Immortality

Immortality is something humans have thought about for almost as long as there has been man.  When we are young, we feel as if we are indeed immortal, though the facts show otherwise.  This proves real immortality is not just a state of mind.  But does it disprove immortality?

This is a mental exercise and has nothing to do with religious beliefs or doctrine, so set them aside for awhile. Come along with me on a ride to the “what if” region of the mind, it’s a short trip.  This is a wild region of the mind, filled with fantasy and flight of fancy, so you never know just what can be found there. We all end up here on occasion; sometimes it is only to daydream, others live there a good portion of their life.  So fasten your seatbelt, it could get bumpy.

Looking back over time, there are many myths and legends pertaining to immortal beings.  As science has shown, many legends/ myths have a basis in fact of one kind or another.  Are immortals one of them?  

Just look at the gods of the ancient Greeks.  They lived lives filled with intrigue and fraught with human weakness, yet they lived for a long, long time.  Though they lived for eons, death still became their ultimate companion. Could they, in fact, be based on a group of people with just such a long life span?

The idea of a group of people with extremely long life spans is not as far fetched as you might think.  And to primitive civilization these people could seem godlike or immortal.

To put it another way, compare the life span of your pet dog or cat.  To them we may seem to have those same qualities, yet it is nothing more than our natural life expectancy.  So, to them, we are super beings.  Yet we set aside time to interact with them while still living our daily lives in the bigger world.  Was this the case with the Greeks and their pantheon?

If you were given a puppy when you were born, by the time you became a teenager that dog would be dead, at least most of the time, depending on the breed.  If that same dog had a puppy, it would grow old and die by the time you had a family of your own.  Then again another puppy, from the same line, would be gone by the time your children are in their teens.  In short, you could go through five (5) to six (6) generations, if not more, before you died. Add to that, we control many tools the dog doesn’t understand making it even more impressive.  Is it any wonder they look up to us for care and their wellbeing?

If that example is not impressive enough, think about the simple fruit fly.  They live a long and fulfilling life of about a week, barring any unforeseen swatter.  Just how many generations will live and die compared to our, much longer life?  If they have the mental power to think about it, what would they think?

If our meager life span of, say a hundred year, was equal to that of a fruit fly’s week.  And if another species of humans had a life span as is compared to our, then they would seem to live over 300,000 years to us.  Then, if you facture in the technologies they could control, they would indeed seem godlike to us and immortal.

I am not implying we are either dogs or fruit flies, but the comparison boggles the mind.  Could all the mythologies of the Greeks be based on a plumber or electrician and his family?  Or maybe something out of a sitcom?  Could it be that our universe is the home to a family of these individuals who work and play in another area?  What if our world is nothing more than a square foot in their back yard?  What if they only go to that part of their yard once in awhile?  An afternoon’s play could be generations to us.  Then off they go, only to show up eons later.

As I said to start, this is nothing more than a mental exercise. It is merely something coming from the unknown “what if” region of my brain.  Could there be a civilization with a mythology based on you or your family?  If there is, wouldn’t it be better for you to behave and not fly off the handle in a petty dispute?  Imagine sitting on Mount Olympus, or your back yard, with a short lived, primitive civilization watching you.  How confused are they by your actions?  Would they see thunderous wars or catastrophic events under your grill?  What of the water balloon fights or your children at play?  Could a simple task like mowing the grass create ponderous events to them? Strange are the actions of the unknown.

Alright, it is now time to return to our world.  It was a short trip to the “what if”.  It was fun and we should do it more often.  Many great ideas come from there and many silly ideas also.  A short visit can relieve stress or give you an idea which could change the future.  All ideas begin in the “what if” region of you mind, long before they are in the “why not”.  Think about it.


The universe is neither larger nor smaller than we believe, for we have no idea!  What we think we know is nothing to what we can not comprehend.  

Ed Williams
©

Big brothers twin

Almost everyone has heard about “big brother” and most even have an idea what it’s all about. But just in case someone has slipped through the cracks and doesn’t know; it is the government sticking its long nose into our every day lives. That is a much abbreviated version, but I hope you get the idea.

Now, the question is: Do you know about his twin? Yes, there is a twin, but it is not just one centralized entity. There are a myriad of information gathers out there who know almost everything about you.

Let us start with a few simple information gathers you may not have thought about. The insurance industry for one. If you have insurance and almost everyone has some kind. You have given out more information about yourself than you know. With health or life insurance: they know your age, birth date and place. The kind of work you do, where you live, your health history and the names of family members. Add to that, automobile insurance and they have the make, model and year of the cars you drive. Plus how many miles a year you drive, the kind of driving you do, any accidents or tickets you’ve gotten, even your credit rating. That is a lot of information to be giving out, but it doesn’t stop there.

The banking industry also holds most of your vital statistics. You have given them your annual income, credit rating, spending habits and in general, your life style.

The utility companies also hold a vast amount of information. They know the types of major home appliances you own, the size of the house or apartment you live in, when it was built and how long you have lived there. This category also includes the entertainment and communications people, like cable or satellite and telephone companies. They know what time you watch television, what programming holds your interest and even the age brackets of the people in the household. With the phones, they know who you call, when you call them, where they live, how often you talk and for how long.

That brings us to the internet. As soon as you log on to the internet, you have given out your location, type of internet connection and type of computer. When you go to any site, they know the operating system and version you have, the browser you use, screen resolution, any firewalls you have in place, the virus protection you have and many other programs you have running or disabled on your computer. They can tell some of the hardware you have connected to your computer, like a camera, sound devices, printer, etc. They also can track the sites you go to, how much time you spend there and how often you are on the sites. They know what you download; your e-mail addresses and can even find out what music you listen to. You give all this information without them ever asking you for it. There are other sites which require you give them even more information about yourself and I’m not talking about just the ones who ask for things like your age or e-mail address. There are sites which require you to either have or download another program to view the site. You can give out much more information if you are unlucky. They can, with the right tools, get into your computer from anywhere in the world! That leaves you open to a stranger getting all the personal information you have on the computer. Yes, you can be giving out everything you have on the computer, from birthdays to account numbers, pictures and even your personal thoughts and ideas you put in a word document.

This has been called the information age, and how true it is. The total of your life is out there. The information can be used in any number of ways, from benign statistics to identity cloning or thief. The information can be kept, given away or sold, and you have no say.

There are laws in place to help safeguard the information, but not every country has these laws or abides by the laws of other countries. Then there are the hackers who use the system to their own ends.

So now you know every bit of your life is out there for the taking. That’s a scary thought, right? You may ask how this could be? Well, don’t look to the government to correct the problem, there is no way they can solve it. Look to the programs! Look to the designers of the software you use! They have made it so you have to use the programs in ways which open the door to your life. Why would an internet site need to know what programs you have running, the type of browser or the operating system you use? The answer is information! The more they know, the better they can control.

Our world is connected by computers and the internet. With all your information sitting in data banks, anyone with the knowledge, tools can and will find any and everything they want. Even the most secure departments of the government have hackers stealing information from them! They have security measures in place you can’t even imagine, so just how secure is your computer? You can think of it this way; your home may have locks on the doors and windows, but if someone really wants in, they can get in. If they just want to see what you have, they can merely peek in a window to see, and then decide if it is worth breaking in to steal from you. So, in short, any defense you think you have can be circumvented if someone really wants in.

This has all been a very light and shallow overview of what can be gotten. If you think about it, the every detail of our lives is out there. Do you really want that much information floating around about you for anyone to seize?

Are you paranoid when everyone really is out to get you?

Ed Williams
©

The Highway

On the road of life there are both speed bumps and potholes to slow you down.  Both are there because the government is doing a very good or very bad job.  Either way, it still screws up your front-end.

Ed Williams
©