Essay Abstract

Humanity, over seven billion souls strong, must take care of the business of survival. Failure in this effort makes our future impossible. The endeavor to steer our future must be one of common good, having a part for all creatures of the universe. The universe of our minds is a unique microcosm of the very universe whose life line assembled it. Its dynamic happens to be the best hope for supporting humankind's steerage toward a viable future.

Author Bio

James Hoover is recently retired from the Boeing Company in Huntington Beach, California, working as a systems engineer. His career in aerospace stretches back over twenty years and involves cost analysis, cost modeling and logistics research. In that span of years he has taught college courses in education, economics, computer science and English. Before his aerospace career, he taught high school. He recently published a science fiction novel called Extraordinary Visitors. His personal interests include studies in particle physics, cosmology and UFO engineering. He has advanced degrees in Economics and English.

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dear James,

We are indeed the trustees of our own environment.

It is true that humans have always thought of GOD or GODS to explain their world of observations.

But isn't it also so that we are through our consciousness our own creators or GODS ?

What you mention as "steering towards a non-suicidal future, can in the perception of the self creating consciousness only mean that there are an infinity of availabilities and that only this speceific life-line is perhaps a dead end street.

I explained in my essay this perception, of course nobody knows the TRUTH and it is only one of the many visions, like your own which i respect very much.

Regarding the subatomic : I even propose (and let it be sampled by scientists) that matter does not matter, and I agree with what you write on the quantum computer. I think that when if we can couple the QC to our brain, we could create an opening to further dimensions, like the one where the non-causal consciousness resides : TOTAL SIMULTANEITY.

About "Opening the universe of our mind" from Einstein : We are ALL Stardust and this stardust is a product of our consciousness.

I liked your approach very much and hope for a comment on my thread.

best regards

Wilhelmus

    James,

    If there is one simple conceptual fallacy empowering the corporate pillaging of the earth's resources, it is that people think of money as a commodity, rather than a contract.

    This is a brief synopsis, similar to my entry, but from a more recent effort;

    "Since money is a notational form of value and can enable one access to many of our basic needs and desires, there is a very strong attraction towards acquiring it on the part of the vast number of people. Given it is a simple fact that it is much easier to make promises, than fulfill them, the impulse to create more notional value than the economy can sustain is overwhelming. So there is this tendency to treat money as a commodity that can be manufactured, rather than the contract which it is and has to be honored. This creates the effect of treating money as a form which is divorced from its context. In financial terms, this is called a bubble.

    There is a much larger problem developing in humanity's relation with the planet though, as we continue to expand and get ever more efficient at using up ultimately finite resources. Currently the financial system only magnifies this problem. As it pulls ever more monetary value out of society, society must in turn pull value out of the environment. Now the banking system appears to be reaching limits of how much value it can continue to extract. As ever more of the other forces in society feel threatened by it and its system requires the production of ever more debt to support the vast leverage currently built into the system by the increasingly thoughtless desire for infinite wealth, it looks likely to suffer another massive heart attack and one for which the prior methods of resuscitation will not be used.

    Rather than allow civilization to crumble, possibly there is a way to better construct our system of exchange. If people simply understood that money is not actual value, but a bookkeeping entry, where one persons asset is another's debt and those running it will necessarily extract their income off the top and there are no magical fairies waiting to make all promises good, then possibly people will be more reluctant to extract value from their social relations and environmental resources, in order to entrust it to this system. Then social relations and the environment will be more clearly viewed as the fundamental stores of value that enable a truly healthy society and environment. It would also make for a smaller, healthier and more stable monetary system, that would be focused on the efficient transfer of value around the economy, as the integrated economic circulatory system it is supposed to be."

    Regards,

    John M

      Turil,

      I will also check out your essay. I would suspect it inevitable that your fiction reflects your thoughts in some way. My essay does speak of the consideration of that which is considered technologically impossible: superluminal flight, teleporting, managing the Planck world.

      Jim

      Dear Mr. Hoover,

      I quite enjoyed reading your highly informative essay, and I do hope that it does well in the competition. Of course it would appear that the fastest way to save the planet might be to get rid of all of the scientists and their unnatural science. That is after we get rid of all of the language poisoning lawyers and all of the unnatural laws.

      With best regards,

      Joe Fisher

        Dear Jim

        A nicely written essay. It is evident, that you have experiences how to write such essay, or science fiction. Analyses of history of science nad of technical progress are good idea. .

        You also gave some little nice ideas in essay, similarly, as in my essay. All we can help with a little or bigger ideas. For instance, an electrical car does not yet exist as a common vehicle on roads, because we all wait others that they will have ideas and other things.

        Best regards

        Janko Kokosar

          4 days later

          Jim,

          I enjoyed your interesting, responsible and optimistic assessment of humanity's survival and the various tools that may be available to us to accomplish that.

          Your singling out corporate waste as an important obstacle to such survival is spot-on. Human greed and wastefulness has always been with us, but following America's rapid rise to super-power status following WW II these traits were scaled up to a global scale . The recent economic setbacks come as a timely warning that we all must find a better way to spend our resources. Honesty courage and ingenuity are needed to solve these and many other problems - qualities not uncommon in your country or in many other places and in individuals all over our interconnected world.

          Your essay is inspiring and gives much to think about.

          Best wishes,

          Vladimir

            Then social relations and the environment will be more clearly viewed as the fundamental stores of value that enable a truly healthy society and environment.

            John, I'm sure you don't mean this the negative way in that some only believe social relationships have value if you gain from it. Rather that social relationships have value in terms of common good and good will to others.

            Jim

            8 days later

            Dear Mr. Hoover:

            I think you got some winning ideas.

            Is survival the one and only goal of humanity? If so, shouldn't each individual, family, tribe, business, etc strive for survival? Where do concepts of "the common good" enter? Should some smaller unit such as an individual sacrifice everything he is for others good? I note I disagree with Rand on this point, also.

            I suggest the essence of modern business is to be more efficient user of resources. A business that has less efficiency fails. That is, it fails unless artificially supported by some other ethos such as "it's too big to fail". This ethos is supporting a status quo agenda. I think we need to look elsewhere than the corporate arena as the source of the problem you outline. Your examples show that less efficient users must be allowed to fail.

            I'm beginning to think we are kindred spirits.

              Very interesting,

              Your essay was fun to read and gives us a lot to think about. We must exceed the industrial vision if humanity is to survive - on that we can agree. Playful minds have always seen beyond the bounds of hardened belief structures, and lead the way to freedom. I'll probably have more to say later.

              Regards,

              Jonathan

              Jim,

              I would have to put the concept of 'gain' in a very broad spectrum. In a sense, only as a way to compare to the monetary distillation of worth. Personally there are aspects of my life which are elementally a function of giving, in the sense that I'm simply directing some of the flow of life towards others, rather than attempting to bottle it up within me. I can only maintain balance by keeping such circuits open and vital.

              Regards,

              John M

              9 days later

              HI James,

              Good essay. I like that you clearly see the obstacles to a bright future but also set out what you think should happen to steer a good course, such as global cooperation and organisation.You suggest a role for the UN.I agree there is most likely a bigger role they can play in the future dealing with the consequences of climate change, which might include mass migrations from war and famine.Some intriguing suggestions at the end. I don't know how practical they are but at this time in human history there is certainly no harm in brainstorming. Good luck, Georgina

                Jim,

                A wide-ranging and thought provoking essay. I especially liked this quote:

                "Humankind and the material world around us is the stuff of stars. It is fitting that, like stars, living and dying, we recycle that stuff, giving more substance to those that follow. Our lives have always been a quest to find life's origins, a pursuit often sidestepped by hubris we collect on the way. We find a future by finding ourselves and understanding our world, a world that grows as we mature."

                Best of luck!

                Rick Searle

                10 days later

                James,

                Another well balanced essay covering an important gamut of subjects. I particularly agree that the way ahead is via improved scientific understanding. I too argue for that.

                But you ask; "Is there evidence that quantum entanglement could be the basis of teleporting?" at small ranges and up to light speed yes. Only the 'belief' has gone beyond that, destroying faith in causality. I show how classical mechanics can explain QM by reconsidering particle spin as normal rotation - back to reality I hope! Your great quote and discussion of particles was moot; "O amazement of things - even the least particle".

                I hope you find time to read mine, your comments should be interesting with your practical engineering background.

                I wish you luck in the contest.

                Peter

                4 days later

                James,

                You did a wonderful job of pulling some very wide date and thoughts to support your argument that the need exists for us to focus on the HOW to obtain "survival", a"vibrant future", a "viable future", "preserve Earth's life lines", etc.

                I totally also agree that "opening the universe of the mind" supplemented with more science "guarded against the arrogance of accepted scientific models."

                Good luck.

                - Ajay