Information, Observation and a Dream
[thoughts from ~burning woman~ by Sha’Tara]
What’s the most dangerous question an evolving mind can ask? Why, it’s the “Why?” question, of course. Boggles the mind that, hence why “Why?” is so seldom seriously engaged. Furthermore, the “Why?” question makes no sense unless broken down in its sub-states. Here’s a sub-“Why” question: where does “information” come from? Having asked that, the next logical question is: How do we go about interpreting that information?
Of course it is quite observable that we are literally mired in cross-talk information, all of it weighted to produce certain positive results for that which, or those who, fire off the information, from writing a tome on medical science to launching a new commercial for a computer software company, to running for political office, to pretending to predict the weather, to fabricating the evening news. I am definitely not talking about that kind of pseudo-information. I’m talking about the kind of “information” that keeps our “everything” more or less functioning, in one common energy bundle, so to speak. That which commands what we and our environment are made of: sub-atomic particles. Yes, where do particles get their information in order to decide what to create, what to uncreate?
Well, there’s the God source, for one. Billions would automatically agree with that, yawn, and go about their business believing they’ve just solved the problem. There’s also “life” and “nature” and perhaps some sort of mind-source, not as hands-on as some would have us believe God is, but still that which supplies energy to the cosmos, the universe, and to individual particles – or to put it in “quantum physics” terms, that which loads particles with their particular kind of energy so that in turn they may go about their job of creating and uncreating that which “is.”
And the result is, we still don’t know, do we.
Let’s overview the God source. The number of people I know who have had private interviews with God are less than one, so I personally can’t allow “God” to be the answer to my question – not without some current hard-core evidence. From what I have gathered over the years, the God concept is nothing more than a very long-running, popular and lucrative conspiracy theory. A story somewhere between Superman, Twilight Zone and the X Files. Good entertainment for some, terror and death for others. But never a satisfactory answer for the independent inquiring mind.
As to “nature” or “life” as a possible source of information, we can infer that to be the case, based on observation, but again, we cannot communicate with “it” and therefore we cannot know – not truthfully. And it is at this point that most minds quit the game. Some shift into reverse and back off into faith – that magical feeling that makes everything seem explained without explaining anything. Others forge on ahead, whether in hedonism, pessimism, agnosticism or in childish optimism that says, “don’t worry, it will all work out, always does” thus taking care of the problem by ignoring it. If you close your eyes, block your ears, keep your mouth shut, that’s safe. That is not, however, and thankfully, the case for all. Some of us continue to insist that if a question is asked, it is because the answer exists – somewhere, in some form or other.
If we approach it logically, I think we begin to see that what supplies the universe with construction - teardown information has to be some sort of mind, or some kind of consensus reality that bases its information on experience. In “Anathem” – a novel by Neal Stephenson, he posits that there are multiple cosmi (plural of cosmos!) that communicate with each other at certain points in space-time, given that there is enough similarity between one cosmos and another so their “thoughts” can be grasped by each other. As an idea, it’s out there, certainly, but why not? Could the “information” that upholds our part of our cosmos, our universe and what it contains, come from another cosmos, hence why we, as yet, can’t arrive at a logical and certain answer to our question, “Why?”?
Another thing to consider: does this purportedly beneficial cosmi information come in the form of energy bundles, i.e., does it periodically replenish our universe’s energy supply with something containing new “matter” determined by particles suddenly interacting in new ways? Depending on how this “new matter” is dispersed, it may be that our current awareness and scientific means are insufficient to sense, or measure this input. We could be surrounded by “new matter” without being aware of it. To us, it could be just space. Or an as-yet unexplainable LOCAL phenomena such as black holes.
But what if our own cosmos, being vastly superior in experience and understanding than mere people, is able to communicate with this alien input? What if it is able to absorb and make use of some of that alien information (new matter) it is receiving? It could be using such information to evolve itself, to expand by creating new universes and by uncreating others that have become stale, fallen into entropy and no longer able to sustain themselves, i.e., no longer able to evolve having squandered their share of energy to selfish ends.
Well, a cosmos is a pretty big thing. I’ll shrink that down to this universe.
In previous efforts at understanding what makes the whole thing work, I came to certain personal conclusions about this particular universe. One aspect that appears certain is that it is a closed place in which a great deal of energy is used to keep it separate from any other existences. The reason for this separation, I have sensed as being highly evolved, very powerful entities whom I have dubbed the Time Lords. These entities are fallen divinities (from the lesser powers’ point of view only) who have made themselves lords of death, beings inimical to life. They are predators who feed upon the life they imprisoned within this universe, creating a condition called entropy. The energy they use to “protect” their universal empire from “others” who would (conceivably/presumably) want to liberate it, and that which they consume in sating themselves, results in an increasing net loss of usable energy. Energy does not leave this universe but is converted into a non-usable state. That’s terribly basic but will do for the purpose of this essay.
When I was still taking lessons from “the Teachers” they taught me this very useful concept: as below, so above. On earth, we say, as above, so below. We can’t know what that means, but it sounds good for those who believe in some nebulous “above.” However, when you turn it on its head, you can know exactly what that means. It means that what we live through on earth, how things generally are, is pretty much what is going on “out there” also. Some places are better, some are worse; some live, some die – that’s how it is. Using this concept then, let’s shrink our overview down into this tiny place called Earth. Here we are, in our micro-universe from which we, as yet, cannot escape. Just as entropic energy cannot escape from the universe. Trapped… and dying.
And why can we not escape? Because we have yet to learn how to think rationally, how to look at life in a logical fashion and how to tap into the “alien” information that if understood, can allow us to recreate ourselves completely; to make ourselves into something as yet un-imagined though often enough described in good and serious science fiction. Once we re-make ourselves, would we be able to answer the “Why?” question? Yes we could, although a bigger one would immediately take its place. That’s the fun part of living.
I’m not going to give an answer to the “Why?” question: if I did, it would be a lie, and even if, unbeknownst to me the answer happened to be true (whatever that means) it would give the game away. It’s not how it’s done. Instead, I’ll relate a dream I had a few days ago.
I’m walking through a slummy area on the eastern outskirts of some city. It’s dark, as if the area is in shadows. Unpainted and unkept row houses line one side of the dirt street. All the houses are built with the main floor about four or five feet above the street surface and although I take it for granted, I remember seeing that there are no steps leading up to the doors. I can smell cooking and hear people, or televisions, in the houses. Most of the doors (if they have doors) are wide open. As I walk along, I come upon a house with a telephone pole just to the side of the door opening. A live owl is nailed by one foot to the pole, about five feet from the ground. A couple of cats are climbing up the pole and trying to pull it down and the tortured bird is fighting off the cats with its wings while attempting to break free of the nail in its foot by pecking at it. I am shocked at this display and I yell into the open door. A man in his early thirties, best guess, dressed in a dirty plaid shirt and equally dirty jeans, saunters to the door and looks down at me. I point at the owl and ask what is going on. Oh, he says, that’s just to entertain and feed my cats. I tell him I am going to report this incredible cruelty and he turns back into the house to come back a few seconds later loading a shotgun. I get the message and run off. End of the dream.
Dreams are personal things, using one’s own symbology to teach and explain things. They contain new information, and when interpreted properly become stepping stones towards dimensions outside the control of the Time Lords or their Matrix. Here’s my interpretation of the dream, then: The city represents the planet under man’s tutelage. The condition of the houses indicates what man thinks of his world’s value. The high floors are built to give the “owner” a sense of superiority by allowing him to look down at passers-by. The owl represents man’s utter disregard for nature and his continuing belief that everything is here for him to use and abuse at will. The man’s response to being challenged about his cruelty is typically Earthian: “I have the power to do as I please and I’ll do so unless, or until, someone pries this gun from my cold, dead fingers.”
Until something terrible, something incredibly disastrous in scope happens to man, nothing can truly change because man is unwilling to change himself by making the personal, individual effort to accept and properly interpret new information. Man is a creature of his makers, made in the image of his divine beings, or God, or the Time Lords. He is as selfish, greedy, insatiable, power-hungry, cruel, delusional and devoid of understanding of life as are his gods – exceptions always proving the rule. To change that nature is the first order of business for man.
Love ya!
Jane
While I agree with your description of man's behavior, I don't agree that he is, “a creature of his makers.” There is every evidence that Darwin's theory is correct. That makes us animals. Within us, our primitive brainstem contains a reptilian center from which early, very primal survival behavior resides. At higher levels of the brain we can see social, familial, altruistic, reason, and deduction in other animals just like us except with lesser brain development. Good and bad are wired into us from our earliest fight for survival. Once we understand that, it's very easy to move forward and not rely on “other” structures like, as you describe, The Matrix, to hold us back in our quest for the stars and further understanding of “Why?”
Ron
I personally have felt that since Jesus said, "I am not of this earth."
That statement technically and linguistically makes him an alien.
That pretty much sums it all up.
Walt
L