale of Power.  Power so great that it has nothing to push against.  Power without equal leads to madness.

The Edward

PS  There was another story that has stuck with me as well, from a Richie Rich story.  I do not remember the details of the story other than one panel, but that one panel had a very powerful message for me as well.  Next time (or the time after next).

Superman amongst us!

I've been hearing rumours for a bit, various sightings, but this past week it has been confirmed - there is a superman living amongst us!  Sure, there have been others in the past, but this one is here right now...

I've seen pictures of oil pipes - they are very large.  I believe they are made of steel and large enough for a man to walk through.  Well, walk on the inside, walking through would take a superman.  These big pipes take large trucks and many, many people to put into place.  But yet, I heard fear in the announcers voice today, and I why shouldn't I!  It was quite clearly stated that they everyone was afraid that Muammar Gaddafi would destroy the pipeline and thereby cut off oil to the world.  I mean the strength needed to pull this off is beyond my imagination!  But then again, after this past week of him personally killing thousands of people, I can see why they would be afraid that this superman's path of destruction would know no bounds.

I know in the past we had Hilter, who killed millions of Jews, Gypsies, etc, but did he ever destroy a pipeline?  That really takes a man of more than steel to rip through a steel pipeline like that!

What could the World's response be to someone like that?  How can we mortal men, men who must work together to achieve what this one man can do in an afternoon all by himself, do anything to stop him?  I can see why the news people think we are screwed if one man has that much natural power.

The Edward

Bad driver

I heard something on the radio today - voices.  So I looked and saw that the radio was off... nah, that would be the start of a horror story, one different from this one.  The claim was that 80% of people think that they are better than average drivers.  The hosts of the show chuckled about people's lack of understanding of percentages, but I chuckled at the hosts' lack of understand of other people's points of view.

While on the road driving, I ended up behind this SUV that was going at least 10 MPH under the speed limit.  Traffic was kind of dense, both physically and mentally, so I decided that I didn't want to be stuck behind this SUV for the next quarter mile to my exit.  I saw my gap and lunged for it.  I was now passing the SUV!  As one often does, I looked over to see what kind of moron I was passing - was she drooling out of one side of her mouth?  Was she missing the top part of her head where the brain normally keeps higher, driving level functions?  Could I see the stupid just dripping off of her?  Nope, she was just a women who looked like she was amazed at all of the bad drivers around her.

The problem with people's self evaluation is:  it is always that way for them.  People who are bad drivers always have people trying to get around or away from them.  So, everywhere they go, all they have ever known are bad drivers all around them, not realizing that they are the cause of what they are seeing.  When polled, they would claim all other drivers suck, not thinking about how their own actions are causing what they are seeing.

I often have heard supermodels claim that they were ugly kids - people often think that the models are saying that because they want to appear less vain (ie they knew they were always pretty, but they want to seem humble).  But think of it from there point of view.  All day long, every day, as adults all they see are smiling faces and people hitting on them or wanting to be close to them.  That is all they see.  Some of us might see a smiling face every so often and apply our standards to the models.  But for them, it isn't anything special to have people fawning over them all day long - that is just how the world is, in their eyes.  When they think back over their childhood, the world wasn't all smiles, because most kids are socially awkward - other kids weren't all smiles or were too shy to fawn.  So, from the model's point of view, she must not have been as attractive them, because the world wasn't as shiny/happy as it is now.

Can you imagine, every day, all day, all the people you see are just smiling at you?  Everyone you meet wants to be your special friend?  Everyone is very helpful?  If it happened to you tomorrow, you would be very uncomfortable with it at some point.  But after a period of time, you would just accept that that is the way the world is.

Combining the stories of the drivers and the models:  ones point of view is influenced by what one sees all day long, but what one sees is also influence by ones perceptions.  So, if you view The Universe as a friendly place...  well, maybe I do not have a point to this blog entry, because I know I am a bad driver.

The Edward

How can I...

How can I be happy when I know people are suffering?  That is a question I ask myself all of the time.  Well, I used to, but then since I knew the only answer that I would except was "I can't", I stopped asking.  I'm not sure how people do it.

I remember as a kid, they used to have those long shows about people starving in Africa.  They would show the kids with flies flying around them.  The people had distended bellies, which made them seem like they wouldn't be starving, until someone explained to me what a distended belly actually implies.  I wasn't sure how people could watch that show or even have knowledge of what was going on and yet go about their daily lives.

But, I eventually realized that that is the only thing one can do.  Everyone can not do everything.  For example, in the human body, not all organs can be the brain or the heart.  So by going about ones life, one helps the common good.  By focusing on the job at hand, one can produce, which in the long run will raise up civilization, which will then help everyone.  A rising tide lifts all boats!  The cells in the feet, while being constantly stepped on, get the brain to where it is going!

That was that I learned.  That is how people deal with it.  Well, that and people have the ability to shut out stuff like that.  The human mind can only hold so much and it tends to forget things.  The more painful it is, the more it is forgotten.  If it weren't so, humans would collapse into a quivering pool of jello will all of the bad stuff that they would be aware of, stuff that would be haunting them all day and all night...

But, what if you couldn't forget?  What if everything was just as fresh as the day it happened?  What if those memories ran through your mind constantly?  How could you enjoy life with the constant knowledge that others are suffering?  Can you really enjoy a steak knowing that people have nothing to eat?  Talk about the finer points of this meal vs that meal, when people are starving?  Relax in the sun on a picnic knowing that people are freezing?  I guess people do, and that is what makes us human.  That is what allows us to survive as a species.  So, I guess all species must be able to do this.

I know for me, on a personal note in this new year, it haunts me.  All of the suffering that I become aware of stays with me.  I think Wayne Dyer talks about never letting negative thoughts into ones mind, because they will be there forever, and he is correct.  Still, once the cat is out of the bag, one can image that people are suffering, even if one doesn't personally know someone is.  But, I'll say this, oneself being unhappy will not easy the pain or suffering of those who are unhappy.  So, logically, there is no reason to be unhappy for someone else's suffering - either help if you can or ignore it.  And if logic was actually able to shut off feelings, this would be a much different world - Vulcan.

After all of that, there is one thing that is wrong with all of that.  It is just shifting the focus to solve the problem, which if one can do makes all of the difference.  The actual question I should be answering is:  How can I be suffering when I know people are happy?  But that one seems to be a tougher one to live by.

The Edward

PS  I also guess religion and philosophy help people, or better stated, the reason that religion and philosophy exist.  Karma:  So and so is suffering, therefore they must deserve it.  Religion:  they are not god's people, so he is smiting them.  Or, they lived a righteous life and god is taking them home so that their suffering ends.  New Age:  People are responsible for their own lives - they must have chosen to suffer for some reason.  Zen:  There is no...   Mine:  Others are suffering, so therefore I ought to be suffering too.

All of them are just beliefs with no logical basis.  And with a belief, one can easily dismiss things.  "Does this situation fall under my beliefs?  Check.  Time to move on to fun stuff!"

Summary (I know, a summary in the PS?!  Madness!):  I guess Einstein was correct, the most important question one can ask is, do I believe the Universe to be hostile or friendly?  Belief is the most important force in ones Universe!