Marathon of Humanity

Today ... started out with "classical" music. Not, exactly classical, but music that brought back some amazingly clear memories. George Gershwin's Rhapsody In Blue, Ravel's Bolero, and Edvard's Hall of the Mountain King.

I considered what has changed in the last century, then the time before that. This acceleration in technology that seems to be driving us into the future.

But there are less and less participating in those advances. And I call out the coming generations ... wondering if they understand what happened behind us. History is a gift. I wondered when the last of the classically trained musicians will fade away and everything we have is simply high definition recordings that are eventually archived indefinitely until it is all but lost. There will be those who are passionate, following tradition, but their work... their art will be less and less appreciated.

The simple will replace the complex and ... increasingly, we'll be a simpler organism for it. That... leads me into the next series of thoughts. Necessity is the mother of invention... need is slowly being replaced by want, from a creating to a wholly consuming series of culture. When you have what you need, where is the necessity? I know this is an anecdote, not a scientific theory, but it seems to be playing out pretty intensely.

This foundation for the coming generation seems laid... it's perceived to be strong, but it's riddled with holes. We're living through a series of social experiment that continue to merge into the next. I doubt that we'll have the wherewithal to stand the test of time.

Then I kick off VNV Nation's Further because ... the further you put out the timeline, you start to realize that, eventually, humanity dissolves into time. What you are, or were, has changed... and is gone forever. If you're religious, yay!, someone saved you and you've got have a clean exit off of a dirty situation... but to what end? Forever is pretty boring and bleak, if you think of it. If you're a scientist, you've already determined that you've gained immortality by uploading your consciousness somewhere. What happens then? You ... exist. Perhaps get "resleeved".

It's just not that simple. If any of that actually happens... you're still the same flawed personality, immortalized. Beginnings and, most importantly, endings are very important.

On the religious side, you can get all the forgiveness you want, but that doesn't make you yourself a better person. You're still going to be a "broken angel". As the saying goes, "Beauty is only skin deep. Ugly goes straight to the bone."

And, on the scientific side? It's like a low res copy. Whatever personality you had during your "capture" ends up being a riddled and useless computation. You are flawed code that wants to be preserved indefinitely. As a scientists, what's the point? Preserve the data in your head? Or is it a selfish sort of immortality because you're more deserving that millions of others with equivalent thoughts?

Let go gracefully. Whether you time your own exit or you cling for as long as you can possibly muster, when the time comes, just... let it go. Terry Pratchett was a good example of exactly this. *sigh* And the hole will be felt. For as long as we're alive, it will be felt. But, then what? Time passes... time always passes and memories fade.

I consider that space travel is an attempt to find "The New World" to establish a new colony, new freedoms, a fresh start. Sure. I can get behind that, but it's to the detriment of where we're at now, we don't care what we leave behind as long as we have another place to go. And, consider that, in our conquest-oriented thinking, we will destroy everything in our path, very much like Columbus did. New life forms? Heh, we'll see how this plays out, much like it did historically.

History repeats... and will continue to do so. Across the galaxy, as time passes.

If we're the only living things out there doing this, perhaps we can take our "God Given Right" to spread and consume, because, hell, we're the chosen, after all?

Gracefully... enjoy your life. Find the precious moments in it. Believe in a higher power and live like you expect that higher power expects you to. The pettiness that we hold on to, in this short term, grabbing everything we can, what, really, is the point? And what of the conceit that leads up to hating others for being different for stepping on our ideological toes?

If humanity is going to last for any reasonable amount of time, there's going to need to be a soulful audit with some long term perspective... Can anyone see that happening? Everyone is expecting the "end of the world", which is a perfect rationalization to maintain the current course to whatever end.

I hope for the best, but I'm pretty sure I see the long term outcome just as clearly as ever.

So, here's to the future I plan on experiencing! Even if I could very well be alone in doing so...

Here's to allowing myself to be an anonymous part of the heaving mass that is humanity. To love, and be loved for who and what I am right now. To experience, to wonder, to live, to fight—if necessary, and then to die. To appreciate change for what it is and adapt accordingly. To attempt to understand that which scares me and choose my stance accordingly. To defy my very nature in order to wholeheartedly embrace whatever future is coming, and, above all, to help my children to do the same.