Re: Why Is There No Rewind Button?

It occurred to me within hours of posting my last post that I should probably talk about why each post's idea is not a useless fact.  :P

Knowing time's purposes is not going to help you get out of an unpleasant experience.  But, you can keep in mind that it's going to be temporary.  It will pass.  Keeping that in mind can make it easier.  Being patient probably isn't going to make it go any faster, but it's certainly more pleasant than railing at the present.

Depending on the experience, you may have a choice to get out of it sooner rather than later, or at least create a better outcome.  In this case, time is a two-edged sword-- it makes sure the results follow your choice, but you only have so much time to make your decision.

If you have thoughts, please comment!  I'm going to class now~

Why Is There No Rewind Button?

Have you ever wondered why time keeps moving forward?  Why can't we go backwards in time as well as forwards, or even just stay in one time?  (In other words, why doesn't life have "rewind" and "pause" buttons?)

Going back in time would most likely make existence so much more complicated, what with alternate timelines and what-ifs and people being their own parents.  But let's set that idea aside.  I'm sure everyone wishes at some point that they could go back in time, maybe to fix a mistake somewhere or to cling to a happy experience.

Why can't we do that?  Why is time so strict?

I believe that time keeps pushing us forward because it wants to push us to someplace better.  It won't let you stay in one happy moment, because there are many more moments up ahead that are even happier.  It won't let you dwell in the past because your future is better.  If it weren't for time, there would surely be a lot of us-- perhaps even all of us-- who would find a spot on the timeline that they liked and just stay there forever, refusing to budge.  We can't get any better that way, nor can we learn anything in that sort of stasis. 

This gives rise to a lot of questions.  Why would we want to learn anything?  What about "ignorance is bliss?"  What about all the bad experiences that time pushes us into?  The answers to these questions are worthy of their own posts.

And then there's my favorite question: "Isn't time pushing us closer and closer to our DEATHS!?  That's not a good thing, is it?  Who does this 'time' person think he is?"  This question sparks a discussion of life after death, and that's definitely a topic for another day.

In the Beginning

I started my first blog... <scratches head> two years ago?  Six blogs later, I'm still wondering how to write a first post.  

I'll begin by talking about the purpose of this blog.  I'll post a permanent link to this post at the top of the site so that it'll be easy to refer back to.

In my ninth and tenth grades, I attended a teeny little school called Karl G. Maeser Preparatory Academy.  One of the big things that would catch people's attention at that school were the Socratic-style discussions.  We would discuss topics that ranged from metaphysical (what is reality?) to sensitive (abortion, healthcare, politics, religion, etc.) to befuddling (what do women want?).  And, especially with the sensitive topics, we would lay aside prejudices, examine our preconceived notions, and seek a deeper understanding of the issue.  No yelling and screaming, just pure intellectual discussion.  There are a lot of adults who haven't figured out how to do that, which is really sad, because our Socratic Seminar was really awesome.

Alas, it was only for ninth and tenth grades.  My dad got a job seventy miles away, and the commute was just too far.  After that I found myself in an engineering school that was, shockingly, more full of geek-nerds than even Maeser.  But that's beside the point.

In this blog, I am going to talk about all the deep thinking I do.  This may include, and is not limited to:

1. Ideas about existence itself, as well as the way people see it and how the way you see reality changes reality.  This could involve psychology, biology, and quantum physics.  I don't particularly like math, so I'll be keeping equations to a minimum, and I will do my best to explain everything so clearly that my seven-year-old brother can understand it.  Feel free to ask questions about anything I say.

2. Ideas about how we interact with ideas.  

3. Controversial ideas (religion, politics, etc.).  I don't intend to persuade anybody of anything.  I want to talk about these ideas so that we may all understand them more deeply and make more informed decisions.  BUT, I have drawn conclusions already, so I can't guarantee that I'll be completely unbiased.  Just know that I want you to draw your own conclusions, and don't hold those conclusions so dearly that they keep you from thinking about new things.

4. Ideas about how we think and feel, and how we change with time.

5. Thoughts on games.  I'm a very story-driven gamer.  This leads me away from a lot of mainstream stuff like first-person shooters (Halo, Call of Duty, etc.), MMOs (World of Warcraft), and anything on Facebook.  That's all I'll say for now.

6. etc.

Most of my posts will be like this one, but if you're lucky I might express some my ideas in the form of a story or poetry or a picture or something like that.  We'll see what happens.

Basically, if you want to understand life and its residents a little bit better, this blog is for you.

I hope you enjoy it!  ^_^