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!

Happy Belated John's Son Day!

Holidays, is there nothing they can not do?  Here it happened again that I missed celebrating the most celebratory of Holidays, John's Son Day.  Why it seems like just four years ago that I was reminiscing over this Holiday and why we celebrate it every year.  Though, realistically, this John's Son Day finds me without the means to celebrate - maybe next year!

To all of those who did celebrate it, I hope it was a blast!

The Edward

Where you going there, little fellow?

I heard a story the other day on the radio, and now I know we are screwed as a species.  It was a rescue story about a pod of whales.  Some Humans had discovered a pod of whales heading for shallow water and gathered many other Humans to prevent the whales from going to a place where we knew that they would surely die.  Maybe people helped and I believe almost all of the whales were returned to the ocean, where they would be safe.  The story was told with such a positive note that I had trouble believing that none of the news staff understood the dire implications.

First off, the "rescuers" believed that the whales didn't know what they were doing.  That the Humans could look at the whales and know that they didn't intend to go into the shallow waters.  Maybe the whales had their reasons!  Maybe they were great whale explorers, swimming into uncharted waters, ready to claim a new area for their whale country.  Maybe they were planning on offing themselves because they had some disease that would kill the rest of whales if they came into contact with them.  Maybe they were suicide-whales hoping to take out some enemy creature.  The Humans involved didn't know nor care, they thought they knew better and took action then patted themselves on the back for a "good deed done" while this belief was probably the furthest thing from the Truth.

Secondly, the belief that the whales were doing something deadly or dangerous and that we had the moral obligation to prevent them, even if it stymied the whales' plans, whatever they were.  This is the one that will hurt the Humans the most.  Picture Humans in space, flying around, exploring and sending data back to the Home World - very valuable information that all Humans want and a few put themselves in potential harms way to gather.  But, the Aliens they meet will see the Humans as the Humans saw the whales.  If it is really a moral obligation to help out a species if the "greater" species knows better, any Aliens the Humans meet will simply return these lost people to their Home World, then tell all their Alien friends about how good they feel about themselves for helping the lost Humans by preventing them from possibly going somewhere dangerous.

We should proudly help the whales achieve their objective as we hope to some day be helped by a more advanced race.

The Edward

I helped someone today!

Get this, I was at the grocery store just a little bit ago. On the way in, I saw that they had a BBQ pit outside with a sign that said one should pay inside the store then come out and get ones tasty BBQ'ed treats. Who knew that this BBQ Pit would enable me to help someone - more on this later...

Anyway, so I made haste into the store! After I bought the basket full of frozen foods that were my original intent, I bought a ticket for two hot dogs.

We had been having a cool-wave this summer, which finally broke today - it is 20 degrees warmer than the rest of the summer (ie 93 outside right now, rather than the 72 we had been having). So I rushed to my car, dropped off my groceries, then was rushing back to get my hot dogs... and that is when it happened!

A smartly dressed woman pushing a baby carriage walked up to me and said, "Pardon me, but could you help me?" I was so taken aback that I stopped. I waited to hear what it was that she needed my help for! Maybe she needed directions, ie she was lost. Or maybe she needed to know the time. Or maybe some other simple thing I could say to solve her problem before I got my hot dogs and my groceries melted.

And I kept waiting. At this point, I realized that she was either going to ask me for money, in that she was a scammer, or she needed honest help of a larger magnitude than I could supply at that time. Since she knew what her problem was and she was willing to stand there for 10 or more seconds staring at a stranger waiting for an answer, she must have thought that the solution would require more than 10 seconds to solve. So, even though I didn't know the exact nature of the problem, I knew what she considered the duration to be - very long.

Either she was going to have to spend a long time trying to convince me to give her money, or it would require a lot of grunting and sweating on my part - neither of which sounded good at that time.  So, I said, "No" and walked on to get my hot dog. I couldn't believe how much I helped her! If I hadn't be going to that hotdog stand, I would have missed an opportunity.

The end.

I know, some people may be asking for the punchline - "but Edward, where in the story did you help her?  She asked you for help, and you said No!"  But that is where I helped her.  Evaluating her situation, I knew the outcome.  She would have either tried to scam me, which would have been a waste of my time and hers, or she would have spend a lot more time explaining the problem to me with me in the end not doing what it was that she wanted.  Either way, she wasn't going to get what she wanted from me, so by saying No as quickly as I could, I gave her the freedom to find someone else who would be more capable of helping.  Just because I might have been the first person she asked, I definitely wasn't the best person to ask.  By the time I had my hot dogs in hand, she was nowhere to be seen, so she must have found someone to do what she wanted.

Also, I couldn't help her.  What she was really asking was if I would do something for her, not to help her.  And since she didn't tell me in her opening remarks, she obviously thought that my initial reaction to her request, if I knew the full details, would be No.  Since she was trying to bait a trap, I felt that I never really could help her in the grand scheme of things, so I would at least help her by giving her more time to find someone else - someone on whom the trap would work better.

I was just happy that I answered the question correctly!

The Edward