a moment of clarity so blinding it hurt.
I had a moment of clarity today.
It was one of those moments that just strikes you and twists your perception towards what really IS, whether you are ready for it or not.
Toowoomba is cold in the mornings now. Not quite cold enough to frost, but keen gardeners have put up covers and straw mattings around their favorite plants in preparation. I ride to work on a mountain-bike, frequently along creekbeds and not always on paths. This morning I left earlier than usual at 6.45am or so and went on a longer than normal ride. The sun had not yet risen beyond the ridge and the low clouds cast that slightly bluish light tinged with orange formed by the mixing the reflected light from the upper atmosphere with the light that manages to push through the clouds.
Later today it hit me again, only more so. That moment of clarity. That point of balance. That feeling that can only be described either in hyperbole, or in the language of philosphy or science - which is just an aspect of philosophy after all.
I became aware of patterns, of movement.
- Watching steam escaping a vent above a cafe's kitchen and seeing the wind blow it into swirls of turbulent flow as the eddies spiral around the exit of the vent, the crossflow patterns of the wind and the escaping steam then flowing over the ridgeline of the roof in a perfect laminar flow pattern, following the exact same patterns and equations that would describe the movement of a dust cloud flowing along currents created by interstellar gases that swirl and mix in eddies hundreds of millions of kilometres wide.
- A particularly large and interesting piece of gravel from the road surface showing the crystalline matrix of its makeup and reflecting and diffracting the sunlight off its smooth planes, catching the eye most beautifully.
- A clump of ferns clutching to a wooden latticework that secured and hid the access to the rear of an office, its roots gripping around a decayed metal sign. The fronds unspiralling outwards from their tips, leaves making that ratio so pleasing to the eyes that so fascinated Fibonacci.
I had an overwhelming desire to tell everyone I met about how fascinating the world is. How immeasurably complex it is, in the most literal sense, and yet conversely how simply and elegantly explainable. Even the effort to attempt to capture this sense renders it impotent and devoid of its sense of majesty.
Being scientifically literate allows me to see things in greater depth than I could otherwise. It allows me to name things, and in so naming appreciate all the more. Seeing the forces of the universe at work fills me with a sense of wonder that human made systems pale besides. Management theory for instance is empty and shallow, full of words that fill the mouth and the page but are hollow inside. Yet for all their inherent insincerity and obfuscation when you look behind them and realise what they are trying to do there is an attempt to model the universe of human perception and interaction behind it.
For the first time I wanted to have a child to describe this all too. Someone with whom I could share this feeling with and inspire. To see the light of intelligence and understanding spark and grow behind their eyes.
I was also reminded in all this of a dream of mine. One that I thought had died within me. Simply put, it is to stand on the surface of Mars and watch the two moons rise above the horizion. To say it like that, it is an impossible task. I saw it in perspective however.
I now work for a medium-sized (for Australia) oil and gas drilling company that plans to list itself on the australian stock market in a year or two. From my analysis of the books as erstatz DBA I believe that they intend to capitalise between $300m and $500m, assuming 100% sale - which of course won't happen. That's about half the funding that's needed to build a permanant, self-supporting lunar base according to NASA's figures of 5 years ago or so when George W Bush was talking about using it as a base for exploration. Less than the US spends in Iraq in 1 week.
Nothing is impossible - merely difficult.
It was one of those moments that just strikes you and twists your perception towards what really IS, whether you are ready for it or not.
Toowoomba is cold in the mornings now. Not quite cold enough to frost, but keen gardeners have put up covers and straw mattings around their favorite plants in preparation. I ride to work on a mountain-bike, frequently along creekbeds and not always on paths. This morning I left earlier than usual at 6.45am or so and went on a longer than normal ride. The sun had not yet risen beyond the ridge and the low clouds cast that slightly bluish light tinged with orange formed by the mixing the reflected light from the upper atmosphere with the light that manages to push through the clouds.
Later today it hit me again, only more so. That moment of clarity. That point of balance. That feeling that can only be described either in hyperbole, or in the language of philosphy or science - which is just an aspect of philosophy after all.
I became aware of patterns, of movement.
- Watching steam escaping a vent above a cafe's kitchen and seeing the wind blow it into swirls of turbulent flow as the eddies spiral around the exit of the vent, the crossflow patterns of the wind and the escaping steam then flowing over the ridgeline of the roof in a perfect laminar flow pattern, following the exact same patterns and equations that would describe the movement of a dust cloud flowing along currents created by interstellar gases that swirl and mix in eddies hundreds of millions of kilometres wide.
- A particularly large and interesting piece of gravel from the road surface showing the crystalline matrix of its makeup and reflecting and diffracting the sunlight off its smooth planes, catching the eye most beautifully.
- A clump of ferns clutching to a wooden latticework that secured and hid the access to the rear of an office, its roots gripping around a decayed metal sign. The fronds unspiralling outwards from their tips, leaves making that ratio so pleasing to the eyes that so fascinated Fibonacci.
I had an overwhelming desire to tell everyone I met about how fascinating the world is. How immeasurably complex it is, in the most literal sense, and yet conversely how simply and elegantly explainable. Even the effort to attempt to capture this sense renders it impotent and devoid of its sense of majesty.
Being scientifically literate allows me to see things in greater depth than I could otherwise. It allows me to name things, and in so naming appreciate all the more. Seeing the forces of the universe at work fills me with a sense of wonder that human made systems pale besides. Management theory for instance is empty and shallow, full of words that fill the mouth and the page but are hollow inside. Yet for all their inherent insincerity and obfuscation when you look behind them and realise what they are trying to do there is an attempt to model the universe of human perception and interaction behind it.
For the first time I wanted to have a child to describe this all too. Someone with whom I could share this feeling with and inspire. To see the light of intelligence and understanding spark and grow behind their eyes.
I was also reminded in all this of a dream of mine. One that I thought had died within me. Simply put, it is to stand on the surface of Mars and watch the two moons rise above the horizion. To say it like that, it is an impossible task. I saw it in perspective however.
I now work for a medium-sized (for Australia) oil and gas drilling company that plans to list itself on the australian stock market in a year or two. From my analysis of the books as erstatz DBA I believe that they intend to capitalise between $300m and $500m, assuming 100% sale - which of course won't happen. That's about half the funding that's needed to build a permanant, self-supporting lunar base according to NASA's figures of 5 years ago or so when George W Bush was talking about using it as a base for exploration. Less than the US spends in Iraq in 1 week.
Nothing is impossible - merely difficult.