I am absolutely not one of those people who believes science can solve all the problems of the world. In fact I would liken a person putting all his or her faith in science to make everything okay, to someone fixing a flat tire and reaching for a, I dunno, a kangaroo. Wrong tool for the job. Not even a tool. The person reaching for it, however... (and in a lot of cases I'm talkin' REALLY reaching), well I won't get on a, (nother), rant about that.
You see scientifically "proven" ideas and previously believed to be unassailably, unimpeachably, undoubtedly, unquestionably factual theories, (and pardon the parenthetical but doesn't it seem like these, what should I call them, "scientheists", are great at getting away with blatant oxymorons like "factual theory", "natural selection", "scientific objectivity" and such? Woah Nelly, I guess I DID go on a mini rant there didn't I?), the very building blocks of science are falling like dominoes, AT THE HANDS OF SCIENCE! And unless innovations are suppressed and breakthroughs are buried, for our own "protection," (boy I'm glad I found the quotation marks on this keyboard!), it won't be long before somebody at CERN accellerates a particle to a speed beyond light speed, then GM buys the technology and creates a sporty, fun, fuel-efficient, full-sized sedan that can get you and the whole family where you're going, BEFORE YOU DEPART. Yes, (appology #3), Einstein is going down. Neils Bohr too. Newton? Durn tootin'.
Don't get me wrong. I think science is useful and interesting. I even think a lot of it is right. But I wouldn't base MY theory of relativity on something so, (appology #4), nebulous. I also think we are closing in on the golden age of science when scientists at long last humbled by their own discoveries of sub-sub-sub-sub-sub-sub-sub... atomic particles and larger and larger systems of universes, of which ours is a miniscule, insignificant sub-sub-sub-sub-sub-sub... universe, (not to mention the significance of the inhabitants of one tiny planet in it), will finally admit that the foremost purpose of science has been in illustrating how un-scientific science really is. Then maybe it will be relegated to its rightful place as an interesting hobby and people can get on with the study and pursuit of all the more important things we've been neglecting in favour of science for so long.
Among those things will be my theory of relativity. My theory of relativity is about the importance of relativity. Nowadays if you are asked just about any question you could likely get away with the answer, "It depends." You have heard the saying, "Everything is relative." It is very true. And I believe it's very unfortunate. Wouldn't it be great if we lived in a world where everything WASN'T relative to country of birth, sex, race, religion, family, village, body type, job, language, looks, nose length, football support, eye wear, or the stupidest, and biggest one of all, wealth? Maybe that's not plausible, but I believe, it is my theory, that if we all pull together as a planet we could at least diminish the degree of relativity to some extent in some areas.
I'll explain what I mean with the events that inspired this post. The other day I was at work and ran out of bottled water 4 hours before the end of my shift. And I was thirsty. Since I work graveyard shifts and it was 2 A.M. there was no way for me to buy water from any nearby store. I don't work near a 24-hour convenience store so I reluctantly took the elevator to the 4th floor of the office building where I work, went to the bathroom and filled my jug with enough tap water to last me till the end of my shift. I took a swig from my jug and said, "Yuck!" The water where I work has a mild and mildly unpleasant aftertaste, which is the reason I buy bottled water to drink while working.
I am quite sure I could drink the tap water from work for the rest of my life and it would do me no harm. Without a shred of scientific proof, I'd bet there are a billion people on this Earth who can't get drinking water as good as the water I was grimacing at. Many who can't get bottled water as good. Most disturbingly, there are probably millions who take great pains to get filthy, unhealthy water. And some who can't get any at all. I thought to myself, after saying, "Yuck," if one of these people, who are water-deprived through relativities that are no fault of their own, came up to me, (we'll call him Noah from Djibouti because it's my blog and I like the names Noah AND Djibouti), if Noah from Djibouti asked me for some water I'd say, "Sure! Drink as much as you want, it's free." Noah would be ecstatic to get a drink of, (relatively), fresh, clean water! It might be purer water than any he'd drunk before. And flowing, (relatively), cold and free from a tap! Compared to living in a desert climate slowly dying of thirst drinkig faucet water from my workplace is the stuff of daydreams and fantasies for Noah from Djibouti. For me it's, "Yuck."
And I am no water snob! I don't drink the blue-bottled melted down shavings from glaciers that predate pollution. The truth is I was well into my 20's when I first saw a friend actually BUY a bottle of water. Back then it was probably only a quarter but I remember telling him I thought he was an idiot for wasting so much money. I still do! At that time just about anywhere in Canada you could turn on a tap and get water so pure it is embarrasssing to mention.
Now, take your bottled water snob who pays 50 bucks for a bottle of Bling H2O or a Japanese businessman who uses water from an arctic glacier he towed to Japan so that he could drink water that has never been consumed, (or passed), by man or beast before. Not me, I pay 79 cents for a 4 litre bottle at Save On Foods. Take a water snob like these and compare him to an 8-year-old kid walking 10 miles to get water from a Cholera, Typhoid, Dengue Fever infested mudhole somewhere in sub-Saharan Africa who, if she survives the journey, has a very good chance of dying of diarrhoea, the number one killer of kids there. Is THAT how that word is spelled? Diar hee haw. Who knew?
Here we have a breadth of relativity that without statistical, mathematical, or scientific study, we can easily see something needs to be done about it. And let's not forget about Noah. Imagine Noah came to 655 Tyee where I work and he didn't come alone. What if he brought a few freinds and relatives. 100 of them. I would still have said, "Okay, single file, one at a time. Help yourselves." I think even if he brought some withering livestock blinded by thirst I would have had no problem. I KNOW I would have let them all drink. Noah's animals could drink two by two. Sorry. And, "Come back any time," I would have said. I think anyone would. Wouldn't you? It depends, right? It is relative to location. If Noah were there I would give him water but he is way over in Djibouti so out of sight, out of mind. No, I know it's more than that. There are logistical and maybe political reasons too but for the love of God, why DON'T we give water to people dying of thirst. We have LOTS!
Well I think ALMOST anyone would give Noah et. al. a drink. To ALMOST anyone it is a natural thing to share abundant water with people who are desperate for it, even dying for it. But to a very select few that life-or-death desperation is DEMAND. That abundant water is SUPPLY. And the fact that it's pretty much free represents unlimited profit potential. The trick is to get some start-up capital, hire some workers, iron out the logistics and costs of delivering water to Djibouti and set this international ass raping in motion. This is what I referred to previously, (and less coarsely), as "tail-chasing." And it is an even larger distraction from doing what is right and natural than sceince.
The vast majority of us would see how much we had helped Noah and his animals with the water. We would see the joy we had given them and how little skin off our noses it was and we would get caught up in the warm, transcendance of doing that which is unquestionably, (though unscientifically), right. Apparently this is why WE don't run the show here.
But before we just dispatch with all the money-grubbing, greed-addled, antisocial psychopaths who are the respectable class in our societies, they can actually be a great help in making things less relative on earth. They just have to be a little more creative and caring, or at least hire someone to be creative and caring for them, when planning business deals. All businesses should have a person who is the relativity planner for them. Their responsibility should be to find some of the wider differences between peoples, countries, regions and devise ways to make money by tightening up the inequalities. Tim Horton's coffee is served 20-minutes fresh. There are lots of homeless people in every area there's a Timmy's who would be glad to have the 21-minute-old coffee that's poured down the drain.
People in Asia love the worn look on their jeans. If a fella bought about a million pairs of new Levi's jeans, GAVE them to some folks who could never afford them, then after a couple years of wear exchanged them for another new pair he would be heroic. That person would also be rich because he could sell the worn looking jeans throughout Asia for triple what he paid for them.
Surely relativity planners throughout the world could come up with thousands of ideas like these that would make it possible to let the amoral corporate world have their filthy lucre so long as they earn it in ways that are beneficial to others. They could serve as consciences to capitalists. Selling electric cars. Harnessing tides for power. There are some untapped gold mines waiting for capitalists with a bit of creativity to start digging. But the world is stuck in the tried, true, financially safe and socially disastrous methods of making money. Hey, it only took about 60 years to go from the Wright brothers to the moon landing. In 60 years maybe people will stop thinking of other folks as competitors and start thinking of them as brothers and sisters. RELATIVES!
I think we can make plenty of money being nice to each other. And if somehow we can reign in the people that just can't be satisfied with "plenty" the world could be a, (relatively), beautiful place. As Sri Chinmoy Ghose, (and Jimi Hendrix), tells us, "When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will be at peace." I'll finish off with a similar sentiment in a nicer language. I dunno why I still haven't learned to speak Spanish. I love the way this sounds, "Amor cuerdo no es amor." It means "Cautious love is not love."
Last time I drank shots at the bar I learned that amor Cuervo no es amor. This pic kind of reminds me of that learning experience but it's a story for another day...You can't be prudent. There's no science to it but it's the way to change the world. Revolutionaries like Che Guevara, Sri Chinmoy and Jimi Hendrix are the kind of guys we associate with a sentiment like this. They're busy chasing happiness and freedom and not their tails. Here's what the rest of us are doing:
No comments:
Post a Comment