Reflections on a choppy sea

 

by Craig Willms

What are we, and more importantly why are we? We are in fact an infinitesimal fragment of an infinite universe, a universe that is utterly incomprehensible. Each of us mill about in the space we occupy, struggling to carry on an existence that means something. Means something to whom? Good question.

Meaninglessness is a conundrum. If life, our life, is meaningless as so many clear-eyed materialists believe, then what is the point? If at the moment one discovers that his or her life is devoid of any meaning the real mystery is why they would carry on at all. Why bother? Why not just end it? Yet the enlightened, those who believe their life and the life of everyone who ever lived is ultimately pointless don't just kill themselves, do they? No, they succumb to a biological imperative despite their absolute certainty that nothing really matters - they marry and have children and live into old age. Why? Simple, they know deep down that life is not pointless, even as they preach to the unenlightened masses that nihilism is the ultimate truth. They are hypocrites.

The universe as far as we know is endless. Our scientists can speculate that the universe is a certain age and possibly even a certain size, but they do not know beyond their mathematical calculations. It's entirely possible "we" will never know. We speculate that the Earth is billions of years old, and it very well may be, and it will probably go on for billions more. In a billion years from now we will all be long gone. Did it mean anything?

Yes.

Yes, because we are one. We are the universe; we have been, we are and will always be one part of the whole. We are reflections on a choppy sea.

Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger is best known for his famous thought experiment known as Schrödinger's Cat. He designed this thought experiment to illustrate a paradox of quantum superposition wherein a hypothetical cat may be considered both alive and dead simultaneously because its fate is linked to a random event that may (or may not) occur. In this speculation he states if you seal a cat in a box with something that can eventually kill it, you won’t know if the cat is alive or dead until you open the box. So, until you open the box and observe the cat, the cat is simultaneously dead and alive. 

Schrödinger, besides being a Nobel Prize winning physicist was also a philosopher. His thinking went down to unusual depths about what the mathematical formalism of quantum theory was actually telling us about the nature of reality. He was not satisfied that science could explain with equations and calculations the depths of meaning, there needed to be a deeper interpretation. Quantum theory describes sub-atomic specifications like the mechanic rattles off the horsepower, displacement and the timing of a high-performance V8 engine, but he can't tell you with these specs what it feels like to sit behind the wheel and push the accelerator pedal to the floor.

Eventually Schrödinger concluded infinite consciousness is what underlies all of reality. It's not that your mind and the universe's mind are separate things. At the deepest level, the mind that looks out through your eyes and the mind that constitutes all being are one and the same. One mind. He came to find the concept of Brahman, the Indian notions of ultimate reality, the eternal, conscious, irreducible, infinite, omnipresent, and the spiritual core of the universe, to be the one truth. One consciousness, one Brahman.

This is, in a sense what dovetails with the Dao in the Far East and the Judeo/Christian God in the West? Clearly there is overlap. Each is a different aspect of the ultimate. 

There is one sun shining on the ocean, but we see a thousand points of light, each an individual reflection of the one light. It's a simple way to conceptualize the collective consciousness of the 'one' mind. 

What does this have to do with the meaning of our lives? Well, isn't that the ultimate question? It's not even a what question, it's a why question. Why? Why are we here at all? Experience. We are here to experience the universe, to add our personal experience to the whole. In that regard every single life is important and meaningful. Even those whose lives are short and brutal are ultimately meaningful. The why of it points to the one mind growing and evolving. There is no telling if we, our little piece of the whole, reincarnates again and again to experience again and again, but there is no reason it couldn't be possible. Think of being a tiny drop in the ocean being tossed above the waterline and existing apart from the ocean for a short time, eventually you will return to the depths.

Obviously, there are a million unanswered questions, ones that may never be answered in this incarnation. Maybe when the veil is lifted as this tiny slice of consciousness expires, we become enlightened. We will all find out, won't we.

Parallel Existence

 

by Craig Willms

A while back I read a comment on a YouTube video that struck me as actually being profound. When I thought about the underlying meaning of the comment, I said to myself 'well, that's me'. In short, the subject was about how we navigate the public world and where we prefer to see our place in it. His comment was - essentially - I go out from my comfortable home, out into the world and interact with others, sometimes compelled, sometimes to accompany my wife for something important to her. I talk and interact in a pleasant way, being perfectly polite, asking questions, smiling and nodding, but not really enjoying any of it. Ok, that's over, good... We return home and I'm instantly happy to be back living a parallel existence to everyone else again.

Parallel existence. Aren't we all living a parallel existence to some degree? Yes, I think so. But we all know people who are not really happy unless they are involved, interacting with others, engaged with another person towards some end. That's what makes them feel alive. For others it's a chore, a burden, all this dealing with people. Those like me are at one with ourselves and don't need people as much... 

I know it sounds bad. It sounds like these people, people like me, don't have relationships or close friends and are not neighborly. That's not it. That's not it at all. It's hard to describe, but it really comes down to the feeling that you have interacting with the people out in the world, you're doing just that, acting. Even that sounds bad. It's best described as that feeling you have when you are finally alone and can be yourself again, peeling off the chameleon skin, done with the show.

It's not that you don't like people. You love people, certain people... It's not that you don't care about the details of their lives, even when you know they don't really care about yours. It's the fact we all have our own shit to deal with and talking about certain things is just tedious or uncomfortable, and it's usually unproductive. It's down to fact that we know that no one really cares. The ones that do care, well, they know you and accept you as you are. The rest of them are going through the motions of polite company.

For a lot of us even in our personal relationships we tend to keep everyone at an arm's length. It's not that we never open up or act in a vulnerable way, but it's kept to a bare minimum. We don't want to be a burden, and we don't seek so-called emotional support - for better or worse. Those who constantly talk about themselves or keep a verbal dialogue running eventually bore the snot out of us and we secretly pray for their silence. We usually don't share unless asked directly. We may come off as snobs I guess, but honestly, does anyone out there truly care about inane details about us? 

There are always exceptions. Some people are so skilled at communication and at expressing what I'd call genuine empathy for you that you tend to open up without even realizing you're doing it. These people are rare and special, but it's not really you that's eliciting it in them, they can do it with just about anyone. You'll notice these types of people are usually quite successful in their chosen fields. Do we envy them, maybe a little. But only a little. 

I have a feeling that this sort of parallel existence phenomenon is largely male, maybe even old guy male. I think women and girls are far more social and actually need closeness in a way that makes men uncomfortable. I think men will be nodding their heads reading this.

I'm not really sure what point I'm trying to make, but I think almost anyone can relate to some degree. Those who are not like this, the ones who dive in headfirst into social situations or really love 'involvement' in groups or social activities might find us odd, but I suspect more people are like me than are like them. It takes all kinds; the world would be a dreadfully dull place if everyone acted like me.

The Peril of Luxury Beliefs

 by Craig Willms

In the modern West, Europe, The Americas, the Anglosphere daily life has gotten so abstract that we've forgotten or have completely put out of our minds how brutal this life can be. When apocalyptic novels and movies that have been around for the better part of a hundred years, remind us of how quickly and how completely our civilized world can go bad, we call it entertainment. After world wars were fought leaving behind bombed out cities and destitution for millions, we look back and call it history. We watch on our TV's screens the modern destruction of far-off wars, we call it the news. We are insulated from it all by the infrastructure that man has built around us that ensures we have plenty of food and water, abundant energy and a safe, warm place to lay our heads at night.  

It's safe to say we live in the lap of luxury. Wonderful, isn't it? It is, until we forget or outright reject the fundamentals that brought us here. The "until" part has passed us, in fact it passed us some 50 years ago. The West is dying; it's a slow suicidal death. We've succumbed to a set of luxury beliefs, and we refuse to take off our rose-colored glasses long enough to see the train barreling down the tracks straight at us. 

It's not the first time this has happened in human history. Many dynasties and empires have come and gone due to ignoring these signs. The scale is different this time. The suffering and death will be legion if we don't make a course correction, soon...

Luxury beliefs as commonly understood are ideas and opinions largely held by an insulated upper class that are devoid of the natural consequences that ordinary people face in day-to-day life. These beliefs can be out of touch with the realities faced by those less privileged. 

One would have to impose these modern assumptions on early attempts at civilization tens of thousands of years ago to grasp the utter absurdity of such opinions. The nature of being an early pioneer or settler is that you face challenges and severe hardship because you must confront the world in its most elemental form, where nothing has been done for you, no one has laid the groundwork for what you must do to survive. In the beginning, life is raw, dangerous and wild. Day in and day out it's a struggle just to survive. You don't have the "luxury" to believe otherwise. This reality creates a practical, rational mindset that guides your actions, that inform your beliefs. Anything that doesn't help with survival is left behind; it has to be.

You have to accept the reality of the world as it actually is. You can't adapt it to your fantasy of the world as you'd like it. There are the laws of nature that don't care about your wishes or the fairytales you tell yourself. How many times do you have you hear "the world doesn't work that way" when something doesn't come out the irrational way you wanted it to?

The prime obstacle here for the modern human is to accept that there are gender roles. By a roll of the dice, we are born either a male or a female. That's fact, not opinion. Everything else is a social construct. The inherent perceived unfairness is also a fact. The nature of the roles are adaptable, but that there are two genders, and only two is not.

Our early pioneer selves could not escape this reality, the differences between men and women. Each had their strengths and their deficiencies and each had to put these traits to the best use to help the group survive. Only women can have babies. Men cannot become pregnant, end of story. Only women can produce the milk needed for those babies. Men don't lactate, ever. What men can do is create conditions for the woman and the baby to survive and thrive. Safety first. That's what women and babies need. This is something men are suited for. It isn't rocket science. 

Only men had the strength to fight off male invaders and protect the village so that the women and children can have that place to grow and to flourish. If men don't do this they lose their society to other men, their mates are enslaved and the children killed. 

The reality of these gender roles was an absolute necessity then and they're absolutely necessary now. If we ignore them we lose our civilization. We are watching it happen. Our boys are no longer needed to fend off invaders as a intrinsic part of their environment. They've grown weak and aimless. Our pro women anti-men policies have only made it worse for boys. For the better part of two centuries we've used team sports to fill that role, just as the Romans and the Greeks did during times of peace. That has been enough for us in the time of plenty to keep the playfields thriving, except where feminization has taken hold. Women inherently don't like the implication of violence in their boys and with feminist ethos permeating everything fewer and fewer boys are allowed to be aggressive (which is in their nature) and act out. So, boys are labeled ADHD and drugged. Enough boys - and - men, are still encouraged to compete that we see team sports, but the dream and striving for those not quite good enough to 'make the team' is gone. Playgrounds are empty everywhere in the West. Those boys retreat into videogames and internal fantasies that they don't even try to progress into manhood or fatherhood. It so bad that they are afraid of girls. Or worse they've lost all attraction to girls. They are called man boys. The lost boys... 

Girls, now empowered by the successes of modernity, don't necessarily see motherhood as an inevitable trajectory anymore. They've been pushed to obtain status, wealth and power, pushing out everything that was the traditional realm of a woman. The society that feminization has left behind is often hostile to babies, in direct opposition to everything that makes women so special, so appealing. This is playing out before our eyes and not enough people are alarmed about it. The ogres on the anti-men side have become more and more belligerent and contentious toward traditional roles that they revel in the thought of murdering babies if for nothing more than to make men feel helpless, worthless. Do they ever wonder why women now buoyed by professional success are so unhappy and dissatisfied? A society like this cannot survive.

Transgenderism was born of this mindset. Obviously gay and lesbian lifestyles are not conducive to propagation of the species. These things if left safely on the periphery of society where these people could be left alone to thrive in their own way will not sink the human race. But instead they are pushed front and center and you are not allowed to object or even have concerns. Even as we watch human fertility and the desire to procreate disappear we are not allowed to try and prevent this destructive mindset from taking over the culture. These are the kind of luxury beliefs that will destroy the human race if left unchecked.

So, as we tried to figure out how things work in this world, the basic laws of nature, the laws of science, biology, physics, chemistry, and so forth we've adapted ourselves and the society to what we've built. We've tamed the dangers and relieved the scarcity for much of the world, to point where we created a comfort level that makes us forget where we came from. We condemn ourselves for the inequities of our unenlightened antiquity in a blanket of perpetual guilt. We are killing the good and the bad. Today we paper over the laws of nature, the survival of the fittest.

You can say to yourself what's the problem, so what if women don't want babies, so what if men are insufficient and uninterested in protecting the their homes. So what? More luxury beliefs. There are men in the world who are still masculine and women who are still interested in motherhood. They are currently invading our lands, and it is an invasion, the Muslims in Europe and the Hispanic, Asians and Muslims here in America - and we are letting them, inviting them in. They will take what you don't protect, they will take your place, gladly. 

If our forbearers had indulged in any of this nonsense, our civilization would have never materialized. They would've died out. It wasn't possible for them to have such anti-reality luxury beliefs.

In today's world the societal elites, the uber-wealthy actually still live by the laws of the jungle up in their stratospheric realm. Men are men and they are powerful and aggressive in business and in the bedroom. Their women bear their children knowing they'll never have to struggle in a hard scrabble world in order for their children to survive and thrive. They want for nothing. Yet these are the thought leaders and wealth behind the destructive agenda's that result in the above paragraphs.

So many people have been born into comfort, security and prosperity, never having to worry about deprivation or unmet needs. From that position luxury beliefs cost them and their club nothing. Their insular world never meets ours. It is the rabble who feel the consequences of the anti-reality beliefs the societal elite impose on us. It's the aftereffects of such beliefs that only those on the lowest wrung of society bear the cost. 

Think of what no-bail laws have done to already stressed and depressed neighborhoods. Letting criminals, known dangerous criminals out to rob and murder again doesn't affect the hoity toity, it affects the poor. The policies that lead to this are luxury beliefs, although a nod to reality would call them insane beliefs.

The holy grail of these luxury beliefs is of course 'Climate Change' or more recently 'Climate Crisis!!!". The crisis is that people are finally seeing it for what it is, a grift, the biggest grift of all. They have put this false flag - a deceptive act or event designed to mislead others about the true source or intention behind it - front and center until it has become a integral part of western culture. The true intention is the destruction of the West. All of these so-called luxury beliefs ultimately aim at this goal. We are watching it happen to Europe as we speak. They've given up on Christianity which brought Western culture to the pinnacle of human development, and in it's absence they've inserted climate - Gaia into the modern zeitgeist. 

Climate change, once called global warming, once called the coming ice age, is the ultimate guilt trip, where just being alive and using resources to stay alive puts you on trial. The elites, the ultra wealthy, the architects of this show trial continue to jet set around the globe in their private planes visiting climate change conferences before returning to one of their many giant homes. But you and yours are the guilty ones because you put gas in your ten year old car on the way to spend your meager paychecks at the grocery store. Yes, luxury beliefs are entirely hypocritical. 

Almost all of the global leftist agenda is an extension of these luxury beliefs. In recent years the call to defund the police is probably the most destructive for those closest to the ground. The police face humanity at its worse, everyday. To hold them to impossible standards while they wrestle uncooperative perpetrators into submission is wholly unfair. Experiments with non law enforcement community service officers are always a disaster. The police are one of the only hedges we have against the criminal world and the leftists want to neuter them, eliminate them. But the elites will be the first to call the 'authorities' when they are wronged. 

Pat yourself on the back if you hold these beliefs and are proud and feeling righteous. When reality strikes you in the face as the world devolves into chaos and brutality remember how it felt. It'll be the last pleasant thought you have.

A hedge against the pitiless, indifferent universe: God

 

by Craig Willms

hedge

/hej/ noun 

 1. A row of closely planted shrubs or low-growing trees forming a fence or boundary

2. A line of people or objects forming a barrier

3. A means of protection or defense

In an earlier article called "The Mental Fabric" I wrote in summation: God is the hedge against the cold, cruel impersonal world. It was an attempt to describe just what God ultimately is to us. So many people are 'believe it when I see it' type of people, needing something tangible, solid - something called proof. The proof is out there... In spades

I think it's clear that faith is learned, not innate, not instinctual. We start learning it the moment we are born whether we know it or not. We all have faith in one thing or another. We quickly learn to have faith in our mother by her demonstrations of love and caring. We've learned to have faith that the sun will rise in the morning, that sort of thing. This kind of faith is easy, we see it, we experience it.

Faith in the unseen, what's in another's heart or head is another thing entirely.

Many learn to have faith in God, and many don't. Just because some reject the idea of God altogether doesn't mean God isn't real. You ask, isn't God something humanity made up? Possibly, but it doesn't change the fact that God, or some "Godlike" conceptual construct is intrinsic to human development in a civilized world.

Well known atheist Richard Dawkins once wrote, and I'm paraphrasing, the universe is exactly as we'd expect it to be if it were undirected, with a cold, pitiless indifference toward everything. He was just calling as he saw it. Upon examination it does seem this is true. Life on Earth, the only place we know it to be, is brutal and compassionless. Yet humanity has thrived to the tune of eight billion of us roaming the Earth today. We've tamed nature to some degree and we are now reaching out to the stars. How was this accomplished when nature clearly has it out for us?

All alone in the wilderness you would likely face an early death. You pair up and then form a clan in order to survive a difficult and unforgiving world. Strength in numbers. Ultimately though, you stand alone, self-preservation reigns supreme. It's in the defiance, the selfless ability to sacrifice your own well being to help another that provides witness to the very spark of divinity within you, the recognition that God is in you. When the self-sacrifice a mother bears toward her children and a father for his family is extended outward, a community is formed. The recognition that your sacrifices, freely giving of yourself, giving of your resources with genuine motives elevates everyone in your presence. This is the divine, this is God among us. There is a reason charity is associated with the Godly.

If nature favors the survival of the fittest as you were taught, why would you chance helping the weak when it could lead to your own demise? Where does this human decency come from? Of course there are many reasons acting in a kind, cooperative manner would help ensure survival for you and your children. But many go above and beyond without any personal benefit, as if it's the right thing to do... So, there is a right thing and a wrong thing?

Doing right or doing wrong is clear, recognizable for what it is. We call it morality, and it's made clear to us at a fairly early age. With all it's grayness we know if our actions are moral, in our heart of hearts we know if what we are doing is right. We choose to reject, or at least suppress our better selves when we act immorally. We often hide or obfuscate our misbehavior. Why would we do that? You know why.

So if you are confronted by those who would belittle your faith, your belief in goodness, your belief in God by citing the bearded old man in the clouds, or your imaginary friend called Jesus, ignore their 14-year-olds argument, they are as ignorant as a teenager. You know the God presence in you, and it's your choice to accept God or reject God.

It's as obvious as the nose on your face that many, many people reject God, they push down the inherent goodness in their own heart, as they push it down in everyone around them. Too many corporate chieftains and political figures crave power and wealth over simple grace and humility. These leaders attract people like themselves. This is how evil grows in all institutions, even, I dare say, the church. Self-interest trumps self sacrifice.

Such is the problem of evil. A rejection of the God inside us. We are inundated with mixed messages in this modern world, where good and evil are inverted and good, Godly people are often ignored or are treated as the real weirdos. When you watch the people responding to a disaster, putting themselves in danger, going above and beyond, notice how they outnumber the looters and destroyers. There are so many good people - they don't get recognition, nor do they want it, just know they are there. It's all made to seem that the compromised outnumber those who honor the God presence inside them, but they don't. Good people with their love and kindness far outnumber the opposite.

 *****

Lastly, there are those who unequivocally reject the notion of God, especially a Judeo/Christian God, but they are clearly good people. What about them? They are fine. Deep down they believe in the power of good over evil, and act accordingly. Rabbis, pastors and teachers are guides toward truth, guides to righteousness - but not everyone needs a guide. I can't speak to other practiced religions; I do however have a belief that these people know the God deep down in their souls whether they profess belief in such things or not. Their inherent love and goodness is quite enough.

A New Philosophy: Words to Live By

 

by Craig Willms

I was sitting on the deck with my wife and some dear friends when I said something that sparked a thought, a profound thought. We were talking about how awful it is to get old. We are all in our sixties now, and only one of us is still working a day job. All of us were lamenting our inability to get a good night's sleep on a regular basis. Then there were all our aches and pains not to mention the physical clumsiness that increments day by day. It's hardly inspiring. It's only downhill from here. My wife sighed and said my goal is to get through to next Christmas when I can retire, then I'll make some plans. I said, "my goal is to get through tomorrow." I said, "Now, those are word to live by"!

My friend immediately said his goal was to get through today. I said no, no, no you got have a something to strive for. It then struck me that I might be on to some new philosophic approach to life. Getting through the day is pretty weak, because you're already halfway there. To set a goal of getting through tomorrow transcends the immediate and gives you something tangible to reach for. At our age tomorrow isn't too far out and therefore it's clearly obtainable. 

We are at the age when even a one-year plan is dicey, let alone a five-year plan. Setting goals is good, but we need to be realistic. In all seriousness by setting a goal of seeing tomorrow's bedtime instead of some too distant future we force ourselves to live for today, be present in the now, rather than constantly dreaming of someday. Face it, our time is numbered in months or years, not decades, not anymore. Living for today is not just laudable, it's also the right thing to do!

From this day forward that's the code, the philosophy I'll live by. So, from now on when someone asks, "what's your plan?" My answer will be, "my goal is to get through tomorrow." Everything else will fall into place (in one way or another).

PS

Talk is talk, right? I above anyone should not be giving advice on living, especially living in the moment. Doing something like that for a lazy person is quite difficult. I'm a daydreamer at best. So, in order for this new philosophy to stick I've got to live it, breath it and abide in the spirit of the words. So, this, the 31st of August in the year 2025 I start to live in the moment and plan for tomorrow... Everyday!

Making Sense of it All

 by Craig Willms

No one has all the answers. Most people including yours truly barely know enough to get by day to day. If nothing goes wrong and no one does anything unexpected or uncharacteristic we might be able to get by without confusion or strife. When does that ever happen? You might get a week, even a month where things go smoothly - then something happens. That's life.

You'd think that after living many, many decades things would be much clearer by now. Things? Yeah, things, as in everything. The only thing that is crystal clear is that everything changes - all the time. We go through life acquiring things, knowledge, experiences, skills and understanding seemingly preparing ourselves for someday when will put it all together and arrive. We never arrive. We never get to that place where we have it all put together and are ready to really live. Honestly, by the time you've put everything in its place, and time is all yours, you're just too tired to do anything. Ask any old person, they'll tell you.

We can't just accept that, we all know it, at least not so early on in the free-time portion of our life. Play through the pain as they say. However, even if the mind is revved up and ready to go the body is out of gas. It's not exactly clear when the body betrayed us, but it is perfectly clear what was lost. 

So, you've got the physical changes and the ever-changing modern world and the unexpected events piling up. Nothing's making sense anymore. You find yourself saying "you've got to be kidding me?" all the time or that other favorite "oh, for f_cks sake!". You thought you'd seen it all. Nope. Who said there's nothing new under the sun? Are you sure about that?

Standards, norms and expectations change like the wind. It's probably always been like that, but how would we know, we live in the now. History books rarely touch on the perceptions of the human experience. We can listen to our parents and grandparents for those insights, but how often do we actually do that? By the time we become an 'elder' our parents are gone, and our grandparents long gone. All we have is our own thoughts and memories to draw on. When we look back the decades smear together, what was once of earth shattering importance seems quaint and antiquated.

The world moves so fast now, it's so up close, so in your face. We watch the news and see the worst of humanity. We see what seems to be a concerted effort to tear everything down. They take any imperfect system, demand perfection and destroy it. Yeah, that makes a whole lot of sense. What emerges might be an improvement, but it's not a zero sum gain. There are always trade-offs, something good, something vital is always lost. When this is applied to an entire country all at once everything and everyone suffers. For a modern example we need only to look at Venezuela. A few short decades ago Venezuela was the most prosperous country in South America, today it's possibly the poorest. The socialist revolution that took place was a disaster. Blame socialism, sure, I do, but it's a clear example of a regime destroying everything and expecting paradise to emerge. Pure folly. 

The problem with the Utopians is that they have completely unrealistic expectations of society. They have a poor understanding of the natural self interest humans have always applied to themselves. It's called human nature. The other thing that seems to evade their sensibilities is that life is wholly unfair and downright brutal at times. Bad things happen to good people. Thank you Captain Obvious. They claim that they can change it if only the right system or policy is enacted. If only it were that easy... Since the beginning of time we  have been at the mercy of those with power and money and their exploitations. This will never change. Why? See the the top of this paragraph. 

In the west where I live the do-good destroyers target parts of society at an economic or at a social cohesion level. Of course paradise is the aim, but these are the unobtainable pipe dreams of those who wear rose-colored glasses. Yes, things could always be better, and it's important to strive for better, but not at the cost of destroying everything, the good and the bad. 

Wait! Do-good destroyers? 

What else are you going to call them? When they inevitably bring their grievances to the streets they leave behind a trail of destruction. They are curiously never present when outcomes of their heart-felt policies lay in ruins at our feet.  As well, we all know by now that these "street actions" are funded by powerful forces that relish in the chaos. When we focus on the ideologues fighting in the streets we are not focusing on the ideologue money-men and their schemes.

For all their sins, this is the worst... For decades now the Utopians have targeted motherhood. Ostensibly to free women of the toil and drudgery of child rearing and offer them a chance to have a career and equality of opportunity. Laudable? Well, I'll say this - true motives are often masked. Their tact was not to say you can be a mother and raise children, or have a fulfilling career. In practice it was to destroy the joy of motherhood in every way possible. Liberation was the rhetoric, but killing babies and starting the depopulation program was the goal. Sixty years later the entirety of the western world is below replacement level. Most of the developed world is in the same boat. At this pace humanity will go extinct. The Utopians have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. This is not to say there were not a whole host of other factors that have contributed to this, but clearly convincing women the only way to fulfillment is to eschew motherhood was a major contributor. By the time enough people wake up to this it will be too late. 

Making sense of this evil is difficult. Masked by the platitudes of high mindedness and decency, evil is often unseen. As with the liberation of women from their natural, instinctual need for motherhood evil targets what is good by calling it oppression and exploitation. Evil exists within all of us, no one is immune. It's why a utopian paradise is impossible. We should strive for it, by all means, ideals are good, but we can't destroy everything including ourselves because part of our culture, our beliefs or our systems is currently imperfect.

Free to Choose Free Will

You can choose a ready guide in some celestial voice

If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice

You can choose from phantom fears, and kindness that can kill

I will choose a path that's clear, I will choose free will

                                                                                Rush ~ Permanent Waves

by Craig Willms

It's a concept that engenders strong feelings. Some people get incensed by it, other people become smug. The religious see it as essential, atheists disregard it as a fairy tale. Society codifies it in the law, while science often dismisses it as a an illusion. Embedded in the mystery of consciousness and the meaning of life our free will is a subject for the ages. 

There are those such as myself who can't see an argument against it, and others who see all happenings as pre-determined. While neither side really knows nor can know the truth of the matter, it doesn't stop the endless debate. 

I have had the argument over free will any number of times, never coming to consensus, obviously. Arguments on Internet forums convince no one to change their view, but argue we must, if only to fortify our own positions. I've racked my brain to contrive an angle, construe a got 'ya moment to end this argument once and for all. Of course it's not going to happen, determinism is a self-sealed argument, it cannot be breached. 

In an earlier post called "Free Will is Not Just an Illusion" I made my arguments, all of which can be countered with determinist platitudes. Still, nothing convinces me we are some kind of machine doing only what the pre-written program allows. 

I fully concede that we don't actually choose what we like or what disgusts us. It's just there... We don't get to choose what comes naturally, or things we are undeniably bad at. These facts about us are true, but is that free will? I don't think so. These, as with the color of our skin or the type of hair on our head, are immutable characteristics, not choices. Free will is something we choose, consciously and sometimes without much thought. I absolutely acknowledge that free will is constrained. Free will exists in our power to decide within the constraints of the moment. There are numerous things in our lives that we have no choice over. We obviously had no choice in being born, or who our parents are, or where we enter this world. I don't think anyone is arguing that. It seems to me with live in a dualistic world - some things are determined by a past occurrence setting all the factors and there are other moments where switches exist for us to choose. Both can be true. We don't need to be so rigid about it. 

I go through my life and try to think of moments when I decided something, exercising my free will that is so profound that it can't be laid at the feet of a deterministic world. Have I ever succeeded? Unknown. I keep coming back to a decision I made 32 years ago to quit drinking. Did I make the decision or not? Did someone else make it for me? Did I have no choice in it at all? Good questions, but they are the wrong questions. It wasn't one decision on one day, it's a decision I make every single day. Obviously I make this choice of my own will - everyday. 

We make choices like this all the time. We choose to eat well or not, exercise or lay low, treat people with kindness or any number of variations, righteous or not - every single day. We can choose to disregard the consequences of our choices and allow the chips to fall where they may. It's out of our hands, it's meant to be. Regardless, we all know they are choices that can go either way based on our personal will. Is that not what free will is?

My decision to stop drinking was informed by my upbringing. Does that mean I had no choice, that my hand was forced? I don't think so. My six siblings had the same foundation in their upbringing and each chose differently. None followed our fathers path, which was to allow alcohol to ruin his relationships. None followed my path either. For 32 years I chose everyday to not drink alcohol, tomorrow I could choose differently, what's stopping me. Determinism? The universe? God? My Mom?

So, is my choice to forgo alcohol use determined by how others might react? Might that be the why??? Might they reject me and that's what forces the decision on me. Not likely. In fact, my friends would be thrilled, I'd be a lot more fun. Even my wife wouldn't threaten to leave me, she might like a 'funner' me. There were no threats to me with regards my drinking at the time. No one was being put out. My choice was based on a potential future that tracked with my fathers. I did not want that. I'd like someone to boil that scenario down to determinism.

Is free will an illusion of control? Are we slaves to cause and effect? Who's to say. We make deliberate choices every day. Are these decisions forced on us? Yes, some of them are. But... Right now, I'm choosing to go upstairs and make some cinnamon sugar toast and a cup coffee. Yes, I'm choosing - it's my free will. Why would you want to argue with me about that? 

Presence, Reality, Consciousness and... and... Fractals?

 

by Craig Willms

What's it all about?

As I see it all existence is fractal in nature and we, and by we I mean humanity, the earth, the universe, are somewhere along the continuum. If you've ever seen the Mandelbrot Set and explored the visual extrapolations into every nook and cranny you'll know what I mean. The endlessly revealing patterns can blow your mind. They are quite beautiful. If you take a minute and lookup the Mandelbrot Set here https://mandelbrot.site/ -  you'll see it's a remarkable site. Center the screen on any part of the fractal and zoom in... Endlessly.

Fractals, simply put are infinitely complex patterns that are self-similar across all scales. The thing is, fractals are just graphical and mathematical representations, but are they? It's hard to make the connection between these awesomely beautiful fractals and real life, yet the connection is there; fractals are all over the place. As seen in nature fractals manifest in leaf and branch patterns, rivers and their tributaries, lightning and other electrical arcs, even the human circulatory system. Still, it is stretch to equate infinite fractal expressions to our individual place in the reality of existence. 

It's a simple matter of perspective. Whether we step back or lean in we find evidence that fractal existence is not only likely, it's plain to see. 

Since the James Web Space Telescope went into service it immediately changed long held assumptions and revealed that the universe is much bigger than we imagined. When they pointed the JWST at a patch of space the Hubble telescope had seen as completely empty, they saw 10,000 or more galaxies. The JWST may just ruin the Standard Model and force the rewriting of basic tenets of astrophysics. What it reveals is the further we see into the cosmos we find even more stars and galaxies. Hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions more galaxies in all directions. When we launch even more capable telescopes in the future it's highly likely we will see millions more galaxies beyond what we can see today. In other words - it's endless, just like a fractal.  

On the other end, the atom was the smallest possible "particle" there could be. Or so they thought. The word atom originates from the ancient Greek word atomos, meaning “indivisible” or “uncuttable”. Well, it was neither indivisible nor uncuttable. Scientists, mathematicians and technicians have uncovered far, far smaller divisions of matter. It's safe to assume that as technological progress continues scientists will discover even smaller and smaller particles of matter - endlessly.

So, in either direction the small gets smaller and the large gets larger. So where are we in all of this space? It's impossible to know, and more to the point does it even matter? No one knows. Even the ancients posited the notion that our world may be a tick on the ass end of the universal dog. Is it possible that all the tiny moving particles that make up a human being exist in a rich universe that is our bodies? Do these particles understand their cosmos any better than we understand ours - if they care at all. Alas, we may be the only ones doing all this navel gazing.

If existence is fractal, so what? What does it mean in the grand scheme? If there is no beginning and no ending in either direction what does it matter if we are closer to the big end or the small end. It doesn't. The galactic dog could do a butt rub on the galactic carpet and we will cease to exist. How would we know? We wouldn't. But... But, there must be something more to this than a speculative exercise... Maybe there is.

When you consider the endlessness of fractal geometry you could easily equate it with what we know of the nature of time. Time itself being as big of a mystery we can imagine. Is time the connector between the endless fractal and the present moment? Time is undoubtedly in motion. If we set a fractal in motion, it reminds me of a descending spiral or a whirlpool, which are never the same but are clearly self-similar as they progress. Therefore, I can imagine time being the ultimate fractal expression. It's a reasonable speculation, but we don't know. We may never know; we may not be capable of knowing. 

It seems to be an essential feature that ultimate truths are hidden from us behind the veil. It's long been believed that we will only know what's beyond the veil when we die. Others believe when the light goes out that's it, that's all she wrote. The individual might not be able to cope with the knowledge of ultimate truth. That's what religions were created for - it's all too much for a single differentiated mind.

Yes, it's all so esoteric, so confusing, so mysterious. The mystery begins every day when we wake in the morning and re-enter reality to become present again. Where we were all night while our physical self is in a state of semi-stasis is a mystery, and where we go when our bodies die the ultimate mystery. However, we can only participate in the one shared reality when we are conscious, aware, and interacting with the world before us. That makes the conscious state more relevant than anything else since we share it with all of existence in this moment called the present. When we are dreaming, we dream alone, and when we die, we die alone, in either case we are not present. When we are not present, not aware, we are unable to make a connection with another. But here in the presence of the shared reality of consciousness we are not completely alone, we have a chance to the benefit from the beauty of connection.  

Could it be? That's what it's all about...

Is it any wonder... We need a miracle

by Craig Willms

With all the trouble in the world we'd be wise to understand what is at the very heart of it. That's easy. The obvious answer as well as the true answer is - the eternal battle between good and evil. Great, fine, now define in sociological terms the good side and the evil side. Not so easy is it.

We exist, all of us, in a world of contrast and balance. Everything is in flux, moving from one place to another, from the ever-expanding universe right down to the sub-atomic level. Atoms, which are just states of energy, are in motion and are never in the right place or wrong place, they just are, if they stop, they cease to exist. The same goes for our lives and our place in the grand scheme of things. We can't stop in place or shun the natural energy and rhythms of our existence. This is just a long way of examining this current civilizational juncture where good and evil in eternal opposition are an intrinsic part of the continuum of existence, and our utter powerlessness to do anything about it. Good, evil, we can't eradicate either, just as we can't do away with the light or the dark. There could be no good without evil. We have to come to grips with this dichotomy. We see our friends and enemies as either good or evil, but they are both. So are we.

The left/right enigma we find in the world today is out of balance. We need to understand that the right-wing, believe it or not, has evil elements as much as the left-wing does. Conversely, both have a bright side. When one side dominates, both their good and evil elements dominate. Let that sink in... 

The side that dominates, in the end, will destroy both. Today in the West the left, the collectivist elements are beginning to dominate politically, socially and economically. With an insistence on starving the productive populace and the poorest of the poor the efficient and abundant energy they need to live, as well as effectively outlawing dissent in the name of saving the world from a human induced fiery death the hard-left rules by fear. As such we now behold the beginning of the end of the modern order itself. 

In sociological terms both the good and the evil under the total domination of one political view or the other, leads us to mentally erase this good/evil duality. We become blind to the concerns of the other side. While other populations outside the West resign themselves to misery and go numb, or drown in a bottle, in Western countries we tear each other apart. We turn to hate and aggression, in total opposition to the other side. That may be inevitable when it comes to ideological survival, but until we all come to the realization that we need to be 'in balance' we will see nothing but strife and destruction. It would be great if we didn't have to pick sides but pick sides we must.

I'll start. I say the forced collectivism sought by communists and socialists is evil. They, on the other hand, might claim evil is the greed, the inequality of individualists and capitalists. Who is right? I can't really answer, how could I? I am firmly in support of the rights of the individual and free markets. The leftists who seek full control of every aspect of human life are quite sure they are right; they have no qualms about forcing their "beliefs" on you and me at every turn. Capitalists and those who promote individualism are in theory supportive of voluntary participation. The collectivists are not, they demand of society the false equity of equal outcomes regardless of individual effort or ability (or so they say). Collectivism, as in, to each according to his needs is only correct when it comes to infants and babies, and those who cannot possibly fend for themselves. Everyone else has to work. One should be rewarded according to their effort and their talents. Am I right? Of course, I am.

Ah, but this is where it falls apart. The destroyers, the collectivists and communists, tend to get all the ammunition they need from the capitalists themselves! The capitalist system is broken, probably always has been. Can it be fixed? Good question. What we have is cronyism, crony capitalism, or what I'd call stacked-deck capitalism. This bastardization of what capitalism should be is giving the bullies and shamers in the collectivist camp everything they need to derail those things that are actually good and righteous. In this crony system the winners collect the lion's share of the rewards. The deck gets stacked in favor of those within their sphere and their families. Where they can, they expertly finagle government policy to quash the competition, or they buy the competition outright. These elites easily usurp every liberal platitude or conservative bedrock principle, valid or not, into the feel-good about yourself ideology and shape them to their own advantage. It's become a very tangled web of diversions, deceit and favoritism. Our elected officials play along, often out of the necessity to survive.

Remarkably this broken system has thrived around multiple centers of gravity for many decades. Not anymore. Slowly over these last few decades the power and wealth has concentrated in fewer and fewer hands. Maybe this was always the inevitable outcome, I can't say, but it's where we are now. Countless wars, hot and cold have been waged between the so-called free world in the West and the dictators of the collectivist cults, just to keep the machinery of war well oiled. None of these wars have ended well for either side, save the defense industries.

So, which is the real evil? Is it the dictatorial collectivists and communists whose lust for control knows no bounds, or these oligarchical crony capitalists with all their depravity? Don't ask the defense contractors, the finance managers or the pharmaceutical industry you will get self-serving answers devoid of any humanity. Don't ask college students or their professors you'll get only slogans, fantasy and fluff. Don't even bother with the hard-core leftists, for whom humans are either hapless victims or diabolical oppressors. Don't inquire among the always sanctimonious marxists, who cannot see beyond the boiling rage that anyone might have more than they do. These power centers are blinded by their hollow greed or their disingenuous envy. No good solutions will come from any of them. They are quite evil. The rest of us are stuck in the middle. 

Is it any wonder the world seems to exist on a razor's edge. Do we live in an illusion of order and stability? We seem to teeter on the edge of turmoil raging just below the surface. When this order and stability inevitably break down, we will ask how this can this happen? How can it not? 

Looking back there was a point when the world might have ended the infatuation with communism/marxism. It was on the United States of America to foster the new age. Not that the true believers would have miraculously transformed and joined team Corporate America, but the faint hope that lingered for global collectivism could have been rubbed out for good. For a time, the West lifted billions out of abject poverty via the global systems built to defeat the Soviets during the Cold War. It wasn't going to last. Peace, love and understanding is the stuff of pop songs, not reality. Within a decade the American defense industry and their bought and paid for political stooges soon settled on a new enemy to justify greasing the cold war cash machine once again. That enemy was Islam... Islam could only fight back with terrorism. The result has been two decades of the worst of both of these absolute evils. America lost its chance to be a truly great global hegemon. The West lost its moral compass, if it ever had one.

For the love of money is the root of all evil... (Timothy 6:10 KJV version) seems appropriate here but I would rewrite it: "the love of money and power". Money is necessary, power is intoxicating, the combination of the two is lethal. Clearly this is not an original thought, but nonetheless true. Efforts have been made to separate the two, but never successfully. The reason reform never works is the multiple sets of perverse incentives to prop up the broken system. Doing what's right rarely wins converts or enthusiasts. Is there anything that can be done? Our current situation is so deeply entrenched and the vested interests, including our own, make it nearly impossible to see a way out. 

The pot is starting to boil. The left has the mechanisms of government and culture gripped firmly and the crony system is vacuuming up the money with which it feeds both sides of the fight. We'll never climb out of the water we're drowning in. The money elites and their billions have allied with the cultural marxists in some misguided notion that they'll somehow escape the destructive crash the collectivists have been orchestrating. Leftist collectivists have all kinds of plans to control us, all in various stages of completion. We need to face the facts. 

As for our biggest cultural ally in the world, Europe it's the same but worse. All of us watch our freedoms slip away, our economic power being stripped away, our ability to express opinions that don't "comply" with the leftist orthodoxy degrade. We are being threatened everywhere, in everything we do. How long can this go on? 

What to do now? Is there any hope? Marxist collectivism is like a debilitating rash that won't go away, it clearly is not an answer to anything. Can capitalism be saved? Maybe in some form. Obviously not in this current crony-ized form. Then what? Has the power and money been so concentrated that a wholesale collapse and rebuild is the only answer? I truly hope not. Something needs to change, also obvious, but can anyone articulate what that change should be? Or how we can initiate it without sowing chaos? If marxist nonsense is out and this stacked-deck capitalism is unsustainable what is an actual third way?

I clearly don't have any simple answers. I'm not sophisticated enough to solve the modern dilemma. Getting tainted money out of politics is one obvious play, but that's easier said than done. Just paying elected officials more and financing campaigns with public money isn't going to work, it's been tried in various places and to varying degrees. It just doesn't address the second part of the equation, the craven lust for power. Considering that the people with the money have the power there's not much chance anything will change short of a societal collapse, which the hard left with their socialist dreams seems to crave. Perhaps someone will come along that can see through to our warped situation with common sense solutions, or something approaching simple sanity. Someone who can stand against the entrenched money crowd while showing us in black and white the nefarious plans the socialists have plotted. I know it's asking for a miracle. Once in a while we deserve one. 

UPDATE: Since this was written the tide has turned. The right has pushed back. It's not clear where things will land. The right side of the spectrum has clearly picked up steam in America and other places around the world. The Covid-19 pandemic opened a lot of eyes. Still, even before Covid there was a sense that people, that everything had been pushed too far by the left. They are calling this a return to common sense. I doubt it will completely tip the state of the world, but anything is possible. The vile hatred for conservatism and the "right-wing" is greater than ever. This has happened before. In 1980 with the  election of Ronald Reagan things improved for millions, but it did not last. The hate was great then as well. It's not likely to last this time. Balance between the two extremes is needed but the world exists on a spinning teeter-totter. We lurch back and forth, up and down. The hope is that we do not come crashing all the way down. Will something fundamentally change with this swing to the right? Impossible to say. Obviously I welcome it.

CW

The Mental Fabric

 

The Mental Fabric

by Craig Willms

There is no there there. 

What does that even mean? We hear this, or some form of it all the time. It simply means there is nothing to it - whatever 'it' is. An empty suit so to speak. We like to think that we can put everything in its box, sorting out what is and what is not, what is real and what is fantasy. The key to the previous sentence is the word think. We think, yes, but what is that? Thinking is mental, it's immaterial, there's nothing to it. Now we've come full circle. 

Clearly, we exist in material form. It's also obvious we exist in thought, possessing an immaterial mental presence that is tied to our bodies. Fortunately, our lizard brain autonomically keeps our life-sustaining physical processes going, no thinking needed. Our bodies have inputs and outputs all of which can be measured, that is all except our mental output. Our thoughts are invisible, silent, odorless, tasteless and tactless. So, what are they? Spent energy? Where do our thoughts go if that's the case? It's a good question.

We all live a material life. We also live an inner life. As unlikely as it would seem we can be materially poor, our lives tough and miserable, while at the same time our inner lives are rich and fulfilling. It is possible, it does happen. Certainly, the opposite is true.

This dichotomy between our minds and bodies has been the source of speculation and disagreement since the beginning of time. The greatest minds to have ever lived have wrestled with it and yet we still have no definitive answers. Once materialism became the dominant tenet of existence the interest in the mind/body relationship has waxed and waned but has never been declared solved and dismissed. Recent years has seen a resurgence of interest in this so-called ultimate question. The advent of AI technology has ramped up the interest to new levels. Will one day we declare machines alive, conscious and capable of self reflection? Who can tell... 

It's fun to speculate, and as long as you do not commit the ultimate sin of bringing God into the discussion, it can be illuminating. 

_____________________________

"Are the thoughts we have any less real than the star dust we are made of? I don't think so."

_____________________________

We humans don't usually consider the universe as a whole when we contemplate our personal existence. The physical universe is so large, potentially endless, that we can't really wrap our minds around it. Yet we are part of the universe and to whatever degree we consider our place in it we need to understand that without us to ponder these questions the universe may not exist at all. That's a difficult concept to comprehend at any level. Interestingly enough we don't consider the endless potential of our mentation in the same way. Are the thoughts we have any less real than the star dust we are made of? I don't think so.

We accept the fabric of spacetime and our presence in it, but what about the mental fabric of the universe? Are we not present in our own minds? Since each of us is connected to all of existence at a physical level simply by being, why wouldn't we consider that we are all connected at a mental level? I contend we are. 

______________________

"The impersonal will is like a silent partner you don't even recognize." 

______________________

What if I tell you there is a part of your mind that is humanity's and not solely yours alone. Call it the impersonal will. Consider it an aspect of your mental being that does not care what you think, what you want, or care one wit about you or anyone else. It is that aspect of you that does things that are not necessarily in your best interest, the reason you occasionally say things like "I don't know why I did that, it's just not like me". It's the part of us that makes connections with others in an instant without our even thinking about it. The impersonal will is like a silent partner you don't even recognize. It's the part of us that joins the madness of crowds. Sports fans and rioters will understand this. It's the reason we can fall prey to the rhetoric of a wannabe dictator, the reason we can fall prey to seduction of all kinds. 

The universe, it has been said treats all of creation with pitiless indifference. It's true, it is a cruel existence that is essentially endless suffering and pain sprinkled with fleeting moments of joy. If we were simply instinctual biological creatures, we would not consider our own suffering let alone the suffering of another, we'd exist and then we'd die. But we do acknowledge suffering in ourselves and others. We rise above the impersonal will; we do the necessary to alleviate pain and suffering where we can. Therein is the difference we make by the power of our will, the personal will we impose on our beings. 

Where does the personal will come from? If it isn't material, if it isn't physical, does it really exist? The empathy we feel for ourselves, and others isn't something that can be quantified or measured scientifically, does that mean it isn't real? Or is it actually what makes us truly human? I pick the latter.

The impersonal will is something we don't control. We can only exert influence through thought and contemplation. We have to do this; we would be crushed by it if we let it run us. It is a force of nature; it is nature. It can be as merciless as a violent, raging firestorm. People who don't try to mitigate the impersonal will, being too meek or indifferent to the wake it creates, can be dangerous, even deadly. Others harness the impersonal will for their own benefit by bringing it to the surface and triggering it in others. When we say "so and so pushes my buttons" it's a recognition of this phenomena without real understanding. We've all been there. 

Childhood is all about learning to live with the impersonal will. Spend enough time with an infant through early childhood until the age of reason, and you'll actually see this battle of the wills develop. This skill isn't something we have innately, we learn it. 

We all know exceptional people and we know people that seem to fail at everything. They both face struggles, but what do they really, deep down struggle with? We say about the failure "he's his own worst enemy". We say about the successful guy "he's a force of nature, strong willed!" Just picture the image of little beings perched on each of your shoulders whispering in your ears... One says, "just do it, you know you want to" while the other says "it's dangerous and someone could get hurt". One of these imps is portrayed as the devil, uncaring of any consequence, and the other an angel, with everyone's best interest at heart. This concept illustrates the battle of the wills in simple terms, it is for all intents and purposes the epic battle between good and evil.

__________________

"This dance, this battle we must all face, defines us."

__________________

This dual nature we all possess sits at the basis of all our human stories. This dance, this battle we must all face, defines us. We don't know it intuitively; we rarely recognize its significance, yet it influences every decision we make. How do we know which of these natures is right, which one should we listen to? Humanity has been struggling with this since the beginning of time. It would seem we need some guidance, a teacher perhaps. 

Is it any wonder we conjured God? Of course not! But what is God really? Where is God? What if God is that part of our will that rejects the cold indifference of spacetime and brings compassion and empathy to the suffering. The man who says he doesn't believe in God doesn't realize that "God" is in him whenever he acts like a decent person or helps out when asked. God is right there, in him. We don't have to get hung up on religion to understand this. God is there when a new mother welcomes her baby, ready to sacrifice everything for it. God is there at the accident scene in the actions of the paramedic and then again at the hospital in the emergency room where doctors and nurses save lives. God is there in the woman who drops off groceries at the food shelf. God is there in the teenager who comforts his friend who has just lost her mother. God is at the lab in the scientist who is exploring a new treatment for disease. God is the hedge against the cold, cruel impersonal world. 

All these actions and millions more happen every day in every corner of the world. We may call it common decency, we may consider it simply doing what's right, but it is caring, compassion and empathy put into action. We are choosing to act Godly through the power of our will. We do this without conditions, without expectations of recompense. This is where God is. It doesn't have to be any harder than that. 

     

The Story

 The Story

by Craig Willms

 

The most compelling aspect of humanity through the ages is our love of stories and the very necessity of stories to define our existence. We appear to need stories to convey what is important, to educate and to know right from wrong. We individual humans will expire but our stories remain. The story is the thing.

Before there were books or movies, before the printed word there were spoken stories, the oral tradition. It was the way humans communicated ideas and concepts for the greater part of our existence. Our social hierarchies, our allies and enemies, our belief systems are to this day defined by our stories. Often, it's the only way to convey the social impact certain behaviors might have. The prefix we use, for example is most often followed by a story that exemplifies the lesson at hand. It's clearly one of the things that differentiates humans from other animals. Surely there are story tellers in the animal kingdom, but nothing that approaches the human propensity to tell and rely upon stories. 

Any parent can attest to the hunger little humans have for stories. From the time a child can process the language they want to hear stories, sometimes the same ones over and over. Anyone who has spent time reading to a child before bed knows how much children love to hear stories - read me another story! Yes, the child might be fighting sleep, or wishing to extend that close and personal one on one time with Mom or Dad, but the story is the thing that cements the joy they feel. The stories are helping to build the imagination of the young mind.

The phenomenon of story time only increases from there. Modern man thrives on stories, both the fictional and the true. The absolute truth of the story is less important than the lesson or idea being conveyed. Myths, legends and fables are powerful tools for passing cultural cohesion from one generation to the next. The Bible is a collection of stories that provide a narrative for believers. Each religion around the world uses stories to present its beliefs. These stories are powerful and motivating.  As well, we moderns love our movies, TV shows and novels. Little is as powerful as an emotional scene in which we have been drawn in by the story. In fact, we tell each other stories every day. We build our futures by the stories we tell ourselves and others. Almost every important concept of the human condition comes out of our story telling tradition. World wars and blood feuds all have started from the stories that were told and retold. Feuds lasting for decades, spanning multiple generations over actions taken by people long dead. Quite often the hatred and continuing violence far exceed the initial act. The stories get embellished by repeated telling's until the actual reason for the feud is long forgotten. 

All this leads to the realization that we are a story above all else. Everyone in and of themselves is but a story, some are easily forgotten, some become legend. Interesting stories are told and retold. You can liken your life to an actor embodied in a role, and what is an actor doing but acting out a story. Flesh and blood comes and goes, the story is all that remains. If we consider that all of matter has a shelf life and that each type of matter has its own, we come to a realization that nothing lasts forever. The stars, planets, mountains, rivers, rocks and trees all have a lifespan. Some last billions of years, some last thousands and some hundreds. We, humans, last about 80 years or so. Our bodies eventually transform into dust and then there is nothing. But is that true?

The story remains. 

What is Real?

 What is Real?

by Craig Willms

It seems like a strange question. Obviously when we open our eyes and look out at the world around us, we see reality, you know, the real world, right? Well maybe. Our reality in a physical sense is limited by what our five senses can convey to our conscious mind. Our bodies with our built-in senses are essentially measuring devices we use to survey the physical world. We know other animals have senses we don't possess or like our cats and dogs have heightened senses that work in ways we can't conceive. How the world looks to them would be completely alien to us. Clearly, we experience only a fragment of reality.

There are a thousand of theories and philosophies as to nature of reality, it's not a novel subject at all. Until the enlightenment era all theories and philosophies were equally valid. Through the pursuit of knowledge of how the physical world works some dangerous and exploitative notions were put down. Welcome to logic and reason. Materialism rose up and soon dominated the world. This was good in countless ways, obviously. So, what's the problem? 

Well, just this, materialism has no space for the metaphysical, for spiritualism. It was spiritual notions that provided the cohesion and belonging, the sense of purpose and the promise of salvation among other things that human societies had always been built around. The belief in a realm beyond the physical world where God(s) dwells is ancient, cross cultural and worldwide. As the materialist mindset marched on it pushed out any perceived need for this higher plane. I call it throwing the baby out with the bathwater syndrome. 

There are many things scientism can't explain and likely never will in a purely physical sense. Experience is most often cited. What is the scientific formula or mathematical equation for what it's like to taste chocolate, to feel the cool breeze of the ocean air? Things like love, courage, honesty, joy, intuition and integrity which are in fact mere words, but mean something so real they can't be denied. They cannot be reduced to a formula or equation. This suggests that there is something beyond the hard physical world. There is a mental realm where our consciousness and our inner life exist in conjunction with our physical beings. There seems to be a connectedness that stretches out from every living thing. Almost all people have had odd sensations, gut feelings, inexplicable connections and surreal occurrences that have shocked them or left them puzzled. The point is, it does not seem out of the realm of possibilities that a universal shared domain exists if you will. 

Therefore, you have a version of reality that allows for both the physical and the mental/spiritual. Call it dualism. This concept is simple enough to wrap the mind around as there seems to be evidence that both the physical world and a mental/spiritual world do exist. Dualism is mind and matter living in harmony. Mind, which is information and experience at its root, and matter, which is the domain where existence is physical, both seem quite real.

There's also an ancient philosophy that says all reality is beyond of the realm of the physical world, only the mind at large exists. It's called idealism. It is rooted in the idea that ultimate reality lies in a realm that transcends phenomena, that the essential nature of reality lies in consciousness. Only mental states are knowable. This type of belief has ancient roots across cultures, across time. It has been diluted by the success of materialism. It's now being re-examined as the fruits of strict materialism are found to be wanting. 

A strict materialist philosophy ultimately leads to nihilism and despair. This notion may be disputed by logic and reason types, particularly those of strong will and above average intelligence. Still, I believe the evidence of decay in the greater human spirit is overwhelming. The modern world breeds social disfunction and personal loneliness, and the materialist mindset is at the heart of it. As materialism gives us more and more material wealth and extended lifetimes among other things, human beings are less happy, less fulfilled, more stressed and suffer suicidal despair like never before. What changed? What hasn't? Brush away the debris of modernity, and underneath it all we'd see that at the same time the clarity of materialism was celebrated an ugly, tireless degradation of spirituality and faith had been unleashed from all corners. Thus, the throwing the baby out with the bathwater... 

All this begs the question: is reality what we 'see', touch and measure or is it what we think, feel and perceive mentally - or both? No one knows, hence this battle of ideas. The idealist believes that mind (consciousness) is all there is, and the materialist believes consciousness is merely an illusion. 

There are unanswerable questions, eternal questions, questions of meaning, questions we've all wrestled with in our own minds. To the materialist the mind is contained within the individual physical brain and extinguishes upon death, there one minute and gone the next. Where did it go? Does it just disappear? This denies the law of conservation of energy. Another unanswerable question, the mystery of death, I guess.

It is our perceived wants and needs, desires and fears, likes and dislikes that are not easily explained by the materialist simple black and white view of a purely physical reality. The materialist will not even consider the question of idealism's premise. Either consciousness is an illusion or strict physicalism/materialism is false, or both are true as dualism suggests. I myself do not have enough philosophical chops to make a determination, but I'm open to possibilities.

There's enough evidence that shows us that we are connected to each other and all of nature by something outside our physical selves. Perhaps it is God. Or something so base as to be indistinguishable from God. It has been at the heart of all religions and has been a source of our moral codes for millennia. It shouldn't be smugly dismissed by so-called experts and university students. So, to ask the question 'what is real' is to ask the ultimate question. 

Meaning:

 

Meaning: 

by Craig Willms

 

What is meaning? Why do we search for meaning? When do we know something has meaning? The eternal question; what is the meaning of life? It's not an easy thing to answer, but answer it we must, every day.

Webster's dictionary has three definitions for meaning: 1) the thing one intends to convey especially by language, 2) something meant or intended, 3) significant quality. There, that clears it up nicely, don't you think? Clear as mud.

Meaning seems to guide us at the most basic level. The need for our lives to have meaning defies a simple explanation. Like breathing, we hardly take time to think about it in any 'meaningful' way, we ignore it most of the time. Most of us want our life, our work, our relationships to mean something, but it becomes abstract background noise day in and day out. It's still important even when we shove it into the back of our minds. When we perceive life as meaningless it can affect us in serious and profound ways. In the face of meaninglessness people can become depressed, despondent or dangerously cynical.

Curiously, over time what we believe is meaningful fades and becomes no longer meaningful, something else replaces it. We don't even ask why, it just happens. Does that make us shallow? Or is it just the way it's supposed to be? I suspect the need for meaning is a coping mechanism, a very necessary one.

By and large we don't know why we are here, it's a question that seems pointless to consider, we just are, and we need to carry on. We integrate into the world we find ourselves in, and we try to cope with whatever life throws at us. What would be the point to seeking meaning in the day-to-day machinations of living? Yet we do, and we need to, or the world would fall apart around us. Those who fail at this end up discarded in prisons or on the street and act as reminders to the rest of us why meaning is important.

Most people find an equilibrium in their environment, not really thinking in terms of meaning except those times when confronted by hard choices. The rest of the time we distract ourselves with our jobs, family obligations, busywork or mindless activities, just passing the time. Searching for meaning all the time would be exhausting.

Certain people take the question of meaning as central and devote themselves to that which is outside of themselves. They tend toward serving others and often busy themselves with introspection, questioning their own motives when they feel they are falling short. Others don't, and almost never entertain any deep philosophical thoughts like the meaning of meaning, considering it utterly pointless. They are practical people, getting on with business of living, untortured by their own apathy. The world needs both kinds. I think we all occupy both these positions in some ratio over the course of our lives. It's important to understand that not everything means something, living life should outweigh an endless search for meaning. 

If and when we settle into a contemplative state, we might ask ourselves what does it all mean? What should we be doing? For me knowing that my death is far, far closer than my birth I tend to dwell on these thoughts from time to time. As it goes for me, later in life, retired from my "day job" I have time now to ponder these sorts of things. It can be unsettling to say the least. I will think of my mother who is already gone and my wife and children who will be left behind when I'm gone, and I wonder what did it all mean? 

Life will go on without me, this is a universal truth. In this world I'll be just a fading memory in the minds of those left behind. How quickly we disappear. For the millions and billions of people who came before us, what of them? The memories of them and everyone they knew are gone. Were their lives meaningless? What about all the children who died young, or the ones never born. Were their lives also meaningless? It doesn't seem possible. The meaning of our lives, our purpose, our ultimate contribution seems to me to be shrouded in mystery, and death an absolute finality, but is it? Is there transcendence for the mind and soul once the body dies? We really won't know until it happens. Thanks Captain Obvious...

I can't find a way to accept that once the lights go out that's it, we just cease to exist in any form. Entire cultures and religions for millennia have been premised on the foundation of a continued existence beyond the grave. Mankind clings to it. 

I cling to it.