The process of studying species from other planets
or galaxies may seem a bit obscene to many of you at first blush. After all,
isn't it only fiction? That we share the universe with other cognative beings?
Well, its my hope that this course will effectively change your mind. It is
my contention that we are being studied on a consistent basis by other species
and that we should, in kind, return the favor. It would be rude not to. These
studies will need to consist of three components in order to be effective.
1. We always maintain an open mind. Many of the processes and ideas discussed
in this discourse will seem "alien" (no pun intended) to many. It is of paramount
importance that we not get cluttered with hows and whys and what ifs until at
least the initial course is complete. Think of it this way: If you were to take
someone in the 19th century and explain the concept of a jet airplane, they'd
be completely baffied. "How can something that heavy possibly fiy??" they'd
ask. After you had explained the general principles of aerodynamics and propulsion
to them, they'd begin to not only understand the basic concept and accept it
a viable possibility, but they'd also begin to formulate more logical questions
as you went along.
2. We dissolve the notion here and now that humans, or homo sapiens, are the
"top dog" on this planet. We're not. We're not scraping the bottom, but we have
nothing to base our comparison on other than our own, diluted experiences. Just
as the theory of relativity clearly explains, we cannot make an accurate assessment
on something if we are viewing it from only one (in this case skewed) perspective.
3. That we are a species that did not evolve from apes, but neither were we
placed here by a specific diety. We are, as we shall discover, a collage of
many things, many species, and there is infinite beauty in our own "fiaws".
Life, in its purest form, is the only truth. Everything else is just circumstance
and juxtaposition. To put it simply: You're going to have to unlearn what you
have learned (stolen, I know, but a great way of putting it nonetheless) and
think from a clean slate. To effectively absorb this information you'll need
to open your mind to areas you never knew were (or, more accurately "are") there.
Let's begin with a bang.
If everything once existed in a
speck of matter both infinitely small and infinitely dense, we can safely say
that everything is, truly one. This theory, commonly accepted on Earth as the
"Big Bang" theory, is a very clever, advanced way of thinking about the universes
as we know it. Stephen Hawking, a human physicist and astro-physics guru, has
developed this theory into a beautifully complex, yet simple, package. The essence
is this: Everything that is the physical once existed in a space that was both
infinitely small and infinitely dense. It, at some point billions (if not trillions
or more) of years ago, exploded into an ever-expanding series of matter that
makes up, now, all the planets, life, galaxies, stars, nebula, etc. that fills
our universe. It is expanding at a rate that can be tracked by using our primative
telescopes and, taking the theory of relativity into account, our perspective.
We see something in the sky, we measure its postion relative to our own. We
look at it again. If its moved, by how much? We can then, using geometric equations,
estimate how far its gone "away" from us since we last checked. Now, its also
part of this theory that the stuff is going to go out to a certain point, reach
a state of "critical mass" and then implode on itself once again. Contracting
into another speck of matter both infinitely small and infinitely dense only
to be "reborn" by another "Big Bang" event. I content that this is wrong for
two reasons.
1. There is no end to the universe. It must be infinite. If there is a "border",
what could possibly be on the other side? Another universe? That would be illogically
redundant.
2. There is not inherent gravitational pull or other outside "third party" force
excercising itself upon it. I think that the "Big Bang" could have started all
of this, but I don't agree that it will eventually implode upon itself and start
again. This, I believe, is a one-way street. The good news: We go on forever.
The bad news: We don't get any second chances to do it all again. Starting from
this theory is crutial for this course because we have to realize that we have,
all of us, been aprt of the same thing at one time and that we are, then, connected
on a level that can't possibly be explained, but can be "felt" by anyone on
there base level of emotional knowing.
They were nothing special. At
least not as far as other species go. They existed in a state of semi-consciousness.
Surrounded by a soft, warm glow that accompanied everything else in the early
times. The universe was much smaller then. About a billionth the size it is
today. Everything was still VERY active in a physical sense. If you can imagine
a merry-go-round at a park. (not the mechanical kind. The ones you just push)
If you sit in the very center of the merry-go-round, you feel like you're just
turning around in a circle. Its nauseating. But, if you sit on the edge you
feel as if you're moving. And, in fact, you are. You're moving at a finite rate
based on how fast the center is "spinning" As the merry-go-round begins to increase
its speed, you're travelling faster and faster. Centrifugal force is pulling
you outward with a force that increases expotentially as the speed of the merry-go-round
increases. The person sitting in the center, however, only feel sicker and sicker
because they are not being pulled out, they are just spinning until, with any
luck, they get off centered, out of the center of the ride, into the pull of
the centrifugal force, and are jettisoned across the playground. The same principal
applies to the early members of our cosmic family. They were at the center when
everything was happening. Immense heat, and forces that we would describe as
"crushing" were commonplace and just part of existence for them. That's why
they eventually got off-kilter and spanned out across the universe. As they
were propelled deeper and deeper into the reaches of space, they became less
and less used to the feeling they once knew as "normal" and became less and
less reliant upon the crushing effects of immense energy and "gravity" to survive
in the physical context. (Is this getting too deep? Should we step back for
a minute?) Life, in its purest sense, has always been. There is no beginning
and there will never be an ending. We just "are". It just "is". Let's consider
an example. A drop of water in the ocean is composed of hydrogen and oxygen.
Its intermingled with other water molecules and, in essence, just "hangs out".
Some of them get close to the surface where, because of energy, get transformed
from a solid into a gas. They rise and become clouds, travel across the globe,
and eventually fall as rain. They then are funneled, eventually, into the oceans
again and the whole process starts over again. To say that the water in your
cup had a beginning or an ending is false because it has, for our purposes,
always "been". But to say that it was always water is also not accurate. It
has changed its form several times, even though its compents have remained unchanged.
Any species in the universe can trace its roots back to the same infinite speck
of matter. Although we have changed over and over again, we are still made up
of the same carbon, water, and energy that we originated from. Matter cannot
be created or destroyed. It can only change its appearance.
