The Island Journal

I was listening to the book A Briefer History of Time, a paired down audio version of A Brief History of Time by Steven Hawking the other day and I started to think about how life and energy collide to make reality. It's been proven that when we observe a situation, we alter it simply by observing. The book The Secret says basically the same thing; that in a nut shell, thought alters the universe. There are many examples of people altering perception to attain a goal. Look at athletes who push past the human physical “limits” and become greater than they should be able to become. Look at tiny housewives lifting cars off infants. Look at people who overcome physical or mental malady on a daily basis and you'll understand what I mean.

Now, what does this have to do with anything? Well, part of the theory I was listing to was basically the antithesis of Decarte's statement, “I think, therefore I am.”. In Physics, it's the other way round... think to much and you'll cease to be. Consider this application of this theory and this application of this other theory and how they contradict each other. If we came to a conclusion that was self sustaining and explained the entire universe, what's the point of continuing? It's not that the universe would be any less fun, it's just that we'd know all the ins and outs of existence and we'd be altering it to an infinite point... crunch. My thought is that we should stop trying to figure out the macrocosmic and focus on the microcosmic. Look at the people around you and ask three simple questions. “What effect am I having on this person? What effect are they having on me? How can we improve?” Then just experience the universe as it happens.

I put this thought to a friend who then said, “That's a very Buddhist way of looking at things... very zen...”. That got me thinking further. It seems to me that the majority of philosophies are trying to unravel not the meaning of existence, but existence as a whole. It's like a kid pulling at a loose string on a sweater. Now I'm not saying people should give up trying to analyze existence. It's my favorite pass time. I'm just getting an image in my head of a stoic philosopher standing on a hill beneath a tree with half a dozen or more students sitting in a haphazard semicircle at his feet. A student raises his hand and utters a calm, simple and perfect view of the point the philosopher is trying to make. He then stands and, wildly flailing his arms, eyes wide asks, “Did I get it right!?” Isn't that kind of missing the point?