Albert Dreams

Quantum theory...where flavored quarks mate with greenish gluons the way I’d imagine a bumblebee might attempt to impregnate a hummingbird.

‘Independence created by philosophical insight is the mark of distinction between a mere artisan and a real seeker after truth.’

Believe this if you would prefer, but average people are exactly alike to most quantum physicists. Let me explain what I mean. Quantum theory, which investigates matter’s tiniest components, along with their possibly dual-flowing conceptions of time, forces otherwise perfectly logical lab coat geniuses into a murky realm governed by quixotic mechanisms, where flavored quarks mate with greenish gluons the way I’d imagine a bumblebee might attempt to impregnate a hummingbird. From this Plank-sized bowl of sub-atomic Campbell’s, rational scientists must discern how exactly the real world is supposed to jive with a troupe of tuxedoed neutrinos that always seem to be performing a new, daring magic act, depending upon whether or not there is a critic in the audience. If good girls really go to heaven and bad girls hopefully go everywhere, then when Harry Houdini kicked, it is highly probable that he bought an old theater somewhere down-spin of a hydrogen proton; and most likely, Salvador Dali showed up at that theater on opening night, a few weeks earlier, to hatch from within a melting golden oval. Anything goes in the vast space between atoms. This is the kind of crazy s**t that professionals are expected to deal with down there and the spookiness of it all leads some folks to legitimately wonder if intention really can alter reality. If you think it through, maybe magicians and artists are better equipped to handle this job than most physicists.

Irregardless, as it now seems perfectly acceptable to say, the point is that living in our time scale is very much like the chaos found beneath the scanning electron microscope. And so are the common methods used to maybe discover the meaning of it all. As we struggle to figure out this maze, most can only afford to work strictly with what they hope to be fact. Consequently, the complexities of life must be boiled down to their most base forms: You versus I, evidence over intuition, left against right, Liberal or Conservative, forever begrudgingly choosing amongst the lesser of two evils. In this mind-set what you see is what you get: be it suffering, injustice, inequality or exceptionalism�"what you are becomes who you are. No matter what the philosophical implications of our solutions might be, action must come from the most pragmatic decisions.  A concrete reality where A plus B must and will always equal Three.

According to Albert Einstein, whose quote tops this piece and was awarded his only Noble Prize in Quantum theory, not for his far more famous works on Relativity theory, this is an unfortunate way to approach the world. When Einstein penned the aforementioned quote it was within a greater letter to his colleagues, many of who were growing increasingly resistant to allowing esoteric thought of any kind to infect their sterilized laboratories. They could not, as Einstein did, daydream their work into existence, as much as he’d wished they would try.

Beyond the revolving study of protons and planets, gazing through this alternate point of view, are people who believe evil to be neither great nor lesser, and who believe choosing evil to be an act of unconscionable self-treason. It is not because these people are naïve, which is just too easy a label to apply to a thoughtful mind, or that they do not understand ‘the way things are.’ It is because they see the world from a different perspective, where the known quantities so benevolently presented to us are simply unacceptable. Oftentimes, life’s larger questions require bolder solutions--ingenuitive ideas that bear the mark of the real seekers after truth. For to those too few real seekers among us, the person you are is actually the person whom you have become.

Truth is, the world changes all the time and yes, sometimes, it is due to a small revolutionary band of outlaw dreamers. But most often is it because the human experience is as cyclical as it is thematic. There will always be a majority comfortable with idling by, doing the best they can within the circumstances given. And this is for the best. What would happen if every wing nut cried for bloody revolt every time they didn’t get what they wanted? We’d all be Republicans.

The Truth will always be funny.

Seriously, though, the dreamers and the philosophizers and the revolutionaries and the Peaceniks all do serve a critical function within our civilization. They are the ones who beckon us to, if only for the briefest moments, see through their passion what humanities’ future may hold.

Mostly, the average person will never bother to understand the seekers or wonder what life is like in their own personal utopias, but I have to wonder, especially from those who label themselves as ‘social progressives’…if not some kind of shared utopia, superior to the limits we are currently forced to accept, then exactly what kind of progress are you hoping to achieve? If the answer quickly eludes you, or is simply no better than ‘I want to Win!’, then you might do well by brushing up on how the greatest mind of our era went about achieving so many of it’s own imaginary dreams.

Reviews

[Elemenopy]

I like this piece. It is quick, intelligent, and interesting. I was hooked from the beginning and did not want to stop reading. I feel like you captured a lot of meaning in this piece. I am also pretty sure that you baffled a lot of people who have read it. Yeah, show off smarty pants.

As far as grammar and all that goes, I saw no mistakes. You know how to write, that is for sure, and you have a very astute view on all the topics you touched on in your piece. I always enjoy reading pieces that are above my head. Anything that makes my mind tumble is a good thing. Keep writing.