Archive for the ‘Mystery of Life’ Category

Youth Awkward in Real World, Prefer Online…

August 11th, 2009
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re: @rww’s recent Twitter referencing http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/your_real_friends_are_your_online_friends_or_so_says_gen_y.php#comment-151573

I would reply:

“Real” friends? Or friends of convenience? Face to face contact is the most risky. Social networking via technology reduces the risk by adding a layer of insulation to personal encounters. But don’t make any mistake! The most valued friendships are the ones that endure the risks we take to build them. Tech offers a path of less resistance for now. But real value comes at a price. Live and learn or live in the shallows.

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Social Media as Symptom…

August 7th, 2009
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Could the social media frenzy be a symptom of humanity’s greater need?… for connection, for escaping the superficial, for overcoming the fear of being alone??

What is it replacing? What did we do with that time prior to the craze? And what are the consequences if the deeper needs do not in fact get met? » More: Social Media as Symptom…

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Web 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 revisited…

July 24th, 2009
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In a previous post, I gave simple definitions of Web 1.0, Web 2.0, and speculated on what Web 3.0 might hold for us (realizing of course these are unofficially recognized and ambiguously overused terms).

But now with all the hoopla about Web of Things and Internet of Things, I find further evidence for my original definitions.

Web 1.0 was about information. Web 2.0 is about communication. And Web 3.0 (Or Web 0, depending on your views), is about connection. However, I don’t mean connection in a superficial sense. Rather, like the post-human view, the electro-chemical carbon-based life forms merge with the electro-mechanical micro-sensing world. The connection is a cross-reality (M.I.T. term) linking virtual with real-time.

It will be interesting to see what happens next. Until now, virtual reality overcame space-time barriers but real life remained subject to them. Cross-reality bridges this gap to create a new experience. Rather than one or the other, both are merged: A post-human, cyborg (cybernetic organism) view.

What is possible is no longer limited by human imagination. The new paradigm is emerging with the mashup of imagination and computerization. The future is not merely an internet of things as much as the connection of… (you finish the sentence).

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Essential Questions K-12 Students Should Ask…

July 1st, 2009
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What are the essential questions K-12 students should ask?

According to Howard Gardner, Professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, they are: “the essential questions of human life: who are we, where do we come from, what’s the world made of, what have humans achieved and what can we achieve, how does one lead a good life?” (see Reference below).

Are today’s K-12 teachers qualified to facilitate such inquiry openly and honestly?  Hmm…

Reference: http://lilt.ilstu.edu/gmklass/foi/read2/gardner.htm

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Mediocrity is the entropy of our future…

June 1st, 2009
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Nothing is more dissatisfying than living a mediocre existence day after day. Superficial encounters with friends leave our true selves buried within the tomb of wasted time. So pitifully sad. Where are the visionaries? Where are the trumpet blowers? When will we wake up? Are we so drugged, so stupefied by mainstream status quo rhetoric that tells us everything is as good as it can be? When will we break through the shell of our tenuous existence that hangs by a thread and see our subatomic existence as it really is?

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Facebook is the blackhole of time…

June 1st, 2009
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Social networking is a huge time burden which would not be a problem if it were real but so much is superficial mumbo jumbo. I’m disappointed in the feeble attempts of my social network amigos who ‘try’ to give the impression they are happy, doing great things, pursuing high goals, attempting marvelous exploits, etc, etc. Where’s the real people? Where’s the deep thought? I can see the surface with my eyes. I want to hear what’s going on in the heart and soul of my fellow earth dwellers.

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Speed doesn’t wear us down, friction does…

May 2nd, 2008
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It’s not the speed that kills us. It’s the wearing down action that friction plays. Many are living with gusto. They are moving at the speed of life without so many cares as some who plow ahead against so many self-imposed barriers. Most of these barriers are built up in the mind rather than in reality. Nevertheless, real or imagined, they must be overcome as well.

The science of superconductors has experimented with the use of ceramics that are supercooled and suspended by magnetic fields in order to drive force without friction. The theory of generating energy without friction underlies such research. Equate this with living a stress-free life.

I’ve heard it said that the only people who are without stress are in a coffin. This may be true or it may be a psychological defense mechanism to deal with the stress of thinking about “how” to live stress-free. :-0

Ancient scriptures speak of a “peace beyond understanding” (Philippians 4:7). If such a thing exists, it is not common in our world where everyone is seeking to understand the reasons behind everything. Perhaps the problem is that we live too much in the mind and not enough from the heart.

Perhaps the friction on our mind makes us smarter while the friction on our heart kills us. An old proverb says, “Above all things, guard your heart for from it are the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23).

Are we living a heart-felt life or a brain-stressed one?

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The Definition of Nature is Elemental…

March 28th, 2008
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I recently read a fellow student’s post entitled, “Nature is Undefinable.” My reply is as follows:

Though it may be true that we have yet to exhaust our research in order to come up with an adequate definition, as intelligent beings who bear the principle responsibility as the planet’s stewards, I believe our quest to define nature is not in vain.

Actually, Ashworth in his book, “The Left Hand of Eden,” does a good job of exposing the inherent contradiction we face by looking at nature as “other” and somehow separate from US. Even reading the posts, you can see the circular reasoning and logical fallacies expressed by nearly everyone because of this intrinsic contradiction.

We know we are “supposed” to be one with nature yet everyone discusses nature as “other” and thereby perpetuates the misunderstanding. Until we resolve this elemental fact, we cannot hope to rescue our future from its collision course with disaster.

In our world, there are just 118 known elements. These 118 elements make up every iota of physical matter including ourselves. It doesn’t matter whether you drive a Cadillac and I ride a bicycle; you wear fur coats and I wear second hand; you eat caviar and I eat from a trash can. Regardless, you and I cannot exceed the bounds of the 118 known elements. We are imprisoned with all of creation inside the four walls of » More: The Definition of Nature is Elemental…

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The Universe…

February 15th, 2008
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The microscopic world so small
The super macro high and tall
Unreachable they seem at best
Such reason cannot stop man’s quest

From subatomic particles
To Galaxies in constant swirls
For movement most centrifugal
Yet life of meaning hardly full

From small to large the search goes on
From high to low, from short to long
Though man conceives eternity
When in the dark it’s hard to see

For depth of soul has not been plumbed
And height of Spirit not yet climbed
Except for One whose overall
Who can’t be named by man so small

Such mystery, how can it be?
Yet one who tastes will surely see
Reality experienced
Yet not explained by common sense

The living know though can’t explain
The life beyond the space/time plain
They see by their experience
The life beyond the human fence

The wheel of life in cyclic flow
Science does this life man show
Yet wheel within the wheel is dim
To those with conscience marred by sin

And with the light within comes truth
Yet not for lofty heads comes forth
As water fills the empty cup
So humble souls the truth fills up

The wheel within the wheel is seen
Experienced beyond the mind
It lies within the deepest part
The likes of which some never find.

 

- by D. McPheeters
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