Ghosts of Erased Guidlines

Ever wonder how you got where you are?

Ever wonder about tall buildings and how they were built?

Has technology or advanced skill amazed you?

Everything took little steps. There were many helpers along the way.

Every person started as a single cell.

Every building started as an idea.

Every mountain was climbed a step at a time.

Sometimes the scaffolding is long gone. The ladder has been carried away. The rope is rotten.

Sometimes the good advice that started the company... went to the grave with the original owner.

Sometimes echos persist.

Many drawings and paintings had guidelines. Light pencil marks that were painted over.

One of the things I've noticed lately is that some "Wives Tales" and sayings are actually amazingly thoughtful. We say them every day. "A stitch in time saves nine." "There is no such thing as a free lunch." "Good advice you just didn't take."

Maybe I'm reading too much into them. But I don't think so.

They are echos of good ideas that helped people build mental towers and climb abstract landscapes.

Sometimes you can find footprints. Read books. Listen to historians.

Don't think it's magic, just because you can't see the wire, or the steps in-between.

If something is impossible without supports, then we know that at one time there was support. A foothold. A scaffold.

We should also know that there will be support again for those who search and gather and build.

Something to help us progress in life.

(Or at least we can follow those people who find the paths and put up the ladders... assuming they don't take the scaffolding with them when they go.)

(If you got this far, you might wonder, "What's wrong with this guy?" -- Maybe I'm just not very good at turning ideas into easily readable narrative when starting with a vaguely defined topic: Slap down random sentences! It's experimental-style.Maybe next time I'll start with a problem and work toward a solution, instead of trying to present the solution to a problem that might not exist. Thanks.)

Predicting the Future

Without time, everything would be frozen.

Each of us shares an equal amount. Some of us do more with it.

We appear to be flowing through time... is it pushing us or can we control where we go?

On the stream of time, a calender is your paddle.

A simple schedule allows you to map where we'll be down stream.

Is it predicting the future?... That's like saying an architect predicts a building.

You are planning the future. Then making it come true. *


* Unless unexpected things happen or you overestimate your abilities.

Decline of Democracy

Voting is silly if you don't really know what you're voting for.

Tradition

I'm sure most of us have encountered books with animals as personified characters: Talking and walking monkeys, bears, lions, fish, snakes... Those are fun.

But have you ever REALLY tried to imagine what it would be like if we wandered into the jungle and found other animals behaving the way we think that only humans do.

Suppose that on a particular day of the year, we saw little monkeys cover themselves in leaves and vines, then wander around from tree to tree asking the older monkeys, "Ook or ook!" For treats... and if they didn't get any. Retaliation.

Suppose birds got together to give organized concerts. Half a worm exchanged for admission to hear some of the best pop-song-birds in the forest.

Suppose we found elephants caring for the sick and mourning over the dead:

Wikipedia: Elephant Intelligence -- #Death_ritual

(Animals just don't make very good humans, though... their brains are too small and the chemistry is off a little bit... maybe some day with genetic engineering...)

Happy Halloween!

Waiting Now

My youngest was grumpy today. To attempt re-hydration, I offer hot chocolate.

He said he didn't want to wait for hot chocolate. He wanted it now.

He thought waiting was bad?!

So I asked:

"What would happen if you never had to wait for anything?"

(He scowled.)

Impatiently, I continue:

"Everything you ever wanted would happen right now. You'd have everything you ever wanted right now. All the food you ever wanted to eat. You wouldn't have to wait to grow up. You'd become an old man right now. Do you want to be an old man right now? ... You can wait??  Good. I guess you can wait for hot chocolate, too."

But he didn't have to wait much longer because the milk was hot.

I'm not sure he got much more than a drink, but now I have a new appreciation for waiting.

Still, next time he gets water.

Blowing in the Wind

Searching for the truth? You're not alone.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science

Science is the search for verifiable truths about reality.

Anything else is just guessing and hearsay.

What is "Gross National Happiness" ? Explained by Morten Sondergaard

Is this crazy? It makes sense to me. Why aren't the politicians campaigning on GNH?

Important Things

What is really important?

The basics: Food. Shelter. Children. Infrastructure for those. Other than that, everything is just as important as we want it to be. I want to have a good life, and I want as many others to have good lives as possible.

We live in Amazing times. Seven billion humans on Earth and many have access to so much more than just the basics.

Let's enjoy life. Use tools and our brains. Laugh. Do our best to care for this planet and improve the state of humanity. For all we know, we're the first "intelligent" life forms. Keep the flame alive, People!

Learning is climbing a mountain of knowledge. Every newborn starts from scratch. What will the next generation learn? What will be important? I hope they don't lose perspective. (It's hard to believe there are still tribes of humans fighting over which version of a deity is the right one and which piece of this pale blue dot is rightfully theirs. Although I can't fault them, people who don't fight aren't obviously competitive.)

I like to think big, but this online journal is extra. I'm not sure what it will include. Hopefully important things. Maybe not. The possibilities are overwhelming. Trivial life stories. Funny anecdotes. Thought experiments. Original fiction. Non-fiction. We'll see.

Some people I admire have blogs, so I thought: Why not?

My goal is to be educational and entertaining.

If one person finds these ramblings and becomes a slightly better person for it, I'll consider it time well spent. I'm probably writing for myself. Maybe setting goals too high, but that's better than too low. If nobody reads it, at least I'll have practiced translating ideas into words. If I never have anything to write again? It's probably because I got distracted. Sorry. Best laid plans of mice...

Thanks,
Nathan