My brother is serving faithfully in Afghanistan. He was so moved by a recent Fallen Comrade ceremony–a ceremony he has performed several time–he felt the need to write about it, and after reading it, and with his permission, I felt the need to print it.
A Sad Tradition
By Thomas David Vera II
The warriors moved slowly in the darkness
A melancholy mood was tangible in the air
slowly lining up, side by side
As far as the eye can see
Standing patiently, restlessly, still
The flashing lights slowly approach
The misty drizzle hits my face
It starts to collect like cold tears
A yell breaks the silence
The line of warriors snap to attention
Slowly arms raise to salute
My eyes drift to the eight somber faces
Accompanying the flag draped aluminum casket
Farewell my fallen comrade
The precession passes and salutes fall
The warriors disperse to go back to work
To go on living
Years ago I was driving on a San Diego freeway. It was raining something terrible and visibility was poor. Before I knew it, the traffic ahead of me had stopped and I slammed my brakes and veered into another lane to avoid collision. My car stalled and the vehicles behind me narrowly avoided me.
A week later, not far from that very location, a friend got into a car accident that totaled his car and one that hit him. That got me to thinking about the possibility that a dangerous spirit, unsatisfied after my near-miss, continued until it had achieved its evil purpose.
The main thrust of the article is that in the very near future humankind will develop technology that will create computers that are superhumanly intelligent, resulting in the demise of the human race. Written in 1993, this article was six years ahead of The Matrix.
While the more cynical of us may believe that if and when computers can think they will naturally conclude humankind is worthy only of extermination, there are of course, other possibilities.
Will great networks of computers suddenly “wake up” once a certain critical mass of programming and information has been input? Unlikely.
However, as more human beings interconnect with technology to each other, via mobile devices and even blogs like this one, I see communication becoming more like an ocean, with tides and swells and currents. Information–ideas–will flow in predictable and liquid (or perhaps viral) fashions.
I see computers and humankind becoming inherently dependent on each other. Someday philosophers may ask, “Where does the computer end, and the mind begin?”
Until then, let’s not fear the unfortunately named “Singularity” (for which physicists must be slapping their foreheads!). Let us embrace the possibility that the sum of the knowledge collected by the human race may one day be available at our fingertips, resulting not in a super intelligence, but in an efficient repository of collected memories that enhance–not replace–our individual genetic ancestral memories.
And never forget that no amount of intelligence is a replacement for wisdom. The ability to creatively and thoughtfully apply knowledge is as important as the knowledge itself.
As you may know, the Mystic Nebula is dedicated to the study of the natural, the unnatural and the supernatural. I try to avoid politics. You have other blog sites for that nonsense. Let me state here that I have no doubt the Earth is warming and has been for at least the last 10,000 years. I also have no problem reducing the environmental damage caused by humans if it is done in a reasonable manner and not used as an excuse to control human behavior ala 1984.
Therefore I present the following story from the BBC with only this word of caution. It is risky to presume we understand the nature of the universe, or even the Earth. Extremists on all sides debate Global Warming without all the relevant information.
Now we learn that the solar wind is at a 50 year low. The solar wind part of what impacts the flow of cosmic rays around our planet. We believe we understand the ramifications the increase of cosmic rays will have on electronic equipment. But we have no idea how this has impacted the climate of the planet over the years.
The problem with this kind of data however, is that one can’t tax cosmic rays or file a lawsuit against the sun. There’s no money in blaming these for climate change. The larger question is whether reasonable scientists and politicians will consider all available data when tackling the climate change issue, and whether we are more concerned with politics than with the environment.
Count me on the side of the environment and those that truly put her first and not their egos or their pocketbooks.
I’ve just begun my poetry editorial debut at Prick of the Spindle. Its a load of work, but quite rewarding. Editing is for me a humbling experience. I used to view it as a position of power (as a poet constantly rejected), and I suppose in some ways it is, but from the editing perspective, it is the poet that has the power to make their work known or unknown. The editor is only there to help that potential be realized.
Feel free to browse the poetry selections (not to mention the great articles and fiction) and if you’re in the mood, why don’t you submit a few poems?
My recommendation: Send only your best work only and pay close attention to the submission guidelines.
Its amazing how ignorant we believe our ancestors were. They drew strange images on cave walls of creatures no one has seen. They told stories of monsters that exist in the dark, just beyond the light of the tribal campfire. Colorful explanations abound. And because of their wild and vivacious imaginations, we accuse them of somehow believing what they drew was real. That what they spoke of and sang about were all true.
Can modern humans assume we are so much more enlightened? Do we not tell stories of creatures that we have never seen? Do we not draw pictures of creatures both fantastic and demonic? Does this mean we believe? That we think it true? Have we not yet learned that one cannot trust everything just because it is written? Does this wisdom apply any differently to our ancestors?
Scholars and academics should take heed. A thousand years from now, should humankind be fortunate enough to still exist, what will our children think of us? Will they look at our strange pictures and hear our strange stories and think that we must have not know better? That because we revealed our imaginations in a tangible form that we thought it a complete and total reality?
A part of me does believe. Despite science and religion I do wonder at worlds we cannot comprehend. But I trust future generations not to scoff as if I were a brainless caveman with no sense of my own because cavemen were not brainless and our very existence proves it. I prefer our future kin realize that those that came before them had rich imaginations that not only entertained but informed, ignited new visions, and perhaps changed the way they look at their world, their universe, reality itself.
Do not belittle me because of my imagination. Do not belittle the caveman for his. His imagination is the root of the ancient racial memory that binds us all to our past just as our collective imagination is what binds us to our future. Our ancestors believed in exactly what they needed to believe to bring us this far. We must believe what will take us along the next leg of our journey.
San Diego writers now have San Diego Writer’s Online, a new forum in which to collaborate and discuss their passion of writing.
Moderated by JeSais, an upcoming writer and marketing guru, this forum is a great way to learn about the craft of writing and meet other writers in the San Diego area. You don’t have to be located in San Diego to join.