Don,
I enjoyed reading your essay. It is the stuff of art. Just a smile, a wink and a soft nudge of thought. I too am enamored with the stage. Here is one of mine:
(On stage there are two chairs for two students. A professor is standing in front of the chairs. At the beginning the students are in their chairs and a lecture is in progress. Both students have an open book and they are both looking at the same page.)
Professor
Yada...yada, yana, yada...da, da. Wa...wa...yayaya...yadanip...yadanip...la la...da!
First Student
Da, da, da...da.
Second Student
Yada, yada...da...yada.
(Both students turn a page in unison.)
First Student
Yaya, yaya?
Professor
Yana, yana, nip...nip, wanip, wanip...da!
(Both students close their books in unison.)
Professor (cont'd)
Now that we have finished the assigned chapter we're going to explore something outside of the textbook. For the next few minutes we're going on an intuitive journey. We're going to find the most important number in this universe.
First Student
How are we going to do that?
Professor
I'm going to ask you the questions and you are going to provide the answers.
Second Student
Are we going to change positions then? Are we going to be the professor and you the student?
Professor
No...as usual...you were not listening. I said that I will ask the questions and you will answer them.
First Student
That's not fair. This is just like a test...only; we haven't gone over the material.
Second Student
Is this actually a test? There was nothing in the syllabus about a test on this subject.
Professor
This is going to be a journey of discovery...so I'm sure that neither one of you knows the answer yet.
First Student
Do you know the answer?
Professor
I've already traveled this path. But we're having a problem taking that first step together aren't we?
First Student
Is that the first question?
Professor
We will begin when you are both sitting quietly; making direct eye contact with me and...put your pens down...this is an oral exercise.
(Pause)
Good...now the first question is...what is the most important number in the universe?
Second Student
I knew you were going to ask that question first.
Professor
Well...I'm waiting for an answer.
First Student
The most important number would have to be the smallest possible number.
Professor
Why the smallest number?
First Student
Because that's the number that would measure the elemental basic particle...the smallest thing that is the building block for everything that exists in our universe.
Professor
So the smallest number would also be the largest possible number when you sum their total.
Second Student
I don't understand that.
Professor
If the smallest number is the particle that builds everything that exists then it must also be the largest number when you count all of the particles that exist.
First Student
So it would be the most important number. It would be both the smallest and largest number in the universe.
Professor
Well maybe...but what other number could possibly be the most important?
Second Student
The number one. If you have one of something you have identified existence itself. The number one represents actual existence within the universe.
Professor
Yes, you could actually list everything that exists and they would be the ones in the universe. You could observe all of the ones in your environment and you could scientifically create the answer to the question...how does it exist? You can also increase its chances for survival within its observed changing environment. You can do all of this by studying the list of ones in the universe.
Second Student
That's really important. Survival is an absolute...if we don't exist we can't even ask a question.
Professor
Yes...survival is necessary but we're only answering the question of how does something exist when we're studying the list of ones. There's another question that preoccupies the human intellect. Why does something exist? We can't answer that question by studying the list of ones. Studying things that already exist will not answer the question of why they exist. But still, there have been many answers to the question of why that are based on observations of the list of ones. None of these answers have unified the human experience. They are all divisive.
First Student
We have limitations. There is a point in human understanding when we have to attach ourselves to terms of faith and authority.
Professor
That's because we still haven't discovered the most important number in the universe.
Second Student
You're right. We don't know the answer. What is the most important number in the universe?
Professor
There's another list of objects. In fact this list once included the list of ones.
First Student
So it is a changing list.
Professor
Yes...and it is a much larger list than the list of ones. The list of ones comes from this list.
First Student
So what does that list identify? Why is an object on that list?
Professor
Everything that exists must first come from this list.
Second Student
So if the universe was created...this is the list before the creation event?
Professor
Yes, this is the list of all objects, forces and relationships that could exist but do not exist.
First Student
I don't think I understand this. What is a list of objects that could exist but do not exist?
Professor
Take your current environment. Observe the objects in it then go back a thousand years and imagine a typical environment there. Are there objects in your current environment that didn't exist back then? And are there objects that existed back then that do not exist in your current environment?
First Student
Okay...so the list of objects that could exist but do not exist is actually the master list of all possible objects.
Professor
Yes and like the list of ones it has a number that identifies its existence on that list.
Second Student
And that's the most important number in the universe?
Professor
Yes...what number identifies the possibility of existence but not actual existence?
First Student
Well if I start out counting some object knowing that there could be some of them in the environment that I'm observing...and I don't find any of them...then my count is zero. So zero identifies the objects on that list.
Second Student
Zero is the most important number in the universe?
Professor
The list of zeros is the largest list. The list of zeros is the master list. It measures all of the possibility and potential within the list of ones and it has a physical existence within the environment of the list of ones.
First Student
There is something within our environment that represents...measures...all of the potential and possibility within our universe?
Professor
Yes, the dimension of space is the measure of all potential and possibility within our universe. Whether or not all possible consequences and results occur... the space is there to allow them to occur.
Second Student
But what good is a list of zeros?
Professor
It is the transition from the list of zeros to the list of ones where meaning is first attached to existence. The reason why an object exists is the reason why an object transitions from a zero to a one.
First Student
We create objects that didn't exist in the past. We build things that didn't exist in the past and we're ones creating other ones.
Professor
True...but you are taking ones and transforming them from one object to another object. You are not transitioning from a zero to a one.
Second Student
Still...what good is a list of zeros? We are already ones and everything we work with is already a one.
Professor
Yes the point is that before there was a list of ones there was a list of zeros. There had to be a transition from the list of zeros to the first list of ones. That's where meaning was first attached to the existence of a one.
Second Student
What created the list of zeros?
Professor
Now we are focusing on the correct list. The question of why do ones exist will be answered by observing the list of zeros not the list of ones.
First Student
How are we going to do that?
Professor
If you want to answer the question of why do ones exist...you will have to find a way to explore the list of zeros.
First Student
Are there different zeros?
Professor
Yes...
Second Student
The list of zeros was...if everything that exists transitions...evolves...from the list of zeros then the first act of creation was the creation of the list of zeros.
Professor
The list is only our model for understanding. The actual thing created was space. It will never be added to, modified or manipulated by anything other than God. The God thing that was created was space. From space everything that exists has evolved into a surviving reality.
First Student
But the creation of space does not answer why space was created.
Professor
God created space in order to create all possible objects, forces and relationships that are not a part of God. This is a nonspecific act of creation...everything possible was created.
First Student
Is this going to be on the test?
Professor
Not my test but your life itself needs the confidence of being able to understand that there is a step that will bring you closer to God...it is not a step forward...it is a step backward. In fact it is the distance between God and humanity that creates the potential for all of us to experience life as a self realizing individual.
First Student
How are we going to do that?
Professor
I have brought you both to a new frontier. How would you start exploring it?
Second Student
Is that a question or a challenge?
Professor
It will always be both.
(Bell rings signifying the end of the class. Both students get up to leave.)
First Student
Is this going to be on the test?
Professor
Have a good weekend.
Second Student
You too...
(Everyone leaves.)
