We Are Going To Screw This Up

American Greatness ^ | 31 Aug, 2022 | John Conlin

[MtnClimber]

We are the only known life in the entire universe, so let’s start acting like it.

The universe has been discovered to be an actual, physical thing of a size few can imagine—the observable part being 92 billion light years across. But it could in fact be infinite since the vast majority of it is not—nor will it ever be—available to us.

And in this incredible vast ocean of reality, there’s little ol’ us—Earth and its perhaps unwilling and unready stewards, homo sapiens. In this almost incomprehensible vastness, this is the only place with life.

Yes, many believe the universe just must be full of life—I personally lean this way myself, although not nearly as much as I once did. Still, the fact remains that we are the only known life in the entire universe.

With this knowledge one would hope we would take its—and our—protection far more seriously than we do. One doesn’t have to be religious to see, hear, and feel this sublime living entity which goes back over 4 billion years and of which we are just a part.

Yet today, many childishly act as though our very wants and desires can actually change reality. Since this is a stupid idea, backed up by no supporting evidence, it is a statistical certainty it will end badly. We do not have to walk this path.

And for those who do think intelligent life is common throughout the universe, remember they will have had to go through the same processes through which we are going—growing and figuring things out or facing the unpleasant consequences of failure. Perhaps this is one reason we don’t see signs of this intelligent life: most don’t grow enough to succeed and their failures effectively end life on their planets.

But again, we don’t have to walk that path. The process of discovering reality via the “science-way of thinking” has proven itself incredibly effective. In a few hundred years we have discovered how and why almost the entire universe and everything in it works—from the very small to the very large and everything in between.

We have discovered an amazing, interconnected mosaic of reality with not a single part contradicting any other. Truly an amazing accomplishment.

This has worked wonders in the hard sciences but this thinking kind of stalled out once it left the confines of that department. Driving this thinking into all other areas of our lives is the next step we must take if we hope to fulfill our unasked-for role of steward to all life on the planet. It is a certainty that not doing so will sooner or later be fatal—to us and to perhaps all life on the planet. The only known life in the whole freaking universe!

We must accept this fabric of reality doesn’t just operate in the hard sciences—it is everywhere and everything. It is reality and there is no escape from its laws in governance and politics any more than there is from physics and chemistry and biology, and geology, etc.

At its most basic, this science-way of thinking accepts there are some things that work better than others and that the reasons for this are discoverable and interconnected. Again, this is just as true in economics as it is in all reality.

But can any sane person look at our political processes and say either side is searching for the truth? For reality? And as the organizations we call governments have become self-gorging leviathans—ever growing and ever expanding their reach, consuming unimaginable wealth, and impacting the flow of life and civilization for hundreds of years, the odds of a fatal act are sooner or later 100 percent.

They create inherently flawed social programs—nothing more than Ponzi schemes—which are destined for catastrophic failure unless future generations do something the present won’t. These are programs which hundreds of millions of Americans sooner or later come to rely upon.

They create ever-growing bureaucracies which are often funded for only a year or two. The “leaders” of any society or country that wants to be long-lived certainly must plan for more than a year or two. Or even 10. These things should have hundred-year planning horizons and be built to automatically adjust to changing conditions.

They inflame societal conflict in an attempt to gain short-term political advantage—unleashing rage and hatred which may prove to be uncontrollable.

They are built upon, and construct all their programs in a failed, power-driven, design. Natural processes which don’t lead to catastrophic failure are built on a bottom-up design. Unnatural, government-made processes are always top-down, “boss-driven” designs that are certain to be very underperforming.

If these organizations and the people who staff them continue down the path of ignoring reality, it is a statistical certainty it will sooner or later end in catastrophe.

We don’t have to allow this to occur. It can be stopped; we just need to stop it. Does this require a reframing of many issues? Of course—how could it not? It is a paradigm shift in the truest sense of the word.

We are the only known life in the entire universe so let’s start acting like it. The destruction of this precious gift would be an obscenity of cosmic proportions.

[MtnClimber]

I notice that the author did not say “intelligent life form”.

[Leep]

Why doesn’t biden simply proclaim we will reach infinity by 2035.
Problem solved.

[SaveFerris]

[If these organizations and the people who staff them continue down the path of ignoring reality, it is a statistical certainty it will sooner or later end in catastrophe.]

Seems to be what’s popular with Hollywood, the Leftist Mainstream Media, modern “music” made popular, politicians, the United Nations, disastrous “Green” farming policies, “Green energy” nonsense, Global Warming, men dressing like women, biological men demanding to participate in women’s sports, etc. etc. etc.

Isaiah 5:20 in real-time.

[muir_redwoods]

“ We have discovered an amazing, interconnected mosaic of reality with not a single part contradicting any other.”

Good news I guess, the quantum vs relativity seems to have been sorted out if this is true. I must have missed it.

[IrishBrigade]

‘I notice that the author did not say “intelligent life form”.

if we were to focus on the prevailing covid mitigatation procedures, quite rightly would the author omit the term ‘intellience...’

[IrishBrigade]

‘if we were to focus on the prevailing covid mitigatation procedures, quite rightly would the author omit the term ‘intellience...’

and if posters were to focus on the post preview they would never spell ‘intelligence’ as ‘intellience...’

[bert]

The opening premise is without merit and presumes to know the mind of God.

He then stumbles into an anarchist rant that while making some good point is professional drivel

[BlackbirdSST]

I’m comforted by the fact that if we ever do find life elsewhere, they will speak perfect english.

[telescope115]

5:21,22, and 23 as well

[Phlap]

Alas, for far too many, reality is not conducive to their ends. They would rather live in a world where right is wrong and wrong is right. In the end, the DNA wont lie, you are what you are.

[logi_cal869]

...with an accent.

[delchiante]

Quote
He holds a BS in Earth Sciences and an MBA, and is the founder and President of E.I.C. Enterprises, a 501(c)3 non-profit dedicated to spreading the truth here and around the world, primarily through K-12 education.

I didn’t hear anything about the Truth in that..

I did see the word Leviathan.. that’s a biblical word.

Silly human needs to know the Truth..
That’s not taught K-12 these days.
Maybe homeschoolers..

Humanity was always going to screw things up.
That’s why the Kingdom to come is so exciting..

[Robert DeLong]

It is a certainty that not doing so will sooner or later be fatal—to us and to perhaps all life on the planet.

It's not a certainty at all. While I agreed with everything he said up to this statement, which is hypothetical theory, and nothing more. We have no clue if we can destroy the earth or not. So far what we have done has not even damaged the earth. In some ways we have made it less livable for the human species, as well as, other species. However, we have recognized that fact and have worked towards solutions that have lessened that negative effect. We should strive to keep improving upon that, and hopefully we all, or at least a majority, can agree to that.

[cpdiii]

the observable part being 92 billion light years across

Astronomers say the universe is about 14 billion years old. If the universe expanded at the speed of light (it does not) the total size of the universe could not exceed 28 billion light years. ?????

[MtnClimber]

There is movement of galaxies and there is the expansion of space-time (I think that is what they are calling it today). I saw that 92 billion light years number too. Iagree with you that it seems much too large.

[FreeReign]

We are the only known life in the entire universe so let’s start acting like it. The destruction of this precious gift would be an obscenity of cosmic proportions.

The only know life in the chaotic universe is on earth.

The only time on earth where we experienced civilization and liberty was over the last 250 years.

The best place on earth where that occurred at that time was the USA.

We are about to squander all of that, perhaps to never appear in the chaotic universe again.

[Rebel_Ace]

“...Astronomers say the universe is about 14 billion years old. If the universe expanded at the speed of light (it does not) the total size of the universe could not exceed 28 billion light years. ?????...”

The “speed of light” speed limit applies to objects with mass moving through space. No massive object can attain light speed. Massless photons travel AT light speed. However, this speed limit does not apply to the expansion of space itself. The reason we have an “observable limit” is because space itself is receding away faster than light moves.

Now, regarding how you get more than 28 billion light years is actually easy to understand, if I could include an animation, but I can’t now, so I will try verbally...

Imagine an Ant walking at exactly 1 inch per second. If he walks for 10 seconds, he will be just 10 inches away, right? Ok.

Now, imagine the same Ant walking the same speed on a linear rubber band, and that rubber band is being stretched as he is walking on it, and it is being stretched at a rate of half an inch per second. To avoid messy calculus, we will just say this stretch occurs at one second intervals.

So, the Ant starts at the end of the rubber band, and after 1 second, he is 1 inch down the line. But, now we have to account for the stretch, so he is physically 1.5 inches from where he started. After 2 seconds, even though he has walked only 2 inches, after accounting for the stretch of the band he is walking on, he is now somewhat more than 3 inches from where he started. Keep repeating for second after second, and the Ant will be much farther from his original starting point than his speed alone would indicate.

I hope that helps you understand.

[bert]

As an aside, the 14 billion year age was applied to the known universe. At the time....... how long ago in astrophysics knowledge years?

Is there an approximation for the speed of outward big bang universal expansion? Is not this speed irrelevant when compared to the much, much faster speed of light?

[Rebel_Ace]

A quick Google search shows:

“The new study confirms previous expansion rate estimates based on Hubble observations, showing an expansion of roughly 45 miles (73 kilometers) per megaparsec. (A megaparsec is a measurement of distance equal to one million parsecs, or 3.26 million light-years.)”

So, space is expanding 45 miles per second every 3.26 million light years, and you have to remember, from *ANY* observation point it is CUMMULATIVE. So, a point in intergalactic space 3.26 million light years away looks like it is receding at 45 miles per second, but a point in intergalactic space 6.52 million light years is receding at 90 miles per second, and so on...

So, just like small values for compound interest, you run this for BILLIONS of light years and you can exceed the 186K miles per second light speed.

Humans generally have a poor time internalizing really huge numbers.