Month: November 2007

  • Seriously, how many times do I have to tell you, you don't have to knock.  Just walk right in.

    The other day I had an intruiging revelation as I was driving.  Here was the situation: I was driving north on a highway and was leaning over to find something in the passenger seat of the car (a CD case).  That movement started a domino of thoughts within my mind.  Now, as you read, keep each of these thoughts in mind so that when they all add up you can visualize the whole situation together.  Not only was I traveling north, and leaning to my right, but because of the earth's rotation I was also spinning counter-clockwise at 1200 mph.  Plus, I was in the solar system, which is rotating at a speed of 155 miles/sec around the center of the milky way.  And the milky way is shooting away from the point of the big bang at thousands of miles per second.  So, picture yourself without all the surrounding physical matter, and see yourself hurtling simultaneously in all these directions at all these tremendous speeds through the universe.  Your position is not quite as stable as it immediately appears. 

    Now add to this the fact there is no floor or ceiling to the universe.  'Up' and 'down' hold no ultimate weight when imagining the universe; you can imagine it either way. If you picture yourself with all these directions and speeds, and traveling through space devoid of the physical matter that creates these speeds, in a universe with no absolute direction, you discover your absolute location is ineffably unimaginable.

    Just think of how many thousands of miles away you are from the location in the universe where you started to read this post! 

    Hmmm.  Maybe all sickness is motion sickness...

    Farewell everyone!