This evening I heard something that sent me straight back to my childhood on the Panhandle of Texas. It was a low-flying airplane. Instinctively I yelled, 'AIR RAID!! The Russians are coming! The Ruskies have found us! Everybody under your desk!' My body intrinsically knew to duck and get as near to the ground as possible.
Obviously my teenage daughters froze in morbid, if not hideous, embarrassment, while I bent over in laughter at myself. My husband kept walking and my youngest daughter asked what a Ruskie was. Yeah. It was time for a life lesson from mom...in the Arby's parking lot.
I started thinking about all the little bits of information that I had been spoon-fed as a child of the 80's.
MTV did, indeed, kill the radio-star. Marty McFly could time travel in a tricked-out DeLorean. Indiana Jones could out-wit, out-maneuver, and out-last anyone with nothing but a Fedora and a whip. Micheal Jackson proved that zombies were incredible dancers. Ugly little aliens were endearing when dressed up as ghosties and flying through the air in the bike-basket of some kid named Elliot. And Nancy Reagan taught us all to just say no...eventually I figured out she was talking about drugs. These were culturally specific gobs of information plunged down our throats as Americans.
But, I recall some other, rather chilling, bits of information as well. When I was in 2nd grade the Cold War was in full swing. We gathered twice a year in the auditorium to learn about The Russians and what the Red Hoard was planning and plotting against the 'innocents' of the United States. We had air raid drills. I still remember the procedure. We lived a comparatively short distance from a nuclear war-head plant. We were taught that when a low flying airplane flew near, it was likely the Russians coming to bomb us. We knew that if the Russians hit the war head plant, that based on the number of gas pipelines and the layout thereof, we could expect to be blown to bits within 17 minutes. The low fliers would drop paratroopers that would come to attack the people on the ground, pillaging and raping little white girls. Obviously to this day, I'm still a little frightened by the sound of a low flying aircraft...even the cropdusters. Trust no one, right?
I also recall, rather sadly, what they taught us about the Indians that lived in our neck of the woods. The Comanche, The Cheyenne, and The Kiowa. I recall these tribes specifically because they were the ones singled out as violent amongst the Plains dwellers. They didn't teach us about the inherent beliefs of the Tribes-people. They simply taught us whether a group was likely to have murdered, raped or scalped the White settlers. Classy. And obviously terribly important for me to know as I've gone through life. My elementary school principal, Mrs Minyen, (I never cared for her,) once told me I was lucky I was born with brown hair. They would've ignored me. But, my best friend, with her pretty blond hair, they would've killed her and taken her scalp as a trophy. Can you imagine telling students something like that?
I won't even go in depth about what we were taught about African-Americans. Heck, we didn't even call them THAT. I'll just say that one of my good friends growing up...well, his name was Nigger-Bob. It was a very different time.
It's the axiom of lies. It really is. That sounds like a paradox, but that's only because it is.
As an adult, I've been able to figure out the basic truths I need to make wise and intelligent choices about people. It makes me sad to think that there are parents teaching their children the same garbage we were taught as kids.
It's ok to question what we're taught. It's ok to do our own research and it's ok to peel back a few layers on the ol' historical onion. History is written by the survivors.
Survive your school years and get yourself an education...and infuse it with a touch of tolerance.
Friday, March 30, 2012
Thursday, March 29, 2012
My Hero? Optimus Prime
I'm feeling a bit rough as of late. My life is spinny and a bit swirly...and I mean that in the sense that it fells like my head is actually stuck in an endless cycle of toilet flushes. Pain and hurt seem rather rampant right now. Not just in my world, but in the world as a whole.
It's the tough times like these, that force me back to my roots. To the philosopers of my youth.
When I was a kid I watched Transfomers on Saturday morning. Personally I preferred the much sillier cartoons like Looney Tunes or Smurfs. But I was drawn to Transformers for one reason. Optimus Prime. I would sit through a whole episode just to hear one pearl of wisdom from Optimus Prime. Prime was the leader of the Autobots (those were the good guys.) They were usually waging battle against the evil Decepticons.
Prime was depicted as a brave, powerful, wise and compassionate leader who put his talents to use improving the universe around him. Portrayed as having a strong sense of justice and righteousness and dedicated to the protection of all life, particularly the inhabitants of Earth.
My hero.
I present to you the following list of Prime-isms. Learn them. Love them. Live them. It's not a request. It's an order.
'The greatest weakness of humans is their hesitancy to tell others how they love them while they're still alive.' The time is truly now. I'm a firm believer in saying words of edification and affirmation when they surround me. I want the people in my life to know how I adore them. We have to say it. Quit reading and go say it. Go. Now. I'll wait.
“Fate rarely calls upon us at a moment of our choosing.” Sam, a human, continues to party it up during a Decepticon invasion...A DECPETICON INVASION! Prime, in his wisdom speaks these words to him, urging him to stop his foolishness and take up his calling and help save the earth and all its inhabitants. I'm sure that at some point, we've all discovered this to be true and accurate. Seldom are we given a choice concerning our fate. It's going to happen. It's a much smoother ride if you flow with it.
“Sometimes even the wisest of men and machines can be in error.” Every once in a while, we just screw it up. Usually, our intentions are solid, but our methods aren't. Optimus locked up the Dinobots, who actually saved the Autobots and the earthlings. He confesses his mistake as soon as he realizes it. Get around to the admission of the mistake as quickly as you can. Don't be too harsh with yourself. We all do it. It's ok.
"Like us, there’s more to them than meets the eye." Oh, Optimus. How I love that you can see inside the souls of men. Always pondering on the hearts.
And finally:
“Until that day… till all are one.”In 1986, at the end of the Transfomers movie...the cartoon movie, a dying Optimus Prime addresses the Autobots with these final words as he hands the Matrix over to Ultra Magnus.
Some day...some day, we'll live as one. I truly believe this. We'll get it right. There is hope for mankind yet. We are good. If we just keep working together and helping one another. It may sound juvenile and adolescent...I suppose in many ways it is.
But, from the silly Saturday morning routine of this little girl, came a wealth of information and wisdom.
His words...they aren't so very unlike the words of Buddha, or Mohammad, or even Jesus.
I honor them all.
Who said TV was bad for you?
It's the tough times like these, that force me back to my roots. To the philosopers of my youth.
When I was a kid I watched Transfomers on Saturday morning. Personally I preferred the much sillier cartoons like Looney Tunes or Smurfs. But I was drawn to Transformers for one reason. Optimus Prime. I would sit through a whole episode just to hear one pearl of wisdom from Optimus Prime. Prime was the leader of the Autobots (those were the good guys.) They were usually waging battle against the evil Decepticons.
Prime was depicted as a brave, powerful, wise and compassionate leader who put his talents to use improving the universe around him. Portrayed as having a strong sense of justice and righteousness and dedicated to the protection of all life, particularly the inhabitants of Earth.
My hero.
I present to you the following list of Prime-isms. Learn them. Love them. Live them. It's not a request. It's an order.
'The greatest weakness of humans is their hesitancy to tell others how they love them while they're still alive.' The time is truly now. I'm a firm believer in saying words of edification and affirmation when they surround me. I want the people in my life to know how I adore them. We have to say it. Quit reading and go say it. Go. Now. I'll wait.
“Fate rarely calls upon us at a moment of our choosing.” Sam, a human, continues to party it up during a Decepticon invasion...A DECPETICON INVASION! Prime, in his wisdom speaks these words to him, urging him to stop his foolishness and take up his calling and help save the earth and all its inhabitants. I'm sure that at some point, we've all discovered this to be true and accurate. Seldom are we given a choice concerning our fate. It's going to happen. It's a much smoother ride if you flow with it.
“Sometimes even the wisest of men and machines can be in error.” Every once in a while, we just screw it up. Usually, our intentions are solid, but our methods aren't. Optimus locked up the Dinobots, who actually saved the Autobots and the earthlings. He confesses his mistake as soon as he realizes it. Get around to the admission of the mistake as quickly as you can. Don't be too harsh with yourself. We all do it. It's ok.
"Like us, there’s more to them than meets the eye." Oh, Optimus. How I love that you can see inside the souls of men. Always pondering on the hearts.
And finally:
“Until that day… till all are one.”In 1986, at the end of the Transfomers movie...the cartoon movie, a dying Optimus Prime addresses the Autobots with these final words as he hands the Matrix over to Ultra Magnus.
Some day...some day, we'll live as one. I truly believe this. We'll get it right. There is hope for mankind yet. We are good. If we just keep working together and helping one another. It may sound juvenile and adolescent...I suppose in many ways it is.
But, from the silly Saturday morning routine of this little girl, came a wealth of information and wisdom.
His words...they aren't so very unlike the words of Buddha, or Mohammad, or even Jesus.
I honor them all.
Who said TV was bad for you?
I'll have the Sirloin with a Side of Quantum Reality
The way the world...IS. That's the definition of quantum reality.
To this I put my thumb to ths tip of my nose, fingers extended upward, waggling back and forth, tongue protruding, and I blow the proverbial raspberry...pppttthhhbbbt.
I think the world is what WE...make of it. This is going to get thick before it gets clear. Try to keep up.
Scientists don't seem to have a singular view of life 'as it is.' Instead they seem to have 8...yes, 8 ideas of "quantum reality." These eight views of reality are each different. Yet all are considered valid, or at least successful in terms of explaining experiments.
And here they are for your digestion:
They call this whole shootin' match...'Common Sense Science.' The majority of leading modern physicists seriously believe the first view; "There is no deep reality" and claim that there is no objective reality. For them, 'physics is not physical, but ....metaphysical.'
And with a little 'ting' of my ghanta bells, I have slipped into a parallel universe. My head hurts in this universe. But, I hang out because it must have something for me to learn.
Let me introduce you to a man named Erwin Shrodinger. Shrodinger, back in 1935, placed a cat, along with a closed flask containing a poison, in a sealed box shielded against environmentally induced quantum decoherence (outside influences to you and me.)
If an internal Geiger counter detected radiation, the flask shattered, releasing the poison that would kill the cat. One interpretation, the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics, implies that after a while, the cat is simultaneously alive and dead. Yet, when we look in the box, when we open the box, we see the cat either alive or dead, not a mixture of alive and dead. Are ya' still with me?
At the time Schrodinger created the experiment it was often said in physics that an 'intelligence' was required to collapse the probabilities in QM. This view was taken to the extent that one prominent physicist stated that 'the moon is not there if nobody is looking.' Again, I blow the raspberry.
Schrodinger's cat is an attempt to show the stupidity of this view.
You can reduce the experiment to nonsense by suggesting, for example that if the experiment is filmed and the film is stored and only looked at a week later, does the probability collapse then...or when it was filmed!!?
AND WHAT HAPPENS IF NO ONE EVER WATCHES THE FILM? IS THE POOR CAT SUSPENDED FOREVER? PLEASE!! SOMEONE...ANYONE, FOR THE LOVE OF THE DEITY THESE NERDS DON'T BELIEVE IN, OPEN THE BOX AND CHECK ON THE CAT!
I took just enough Quantum Physics in college to hold my own in a conversation, but not to really know what I'm talking about.
But, I think I can I can decipher this whole verschränkung. That's a joke. Look it up.
Sometimes we have choices to make. Tough ones. Simple ones. Sometimes we get to make them with other people. But, usually we have to make them alone. And sometimes...we don't make them. It's rather scary to think that making the choice, might just kill the cat. Understand what I'm saying here? For someone like me, it's easy to open the box and determine the state of the cat. My curiosity, if you'll allow, forces me to open the box and gaze upon the cat. My need for clarity, context and definition insists upon it.
I think inherently, we all want to know 'what's up' with the cat. We can't NOT look at the moon to see if it's there.
Make the choice. Take the plunge. Man up. Is it a new relationship? A new job? A move to a new city or state? Maybe it's just a choice as to how you'll have your sirloin cooked. Just choose. You can do it. The choice is only made when we open the box.
Sort of a non-quantum mechanics, 'pee or get off the pot.' Forgive me. I was actually raised in a barn.
Speaking of barns, I take my sirloin medium rare...and you?
To this I put my thumb to ths tip of my nose, fingers extended upward, waggling back and forth, tongue protruding, and I blow the proverbial raspberry...pppttthhhbbbt.
I think the world is what WE...make of it. This is going to get thick before it gets clear. Try to keep up.
Scientists don't seem to have a singular view of life 'as it is.' Instead they seem to have 8...yes, 8 ideas of "quantum reality." These eight views of reality are each different. Yet all are considered valid, or at least successful in terms of explaining experiments.
And here they are for your digestion:
- There is no deep reality.
- Reality is created by observation.
- Reality is an undivided wholeness.
- Reality consists of a steadily increasing number of parallel universes.
- The world obeys a non-human kind of reasoning.
- The world is made of ordinary objects.
- Consciousness creates reality.
- The world is twofold, consisting of potentials and actualities.
They call this whole shootin' match...'Common Sense Science.' The majority of leading modern physicists seriously believe the first view; "There is no deep reality" and claim that there is no objective reality. For them, 'physics is not physical, but ....metaphysical.'
And with a little 'ting' of my ghanta bells, I have slipped into a parallel universe. My head hurts in this universe. But, I hang out because it must have something for me to learn.
Let me introduce you to a man named Erwin Shrodinger. Shrodinger, back in 1935, placed a cat, along with a closed flask containing a poison, in a sealed box shielded against environmentally induced quantum decoherence (outside influences to you and me.)
If an internal Geiger counter detected radiation, the flask shattered, releasing the poison that would kill the cat. One interpretation, the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics, implies that after a while, the cat is simultaneously alive and dead. Yet, when we look in the box, when we open the box, we see the cat either alive or dead, not a mixture of alive and dead. Are ya' still with me?
At the time Schrodinger created the experiment it was often said in physics that an 'intelligence' was required to collapse the probabilities in QM. This view was taken to the extent that one prominent physicist stated that 'the moon is not there if nobody is looking.' Again, I blow the raspberry.
Schrodinger's cat is an attempt to show the stupidity of this view.
You can reduce the experiment to nonsense by suggesting, for example that if the experiment is filmed and the film is stored and only looked at a week later, does the probability collapse then...or when it was filmed!!?
AND WHAT HAPPENS IF NO ONE EVER WATCHES THE FILM? IS THE POOR CAT SUSPENDED FOREVER? PLEASE!! SOMEONE...ANYONE, FOR THE LOVE OF THE DEITY THESE NERDS DON'T BELIEVE IN, OPEN THE BOX AND CHECK ON THE CAT!
I took just enough Quantum Physics in college to hold my own in a conversation, but not to really know what I'm talking about.
But, I think I can I can decipher this whole verschränkung. That's a joke. Look it up.
Sometimes we have choices to make. Tough ones. Simple ones. Sometimes we get to make them with other people. But, usually we have to make them alone. And sometimes...we don't make them. It's rather scary to think that making the choice, might just kill the cat. Understand what I'm saying here? For someone like me, it's easy to open the box and determine the state of the cat. My curiosity, if you'll allow, forces me to open the box and gaze upon the cat. My need for clarity, context and definition insists upon it.
I think inherently, we all want to know 'what's up' with the cat. We can't NOT look at the moon to see if it's there.
Make the choice. Take the plunge. Man up. Is it a new relationship? A new job? A move to a new city or state? Maybe it's just a choice as to how you'll have your sirloin cooked. Just choose. You can do it. The choice is only made when we open the box.
Sort of a non-quantum mechanics, 'pee or get off the pot.' Forgive me. I was actually raised in a barn.
Speaking of barns, I take my sirloin medium rare...and you?
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