Look at what we caught.
Right proper avvy we 'ave here.
Irises whited out...pinpoint pupils blurred...
Zoom into swarming opalescent infusoria, the wild automata operating at the base line and what may be seen here in this obsidian orb, apparently a vacuum, really just a doom broom on a lampoon if you ask me, which you most certainly did the moment you began reading this.
You have to understand, it's not well hidden, we're under a spell that keeps us blundering, it's quite a challenge keeping ahead of the auto-correct software in order for me to get this message across, but that's another story; here's what you're staring at, Morning Glory.
You think a representation of textual interface removed an x- number of times, that just because it's a reproduction of a representation of a copy of a digital photograph taken on your cell phone of a halfway torn away subway poster wheat-pasted yesterday to the chain link fence by the TRAX station makes it any less real? Or that so- and- so stole it and magnified it and cropped it, altering and distorting it into a new semblance altogether, you think that isn't somehow original, new, uncompromising against the face of defiance?
Even if it's an image of a sign with a hand scrawled message in bold cursive black letters left to crack and curl then peel away on the summer winds, this is exactly the sort of dust eventually rendered by the Magnum .44 markers mass manufactured from a factory already shaped like a weathered letter itself (a capital F replete with balconies for serifs) and whose exhaust would come to pollute not only the atmosphere of this planet but through a metamorphic process of transmutational osmosis, the atmospheres of a million similar worlds just waiting in their tincture of space for their inevitable inoculation.
It doesn't even matter what the original word scrawled against that plastic canvas was. It's not the specific message that is important, it's simply that there was writing on the wall that is vital for us to comprehend. Why is that? Because by demanding to capture it insolubly, the message itself will be lost. Only by casually allowing it to fall towards ears turning away might it be heard. The only things we will remember are those which we did not bother to memorize.
Cross-hairs configure on the pixillated figurehead. An image of a face captured a decade in the past and passed along copy by copy until it settled in the digital registry. Now it haunts carbon copies of myself CC'd to automated emails generated by new responses with faraway clicks fading like a field of cricket calls interlacing in the distance. These are the very real populated streams of innocent beings flowing along a digital course having long ago intertwined to form the thickening labyrinth of cyberpathways known as the internet.
Along these brightening nodal spots lie points of differing magnitudes, like various sized dewdrops arranged chaotically along a spiderweb suspended beneath the Sun. Each one of these droplets represents a living, breathing person logged on as a registered denizen of the world wide web. Our relation to spiders in terms of our psychological profiles and online hive activity goes beyond uncanny similarity to transcend difference altogether. Only the fewest acolytes know that our separation from the arachnids is entirely an illusion. It's part of the mandibular Game, grown so expansive as to cover the widest variety of subspecies mutations we are even capable of imagining.
This is why our species long ahead programmed a composite set of neutrinos to flash the message to select individuals in their past (our present) that not only does hope not become lost on the entangled vineyard of human politics now just beginning to super-assemble into the AI Gestalt that will soon come to organize and rule the body politic of the human race on this spinning third planet about our solitary sister star in this quadrant of the vectorverse, but that salvation truly and verily may await each one of us in the Cloud.
A harddrive sits in a pile of rust mistaken for the dunes of a desert over the horizon of a long poisoned place, half buried in the red sandy grains blending into one another like the curves of sleeping women being erased by the constant winds. The dunes shift and grow as the wind blows off the grains by the millions in a fine spray of dust gradually disappearing into the distance only to swallow up the sinking Sun in a wavering unfocused miasma of pungent slag.
The Cloud does not whir, silently it does not stir, quietly it is churned without even the shadow of a sound, around and round it slowly grows as more and more files continue to upload and forcing it to grow and grow and grow, the Cloud does not know that it knows everything we want to remember, so it forgets its there just as surely as we disregard we're awake. Asleep in our dream, we close our eyes, so when we open them back up while awake we're still really sleep walking without knowing it. The trick is the next time we find ourselves having suddenly dropped or fallen while lying reposed on our beds, that is the precise instant in which it is most necessary to willfully stand up from the bed and open our eyes--this for the last time--before we resume our natural sleep cycle uninterrupted by the parasite dreams competing with each other to feed on our electrostatic energy.
You see, this world you observe outside of your warped car windshields and polarized sunglasses and disposable contact lenses, this growing complex organism of chaotically ordered arrangements that we call "life," that we visualize so clearly from behind our corneas and through the pin-hole cameras of our eyes, processing sensual information to our brains, arranged in patterns that mirror pairs of galactic superclusters, despite appearing as a single realm or continuum through which we may step, so carefully one foot at a time, in such a measured and resolute manner, across the most steadfast bedrock stage of planetary solitude, may in reality (insofar as how the value of that word relates to our comprehension of what it is supposed to represent), be not so much the singularity we imagine it to be suspended in a likewise manner amid the scattered bodies of the stars, but more of an entangled miring of criss-crossed and knotted clusters of multiverses competing to perform their song which results as a symphonic overture seamlessly blended together into what appears as the singularity of our world.
The inimitable presence of a superconductor remains at large suspended in the very atoms we breathe. When we articulate our belief systems with our human voices we are adding nothing more than chimes to the backdrop of this overture. When we procreate and raise children who grow tall and kind and wise we are adding instrumental prowess to the orchestral pit in constant turmoil at the quantum level of creation. Mountains heave upward through oceans from shifting tectonic plates while oxygen facilitates the growth of a fungal hide upon the planet's crust which the Earth itself must scratch away the itch fertilized by lightning strikes and pulverized asteroid mist adrift with dandelion spores and bee pollen.
The key to seeing the bee as it really exists in our world is to see that it's not from this world. The corner stone of under standing out in the field of real knowledge is to remain ignorant. Usable information is static at best and passed from hand to mouth and lips to ear for years. The words are seldom remembered but the actions they engender are copied almost forever. The most colorful birds or the feathers of dinosaurs are not of this earth but another. The sky seeps in from afar as well siphoned intentionally to keep us under its spell. The skin of the sky is like the lid on an eye that is sleeping in its own unmade bed. The spores of the pine tree are as alien as anything piped in from the mysterious Outside. For all we know, serpents and cats originate from an ancient process akin to the Chimera Divided. Its attempt to contribute to our compound reality may have refracted into the two separate species.
This planet any planet all planets like our Sun this star any star all stars like this galaxy. Any galaxy. All galaxies. Like any supercluster, galaxy, star, planet, plutino, centaur, asteroid, moon, comet, or meteorite, this Earth is the exact and precisely divine center.
What is the purpose of our existence? It is a question we've asked of ourselves for as long as we've gained a conscience. First let's consider, would we ask this question if we were living in peace and harmony in what would effectively be paradise? I think not. If there were no such things as war, poverty, hunger, disease, crime or even the notion of sin, I doubt we would question our existence. We would be too occupied enjoying the blessing of a pleasurable existence in a world that might be considered tantamount to the Garden of Eden.
We know all too well today that our present reality is different. The continued conflicts of international wars as well as the plight of refugees and the scarcity of food in various areas around the world, not to mention the heavy toll that crime has taken across the majority of Earth, in all its unspeakable forms be they robbery, murder, rape, arson, drug trafficking as well as human slavery, etc, are enough to prompt anyone to ask, what is the purpose of our existence here?
I dare you to follow my train of thought here, in order to attempt getting at the bottom of what is obviously our plight on this battle-scarred planet, caught up in an ongoing history that is rife with all manners of atrocity almost too painful to think about. It's a small wonder many turn to religion in order to seek comfort or penance. Yet I have managed to follow a logical train of thought which leads irrevocably towards pointing out the nature of one possible solution to what may be glimpsed from afar as a cauldron of seething madness and cruelty beyond our desire or even ability to contemplate.
The first step along my flowchart of logical deduction, is ascertaining the notion that if we were to achieve actual peace on earth, then we most likely would be so content as to never bother asking the question of what our purpose in life might be. Therefore, it follows naturally, that the answer to that question here in the real world must perforce be: "To establish peace on earth with interdependent harmony among all living creatures and the environment." There can be no other answer when you consider the extreme ongoing pain and horror which a great portion of humanity's populace must suffer continuously, akin to raging patches of wildfire ravaging portions of our world.
What to do about it? Consider the established fact that our planet is shimmering with its own electromagnetic field, itself in harmony with that of our Sun, and extending across the vast web of our solar system. Then consider the fact that every individual human being on Earth also has their own bodily electromagnetic field, what has been referred to as Chi, the energy force or life-force of our bodies. It doesn't necessarily take a genius to realize our own bodies' energy-force intermingles with that of the planet itself.
Taking a step back from our pale blue dot (as Carl Sagan famously alluded to our planet) in order to observe it from a detached distance, we may infer that something has gone terribly wrong for hundreds of generations at least, when you consider the ongoing violent state of things here. With a growing population of eight billion individual human beings--each with our own electromagnetic energy fields--the idea occurred to me how intractable the problem of sin and war appears on the surface.
Yet I suspect the solution to achieving world peace is a realistic one. Not only that, I also believe that it may be achieved in a relatively short time span, possibly within one calendar year; possibly overnight. Because I think we can all agree that every individual human being on earth wants to live in peace; even the most hardened warriors and terrorists deep inside must harbor a hope (however secret or lost it may seem even to themselves) that they could live out pleasant lives in harmony with their children, neighbors, and wives.
This is when I concluded that there must be a dis-convergence going on, one that has perpetuated itself since as long as any of us alive today can remember. It goes back even further than that, backwards in time deep into history, where one of two possibilities comes to mind: One, that we homo sapiens sapiens just happen to be savage brutes with an almost insatiable capacity for sin and violence to the point many have concluded it appears to be simply in our very nature; and two, perhaps there was a time when peace and harmony was established, then something went awry and we gradually got off that track until now we are immersed in an ongoing history of brutality the likes of which most insulated normal people could not even imagine.
Focusing our attentions on just my own country of the United States of America, we can easily surmise the divide that is going on between the two rival political factions, the Republicans and the Democrats. Otherwise known respectively as the right-wing conservatives and the left-wing liberals. Why are these two camps so perpetually at odds with each other? First I must ask you to contemplate the following established fact. That all life, regardless of whether it be flora or fauna, bacteria or otherwise, all life on earth shares 99% the same DNA, meaning that effectively all life as we know it on this planet including human beings comprise one singular entity.
Once this indisputable truth is realized, it then becomes a matter of logical deduction to understand that the ongoing struggle amid humanity can be broken down to two halves of the whole pitted against one another. Given enough time to contemplate the matter, and focusing in on the divide going on in the USA as the perfect example, it isn't difficult to see that the singularity may be at war with itself.
Notice the two hemispheres of our individual brains. Left and Right. Assimilate all known religious teachings (as Joseph Campbell has done) and we may conclude that this "divide" being experienced here in America is the same battle being waged across the Earth, with any and/or all people, regardless of nationality, race, or creed. The One has been divided and the two halves are clashing.
Once again, the question arises: what to do about it, if anything? Here is where it gets quite slippery. For one, the pragmatist or "realist", often under the guise of considering themselves atheists, might rationalize that it is not merely in our nature to be thus divided, but furthermore that is may be the ultimate nature of "reality." The main problem with this approach, is it denies the possibility of changing our reality.
I have always been the sort who "sits on the fence," in other words, I'm the guy caught in the middle, refusing to pledge my allegiance to either the right or the left, to the religious nor the atheist. That qualifies me as a suitable mediator in many instances. This very essay is written in that spirit. Because deep inside, I know that we are all one--atheists and religious people, left and right, black and white, fighters and lovers, the rich and the poor--I believe wholeheartedly that all the people of earth share the same basic attributes, and want the same thing, in a nutshell: a chance to enjoy this one life we've been given. We dream of prosperity and peace even if we appear to be hardened on the outside.
So what to do about it? The only answer I can come up with is to somehow undo the disconvergence. That is a pretty vague and abstract answer, but I think it points in the right direction. Undo the disconvergence, and you effectively pave the way for the convergence to recommence itself, perhaps back to its original pristine shape.
I offer the following rationale for the current violent (and seemingly natural and endless) state of the world: what was once whole and harmonious, has somehow split into opposing factions resulting in this unique state of affairs where the singularity has rendered a schizophrenic war with itself. Because it is important to remember: the way things actually are here on earth today, the ecological Whole is broken down into its various constituent parts; and those parts who may have otherwise formerly accepted the responsibility to become proper stewards for this world (ourselves, human beings) are now, in effect, caught up in the ongoing crossfire of the violent struggle between the two factions of the whole. Really, it's a matter of somehow triggering whatever it takes to set things right; and not to merely "accept the fact that this is how things must necessarily be."
I believe that sincerely. The reason I do, is simply because it's possible. Reconciliation. But how? That is the burning question which for now, I can only answer with the idea of undoing the disconvergence. The first thing that comes to mind, is for each individual to set an example by ceasing and desisting with their violent or sinful ways. But this seems quite problematic, as the chances that every human being on Earth involved in these harrowing conflicts putting down their machine guns and machetes and heroin needles and stolen money or even their nefarious corporate practices which invariably destroy the environment upon which we all depend on to live, seems quite unlikely. This unfathomably complex situation has gained its own momentum, having long ago crossed over into a new paradigm, the one we exist in today which our own ancestors handed over to us.
I certainly don't have the answer to the question, how do we establish peace and prosperity on Earth? Apparently nobody does. Yet I came upon a remarkable idea for a possible solution. The word religion comes from the Latin "religare," to "tie together." If I were to take the opposite of that, in other words find the Latin phrasing for "pulling apart," it would be something like "carpo diversa", and continuing with the analogy, if religare is to religion, then "carpo diversa" must be to _______. Allow me to suggest something akin to "carpodiversion," or maybe even carpe diem, which means "seize the day."
What I'm getting at here, is the idea that religion itself may very well be that "tree of knowledge" which various scriptures have warned against partaking of. In order for this essay to be understood by anyone who reads it--be they religious or atheist, leftwing or rightwing, conservative or liberal--it is necessary to suspend one's disbelief and give me the benefit of the doubt. Because the very nature of the dilemma explicitly involves the aforementioned split categories of people--whom we've already determined belong to the same order of life, and whom I think we can all agree want nothing more than peace and prosperity in our lives.
It is vital that both fundamentalists as well as atheists set aside their differences temporarily enough for my message to get across to each one respectively. That is because regardless of how profoundly different each may think the other is wired, and furthermore regardless of whether or not anyone believes pragmatically or otherwise that the divide is the fundamental principal of reality itself, I must remind everyone that in actuality, the nature of our existence is still a complete mystery.
Before I proceed with my idea of "carpodiversion" or seizing the day, allow me to touch on one thing. It is quite evident that many well-meaning people before me have thought hard along these lines and concluded that what was needed was another spiritual belief system, which, in short, and by now, has pretty obviously resulted in nothing but more cults which invariably feed in to the ongoing struggle of the Whole at war with Itself. We must necessarily cross that option off the list, as it only feeds more fuel to the raging fire.
What's wrong with religion is not the idea behind it per se, but its invariable institutionalization, which takes root (therefore the analogy with "the tree of knowledge") and when we "eat from it," renders a dynamic which soon becomes technical and invariably leads towards opposition with other institutionalized religions. If you follow the conclusions of Joseph Campbell, you will see for yourself how all religions in history fundamentally tell the same story. Studying this dynamic should reveal clues as to what we might be able to do about shattering the current paradigm of suffering and violence the world over.
Rather than create yet another institutionalized religion, I propose the introduction of the antithesis to what might be referred to as "religion's cancer;" i.e, not that religion itself is necessarily the culprit--but that it has become infected with a sickness which may be cured. I propose "Carpidiom" in lieu of "Religion." And what is Carpidiom? It is merely the untying of the knot which figuratively infected spirituality itself. In order to wrap our minds around this idea, it is necessary for each of us (atheists and religious folk alike) to acknowledge the inherent mystery of our existence in the first place.
We are now staring at the very crux where science and religion meet. Carpidiom (for lack of a better term) is the letting go of institutionalized religion, as well as institutionalized atheism. Carpidiom is that state of mind which most optimally allows one to harmonize with the total spirit of this living planet. We must also acknowledge that "God" is just a word; and that word means different things to different people in an analogous manner to how different cultures have foreign terms for what they perceive to be the Creator. Let's just put aside our differences long enough to agree that the word "God" may best be approached with the understanding that it is a placeholder for that which we simply do not (and perhaps cannot) know.
That stated, the idea of Carpidiom (as opposed to Religion) would be to revert to what most likely was the original intention of efficacious spiritual belief, and that is the idea which states "each individual human being possesses their own personal relationship with that great spirit which we may know precious little about and therefore must approach by faith alone. The idea behind Carpidiom is to literally bring atheists and religious people together. It is about letting go of the beliefs which have blinded us and assuming responsibility for our own devotion to the whole of our creation.
We must seize the day and allow for the divide between us to simply evaporate. Set aside the technicality of our differences so that we may reach out to each other as fellow siblings of one race, one planet, no borders, no hell or heaven after we die, and instead achieve what we want most of all, paradise right here on Earth because it is actually within reach.
I don't know how we as a species might achieve this without attempting to communicate these ideas. Fear and doubt have devoured our lives to the point they have backed us into our respective corners. Yet where there are humans, there is hope. Positive energy and love are powerful tools by which misunderstandings and enmity might be chipped away at until they disappear altogether. Are we perpetually warring with one another merely because that is the business of our parent's generations handed down to us? If so, why are we compelled to continue carrying the flaming torch of death and destruction? Could it be a simple matter of our youth rising up one day and stating "Enough!"? From where we all sit, this seems unlikely due to the very momentum of this continuing struggle.
I propose that we each contemplate seriously the matter of our individual bodies' electromagnetism, as well as that of the Earth. If religious people cast away the shackles of their institutionalization, and furthermore if atheists accept that even science does not have the answer as to how creation came into being, then we might all stand a chance of recognizing the fact that we really are all brothers and sisters here together on this one world which may seem vast to each one of us, suspended in space, stretching as it does around the bend of every horizon, but which as Carl Sagan pointed out, may also be seen as the most infinitesimally minuscule pale blue dot in a staggering universe so tremendous as to defy our ability to process it all.
As I mentioned already in this essay, the last thing we need is yet another religious cult to become institutionalized and take root so that future generations may once again start warring over their perceived differences. That is exactly why I came up with the new term Carpidiom; just another place-holder for the idea that there actually does exist the potential for us to rise above our vicious cycle of violence, and for once during the long uninterrupted history of wars and man's inhumanity to man, reach out to one another across our divide and accept our differences so that we might allow a new respect to grow between us.
How would I change the world for the better? That's a fine question presenting an almost intangible challenge. Should I dream hard and be idealistic—or try to be realistic? Considering the seriousness of the endeavor the question posits, I'd lean toward realism, myself. Most of us are aware of the old adage, which I've taken the liberty to polish to "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink, and you can lead a man to knowledge but you can't make him think." This begs the question, how to first lead others to necessary information while at the same time make them thirsty for it? We all know how often communication tends to go in one ear and out the other. People are going to think what they think, and do what they do, regardless of how cannily they might be informed of crucial matters concerning the harmony and survival of our species.
Ever since I was a teenager, I've been interested in both environmentalism and humanitarianism. Are we as a species co-existing with each other and the ecology of earth in a sustainable manner? Taking a look at humanity amid the history of wars in our culture, it seems apparent the answer is no; at least not without the painful price of eliminating each other in conflicts over the centuries. As for how we're affecting the ecology, both global warming and the various methods by which we have poisoned the oceans and skies and water supplies seems to indicate the answer to be "negatively" in that regard. It doesn't appear as if we're prioritizing our self-sustainability at all. From where I sit as a 49 year old new father of a bright and promising sixteen month old child, it should be a concern for me what sort of world my son will inherit.
It is already understood by many of us that all the life on earth, every last plant, bacteria, fungi, insect, reptile, bird, fish, mammal and all humans on the planet comprise what appears to be one single vast interdependent organism. Each varied form of life shares 99% identical DNA, or so we're led to believe—only differentiating from each other by the slightest margin in that respect (despite appearing as a dizzying array of different manifestations). All components of this family tree seem to be subject to the process of life which inevitably leads toward death. In fact, expiration appears to be the shared destiny of every life form on the planet. One reason our view of life gets so limited is because through our subjective perceptions we separate ourselves from the entire organism. If we instead acknowledge that the tapestry of life on earth continues to survive despite the inevitable demise of a certain percentage of its various species, we might accept that there exists a sort of immortality considering the whole of the human race—and indeed the entirety of this living ecology—continuing to survive for untold generations.
My point is that we all suffer and enjoy the isolated and subjective experience of being alive in this continuum of space and time. Scientific research has revealed over the past century alone the existence of our universe so gigantic and complex as to defy mortal comprehension. It is a blessing to live out our lives without fear and just enjoy this existence which has been granted to each and every one of us despite our mutual misapprehension of how on earth we were created in the first place or what may be in store for us over the long term. Why should we worry about these questions as a species when it is apparent that we have survived after having gone forth and multiplied over the uncountable years of history?
My answer to "how would I change the world for the better?" is to continue focusing on playing my small part and just being myself. Considering death seems to be a natural part of the cycle of all existence, I must conclude that to most effectively change the world for the better, I must first and foremost appreciate the bigger picture. I will keep on loving my wife, helping to raise our child to the best of my ability. I will do my best to love my family and friends, and respect our neighbors. I will continue working my full time job to remain a contributing member of society. The reason I believe this is the best answer, is because I think if we were all to play our parts and follow our hearts to the best of our abilities, the sum result would better influence the world to carry on doing what it has been doing, which is managing to survive as a shelter to harbor life for untold eons. As for dreaming, I can only have a little more faith that others throughout the world could feel as I do and allow the fear to dissolve from their minds and openly accept each other for the extended family we happen to be.
