The world
was a big place at one time, and then we hit the ocean and there ended western
expansion. The West was lost to us by
being won, so we expanded inward – a failed attempt of manifest destiny of the
soul. We expanded inward and improved
what we had, unfortunately the improvements were set apart in quotation
marks.
Space is
infinite - but the atoms that fill it individually aren’t. The space between the atoms, on the other
hand, is vast. Plot and measure one and
the distance to the next…is a long ways away.
So what do you do on the trip?
From atom to atom? From expansion
to expansion? From accomplishment to
accomplishment? The further out you get,
the more distance between, and if the trip is too long, it’s easy to lose your
way.
Food, shelter
and procreation; providing for and creation of the next generation. Advancement of the species. After these needs are met, they say
creativity is the next basic instinct.
The term is too vague, it doesn’t encompass enough. Validation is a better phrase I think. Validation of a species.
“Look, I
hacked something out of wood, then used it to kill an animal! Obviously I am superior to the non-wood
hacking animal I just killed.”
“Look, I carved an effigy out of
wood in tribute to animal I have slain!
My species is validated, and more importantly, so is my place within my
species.”
“Look, I paint, no animal can do
that! My skills are not only superior to
the animals, but to the wood-hacking members of my own people.”
“Look, I paint better than
anyone! I am a superior example of an
all ready superior species.”
“Look, I have built a
building! I can take shelter from the
elements and not get wet like the primitive animals I hunt.”
“Look, I have built a bigger
building! Not only will I stay dry, I
can store many wonderful things.”
“Look, I have created society! Now others can gather together and look in
envy of my wonderful building full of things.”
“Look, I control the society that
controls the people who control the animals with sharp, pointed sticks! I need not sharpen my own stick nor kill
animals with a sharpened stick fashioned for me. I have others do this for me.”
“Look, I wage war! Our society can kill and conquer more than
any other.”
“Look, I worked hard and purchased this
very expensive thing! Surely there is no
other in this superior society as great as I.”
“Look, I killed him and claimed his
very expensive thing as my own! I am the
most powerful individual in the most powerful society of the most powerful
species! Bow to me and slaughter many
inferior animals so that I might feast on them and grow fat from my
accomplishments so there will be no doubt of my superiority.”
Build, create, one up, steal,
destroy, and conquer. It’s all the
same. We attempt to validate ourselves
with our accomplishments. We conquered
the West. We claimed the frontiers as
our own and tamed them. We discovered
the atom, named it, measured it, and then for good measure, we split it
open. The atom should have no doubt in
its mind who owns it now. But after
that, what’s left? Nothing for a while
now, really. Some fine tuning, but
really we’re just killing time till the next frontier opens up – which most
likely won’t be in our life times. There
are still the oceans, but that will only keep us occupied for so long. After that, it’s the stars, but there’s a lot
of atoms between stars, and as we’ve mentioned it’s a long trip between atoms.
So we wait, we wait for the next
big step and kill time trying not to let our need for validation eat us up from
the inside. With our idle hands we
regress and call it progress. We move to
the side instead of forward, then digitally edit it so it looks like an actual
accomplishment. We invent the phone, and
it is progress. Dialing direct instead
of using an operator, and it is an improvement.
Pulse dialing instead of rotary and it is more efficient. Fiber optics, better sound quality, car
phones, cells and wireless, we look upon our achievements and deem them good. But then we hit the last real jump. After that, it’s all really cosmetic and not
a real improvement. To compensate, we
continue to add the superficial and call it progress.
So we dress
it up. Take an existing product and add
a clock to it, it’s all icing. Soon
though, the icing is thicker than the cake.
We improve the rings, add a camera, the time, the weather, music, and
now the internet. All little to do with
the phone itself. Killing time till we
can leave the planet behind and trying not to let our instinct for validation
eat us alive in the meantime.
We painted
on cave walls, we created canvasses, we improved the paints and the
techniques. We perfected the art till we
got to where we could paint with photo-realism and ran out of the artistic
West. Hit the ocean and no map to the
next atom. Rather than admit defeat, we
declared everything passé, starting now.
So we twisted reality, we melted watches and burned giraffes. After that, talent became a liability. It had been done, so we returned to the
cave. We drew stick figures and laughed
at landscapes. We threw paint on blank
canvasses like drunken monkeys and called it progress. When the technique was mastered, what did
that leave for validation? Puke on a
canvass and you’re an artist. Paint
realistically now, and you’re lucky if someone will hire you to paint the
covers for romance novels.
Entropy
breeds stagnation. Boredom is against
our very nature. We’ve convinced
ourselves that we aren’t animals and in doing so, we’ve gotten so far away from
our animal nature, that we’re now closer to it than we have been since we left
the caves. The light that illuminates
our present accomplishments handed down from our forefathers is dimming. Without it we have no way of viewing or
validating, and with each passing generation we’re a bit harder pressed to find
an individual capable of rubbing two sticks together to produce a flame, let
alone maintain the light we’ve come to take for granted.
But the
West was far more than just a means of validation, more than just wild untamed
lands ripe for the plunder. It was where
we sent those who wouldn’t play well with others. A means of directing unbridled energy to a
positive means. Someone who would be a
mere thug or murdered could be utilized to help blaze a trail westward for
those members of civilization that said person couldn’t properly co-exist
with. It’s where the dreamers could go,
where a past didn’t matter as much as a vision for the future. A place where someone could start with
nothing and end with everything. There
will always be kinetic energy within a society that, left undirected, can be
destructive, but utilized in the proper manner can be beneficial for all. So here we sit, at the edge of an atom with
no map and a guy with a crazed look in his eye starting to get fidgety. With no new frontier, he’s looking for a way
to kill some time and a way of validating himself; while you’re fairly
oblivious to his existence, too busy playing with that very expensive thing of
yours that he’s been eyeing all day now.
