God bless us, everyone

With political fireworks everywhere and wars in every direction, mariner thought he may need an update from his alter egos. He searched for Nosey Mole but he was nowhere to be found. Mariner hadn’t heard from Amos in quite a while so he called him.

“My readers have missed your skepticism, Amos. What’s happening?” Amos replied quietly that these are not times to agitate. “These are times to hold tight to what is dear, to what comforts, to what gives hope for the future.” Amos didn’t have much else to say. Clearly he was frightened by the American collapse of democracy, by the disappearing biosphere and the potential for a global war. He felt that resolution in the tiniest sense was nowhere to be found.

Mariner went to see Guru. “What’s your image, Guru? Where will this all end?”

“The end is far away.” Guru replied. He explained that the planet is rolling into a global warming that not only will have physical ramifications on economic stability but will promote global war – likely between US allies and the rest of the world. The underlying causes will be food shortage for an over populated planet – a profound shortage that challenges equality as a political virtue.

He mentioned that many countries, especially more liberal countries, will be hard pressed not to succumb to authoritative governments constrained by a strong plutocracy governed by giant corporations.

Mariner suggested that this may be a continuous process; how long will it take? Guru suggested that global warming will cause significant destruction by 2050 and that further, will put pressure on a capitalistic world – if survival is an objective.

The fact remains that this election, and its reconciliation, will determine how humans move forward in an unbalanced world.

As a famous fictional character once said: “God bless us, everyone.”

Ancient Mariner

 

It doesn’t take groups, even

A few of mariner’s recent posts have focused on that point in time when an individual must reinvent their identity, perhaps look for another income, and not lose their collaboration with their fellow humans. Those solutions ascribed to the social psychology of organizations and self sufficiency.

But it is easier than that. Mariner doesn’t get out very often, that is, to roam about in the rambunctious diversity of the public domain, but every once in a while he must visit the medical industry in a nearby small city.

Many folks are preoccupied with personal issues and aren’t prone to notice other public folks. Nevertheless, most citizens moving about in the public domain are willing to engage in ‘of the moment’ encounters.

While roaming about the halls and offices of the hospital, numerous interchanges occurred between mariner and others in the halls. When he first arrived, he met with a coordinator who checked credentials and scheduled his visit. She mentioned during the interview that she could smell the cookies baking in the souvenir shop; she lamented that she could not leave her post to buy some.

After that, while a guide led him to the right waiting room, she said that she recognized his face. That led to a short exchange of sharing geographical histories.

Visiting with the technician, mariner inquired about the kind of decisions that were promulgated because of his examination. The conversation led to a discussion about the complexity of decision making among many medical individuals.

While mariner was walking back to the front exit, two nurses at different moments asked if he needed a wheelchair or was lost. Finally, mariner met with his wife at the souvenir store where he bought cookies for the coordinator. When he delivered them, all the coordinators had a cheer that someone gave them a gift.

So collaboration is such an intrinsic human behavior that it almost ignites itself. Still, each individual must strike a match to engage. That’s all there is to it. Mariner realizes that certain personality types will find it hard to engage with random strangers and many suffer from depression and life stress. Nevertheless, engagement is always there – even if political differences may prohibit extended collaboration.

Mariner was well aware that he had roamed a public domain rich with fellow collaboration. Who needs an organization?

Ancient Mariner

 

Marvelous magic of evolution

Mariner reads several magazines and journals just for entertainment. For example, here’s an article everyone will want to read:

To achieve remarkable performances, quantum computing systems based on multiple qubits must attain high-fidelity entanglement between their underlying qubits.

( https://phys.org/news/2024-10-subtle-current-phase-potential-stable.html )

Recently mariner came upon an article about a fish named Sea Robin. It inherited the ‘robin’ word because it flies underwater with wings just like a bird. Sea Robin’s wings don’t look like fancy paddles or oars like other fish have, they look and behave just like robin wings. Isn’t it intriguing that somewhere along the long, long trail of evolution, Nature’s office of genetic distribution delivered wings to a fish!

Even more odd is that Sea Robin walks on the bottom of the ocean in a fashion similar to four legged animals on land. Even more intriguing, it hunts for and smells food with its feet. Mariner’s feet smell too, but he wouldn’t want to eat what they picked for supper. Even Sea Robin’s color scheme looks more like a bird than a fish.

Sea Robin is such an intriguing aberration in Nature’s normal but slow cell-by-cell inheritance. It isn’t that Sea Robin came along at the same time as other sea creatures who were evolving in a way that would lead them to walking on land or flying like a bird. Sea Robin has been around for 18 million years!

The Sea Robin catches one’s interest and opens the door to thinking about the larger systems of Nature – not just evolution but all the systems that are in play in all the sciences from astrophysics to the chemistry of fungi.  Sea Robin demonstrates, however, that sometimes an aberration takes evolution in a different direction.

For example, Homo sappians has been around only 300,000 years and they are wreaking havoc among all of Nature’s sciences. One can perceive that Nature is dealing with the same type of confrontation as the one that happened at the US Capitol on January 6. The sappians aren’t improving anything – they have launched Armageddon against Nature’s planet Earth.

Ancient Mariner

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Transition

There are a few things about which to take note.

֎ First, read the following quote from Scientific American:

” Now researchers led by Daniela Angulo of the University of Toronto have revealed another oddball quantum outcome: photons, wave-particles of light, can spend a negative amount of time zipping through a cloud of chilled atoms. In other words, photons can seem to exit a material before entering it.”

Briefly, it’s about light energy entering a transparent thing like glass but seems to take longer to pass through except the light energy already has exited.

Back in the old days Albert Einstein said unequivocally that it may be possible to travel into the future but it is not possible to go back in time. Is time a situational fantasy? Mariner always has thought that we live in multiple dimensions. For example, mariner fills his prescription box every week but it takes just a few days before it is empty again – or so it seems. Is AI being honest with our scientists?

֎ A new alter ego metaphor has been chosen to replace Chicken Little: Nosey Mole.

Nosey Mole lives in a large maze of tunnels. The food is good and there is little concern for catastrophe. Still, being nosy, he pops to the surface periodically to see what’s happenin’. Every time he pops up to look around, he gets whacked by the swirl of reality and returns to his tunnels. There is no great historical theme in Nosey’s life that must be feared or hoped. Life is pleasant in the tunnels.

֎ This topic is too broad to address in essay form. Mariner strongly recommends his readers make the subject of public education something of a conscious interest that induces them to learn more and do more about the state of education. There are several large issues: Public schools no longer mandate that children learn how their society works – whether its government or group behavior or issues of physiological morality.

The field of education has been set adrift for half a century. It has gone the way of unions, free speech and equal rights. In today’s world, education is confronted by extremism, technology and shifting family economics. Education is infected with obsolete teaching techniques, life threatening lack of funding and a loss of raison d’etre.

The loss of a reason to be has allowed other disciplines to invade education. Public issues like health, sexuality, classism, public funding of private schools and replacing expansive learning with extreme restrictionist objectives.

Be kind to Nosey Mole as he adapts to a role in mariner’s life.  If a reader can explain negative time, let mariner know. Do become focused on education; if our children don’t have the intellectual tools to survive during Armageddon, things will get worse than we can imagine. Think ‘Israeli-Hamas war’ in the United States. . .

Ancient Mariner

Chicken Little moved to hospice

Afraid so. It is true that evolution is the dynamic element in all the universe – including galaxies, solar systems, life of every kind and certainly every conceivable element of existence – including the planet Earth itself – is subject to change over time. So, too, fantasy and whimsy move on as reality paves a new future.

What was important about Chicken Little’s presence was his belief that it was possible for things to behave as expected – it was just a matter of adjusting a bit to keep reality chugging along. Like the Chicken Little of children’s storybook fame, he often overreacted to what others felt was not so important as to warrant hysterical behavior.

The belief in adjusting has faded as all the world’s activity is in disarray. Human history has become a demolition derby where every conceivable idea is an effort to dismantle rational, logical behavior. Mariner, like Chicken Little, is acutely aware of the abrasion of industrial development against the evolutionary limitations not only of Homo sapiens but all of the planet’s life forms. Homo’s dangerous ability to imagine things that do not exist has been the fire that has set off an Armageddon. For casual readers who may not be familiar, mariner’s examples are any industrial development requiring chemical, environmental or any other destruction of the biosphere. For example, internal combustion engines, killing millions of species for greedy reasons, leveling quantum amounts of forest for commercial purposes, forcing every biological behavior of every species to compensate or die, etc. The result today is, of course, a destabilized, biospheric condition humans call ‘global warming’ which is most commonly observed as changes in the climate.

So mariner is interviewing several applicants to replace Chicken Little. An applicant that has caught mariner’s eye is the squirrel – especially urban squirrels. Squirrels already know that Homo sappians is a destructive creature, said and done. What concerns mariner is that the squirrel already has a bit of skepticism about it’s obsessive neighbors; Amos, another alter ego, already has more than enough skepticism.

Perhaps this is all a sign that mariner is growing old. He’s old enough to be receiving social security but young enough to see it disappear. His brain has been throwing out to trash memories that aren’t relevant anymore. Sadly, he cannot forget Lawrence Welk or Hyacinth Bucket on the British series, Keeping Up Appearances.

Suggestions for a new icon to replace Chicken Little are welcome – an icon that has come to accept Homo sappians as the failure it is but with an innocence that there is a looming Armageddon.

Ancient Mariner

A pleasant visit to the 17th century

Mariner and his wife often schedule small day trips to places never visited or not visited in a long time. The destinations almost always are within fifty miles round trip. They have visited small parks, historical sites, certain stores or restaurants, fairs and other social events. Unbeknownst to them until they arrived, they even visited a town that wasn’t there anymore.

A day or two ago they traveled a whopping 27 miles west to visit a store they had not visited in many years. This was a special store for two reasons: first, it was an old store established in 1985 in a small town in the middle of nowhere that is run farm-to-store-shelf by members of the Pennsylvania Dutch denomination (one of many Anabaptist sects), second, the ‘Dutchman’s Store’ had a grand reopening at a new location last week. It is the only store of its kind that mariner and his wife know aside from smaller stores in the Lancaster area of Pennsylvania. When measuring this new store, think of Walmart.

Dutchman’s is entirely stocked for Anabaptist folks from kitchenware (does your store sell a flour mill to make your own flour or three versions of ice cream makers?) to clothing just for the Anabaptists (mariner was sorely tempted to buy a traditional brimmed straw hat that he would wear to scare his family when they visited) to special slaughtering bullets, to ancient used books for sale (slightly aligned with Anabaptist teachings), to an astounding produce market fresh from the farm and large cuts of meat from every kind of farm animal, goats too. His wife surprised him by buying two large lamb steaks, a meat seldom if ever seen in supermarkets – at least in Iowa.

But get this – mariner has lived in Iowa for 31 years. He has berated the ‘pork’ state for not having, nor even knowing about ‘scrapple’. It is one of his childhood memories and has disappeared from grocery markets, even in Iowa. Back in the 60’s when mariner lived in the town he lives in now, only one older woman knew what scrapple was. She made a batch for him.  On this trip, his wife surprised him by buying a pack of scrapple from the Dutchman’s store. Wow! Then he read the small print: manufactured in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Iowa just doesn’t understand fine cuisine.

99% of the staff are dressed Dutchman style with beards and Anabaptist clothing and the women all wearing the same white bonnet. When mariner checked out, he asked the attractive young lady wearing the bonnet what the significance was of the hat since every woman was wearing one.

She said, “We regard the head covering as a mystical cloth that carries protective powers of angels for our women” (using 1Cor. 11:10—and yet the word protection is never used in this verse) “and empowers us to somehow live a more righteous life than those who do not wear it.”

Mariner asked if the bonnet was sort of like a halo? She grinned widely and said, “Yes.” Mariner responded that he was quite pleased to have met an angel ….. Only at Dutchman’s.

Ancient Mariner

 

Short perspective on Middle East

The circumstances in the Middle East have been longstanding. Other geographical nation groups have transitioned, in the words of Wikipedia, “The period between 500BCE and 1500CE was marked by economic and territorial expansion, demographic and urban growth, the emergence of national identity, and the restructuring of secular and ecclesiastical institutions.” – except for the Middle East.

Early on, the Middle East was a playground for large dynastic wars and an area one had to pass through to get from eastern dynasties to western dynasties. Sometime around 2500BCE to 2000BCE, the region suffered from a permanent weather shift that moved agricultural weather down to Africa, hence the Sahara Desert and the Middle Eastern region slowly lost economic stability. The consequence was that while other nations had enough wealth to experiment with changes in national ethos, the Middle East was scrambling to survive; archaic secular and ecclesiastical institutions did not change.

Since the era of the Roman Empire, the western nations, Russia and China have dominated the Middle East as a resource rather than a culture. Colonialism in the region wasn’t dismembered until World War I and II. Again, there was little opportunity for the region to develop independent national identities.

Then the importance of oil blocked cultural development. If you were a nation with oil, who needed to change with all that money floating around?

The result today is an outdated religious reality that ignores the impact of centuries of modification elsewhere in the world, a presence of continuous ‘archaic secular and ecclesiastical’ conflict that limits unification, e.g., European Union, and has become a serious conflict between the Middle East (Islamic) and western (Christian) nations.

The impending war should have occurred centuries ago but now the region has capabilities money can buy like modern weaponry, technology and political influence without a modern sense of national ethos, rather, remaining 17th century theocracies.

Ancient Mariner

 

 

 

 

 

The Neanderthal

If one looks hard enough on television one can find excellent documentaries. Mariner recommends a documentary on Netflix about the Neanderthal. It was engrossing enough to provoke him into visiting several books and URLs about the topic of Homo history.

These five skulls, which range from an approximately 2.5-million-year-old Australopithecus africanus on the left to an approximately 4,800-year-old Homo sapiens on the right, show changes in the size of the braincase, slope of the face and shape of the brow ridges over just less than half of human evolutionary history. {Human Origins Program, NMNH,}

The future Homo in an artificial intelligence age: Homo electrus

Seriously, the documentary about Neanderthal was excellent and he recommends the reader check it out. One of the commentators suggested, in mariner’s words, It ain’t over til its over. How many more evolutionary eons in the future are there for Homo sapiens?

The Neanderthal existed for 400,000 years, disappearing 40,000 years ago because of the aftermath of the Great Ice Age that occurred in the Pleistocene Period. Neanderthal disappeared simultaneously with the migration of Homo sapiens out of Africa. There was enough hanky-panky that all humans today have some Neanderthal DNA in them.

Several sources cite the beginning of ‘modern man’ to be around 6,000 years ago – less than a blink of an eye in evolutionary terms. ‘Modern’ implies an interest in economy, invention and the manipulation of the biosphere AKA the beginning of industrialism.

What was pleasantly insightful in the documentary was the insights of the archeologists  who, interpreting the bones and surmised behavior, showed that even Neanderthal had an awareness of spirituality and compassion. These primitive sensitivities were exercised without any need for a defined religion or imposed cultural obligation. Would they be able to understand today’s anti-religious Protestant Evangelicals? How can Homo saps exist for the next 400,000 years, they wonder.

Making some comparisons between the fate of Neanderthal and ourselves today, there is one commonality: the environment. Neanderthal had no choice because the ice age totally wiped out a forested biosphere. Perhaps we have no choice, either . . . .

Ancient Mariner

 

 

 

 

 

In these times

A person is as pressed by social media as if the person were a movie star. Every potion, every holiday spot, every kinky way to do something, is tossed at the screen. There are some well intentioned advertisers, for example medical advice, an ability to talk with family and friends, how to interact with government and the legitimate news organizations that love to talk about themselves.

But by a massive degree more frequently, a person is assaulted by mercenaries, corporate manipulators and irrational hagglers. Privacy is lost. Personal decision-making is thwarted by unbalanced information. And watching television has become so pervasive as to shut down normal social behavior, that is, interpersonal dialogue and mutual participation in life.

In the middle of the last century, mariner was a preacher. The job of preacher does have a political aspect to it when dealing with the congregation but the standard job description had a set of priorities: Foremost, run religious services and sacraments. Second, above all other responsibilities, visit the ill and shut-ins. Third, promote community programs and evangelism.

He is sorry to say that visiting is no longer a priority, In this century, the services and sacraments are sustained and the political aspect is not about the political issues that arise when attempting to be a Christian but rather, doing just the opposite by politicizing issues contrary to Christian doctrine.

In the world of politics, the well being of the citizenry has been co-opted by corporate interests and in recent times has created a have, have not society. Finally, in the background, the planet’s traditional political liaisons between nations have grown old and are under stress.

. . . .

Mariner mentions these situations because every one detracts from the one behavior that can see us through: Be a normal human being! That means talking to other human beings at least as often as sitting in a TV chair or scratching a computer/telephone screen. Sustain personal relations that build community spirit.

A simple pattern, be sure to visit each friend and neighbor regularly – even have them visit you.

Attend community events. Organize or associate with a picnic or event that includes friends and neighbors; participate in neighborhood activities; look for ways, even very tiny, where you can help a neighbor – especially shut-ins and the ill because preachers don’t do it any more. In fact, ask a neighbor to help you – something about which mariner has become experienced.

Belong to a local group that helps the indigent or get with friends to repair an old person’s home.

Reinforce family unity with visitations, vacations, and reunions. Share more time with children whether at home or who have moved into their own life.

Participate in local election activity. Of course, always vote!

One of the overlooked activities that build community strength is a local newspaper. Sadly, local papers are disappearing because of competition with the Internet. However, if you are fortunate to have a local paper, subscribe to it. More is happening around the community than one may think.

Deliberately give one full day each month dedicated to servicing others. That includes spouses, children, neighbors, social organizations and anyone else who would be pleased with your dedicated interest.

Finally, enforce a time when your own well being Is important. It could be fishing, golfing, boating, etc. Or perhaps reading, visiting natural surroundings, taking a short trip to see something interesting, have a hobby. Just find a place where time belongs only to you – and not to the TV or telephone.

Our genome says we need a tribe to care for.

Ancient Mariner

Bonding

Recently mariner wrote a post about how to develop spirituality. Briefly, it has two key requirements: One must acknowledge the existence of a permanent prophet who sets the standards for proper behavior. The second is a personal allegiance to that prophet, a sense that one belongs to that prophet rather than to one’s self. The prophet does not have to be human. For example, many naturalists believe Planet Earth is the prophet because it controls the rules of life; some Christians believe the Bible is a prophetic statement in behalf of Jesus [See ‘Spirituality’ May 29, 2024]

Closely related to spirituality is a human behavior called ‘bonding’. Bonding can occur only when sharing with others. One easily can relate to bonding with family, close friends and those who participated in significant life events. But bonding, like spirituality, has an extended role in the fabric of society that sustains social orderliness, community allegiance, and the ability to sustain common abstract behaviors; just a couple of examples: being a fan of a sports team, and befriending the mail carrier as a person who shares a common task. Both these examples imply a commitment to sharing without which the civility would not occur.

An excellent example of bonding in everyday life is the movie “The Green Book” released in September 2018. It stars Viggo Martensen and Mahershala Ali. For those who have not seen it, take the characters in stride as the movie progresses. Mariner’s wife found a copy at the library or you can pay to see it online

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_VoWF9mKEc).

Bonding requires sharing a common responsibility with open mindedness as a lubricant. Importantly, bonding generates motivation in life.

Ancient Mariner