It's Robert's World, You're Just Living In It

Time has flustered, annoyed, entertained, and confused humans since the creation of the earth. Humans get bored and wish to travel through time in order to skip the uninteresting facets of life. People desire to return to the past to fix mistakes, forewarn ancestors, and attempt to improve the present. Humans have become dissatisfied with three dimensional vacations; people must now travel through time and space. Trekking back to the signing of the Declaration of Independence should be much more enjoyable than visiting a museum. However, humans cannot begin to fathom the complexities of time. Science is not a united front; several different methods of time travel have been suggested, debated, and debunked. Each hypothetical method requires an extremely specific set of qualifications, most of which are random occurences in space. At this rate, time travel will not become more than a faction of science fiction for several more centuries, if ever. Indeed, the time travel conundrum faces similar divisions and disunity in popular culture. No genuine laws of time travel have been formulated even in literature and film. The three major speculated methods of time travel are each unacheivable in their own ways, and the entire process of time travel will remain at a halt until an understanding of vaugities in Einstein’s theories of relativity can be acheived.

Several major players have influenced the worlds—physical and fictional—of time travel. Saint Augustine was among the first to enter the scientific discussion around AD 400 (Kaku 217). Saint Augustine conjectured that time is not a real thing, since the past is lost forever, the future an unpredictable fronteir of darkness, and the present an ever-changing instant (Kaku 217). The timeline, in effect, does not exist, and Saint Augustine guessed that God, all-powerful, was able to overcome time (Kaku 217). Sir Isaac Newton, internationally and infamously remembered for his contributions to physics, especially changes in motion dependent on time (Pickover xvi). Newton created a world of absolute time (Thorne 63). Newton theorized that “both space and time were absolute. Space was a fixed, infinite, unmoving metric against which absolute motions could be measured” (Pickover xv). These laws unfortunately led to a halt in scientific discovery regarding time and travel through it until the early twentieth century (Thorne 63). On the other hand, the idea exploded in art across the globe (Kaku 218). Although the idea occasionally entered oral tradition throughout the centuries, the first time travel story was penned in 1733 by Samuel Madden (Kaku 217). The story is “about an angel from the year 1997 who journeys over 250 years into the past to give documents to a British ambassador that describe the world of the future” (Kaku 217). Everyone from famous authors, such as Charles Dickens (A CHRISTMAS CAROL) and Mark Twain (A CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN KING ARTHUR’S COURT), to lesser known authors developed the strange and unfathomable possibilities of time travel (Kaku 218). All these stories led up to the quintessential time travel masterpiece, H.G. Wells’s THE TIME MACHINE (Kaku 218). The novel beautifully describes in rich detail the war-torn apocalyptic world of the future as well as the process by which one may travel at ease between points in time (Kaku 218). Film as well used time travel as a plot device (Kaku 218). In SUPERMAN I, for example, Superman flies around the Earth faster than the speed of light in order to reverse time and bring Lois Lane back to life (Kaku 218). The examples are endless and will continue to amuse and confuse audiences for centuries.

Newton’s belief that all “will agree in the period of some planetary orbit or the duration of some politician’s speech, so long as … all use sufficiently accurate clicks to time the orbit or speech” would be destroyed by one Albert Einstein (Thorne 63). According to Newton, time was unalterable; according to Einstein, on the other hand, the definition of one second varied as one changes position (Kaku 218-219). In 1905, Einstein powerfully and controversially deduced that “There is no such thing as absolute space. There is no such thing as absolute time. Newton’s foundation for all of physics was flawed” (Thorne 72). Einstein is humorously remembered to have said, “Newton, forgive me” (Pickover xv). Einstein’s new Theory of Relativity had two parts (Thorne 72). First, the speed of light is constant, regardless of the direction and the motion of the observer (Thorne 72-73). Second, the laws of physics are required to define every state of motion equally (Thorne 73). Einstein theorized that “what I call space must be a mixture of your space and your time, and what you call space must be a mixture of my space and my time” (Thorne 73). For example, if two people have two distinctly different motions, they may observe the same event but have contrasting views of when exactly it happened (Pickover 10). The idea of multiple Nows, known as the relativity of simultaneity, is an important aspect of Einstein’s Theory (Pickover 11).

Einstein’s Theories greatly enhanced the world’s study of time travel. Following Einstein, it was deduced that time travel actually occurs when rockets leave the atmosphere at extremely high speeds (Kaku 219). Time in the rocket slows down, and those inside are farther into the future after spending less time (by Earth standards) getting there (Kaku 219). Although only extremely small amounts of time have been traveled, the amount of time would increase as one’s velocity approached the speed of light (Kaku 219). In order to travel backwards in time, one must reach the speed of light (Kaku 219). In the 1970s, Stephen Hawking deduced that many of Einstein’s most minute details are actually relevant to physics (Kaku 220-221). Hawking was tittilized by time travel (Kaku 221). He sought to know why there were no travellers from the future, if time travel existed (Kaku 221). In 1990, he set out to discover a law that would prove time travel impossible but shockingly found nothing (Kaku 221-222). Hawking’s acceptance of the possibility opened the door to new interest in the real scientific, rather than simply the fictional side. Kip Thorne explains:

Time travel was once solely the province of science fiction writers. Serious scientists avoided it like the plague - even when writing fiction under pseudonyms or reading it in privacy. How times have changed! One now finds scholarly analyses of time travel in serious scientific journals, written by eminent theoretical physicists… Why the change? Because we physicists have realized that the nature of time is too important an issue to be left solely in the hands of science fiction writers. (Kaku 222)

Indeed, the possibilities now seemed endless.

Scientific exploration exploded because Einstein’s theories were vague enough that many unique types of time machines could be theorized (Kaku 222). Three major types have emerged as the top

Thesis: We need to remythologize the idea of America.

1. This chapter mainly introduces, develops, and creates the thesis of the book. This chapter begins by explaining a correlation between ancient philosophical texts and the idea of America. It explains the duality of man between an external earthly life and an inner spiritual life, as expressed in Roman Stoicism. It then explains that American democracy once had the power to unite the inner self. On the duality of man, Needleman describes our heroes as demi-gods in that they lived between the opposing outer and inner worlds. He argues that America must be remythologized because the mythic vision of American history will provide a new sense of hope to the American people. He intends to reexamine American heroes and events - this time in reflection of a new kind of inner history focused on wisdom - and reanalyze commonly known facts to show heroes, such as Franklin, Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln, as expressions of inner ideals. By understanding these ideals of the second democracy, the second history, the second, inner life, one can find a new and exciting hope that is necessary for human life. The chapter closes by analyzing American ideals: what they were and what they are becoming. Liberty has fallen from freedom to search within oneself to freedom to satisfy outward desires; independence is now taken in its completely literal sense rather than a freedom to serve a common goal; American history and life has abandoned spiritual honesty from a social pragmatism that ones rules peacefully; American law, in contrast to the both natural and moral law of ancient times, has turned brutish by dominating individual ethical choice; the American ideal of hard work has been replaced by idleness, slavery, and falsely given self-respect and outward desires; and freedom of speech has become the need for attention rather than the ability to think for the greater good. Needleman will, in the way of many other cultural reformers, reexamine pieces of inner history to find an old hope that is currently necessary but forgotten.

Emporor Marcus Aurelius - Stoic Roman Emporor who believed in the duality of man Epictetus - Aurelius’s slave and tutor who also held Stoic views Achilles, Perseus, Hercules - Greek mythological demi-gods who held together opposing aspects of human nature Plato, Socrates - Greek philosophers who fel Buddha, Socrates, Jesus - Ancient philosophers (religious or otherwise) who felt that “Truth must be experienced.” Thomas Paine - Author of “Common Sense” who said that “THE LAW IS KING” Desert Fathers, Meister Eckhart, the great visionaries of the Judaic tradition, Sufis, Socrates - Reformers of several spiritual teachings who, like Needleman, reasserted internal symbols and ideals. Aldous Huxley - Coined the term “perennial philosophy” to describe the fragmented history of the world that can be observed to find a new hope

1. Jacob Needleman discusses his childhood and the childlike sense of America he intends to rediscover. He rejected his boring and outward teachings about history because these teachings contradicted childhood ideals, such ad freedom, hope, and nature. He explains that our heroes were human and that we must look at them as humans in order to feel them through the divinity of children. He tries to “articulate this feeling of hope, as it is sensed by a child, in the correspondence between one’s inner depth and the structure of reality.” He relates his loss of internal holiness: in saying the Pledge of Allegiance, a motion toward the simple material of the flag eliminated the feeling of inwardness created by placing his hand over his heart. This mirrored his loss of “holiness” in the synogauge. After being called American, he realizes its meaning. America is something one can become. Americans imposed their beliefs into the land. Needleman explains his realization that American ideals came from mystical communities, such as Quakers, but much of their meaning has been lost. Independence, for example, is an awareness of God, a divinity within oneself. This view originally held by Penn led to the Founders’ ideal of reason. Reason must free itself from outward passions, but not inward feeling. Reason comes from understanding. By remythologizing the history of Penn, Needleman has found a new hope and a new understanding of the American ideal of reason. Needleman then compares his experiences at a Franklin Institute to the life of Benjamin Franklin. He finds that labels of Franklin’s work limit its power, especially since the man worked as an ambassador between the inner an outer world. The mind of man is the mind of nature, shared between all humans. Franklin is then remythologized for the reader. He helped create the American art form of government. Although he disagreed with many parts of the Constitution, he knew it was much larger than himself. He reflects self-government in a communal way. For the first time in the history of the world, one group came to create a machine for the betterment of the world. This is symbolic of the power of community, and must be remythologized. Franklin is a symbol of the spiritual or natural search in ordinary life, such as he sought in nature the power of electricity. Looking at this symbolic community and symbolic search, a new sense of hope that has always existed is exposed.

Jacob Needleman - The author, as a child, who naturally felt the mythology of the heroes. Béla - Man who called Needleman “very American” Robert Frost - Poet who explored America’s imposement of its ideals on the geography of the new land William Penn- A statue of the founder of Pennsylvania Benjamin Franklin - A delegate at the Constitutional Convention who represents the search of spirituality

Philadelphia - Both in the present day (Needleman’s childhood) and in the eighteenth century at the Constitutional Convention

1. George Washington is a hero based on his inaction. He stepped down from the Presidency when he could have been king. His presence rather than his contributions assisted the Constitution. He can be remythologized to show human potential: what men and women can become. His birth in a cabin and relationship with nature shows his connection to the inner part of humanity, which gave him power. This power carries through his life. He remains unharmed in all battles. Washington’s challenges in the Revolution alone were amazingly surpassed. His presence alone brought awe and showed full development, which, in this remythology, shows him as the archetypal hero of exalted non-action. His physical harmony, perhaps, is the force that keeps him from harm in battle throughout his life. Washington’s non-action also shows his self-improvement, which is characteristic of America. However, when this ideal is torn from service to others, it becomes selfish, greedy, and surprisingly relevant in today’s America. Franklin’s problem with religion is this same ideal to improve oneself as better than all others. Fame, to the Founders, was the worthiness to be known and was highly sought. The ideals of Washington show his commiment to service of God and humanity. The rymytholization of American heroes provides us with the tools necessary to fix our souls. Washington, thus, represents will, a virtue which is often challenged in word but not behavior. Washington had the will to perfect himself and find inner freedom. To remythologize Washington shows extraordinary courage that all humans can obtain. The founders failed to see the potential of America. They were flawed. Remythology must include analysis of the flaws. Washington’s stepping down from the Presidency established our national democratic character. This event must be remythologized as well. It is a symbol of the power of the people to choose a relevant ruler. The power and limitation of the President mirror Washington’s character. Washington’s trust of the liberty of American people symbolized both external and internal unity. It originally did and must again reflect moral order. Washington’s desire for national individuality reflects his belief in America. Washington’s ideal of reason shows liberty as obedience to inner divinity. Washington also opposed party factioning when one group exerted its superiority over another, thus destroying the sense of community he represents. This is Washington as a peacemaker. Peaceful opposition must exist. God, or some inner divinity, must exist in each person. All this can be seen from our new, remythologized Washington.

George Washington - The first President of the United States, who represents the idea of will. Gordon S. Wood, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Noemie Emery, James Thomas Flexner, Algigence Waldo, Barbara W. Tuchman, William Nisbet Chambers - Historians who biographized Washington Benjamin Franklin - Scientist, politician, and religious critic Author of Tao Te Ching - Expressed centuries ago principles of leadership that Washington followed. Isaiah - Old Testament prophet who shared Washington’s national individuality Friedrich Nietzsche - Iconoclastic philosopher who denounces the pallor of modern rude.

My Cataclysmic Meltdown

What’s the point?

I’m tired of the mind games of the universe, God, and everybody else. Why am I forced to go to a school I despise with people I hate to learn things I already know? The same, boring, monotonous routines drive me insane day after day after day after day.

Who is God? What is God? Is God even relevant anymore? Religion has taken over God. It’s hardly even about GOD and more about “I’m right, you’re wrong.” Which is understandable since our only source from God has been translated, edited, changed, corrupted over the centuries.

What is the meaning of life? I’m tired of waiting. How should I seize the day when I don’t know how? What is the purpose of learning, or worshipping God, or having materialistic fun, when we are destined to spend eternity at the mercy of a God who has been lost to time?

Another thing that makes me mad about religion: God is consistently personified (as male, on a feminist note). God is not a person. God is a god. God is beyond human understanding. We will never know what God is because we humans are not capable of knowing what God is. But, it is our human nature to explain everything, even that which is not meant to be explained.

I hate it when people tell me I’m agnostic. If that’s the case, then every person is too. I don’t care what church you belong to, who you are, anything, I can guarantee your God is different than my God. We all have different beliefs and will never have the same opinion of what exactly God is. We are probably all wrong.

So if I need a label, it’s SBNR. I reject religion - the “people” part of God, because your picture of God is different from my picture of God. However, I keep the spirituality - the “God” part of God. My relationship with God doesn’t and shouldn’t involve others, and the path to righteousness is one I must make alone.

But I’m asking for a sign, God? Am I right to believe this? I listen to you in my heart, but others scream so loud, it is hard to hear.

Death. When is death coming? We should all have time clocks, saying when we are going to die. My hero, Albert Einstein, said that time is relative, so you have as much time as you need. But we didn’t come with a guide. How should I live today to the fullest if I don’t know what my capacity is?

I’m looking for some answers. Don’t reply, it’s beyond people. The worst thing people do is shove their opinions down others’ throats. I’m just putting this out here. If you feel the same way, know that you’re not alone. But, in a way, you are. We all have to take this journey alone, but it’s comforting to know that others are making the same journey too.

Rainer Maria Rilke usually helps when I get to feeling like this. Off to read some Letters

Jar of Complaints About Jar of Hearts

Woman murders song with her lack of talent.

The singer, whose name I don’t care about, needs help.

Being in musicals has opened my eyes and ears. I’m listening for character in your song too: what is the story? How are you feeling? This singer’s voice conveys no caring, no motivation, and no emotion.

This is my hypothetical situation before the song starts:

Boy: I’m breaking up with you. Girl: Okay. Boy: I’m leaving you for another girl. Girl: I don’t care because I’m an apathetic vampire. Boy: See ya, freak. Girl: I want to sing about my obsession with blood and death, but I’ll sing this song I don’t care about instead.

This is the problem with the music industry today. She sings this song for a jar of cash, not because of her true feelings. You can hear it in her voice.

So, I change the channel everytime this song comes on now.

littlemisswonderlandislost-deac asked: Trust me. People sometimes put questions. Mostly its just statements.
And it is a question.

This is a confusing world.

littlemisswonderlandislost-deac asked: Why can't anyone go Anon? Jeesh :P
I see you have Tumblr. Interesting.
So. Yeah.

That’s not a question. :)

Bright Window in a Dark House #1

A woman sets the table for dinner. Her husband is not home yet, and she doesn’t know yet that he won’t be home for hours. In just a few moments he will call again and say that he will be late before returning to his secretary on the bed of the motel room. Again Oblivious, the woman sets six places. Her youngest daughter places a knife at each place on the right side of the plate, with the sharp end pointed out. The middle daughter places the fork on the left side of the plate, and her oldest of the three, her only son, places the spoon horizontally at the top of the plate. Grandfather pours everyone a glass of water, except for his son-in-law. He knows that the man will not be returning tonight, because he has been there himself.

Suddenly, the phone rings. Everyone freezes, knowing again that Father will not be home. Typical.