(no subject)
It's been about a week since I read the original post about Blankpage. I'm finally calming down.
A friend of Blankpages' who knew him well enough to have his cellphone # replied to me on Deviantart. She hadn't been able to contact him in a few months, and now knows why.
It's a thousand little heartbreaks like that. Finding out where he got his nickname. Letting the YuGiOh community know. People discovering they played video games with him. Finding out that he was on EFNet these past 9 years. Discovering that we could have given up a kidney to bump him ahead in the transplant queue. Seeing his Christmas Post on the Garden:
A bit late, but Merry Xmas. I'm back from fighting monsters with Santa Christ and Mr. T. We beat 'em, but one of the monsters gave me the flu.
I am nevertheless filled with the desire to bless myself for having the opportunity to know all of you. And of course I bless you all too.
Peace on Earth and good will to all.
I read Transmetropolitan a few nights ago. It has reminded me of something important.
I believe, tenuously, in Transhumanism. In the Singularity. That Moore's Law will not stop -- and that it doesn't just cover computer CPU speeds. By 2050, we won't recognize our world. Mind uploading, clinical immortality, recreational genetic engineering, full immersion VR, the works.
The Rapture of the Nerds, as you will.
Time Travel is possible in theory, if you listen to about half the Scientists out there. It's just way beyond our technology.
For now.
I'm probably wrong. There are so many variables involved. It's the curse of having a disbelieving geek's mind: Faith comes hard, and this is as much science as spirituality.
But just in case...
I no longer have the luxury of not living long enough to see the future. I have obligations now. It's time to start taking better care of myself and just to hedge my bets, start living bigger and better so I'll have something to talk with Blankpage, and the others I've lost -- in case I'm wrong.
But if I'm right, and the future is going to be as wild as the experts suggest...
See you soon, Rick.
... Relatively speaking.
A friend of Blankpages' who knew him well enough to have his cellphone # replied to me on Deviantart. She hadn't been able to contact him in a few months, and now knows why.
It's a thousand little heartbreaks like that. Finding out where he got his nickname. Letting the YuGiOh community know. People discovering they played video games with him. Finding out that he was on EFNet these past 9 years. Discovering that we could have given up a kidney to bump him ahead in the transplant queue. Seeing his Christmas Post on the Garden:
A bit late, but Merry Xmas. I'm back from fighting monsters with Santa Christ and Mr. T. We beat 'em, but one of the monsters gave me the flu.
I am nevertheless filled with the desire to bless myself for having the opportunity to know all of you. And of course I bless you all too.
Peace on Earth and good will to all.
I read Transmetropolitan a few nights ago. It has reminded me of something important.
I believe, tenuously, in Transhumanism. In the Singularity. That Moore's Law will not stop -- and that it doesn't just cover computer CPU speeds. By 2050, we won't recognize our world. Mind uploading, clinical immortality, recreational genetic engineering, full immersion VR, the works.
The Rapture of the Nerds, as you will.
Time Travel is possible in theory, if you listen to about half the Scientists out there. It's just way beyond our technology.
For now.
I'm probably wrong. There are so many variables involved. It's the curse of having a disbelieving geek's mind: Faith comes hard, and this is as much science as spirituality.
But just in case...
I no longer have the luxury of not living long enough to see the future. I have obligations now. It's time to start taking better care of myself and just to hedge my bets, start living bigger and better so I'll have something to talk with Blankpage, and the others I've lost -- in case I'm wrong.
But if I'm right, and the future is going to be as wild as the experts suggest...
See you soon, Rick.
... Relatively speaking.