Ground Control to Major Tom

Stress is so common to most of us that we rarely see the triggers or the patterns that are left in the wake. How does stress have anything to do with the picture of three astronauts?

Mission: : a pre-established and often self-imposed objective or purpose.

Plan: an orderly arrangement of parts of an overall design or objective.

How many times do we find ourselves so stressed and wonder why we are so stressed. I think that stress is a mismatch of sorts, between what our plan was and what actually occurs. We may go to work and have a preconceived idea that the day will be within the limits of what we would consider a good day. We then get a phone call from hell, our co-workers problems become our problems, the boss is in a bad mood and takes it out on you, or just doesn't treat us with the respect that we thought our day pre-destined. You can almost feel the stress from these descriptions alone. Job loss, health problems, financial problems...etc. So what happens during this preconceived outcome and the actual outcome? Your central nervous system reacted and automatically. Our bodies are an incredibly complex system focused on self-preservation. How could we not plan for a problem free day? It is pure fantasy to believe that our lives will be without trials and surprises. When we encounter a surprise, whether a large dog barking and bearing down on you, a sudden financial crisis, a relationship difficulty or a job loss, we have this release of epinephrine, norepinephrine and other potent chemicals. We know this response as, "fight or flight." and if you have experienced this, you know well the feelings both during and after the release of adrenaline. During the crisis, we have unbelievable strength and focus...unfortunately, after the adrenaline is depleted, we feel washed out, shaking, nauseous or faint. The response to crisis is brief, but long enough to either confront the danger or to flee from it. But what about a prolonged level of unexpected crisis or even potential crisis? What about the chronic low level stresses that we face all the time? We still have the same response, but to a lesser extend and the recovery is quicker as well. The long-term effects of chronic low level stress is fatigue, poor focus, depression and anxiety. We may not anticipate a wild dog attack every day, but we do get accustomed to these low level stresses to the point that they become accustomed and even expected. This is where we just feel defeated. Why are we surprised when life and the people within our lives are unfair or exhibit randomly confusing acts? Because we have expectations. The expectations that life is fair, people are fair and bad things won't happen, is a very optimistic premise, but unfortunately a naive one.

The example of the Apollo 11 flight is a good example of planning and being mission oriented. The astronauts, like soldiers, pilots etc. plan for events to go horribly wrong and because of this planning, they are not surprised or especially stressed when that time comes...and statistically it will come.

The following is a small part of the transcript conversations between Mission Control and Neil Armstrong Commander of the Lunar Lander (Eagle) Upon reading their words, you may feel like this was just a, "day at the office." The reality is that it was almost the tragic loss of two American heros.

Early space flight utilized the best in computer systems available in 1969. No where near the technology that most of us have today in our cell phones. Neil Armstrong, Commander of the mission and "Buzz" Aldrin, were assigned a task that was never performed before and one that in the 60's "space race," with the Soviet Union, was being watched by everyone in the civilized world! As the Lunar Module was approaching the Moon, the computer systems began to be overloaded with incoming data and crashed! Yes, the computers began to alert with codes of failing systems. Aldrin monitored fuel remaining and Armstrong steered the landing craft toward an alien landscape that was plotted, but ultimately Armstrong had to decide where to land the drifting craft and fast! Upon landing, the landing module had only 15 seconds of fuel remaining. This was later found to be an instrument error secondary to the computer crash, but as they approached it must have taken reflexive movement and calmness to maintain composure and to defeat the internal self-preservation response that most of us would have experienced. The following transcript was the actual text of that landing:

CDR Forward drift?

' (EAGLE)

LMP Yes.

· _ (EAGLE )

LMP Okay.

(EAGLE )

CONTACT LIGHT.

LMP ACA - out of DETENT.

: ( EAGLE)

CDR Out of DETENT.

LMP MODE CONTROL both AUTO. i_E_CENT · '_'-COMMAND

OVERRIDE - OFF. ENGINE ARM - OFF.

LMP 413 is in.

CC We copy you down, Eagle.

CDR Houston, Tranquility Base here.

CDR THE EAGLE HAS LANDED.

CC Roger, Tranquility. We copy you on the ground.

You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue.

We're breathing again. Thanks a lot.

CDR Thank you.

(TRANQ)

CC You' re looking good here.

CDR Okay. We're going to be busy for a minute.

I would have been busy too! Changing my flight suit! It's interesting that the team on the ground was having a greater physiological response than the astronauts. After making a seat of the pants landing, a landing by the way that if to short of an approach or too long of an approach or simple a landing in the wrong place...would have meant sudden DEATH! That is extreme focus and planning, most importantly execution of the mission.

OK, the Lunar Module is on the Moon, Armstrong begins to prepare to be the first man to ever conduct a space walk. Can you imagine that? No one knew what would happen! Would he touch the surface and die? Would he take a few steps on the Moon and get killed by a large lunatic (sorry) he didn't know, we didn't know. The two Astronauts actually had Communion that was prepared on Earth by Aldrin's Priest. They couldn't talk openly about it then because there had recently been an atheist pushing for a ban on religious views in governmental programs, but the two space walkers thought enough about the potential dangers they were about to face, to consider absolution. There was a mission and a plan and each step was met without fear or even obvious anxiety regarding the next step. The Astronauts knew that in testing, the vehicle they were in failed 50% of the time, when attempting to separate and return them to orbit to dock with their circling ride home. They knew right then and there that even after landing, walking on the moon, collecting space rocks, planting the American flag...they had a 50-50 chance of dying a slow death right there on the moon! Can you imagine conducting your day to day missions if you knew that half the time you were at risk of not making it home? The Astronauts were not only brave, but so mission focused that they seemingly did not think of the past or future, only the present. It's not that they weren't concerned with potential outcomes, they just couldn't control them and knew that they had prepared as much as possible and had no control of the other factors.

This isn't to suggest that we think of the worst and prepare for it to happen, just that we anticipate that events may happen and try to accept that we are doing everything possible to prepare and after that we can do no more.

OK, moon walk complete...check. Time to go back into orbit...oops! "Uh...hey Neil...I guess in all the excitement I must have bumped the switch and it broke off." Buzz may have said. "That's OK Buzz...which switch is that?" Neil may have asked calmly. "Oh, just the one that lights the jets that get us off the Moon." Buzz answers. "Oh, that's OK buddy...I kinda like it here anyway and who needs Oxygen when you have a view like this." Neil certainly didn't say. Aldrin broke the switch that would jettison the module back into orbit to dock with the capsule that would take them home! That event would most certainly top anything that happens to us on a regular basis! "Well...that's a problem for sure...let's come up with a solution." They may have said. Buzz Aldrin came up with the solution and inserted his felt tipped pen into the broken opening to hold down the switch that allowed Armstrong to light the engines...you remember, the engines that worked 50% of the time! The jets did work and the module was off to dock with the orbiting capsule and return home.

OK, my point is that they planned and practiced for months to counter any emergency small or large. The rest was out of their control. We are caught off guard so many times by events that we don't consider possible and that mismatch of what we thought would happen and what actually happened can cause us to fall into a sudden stress state. We cannot live in fear, as that is also a stress inducing stimulus and doesn't help us execute our mission. We can however, recognize that events can change and plan for these contingencies. It sounds easy to say, "Oh well I can't change it so I might as well just relax..." But what if we did plan for the fact that there is an unfairness to our environment and learn to accept that we are mortal and as mortal beings we will have flaws, as will others. We will lose jobs, we will someday have health problems, we will experience great sadness. What if we accept that and temper our frailness with one simple fact, for today I am happy! Right in this minute I am living my plan and working diligently on my mission. What about the peace that comes with acceptance that not everyday will be good, in fact some will be tragic...but right now, I can look out this little window in my space craft and watch a beautiful sunrise over the distant horizon. We can certainly intellectualize the possible outcomes, we can plan for contingencies, but after that...we can just enjoy the now.

We will most likely never know the focus and training of an Astronaut, but we do know our ourselves better than anyone else. We may never walk on the Moon, but we can dream of touching the sky. We may never face the perils of space flight, but we will face the same ultimate ending as every other person on Earth. In this minute we are here. Our plan is set and our overall mission is in front of us. No mission you say? Ok, sit down and make one...right now. Start with a plan and link it to another plan and then, you are on your way to the Moon! Prepare, consider, prepare more, consider more and prepare. Know there will be the little and big "switches" that will get broken in our lives...but prepare to fix them and move on. These events are sure to happen, that you can count on. Remember the coolness that our Astronauts exemplified and just try to have a small fraction of that calmness. It would have been wasted energy for them to call Dr. Phil and scream, "We don't want to die here on this stupid Moon!" We can control only so much of our future and we can control none of our past. So if you have reached the surface of the Moon in your life and took yourself a little stroll, picked up a few things, planted your flag, then let's light the jets and get on home...there's a big parade awaiting you! Then you too can say, "Tranquility base here."

PM

Should have, Would have, Could have...

Decision, decisions. This blog should be a bit lighter, but probably the most important thought I have and the most commonly used approach when I consider past decisions as successes or failures. When I start to regret past decisions, I commonly say to myself, "two roads diverged."

The working premise:

March 20th 2003, America and the "coalition of the willing," invaded Iraq. This action followed the attack of our Country on September 11th 2001 by foreign terrorists. Intelligence agencies reported that Iraq was in possession of weapons of mass destruction (WMD's) and had intentions of using them. I am writing this as it would have been written at the time of this event, without present day thoughts or evidence. I am trying to discuss these events in terms of the perceived sentiment of the time, since that is all we have available when we make decisions. For the sake of this blog, I will refer to the outcomes of this event as Event (1) and Event (2) to demonstrate my point.

Event (1)

Iraq is invaded, Saddam Hussein is arrested and hanged, we are still embroiled in a dangerous urban guerilla war after seven years and Iraq creeps toward a semi-stable government.

Event (2)

Iraq is not invaded due to lack of evidence of WMD's and Saddam's regime continues under ongoing suspicions of ill will and potential further destabilization of the Middle East region.

"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,"

"And sorry I could not travel both,"

"And be one traveler, long I stood,"

"And looked down one as far as I could,"

"To where it bent in the undergrowth;"

When we reflect on a past decision, the Iraq invasion as exampled, we can stand here in our present day with our present knowledge and try to make a judgement on a time that has past. This is not to imply that we cannot learn from our past, but our life lesson in respect to the past is just that, a reflection of the choice we made, good or bad, and the mentally created outcome that could have been. Outcomes that are limited only by our imaginations.

Two roads diverged in a Yellow Wood," our decision point is wisely highlighted by Robert Frost, author of the 1920 work, "The Road not Taken." We face a decision just as the observer faces two paths, or maybe more than two decision paths. We can wish that we could take both paths or decisions, but we of course cannot. "And sorry I could not travel both and be one traveler long I stood and looked down one as far as I could to where it bent in the undergrowth." We can stare at our choices and strain to envision their outcomes, but of course we can never see to the end of the path until we have made a decision and travelled it. Our ultimate outcome is surely hidden as we search the length of the decision, every possible outcome, "to where it bent in the overgrowth." Consider event 1, no one could see the outcome that we now reflect upon, with the knowledge of the present day, the, "yellow wood," the Autumn of our lives.

"Then took the other, as just as fair and having perhaps the better claim, because it was grassy and wanted wear; though as for that the passing there had worn them really about the same."

As we stood on the pivotal decision point and searched for outcome possibilities, we see the two decisions, maybe one better than the other from that point in time, perhaps a "better claim because it was grassy and wanted wear." Event 2 may have looked better in some respects to the observer, but as Frost states well, "as for that the passing there had worn them really about the same." No matter how long we deliberate about a decision, the view of both paths ultimately appear about the same. We at times may say that event 2 is a better path than the path laid in front of event 1, or visa versa. We can never know from that pivotal perspective.

"And both that morning equally lay, in leaves no step had trodden black." "Oh I kept the first for another day!" "Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back."

At the junction when the decision was made to invade Iraq, limitless outcomes were no doubt discussed by very intelligent and experienced professionals, who know more about the truth than we will unfortunately ever realize. I would imagine that, "both that morning equally lay, in leaves no steps had trodden black." There were certainly no absolutes that would have blackened the choices that laid in front of the decision makers. "Oh I kept the first for another day," but knowing how way leads on to way I doubted if I should ever come back." Again, at that pivotal point decision makers may have considered that one day the decision not taken could be revisited, but in reality we can never go back to the point at which we made the decision...no matter how obvious the outcome is to us when viewed with future eyes.

"I shall be telling this with a sigh, somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood and I- I took the one less travelled by, and that made all the difference."

We are here in 2010, 7 years after we have witness the human and financial cost of event 1, and we are individually defining the meaning of the word, "sigh." If you have lost a loved one while they fought in the Iraq war, you may define the word sigh as a sorrowful sigh. If you are an Iraqi citizen who feel the hope of a new life, you may define the sigh as a sigh of great hope and relief. If you were George W. Bush, you may define the sigh as regret or guarded optimism...we can never know, but one thing we can agree on is that the word sigh and its meaning is individual and the crux of this whole poem. Four time Pulitzer Prize winning poet, Robert Frost was no stranger to great sorrow and celebrity and in his own words said of this poem, "That poem is tricky, very very tricky." I think he was absolutely right. Many have recited this poem and defined the meaning as being a statement of non-conformity. They see it as, "a road less traveled." They take from that to be that the traveler had taken the road that others found has not, an more non-traditional road. The problem with that of course is that the name of the poem is, "The Road Not Taken." This would to me, state that Frost was not suggesting the poem as an ode to nonconformity.

Two roads did diverge in the decision to invade Iraq and to a less important approach, to every decision that we consider and make. "Two roads diverged in a wood and I- I took the one less traveled by." The road or decision that we didn't take is certainly the road, "less traveled by," because it was not the road we took, not the decision we made. As we reflect on the past decision, with the present knowledge of the outcome and our imagination to fill in the blank slate of what would have, could have or should have been, we may say, "and that made all the difference." The difference, good or bad, success or failure, complicated or simple...it did make all the difference, to us.

It is incredibly difficult to reflect from our personal "yellow wood," the Autumn of our lives, no matter what age we are when we reflect upon the outcome, and not feel that we made the, "right decision." The decision made and the outcome that we lived, good or bad, is more realistic to us, since we did experience it. The other decision, "that morning equally lay," cannot be saved for another day. The past has expired and the ability to change it has past as well. We can however, reflect on it as honestly as possible, but ultimately this exercise ends with a sigh. A sigh for us to define and, "that...made all the difference."

I thank Robert Frost for the insight he has imparted. It has helped me many times to reflect on countless decision and makes sense to me and hopefully to others...if you made it this far down the "Road Not Taken."

PM

Time For a Change

OK, upfront warning: This topic is tough to digest, the Surgeon General has suggested that you have no distractions while reading.

Time is a constant, unless you're Stephen Hawkings. I do want to write about time travel someday, but I have to go into the future first to see if I have any followers before I put the time into it. I have been thinking about this for some time now and despite my wife's warnings...I want to do it anyway. OK, here we go. There is a formula in Physics that I have always felt applies to life, as well as defines life, I.e metaphysics of life. The formula is F=MA. Let me explain.

Force (F) is defined as "produces or prevents motion and can alter velocity. In life we could say that it is the change that occurs by two physical bodies by object or environment.

Mind lock- forces in our lives that affect us and prevents or causes motion, objects or environment.

Mass (M) is defined measure of inertia or in simple words, size or weight being effected by inertia.

Mind-lock- The weight of issues in our lives that are affected by the events or size of events

Acceleration (A) Rate of change over time. Think car starting and traveling over time.

Mind-lock The speed of changes in our life due to events or even the frequency of events over time

OK example time: A car that weights 5000 lbs that travels from zero to 60 in 6 seconds has a force of:

Force = 5000 lbs x 60 mph over 6 seconds would be: 20,176.3 Newtons

In comparison an F-18 jet is launched from an aircraft carrier has a force of 1,733,766 Newton's

Speaking of Newton, we should include this as well to help us apply this to life.

Newton's first law:

A body remains in constant motion until it interacts with object of greater mass.

Newton's second law:

The force imparted on the object is proportional to the mass

Newton's third law:

Every action has opposite or equal reaction

That is a simplified common sense definition. If you are a Physicist I apologize for my information and that you aren't busy solving the oil leak in the gulf instead of dissecting my blog. So, what are the (F) forces that exert change on our lives? We see life and the changes in life causing increased stress, depression, addiction, divorce, etc. The top four stresses that we face in life are:

1) Relationship

2) Finances

3) Health

4) Career

What are the (M) Masses in our lives?

Population growth? Consider the overall pressure that is exerted on us from this source.

What are the Acceleration (A) in our lives?

Increase in technology, thought, intelligence. These factors certainly effect the rate of change.

OK, example time: The world population has always had exponential growth. In 1800 our population was approximately 1 billion people. By 1920 2 billion. By 2000 we were at 6 billion and forecasted to be at 7.5 billion by 2020. Consider the changes we have seen in science, religion, literature, technology since the 1800's. If we compare the advent of change since the 1500's, we can see the greatest changes occurred during time of conflict or did conflict arise due to the rate of change in society? It is well documented in industrialized areas of the World that suicide increased during times of stress such as The Great Depression, obvious conclusion sure, but the rates of suicide decreases during war time and has increased across the board in people under forty years old. Lets consider also that as the population has increased historically, society has also spread to other areas, such as the 15th century when trade routes expanded, so did immigration and development of areas such as the Americas. America then went on to add to technology, almost at a faster rate than did the rest of the World...a positive thing. It would seem anecdotally that as technology has increased, example the Internet, our thirst for knowledge has not only increased, but we also must think and act faster simply to keep up. Imagine in 1940 when you wanted to sent a picture and letter to a lover in Europe, you had to craft a letter and send the letter and picture in the mail. If your affection was to be returned or rejected, you would not have know that fact for several weeks. Our time vs. life experiences were a bit slower. Relationship moved slower and people probably still felt the pressure of life. Compare to the present day. I can snap a picture now, type a quick note and hit send. The message is in Europe or anywhere else on the planet in a second...and the response just as fast. Just at first blush it would seem that this increased time change or (acceleration) would then have a multiplier effect on Force or easier to comprehend, our feelings of pushes us to move or not move in life. We are an adaptive species and I have no doubt we adapt to change, but is there a tipping point where this change can no longer be tolerated? Or tolerated poorly? I think that this defined force can be seen as aggression. We certainly see that today, but they have throughout history as well.

Going back to Newton, we continue in motion in a straight line until we are in contact with something of greater mass. Could that greater mass be a sudden illness, financial problem, unexpected relationship change? Newton's second law, acceleration is based on the magnitude of the force we interact with. Could some people be more resilient to an event that could be considered greater in mass or magnitude? How about Newton's third law, every action experiences and opposite or equal reaction. If we are cooking along in life at our constant pace and experience an event that causes us to react, is it equal or opposite reactions? It would seem that some people can encounter great tragedy and not waiver, but I feel sure that there is an equal or opposite reaction at some level throughout time and it would indeed follow Newton's law.

Finally, I think that our constant of time in our lives has a sine wave that is spaced out when we are in times of "normal life experiences" for any given person. The wave form narrows at times in our lives during periods of experience increase such as child birth, relocation, job change, etc. Perhaps we become accustomed to a change in the frequency of these wave forms, but my question is does this change have an ultimate effect on the length of the time line or life. If we can agree that these periods shorten our life, wouldn't the solution be to avoid the times or events that increase the frequency form in our lives? Not possible right? So, how do we manage the reaction that events have on our lives? Not a simple answer for sure, but I think it can be approached with the F=MA formula. We cannot change the acceleration of life in general, but we can affect a change on how we allow this change in velocity over time to be deposited into our lives. There is no reward for keeping up, at least no reward in finality. We can cannot affect how the population is applied to our lives, but we can alter the impact of it to whatever extent possible. The output of Force would be effected if the value of Mass and Acceleration can be decreased. Example: a dragonfly traveling at 2 mph will have considerably less force against the windshield of the example vehicle we defined initially.

If the statement is true..."sometimes you're the windshield and sometimes you're the bug." I would choose to be safely inside the car. I once again realize all too late that I should always listen to my wife.

What Difference Does it Make?

When we consider the Universe and our role within it, not to mention our meaning within it...we can begin to feel insignificant. Pre 16th century astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, it was widely accepted that Earth was the center of the Universe and Planets revolved around the Earth. Given our egocentric childhoods, this belief seemed comfortable. Just as a small child is completely sure that his universe revolves around him. It would be uncomfortable to believe otherwise. In essence it gives the child importance, without which he may grow depressed and hopeless. Perhaps we never outgrow the fear that we are insignificant and manufacture a reality that allows us to feel significant. Copernicus was fearful of publishing his findings that the Sun was actually the center of the Universe and we revolved around it. His fear was based in the power of the Church of Rome and the universally accepted beliefs that allowed society to feel the security of being the, "center." Copernicus died 24 May 1543 after lapsing into a coma after a stroke. His work, De revolutionibus, was published on the day that he died. History says that his manuscript was laid in his hand on that day and he awoke briefly to see his life's work and he peacefully passed away.

Copernicus may have felt confused about his belief in God, a powerful force in a Roman Catholic society. He may have found it difficult to merge his science and his beliefs in God...we can only imagine. We do know that he was fearless in his search. The following text is from the minds at the University of Colorado:

As scientific instruments have probed farther into the reaches of space and time, and

deeper into sensory realms beyond the puny range of human experience, humanity has

gradually receded from their view. Where our unaided eyes perceive humans as the

center of existence, telescopes and microscopes reveal no special role for their inventors

in the grand scheme of things. So vast is the universe we see with our instruments, and

so small is humankind, we are forced to conclude that the earth could explode

tomorrow and the rest of the universe would hardly take note.

The insignificance of humanity is almost impossible for most humans to accept.

It was bad enough when, in the sixteenth century, Copernicus suggested that the earth

may not be the center of the universe. It became worse when, in the nineteenth

century, Darwin proposed that we are an accidental mammalian species and not some

unique creation of God. And this painful message was only reinforced when, in the

twentieth century, astronomers declared that the sun is but one of ten billion trillion

stars in a universe at least a hundred billion trillion kilometers in extent, and geologists

showed that recorded history is but a blink of time: a microsecond in the second of

earth’s existence.

OK, so given that thought...where is the hope of anything making a difference? I must admit that when I first read this treatise, I felt small and meaningless and found some initial comfort in the fact that all the problems I see are really not that big of a deal...then I felt confused by my insignificance. What difference did I make? The Colorado writer continues:

Ego has shown no signs of changing for thousands of years, while science is

characterized by progress, flexibility, and the continual discarding of old ideas to make

room for new discoveries. Scientists readily admit that their conclusions are tentative.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if science could only finally confirm what our inner voices

have been telling us all along - that we really are immortal personalities with a

meaningful, if not leading role in the cosmos?

A host of recent authors have proclaimed that this revolution in scientific

thought has in fact occurred, that the new physics of the twentieth century has

discovered that human consciousness, not matter, is the fundamental substance of the

universe. This notion has struck a responsive chord. But is that chord being played on

the fine strings of a heavenly harp, or is it simply the stroking of the last bits of straw

grasped at by an ego incapable of accepting reality?

OK, like a small child, am I threatened by the fact that the World does not revolve around me or for that matter even care if I am part of it? Consider this, maybe I am only matter and in that matter I do not matter, but what does that say for others in history that were matter and really mattered?

In early the 1800's a man and woman moved to New York from Ireland...insignificant? Many Irish immigrants made the same trek. The couple had a son in 1823, his name was Matthew Brady. Matthew was perhaps insignificant and could have lived and died in obscurity as most of us do from a societal view. Brady however, took a technology from a Paris artist and chemist, Louis Jacques DaGuerre, the developer of the first practical camera. From this idea, Brady became the man who documented the Civil War with photographs. Prior to this, society took images of life with their mind and their memories were their albums. The images were passed down to generations with words. Our imaginations were the palettes that we documented unseen people and places. War and the brutality of war was described and never seen by most. This fact alone could have made society more eager to commit others to carry out violent actions in distant lands, without first hand exposure to most of society. Brady changed that fact in our Country's brutal battle within our borders. For the first time, pictures were disseminated to the fathers and mothers, family and friends and our political leaders. The carnage of young men's bloated traumatized bodies were for the first time on the front page of newspapers. In essence our society made a decision that has only grown to this day. We now visually know the price to be paid when we commit troops to battle. This fact has increased public awareness of the carnage of war and also the valor found in victory. This also decreased our cultures "heart for war." There is intense public pressure on our leaders as we receive images and reports from our embedded correspondents. Other cultures do not have this aversion to war or the images they produce and that may be the weakness that places us at a disadvantage from a "survival of the fittest," concept. Consider the images of the last helicopter leaving Viet Nam, or the American flag being raised on top of Mount Suribachi in Iwo Jima. These images crystalized who we are and who we are not. Is this significant when viewed from space? No, but to date the view from space is not our reality. Matthew Brady has offered us something that has been so very significant. Consider this when you E-mail that picture of your one year old blowing out his candle. We now save memories photographically and the empower our hope and happiness. Brady also had a chronic problem with his vision since childhood and through his setback he brought not only vision to us, but insight.

Our Colorado scholar finishes:

I ask myself: Do I really want to be one with the universe, so intimately

intertwined with all of existence that my individual existence is meaningless? I find I

much prefer the notion that I am a temporary bit of organized matter. At least I am

my own bit of matter. Every thought and action that results from the remarkable

interactions of my personal bag of atoms belongs to me alone. And so these thoughts

and actions carry far greater value than if they belonged to some cosmic mind that I

cannot even dimly perceive.

The mystical holist trades the real, pulsating life of the outer world for what he

perceives as an inner world of peace. But that peace is the peace of a prison. Science

has always provided the means for breaking us free from the prisons of ignorance and

superstition. I hope to convince you that science has not suddenly reversed its course

and become yet another set of shackles for humanity to carry. On the contrary, science

continues to provide the key that unlocks all of our chains so that our bodies and minds

are free to roam the universe.

I agree in the sense that we are at the least the Captain of our own ship of atoms, but isn't that what Copernicus debated? We are not the center of the Universe, the Sun is...that is "our Universe." There is so much more out there that we can discover and define scientifically, but we still can't grasp it. My young Grandson can tell you that Buzz and Woody live in his room and will be there when he goes inside, but he cannot fathom the structure outside of his house, yard, neighborhood, town, city, country...he would be overwhelmed and in that overwhelmed state, he draws comfort from his little yard and the comfort there. He is in fact very significant at that moment. Ignorance is bliss? No, I think ignorance is essential. If Copernicus could have fully understood what his discoveries would hold, if Brady could have all at once seen the photographs that the future held, would he have continued? We can't know for sure, but we can say they were significant. If these few pioneers felt insignificant would they have even survived. The Universe is vast for sure and it that vastness we can feel lost. We can feel that we created God to give us boundaries and meaning...significance. We could also say that Faith in something unseen is a coping method and ego driven. After all, didn't every theory we now know as truth begin as just that, faith in the unseen. Maybe this belief of faith is what drives our curiosity, tempered with hope. I can only say that at this moment feeling significant doesn't minimize the real problems around be, but qualifies my hope in solutions...or maybe I'm simple ignorant.