August 16, 2022

The James Webb Space Telescope is making the news and delighting viewers with pictures of our universe very far away. In the process the information concerning early star formations and galaxies reveals data concerning redshift velocity and extrapolations concerning dark matter presence that contradict well established theories of the origin of our universe. Now we're reading criticisms of the big bang theory. The telescope has infrared cameras very sensitive so that light from stars less than 100,000,000 years after the beginning of the universe now judged to be 13.7 billion years old (but of course now this may be incorrect). For an interesting simulated space journey thanks to the telescope see https://mashable.com/article/james-webb-space-telescope-cartwheel-galaxy

Well, in another example of what you thought of as factual and true but now...an article in MindMatters "Has A Superintellect Monkeyed With Our Universe's Physics? https://mindmatters.ai/2022/08/has-a-superintellect-monkeyed-with-our-universes-physics/ The article describes how astronomer Fred Hoyle struggled with not understanding how come there is so much carbon atoms in the universe since nuclear fusion as so far understood in star lives changes hydrogen (proton) to helium then the next step is carbon but to get there is theoretically very difficult to understand for Hoyle though it through further reading I learned that supergiant stars can get enough heat to fuse helium to carbon (the next fusion is oxygen all the way to iron where is stops). To Hoyle the puzzle only could be solved by postulating that something very fortuitous occurred in our universe to allow so much carbon because logic was betting against this. Carbon atom in our universe has chemical characteristics to allow formation of carbohydrates and using nitrogen to have proteins so without so much carbon no life as we know it can occur. Well, my good friend in the know has pointed out that the many universe theory allows for this by chance. "*Everybody* knows that there are 9.65479044 gazillion parallel Universes (more or less), of variable, mind-bending sets of physical laws and contortions, many of them still undetected, or even un-detectable, and that the reason ours is so precisely suitable for life to exist and flourish is that it is, by accident and the Law of Averages, the only one of those gazillions that is so suitable, and therefore there ain’t no life on any of the others, only us,here. Not Divine Creation, but Anthropomorphic self-selection!(With apologies to the Gods, should any of Them be listening to this lowly life form at this moment in Time. Whatever *that* might be.)

We are simply the result of a giant Milk-Shake contest.

Sent with love and confusion." (emailed yesterday)

 

So I'm using our scientific data and theories and current speculations to point out that what you think you know may be incorrect another example to me that the best way to learn is to discover the errors in your thinking and the holes in your data. 

Recently, my news feeds have inundated me with many articles, pundits, and disturbing events perpetrated by people moved to violence due to these articles and reported events or pseudo-events influencing the perpetrators. Examples include a man attempting to shoot an FBI agent with a nail gun assumed associated with the FBI carrying out a search warrant ordered by the court to retrieve classified material from Trump's Mar A Lago residence and politicians egging on others towards violence resulting in threats via media outlets to various officials carrying out their work. Reading the articles give me a sense of unreality since the protagonist urging violence and reporting pseudo-injustices against their political prodejes I think knows that they are lying! The best example of this is the case of Alex Jones. The court awarded the parents of the Sandy Hook massacre many millions of dollars and Jones admitted in court that there were children killed. Jones made many hundreds of millions of dollars on his web site reporting bogus conspiracy theories about this even claiming the children were not killed and other events while pushing worthless products which were purchased on his web sites. A real snake oil huckster who has got his comeuppance! 

"Call it the wellness-conspiracy industrial complex. Jones produces an incessant barrage of outrageous, thinly sourced or wholly mendacious content in the hopes that some of it will go viral. When people click on the stories and land on his site, they are bombarded with ads for snake oil. He claims to be offering people truths that they won’t get in mainstream media, but that’s backward. The conspiracy theories are better seen as a marketing tool for his real products — InstaHard, BodEase, Diet Force and all manner of oils, tinctures and supplements.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/11/opinion/alex-jones-wellness-conspiracy.html

Well, while shaking my head concerning these issues in our news I came across some more comforting and inspiring writing I want to share. 

""In democracies, the electoral process is a subtle and elaborate substitute for combat, the age-old way of settling struggles for power. But that sublimation only works if there is mutual agreement to accept both the legitimacy of the result (which Trump keeps undermining with charges that the very process is “rigged”) and the boundaries of the contest. Charles Krauthhammer " https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/its-not-the-locker-room-talk-its-the-lock-her-up-talk/2016/10/13/9dd5fbea-9172-11e6-9c85-ac42097b8cc0_story.html

"But the case Ms. Cheney has been implicitly making since Jan. 6 is that you have to use power while you still have it and act as though you’re prepared to lose it rather than risk something worse in an effort to maintain it or concede the truth only when there’s nothing else left to do. Because, more than anything, her actions seem to reflect the ultimate individualist view of the past six years: If you don’t do it yourself, nobody is coming to help you. written by Katherine Miller https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/01/opinion/liz-cheney-trump-jan-6.html".

Rebecca and I have taken to viewing the House committee hearings investigating January 6 attacks on congress. Then one can go into some of the articles on the same subject that deny any insurrection and violence so the facts that we viewed on the committee hearing become lies and distortions while the articles paints an entirely different picture. 

If truth versus lies dichotomy weren't enough in order to bolster false claims of election fraud the Trump teams including the Republican Party members have attempted in some state such as Georgia to change the elections results tabulated by the Dominion voting machines by fraud! So lie and then try to change the "facts" through tampering with the data. I can see why we can become confused and distrustful even hunker down and decide to go with the team. What is familiar and comfortable to believe becomes reality. If you accept this to me you can easily accept racism, privilege, and religions suggestions for your life as applicable to everyone. 

Here's a great quote worth considering related to this subject. 

" I am reminded of the words of Robert Green Ingersoll, words that I wish would enter the hearts and minds of those who are so lost to their religion that they have forgotten their oath to the Constitution and their commitment to freedom of conscience … for all. He states: 

The truth is, our government is not founded upon the rights of gods, but upon the rights of men. Our Constitution was framed, not to declare and uphold the deity of Christ, but the sacredness of humanity. Ours is the first government made by the people and for the people. It is the only nation with which the gods have had nothing to do. And yet there are some judges dishonest and cowardly enough to solemnly decide that this is a Christian country, and that our free institutions are based upon the infamous laws of Jehovah. 

Robert Green Ingersoll, “Individuality” (1873) from “The Gods and Other Lectures” https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/826152-it-is-contended-by-many-that-ours-is-a-christian

 So of course I am reminded here of our Supreme Court recent decisions that have caused such mayhem and controversy. The court has decided that a woman's right to decide on her health care related to pregnancy should be left to each individual state law and that previous ruling in Roe vs Wade is no longer valid. So the court is endorsing a approach to the constitution of not changing with the times but keeping things original. In my mind, I'm wondering if the court believes that we should have a democracy at all since some of the state have criminalized a woman's decision to terminate her pregnancy as punishable with fines and imprisonment!  So I can decide to someday say "Rebecca I have some holes in my socks please darn them!" Good luck Leonard you'll be a lonely man! 

I'm so disappointed with the Supreme Court ruling concerning school prayer since the football coach who was sanctioned blatantly used prayer with a state legislator in attendance on one occasion and by his position as coach influenced the team to pray with him while accepting salary for his employment at a public institution! The justices writing the affirmative decision ignored these facts.

Well, no matter how well read you are, how intelligent you are, how world experienced you are, how well coached and advised by experts you are and how rich you are you have feet of clay! Rich and powerful people often in the news some publishing essays and books, some making statements concerning our state of affairs often have public relations employees and contracts with media outlets to get noticed in the news. The problem to me is that some people accept their article, writings, and public relations events as truthful and correct. I do admire some people who are more skilled and knowledgeable than me but some of the people who admired by others do seem more snake oil and full of themselves to me.  So recently for example I looked up any information and studies showing if wealth leads to being smarter. Actually the opposite seems to be the case. Wealth does bring benefits where you can be more insulated from others and even have public relations staff tout your alleged wisdom. Lying a human trait familiar to all of us seems more sensational with celebrities. 

So knowing we all have feet of clay brings me to a clearer closing to this essay. As parents and spouses we attempt to support and love our family members but in fact can we at times be inhibiting their development and misleading them even? To an outsider some of the family dynamics we encounter in others lives we learn about seems so obviously dysfunctional but to the parent and significant other so normal and wholesome. The examples I'm thinking about are too fresh and personal to discuss especially since the same applies to me and my own "self righteous" conclusions about others. Life decisions and directions to take involves risks which to some is too frightening so they hunker down and continue to go on the same path but then again repeated roadblocks and unhappiness may result or they risk change and the outcome may be in doubt but better. 

Truth and Lies by Louise Witwit

https://poemhome.net/poetry-about-lies/

When explanations are hard to produce
Lie after lie comes shining through
Truth gets locked away
For reasons only known to yourself

Truth may hurt
but the lie hurts more
one lie to cover another
what was the first lie
can you remember?

So much hurt and
too many lies
what's the truth
will I ever know
can I ever separate the two?

Leonard 

Life's adventures and obstacles