Albert Einstein said, “If at first an idea does not sound absurd, then there is no hope for it.”
I love that quote. It opens up all kinds of impossible possibilities. Last week I wrote about robotic milking. When I was born, the thought of robotic milking sounded absurd to most people and they thought there was no hope for it. Thanks to a few visionary thinkers who dared to dream the impossible and decided to give it a try, today it’s a reality.
Even though my columns deal mainly with the past, nostalgia, and how things used to be, I don’t live in the past. I work in the fast-paced, highly technical, telecommunications world. I also like to look to the future and wonder what life will be like 20, 50, 100, 500 years from now.
We live in one of the most exciting periods since the creation of the universe. The technological advances we’ve seen in the past 100 years are staggering and mind-boggling. For people who are afraid of facing changes in their thinking, beliefs, and way of life, this can be a very confusing and frightening time. For those of us who love exploring the mysteries of life, this is an exciting, mind-expanding time.
In the last few years we’ve learned that the world is much larger than the tiny Planet Earth we’re traveling through the universe on. A few years ago we thought our Milky Way was the only galaxy. Now billions of galaxies have been discovered in our rapidly expanding universe. The mathematical possibility of other intelligent life in the universe, that could be a million years more advanced than we are, has much better odds than of my winning the lottery.
I realize most of the subjects that fascinate me have a common thread… mystery and a search for the unknown. If you’re a regular reader of Across the Fence, you know I love to ask questions and don’t accept everything someone says as gospel. I want to know how this universe began and where it’s all headed. I want to know what was there before the Big Bang when the universe was created? With the recent discovery of the Higgs Boson, those questions are closer to having possible answers.
The subjects I like to read about and study reflect my thinking. The study of history and archeology, where we came from, and what we’ve done along the way, are of great interest to me. Charles Darwin’s “On the Origin of the Species” first caught my attention when I was a teenager. I’ve studied mythology through the writings and lectures of Joseph Campbell and realized how much mythology has influenced modern day beliefs. When it comes to mathematics, the bus left without me. Even though it’s hard to understand, I love the study of theoretical physics through the writings of Michio Kaku, Stephen Hawking, and Brian Green. Astronomy and the study of the universe have always fascinated me. I’ve followed the writings of Carl Sagan who said, “Science is not only compatible with spirituality, it is a profound source of spirituality.”
All this brings me to the present, as I once again search for answers to several events that have occurred the past couple of weeks. Sometimes the biggest questions with the least answers boil down to only three letters…W-H-Y.
Why does a young girl with her whole life ahead of her die in a tragic auto accident? Why did 12 innocent people attending a movie have to die? Why did a brilliant young man turn into a mass murderer? Why did a father murder his three children? Why did over 100 innocent people die in car bombings in Iraq one day this week? Why is there suffering? Why are some people born with handicaps? Why is there war? Why was my life spared in a war, while many of my friends were not? Why is the human race so in love with killing? Why does it always rain when you wash your car? Not all the questions need to be serious ones. But most are tough questions. Simple, easy answers are hard to find when you’re dealing with the “WHY” questions. I’m sure every one of you have your own Why questions.
All I can say to you is don’t be afraid to ask the Why questions and try to find answers that help you deal with them. I think an inquiring mind, questioning, and seeking answers, is a much more honest approach, than merely accepting what other people say you should think.
As I said earlier, this is an exciting time to be alive. There’s so much to learn, so much to do, so many things to see and experience. I find it hard to understand people who say they are bored and there’s nothing to do. I won’t tell anyone else how they should live their life or what they should think, and I don’t want someone telling me what I should do or think.
I don’t want to waste a day of this life. There’s so much to do and so little time. We’ve all seen how quickly it can be snatched away from us. Don’t be afraid to ask the Why questions and keep looking for your own answers to the mysteries of life.
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