A flock of crows milled above the tip just over the horizon as I sat on a stile watching from a distance, hearing their squawks and protests as they jostled for a decision on what to do next. Some birds sailed to the east away from the tip, towards a wood where they would settle for a while. Others wanted to sit on nearby posts holding up wire netting that had once been taut, and some of those posts were already taken, but the birds that were there had rested, so they flew to the next post instead, giving their space freely to the more exhausted. Once all posts were full, the crows sat quietly.
Behind the picture is another story, one of unbelievable avian commitment. We've lost the ability, it seemed to me at the time, to function in a socially democratic way. At least, in any way we would be familiar with, having been familiar with over-comfort for some time. Meanwhile, the world at war with itself is showing no sign of surrender. Fishing fleets, prospectors and logging companies aren't really interested in sustainability, because nothing matters any more but more power. People, plants and wildlife are just collateral damage now. Supermarkets and petrol pumps still have plenty of customers, so no reason to roll over.
Behind the picture is another story, one of unbelievable avian commitment. We've lost the ability, it seemed to me at the time, to function in a socially democratic way. At least, in any way we would be familiar with, having been familiar with over-comfort for some time. Meanwhile, the world at war with itself is showing no sign of surrender. Fishing fleets, prospectors and logging companies aren't really interested in sustainability, because nothing matters any more but more power. People, plants and wildlife are just collateral damage now. Supermarkets and petrol pumps still have plenty of customers, so no reason to roll over.
Nothing can save us from our own destruction, we've sat on the fence too long. Nothing, that is, except quantum mechanics; quantum mechanics can free us from the illusions of constraint and constant bondage any time it likes, provided it's allowed to. But here, again, power has a foothold because the people who make the equations understand their mathsy language, and anyone who doesn't understand their language is Outcast, and anyone who talks to an Outcast is a traitor to the Flock, thus the constant constraint on free dialogue is fixed, and those with the Power want it to stay that way. (Explanation behind gulls.)
Only, it can't. Change is as inevitable as Uncertainty - in fact they're probably related. Time is a wave form we ride. The huge blockade in the way of certain progress is called Woo, which is by definition both an insult and a bias, even if the word does have certain quaint connotations. Woo stands in the way of intuition. Woo wants everything without a perfectly executed logical equation in tow to be kicked into the trash can and labelled Junk (which is, as I recall, what happened to 95% of our DNA not so long ago). A Woo merchant won't let you pass Go without a degree, or at least a grounding in maths so that you can understand what they mean when they say the Universe is flat. Woo merchants are not interested in sustainability of the human spirit, because they are determined to believe firmly that no such thing exists.
Only, it can't. Change is as inevitable as Uncertainty - in fact they're probably related. Time is a wave form we ride. The huge blockade in the way of certain progress is called Woo, which is by definition both an insult and a bias, even if the word does have certain quaint connotations. Woo stands in the way of intuition. Woo wants everything without a perfectly executed logical equation in tow to be kicked into the trash can and labelled Junk (which is, as I recall, what happened to 95% of our DNA not so long ago). A Woo merchant won't let you pass Go without a degree, or at least a grounding in maths so that you can understand what they mean when they say the Universe is flat. Woo merchants are not interested in sustainability of the human spirit, because they are determined to believe firmly that no such thing exists.
Quantum mechanics is not interested in bias, it has no agenda and it doesn't belong to anyone in particular (no matter what Brian Cox might tell you. My interpretations are behind his picture.). As the bedrock of existence, it has interesting paradigms to share and some useful perspectives to be fruitfully adopted. Despite claims to the contrary, its relationship with metaphysics is so close that you can experience "spooky action" for yourself, in all kinds of ways on your own world line.
When you've done that, and know what I mean, which if you've read this far is very likely, you'll be able to appreciate how important it is to talk about this stuff without unconscious bias getting in the way of intuition, and finding the final keys to that GUT scientists are so keen on holding aloft for the next Nobel. Remembering as you do so that quantum mechanics, like time, is a shared yet relative commodity, that nothing can ever happen the same way twice, and that your particles, just like everyone/everything else's, have become waves and collapsed back into particles again during the nanosecond it took to read the last word.
When you've done that, and know what I mean, which if you've read this far is very likely, you'll be able to appreciate how important it is to talk about this stuff without unconscious bias getting in the way of intuition, and finding the final keys to that GUT scientists are so keen on holding aloft for the next Nobel. Remembering as you do so that quantum mechanics, like time, is a shared yet relative commodity, that nothing can ever happen the same way twice, and that your particles, just like everyone/everything else's, have become waves and collapsed back into particles again during the nanosecond it took to read the last word.
RSS Feed
