| |
 |
|
|
Friday, December 31, 2004
Friday, December 31, 2004
My best wishes to each and every one of you for a really joyful, fun, funny, wild-eyed dreamy, expansive, mystical, phenomenal, eye-opening, heart-stopping, serene, beautiful, going-to-places-you-never-ever-dreamed-you-could-go, totally impossible new year.
I love hearing from all of you and hope that one day you'll all be able to meet one another and that we can do something fantastic and out-of-this-world together!
Peace, love, prosperity,
Dan
Add Comment
Read Comments (0 comments)
Thursday, December 30, 2004
Thursday, December 30, 2004
When I first read Carl Sagan's book, "Cosmos," I was startled to hear him say that while he believed the universe was teeming with life, he felt it unlikely that there was another human species out there, because the odds against it were so high. It is a consistent failing of many scientists that they underestimate infinity. In an infinite universe, odds against anything lose their power, because you get an infinite number of chances. So, if you were to say that the odds against another human species are a google to one, by the time you find the googleth galaxy, you will have found another human species. The logical corollary, I thought, is that at some point, you find another you. In fact, there are an infinite number of other "yous" out there - exactly the way you look and talk and act.
Then last May, Max Tegmark, writing for Scientific American did a story on parallel universes. Scientific American is to science what National Geographic is to geography. The story starts out by saying, "Is there a copy of you reading this article? A person who is not you but lives on a planet called Earth, with misty mountains, fertile fields and sprawling cities, in a solar system with eight other planets? The life of this person has been identical to yours in every respect. But perhaps he or she now decides to put down this article without finishing it, while you read on." "The idea of such an alter ego seems strange and implausible, but it looks as if we will just have to live with it, because it is supported by astronomical observations. The simplest and most popular cosmological model today predicts that you have a twin in a galaxy about 10 to the 10(28) meters from here. This distance is so large that it is beyond astronomical, but that does not make your doppelganger any less real. The estimate is derived from elementary probability and does not even assume speculative modern physics, merely that space is infinite (or at least sufficiently large in size) and almost uniformly filled with matter, as observations indicate. In infinite space, even the most unlikely events must take place somewhere. There are infinitely many other inhabited planets, including not just one but infinitely many that have people with the same appearance, name and memories as you, who play out every possible permutation of your life choices."
Now let that expand your imagination a little bit. On some planet John Kennedy is 88 years old and alive and kicking right now. Some planet has risen to greatness to end hunger, AIDS, and war. The point is, in the face of this kind of overwhelimg possibility, how can we believe in anything other than the most unimaginably beautiful future for ourselves? How can we dare to be so small when the universe around us is so great?
Add Comment
Read Comments (0 comments)
Wednesday, December 29, 2004
It is always crisis that calls us to approach our larger selves. The outpourings of support for the victims of the tsunami, events like Live AID, the huge donations that were made to the 9-11 fund, etc. are examples. Something comes alive in us in the face of crisis. Something is awakened. In that state, we would do almost anything to help our neighbor. We become greatness. Our ideas are bigger. Our actions are bigger. We become less cautious. We are willing to take more risk. As a consequence, great things get achieved.
Things like the end of the AIDS epidemic and the ened of world hunger will be made manifest by tapping into that greatness, and not by any other means. We do not need to know more about medicine to find a cure for breast cancer. We need to understand more about the technology of great achievement. Out of that knowledge we will do the things we need to do to find the medicines that will lead to the cure. We need to become experts in greatness.
Add Comment
Read Comments (0 comments)
Tuesday, December 28, 2004
The tsunami death toll has reached 120,000. Remarkably, the global AIDS epidemic takes that many lives every fifteen days.
Add Comment
Read Comments (0 comments)
Tuesday, December 28, 2004
Monday, December 27, 2004
These appeared in Time magazine several years ago and I have always loved to come back to them every once in a while. You will laugh when you read them, but the sad truth is, this is the way 99.99999% of the world thinks - including most people leading our government and our institutions - they have no imagination and they have a deep-seated and unexamined fear of change. What are these people telling you about your dreams and plans?
These are all also good evidence of how much the unimaginative mind loves to pontificate. The people who have the least imagination are the ones who most love to hear themselves talk. The people with the smallest basis upon which to have an opinion are the ones to love to give their opinions the most. They will fill the room with their own hot air at the slightest sign of a good idea.
Here ya go...
"This "telephone" has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.
-Western Union, internal memo, 1876
Heavier than air flying machines are impossible.
-Lord Kelvin, President, Royal Society, 1895
Everything that can be invented has been invented.
-Charles H. Duell, Commission, US Office of Patents, 1899
Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value.
-Marshall Ferdinand Foch, Professor of Strategy, Ecole Superieure de Guerre
Professor Goddard does not know the relation between the action and reaction and the need to have something better than a vacuum against which to react. He seems to lack the basic knowledge ladled out daily in high schools.
-New York Times editorial about Robert Goddard’s revolutionary rocket work, 1921
The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?
-David Sarnoff's associates, in response to his urgings for investment in the radio in the 1920's
Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?
-Harry M. Warner, Warner Brothers, 1927
I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.
-Thomas Watson, Chairman of IBM, 1943
There is no reason for any individuals to have a computer in their home.
-Ken Olsen, President, Chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977"
Add Comment
Read Comments (0 comments)
Sunday, December 26, 2004
Asked which of his works he would select as his masterpiece, architect Frank Lloyd Wright at the age of 83 replied, "My next one."
Add Comment
Read Comments (0 comments)
Saturday, December 25, 2004
Merry Christmas everyone. May whatever vision Jesus Christ had of the way life could be on this earth come to pass, and may it come to pass by the effort of our own hands, our own hard work, and our own intention.
Add Comment
Read Comments (0 comments)
Thursday, December 23, 2004
I've been absolutely terrified every moment of my life and I've never let it keep me from doing a single thing that I wanted to do. - Georgia O’Keefe
Add Comment
Read Comments (0 comments)
ARCHIVES
09/28/2003 - 10/05/2003 10/12/2003 - 10/19/2003 10/19/2003 - 10/26/2003 10/26/2003 - 11/02/2003 11/02/2003 - 11/09/2003 11/09/2003 - 11/16/2003 11/16/2003 - 11/23/2003 11/23/2003 - 11/30/2003 11/30/2003 - 12/07/2003 12/07/2003 - 12/14/2003 12/14/2003 - 12/21/2003 12/21/2003 - 12/28/2003 12/28/2003 - 01/04/2004 01/04/2004 - 01/11/2004 01/11/2004 - 01/18/2004 01/18/2004 - 01/25/2004 01/25/2004 - 02/01/2004 02/01/2004 - 02/08/2004 02/08/2004 - 02/15/2004 02/15/2004 - 02/22/2004 02/22/2004 - 02/29/2004 02/29/2004 - 03/07/2004 03/07/2004 - 03/14/2004 03/14/2004 - 03/21/2004 03/21/2004 - 03/28/2004 03/28/2004 - 04/04/2004 04/04/2004 - 04/11/2004 04/11/2004 - 04/18/2004 04/18/2004 - 04/25/2004 04/25/2004 - 05/02/2004 05/02/2004 - 05/09/2004 05/09/2004 - 05/16/2004 05/16/2004 - 05/23/2004 05/23/2004 - 05/30/2004 05/30/2004 - 06/06/2004 06/06/2004 - 06/13/2004 06/13/2004 - 06/20/2004 06/20/2004 - 06/27/2004 06/27/2004 - 07/04/2004 07/04/2004 - 07/11/2004 07/11/2004 - 07/18/2004 07/18/2004 - 07/25/2004 07/25/2004 - 08/01/2004 08/01/2004 - 08/08/2004 08/08/2004 - 08/15/2004 08/15/2004 - 08/22/2004 08/22/2004 - 08/29/2004 08/29/2004 - 09/05/2004 09/05/2004 - 09/12/2004 09/12/2004 - 09/19/2004 09/19/2004 - 09/26/2004 09/26/2004 - 10/03/2004 10/03/2004 - 10/10/2004 10/10/2004 - 10/17/2004 10/17/2004 - 10/24/2004 10/24/2004 - 10/31/2004 10/31/2004 - 11/07/2004 11/07/2004 - 11/14/2004 11/14/2004 - 11/21/2004 11/21/2004 - 11/28/2004 11/28/2004 - 12/05/2004 12/05/2004 - 12/12/2004 12/12/2004 - 12/19/2004 12/19/2004 - 12/26/2004 12/26/2004 - 01/02/2005 01/02/2005 - 01/09/2005 01/09/2005 - 01/16/2005 01/16/2005 - 01/23/2005 01/23/2005 - 01/30/2005 01/30/2005 - 02/06/2005 02/06/2005 - 02/13/2005 02/13/2005 - 02/20/2005 02/20/2005 - 02/27/2005 02/27/2005 - 03/06/2005 03/06/2005 - 03/13/2005 03/13/2005 - 03/20/2005 03/20/2005 - 03/27/2005 03/27/2005 - 04/03/2005 04/03/2005 - 04/10/2005 04/10/2005 - 04/17/2005 04/17/2005 - 04/24/2005 04/24/2005 - 05/01/2005 05/01/2005 - 05/08/2005 05/08/2005 - 05/15/2005 05/15/2005 - 05/22/2005 05/22/2005 - 05/29/2005 05/29/2005 - 06/05/2005 06/05/2005 - 06/12/2005 06/12/2005 - 06/19/2005 06/19/2005 - 06/26/2005 07/10/2005 - 07/17/2005 07/17/2005 - 07/24/2005 07/24/2005 - 07/31/2005 07/31/2005 - 08/07/2005 08/07/2005 - 08/14/2005 08/14/2005 - 08/21/2005 08/21/2005 - 08/28/2005 08/28/2005 - 09/04/2005 09/04/2005 - 09/11/2005 09/11/2005 - 09/18/2005 09/18/2005 - 09/25/2005 09/25/2005 - 10/02/2005 10/02/2005 - 10/09/2005 10/09/2005 - 10/16/2005 10/16/2005 - 10/23/2005 10/30/2005 - 11/06/2005 11/06/2005 - 11/13/2005 11/13/2005 - 11/20/2005 11/20/2005 - 11/27/2005 11/27/2005 - 12/04/2005 12/04/2005 - 12/11/2005 12/11/2005 - 12/18/2005 12/18/2005 - 12/25/2005 12/25/2005 - 01/01/2006 01/01/2006 - 01/08/2006 01/08/2006 - 01/15/2006 01/15/2006 - 01/22/2006 01/22/2006 - 01/29/2006 01/29/2006 - 02/05/2006 02/05/2006 - 02/12/2006 02/12/2006 - 02/19/2006 02/19/2006 - 02/26/2006 02/26/2006 - 03/05/2006 03/05/2006 - 03/12/2006 03/12/2006 - 03/19/2006 03/19/2006 - 03/26/2006 03/26/2006 - 04/02/2006 04/02/2006 - 04/09/2006 04/09/2006 - 04/16/2006 04/23/2006 - 04/30/2006 04/30/2006 - 05/07/2006 05/07/2006 - 05/14/2006 05/14/2006 - 05/21/2006 05/21/2006 - 05/28/2006 05/28/2006 - 06/04/2006 06/04/2006 - 06/11/2006 06/25/2006 - 07/02/2006 07/16/2006 - 07/23/2006 07/23/2006 - 07/30/2006 08/06/2006 - 08/13/2006 08/13/2006 - 08/20/2006 09/03/2006 - 09/10/2006 09/10/2006 - 09/17/2006 09/17/2006 - 09/24/2006 10/08/2006 - 10/15/2006 11/05/2006 - 11/12/2006 11/12/2006 - 11/19/2006 12/03/2006 - 12/10/2006 02/04/2007 - 02/11/2007 03/04/2007 - 03/11/2007 03/25/2007 - 04/01/2007 04/15/2007 - 04/22/2007 04/22/2007 - 04/29/2007 04/29/2007 - 05/06/2007 05/13/2007 - 05/20/2007 06/03/2007 - 06/10/2007 06/10/2007 - 06/17/2007 07/08/2007 - 07/15/2007 07/15/2007 - 07/22/2007 07/22/2007 - 07/29/2007 08/05/2007 - 08/12/2007 08/12/2007 - 08/19/2007 08/19/2007 - 08/26/2007 08/26/2007 - 09/02/2007 09/02/2007 - 09/09/2007 09/09/2007 - 09/16/2007 09/30/2007 - 10/07/2007 10/07/2007 - 10/14/2007 10/14/2007 - 10/21/2007 10/28/2007 - 11/04/2007 11/04/2007 - 11/11/2007 11/11/2007 - 11/18/2007 11/18/2007 - 11/25/2007 11/25/2007 - 12/02/2007
|
|
|
