Drones
Many months ago, I was being driven back from Owatonna and my thoughts wandered off into the blackened night. Headlights popped up here and there, and I found myself deeply pondering life's meaning. What are these people doing out on the road right now? Were they driving home from a birthday party, as I was, or were they venturing out on a new limb, thirsty for life's offerings?
Everyday we see people on the road and we don't consider what they are doing. Think of all the people you see stuck in traffic in the morning. Most are dismissed as day-jobbers while some have to be traveling salesman, some drug runners, some freight deliverers. I know people who didn't have a job for part of their lives - could there be people like them just sitting there lost in traffic, searching for a way? Everyone is doing something on this planet, whether it be work, play, or just living and I have always felt a longing to know what that particular thing is for everyone I know, but it's impossible. "Why do I care?", you ask? I truly don't know, but the feeling has always been there. Maybe I feel that I'm missing out? What am I missing out on? I think most people have jobs or are going to school - and their day-to-day is simple and normal. Sure, they have little shavings of excitement here and there, like going to the bar or some such after work, but it could be, as the saying goes, "Same shit, different day". It's easy for me to say that, but not think it. Deep down, I feel like everyone has a really exciting life and I'm missing out. I guess I'm just insane.
This begs the question: What are your days like?
Suddenly, the circular shape of something, probably a headlight, caught my eye and then consumed my mind. As a gazed up from the road from my looking glass view of the free world, I was ensnared with thoughts of the cosmos and science. I wondered at the fact that so many things physical are spheres or circular - stars, planets, some molecules, electrons, fundamental constituent particles, elements. Based on our current understanding of physics, I think that gravity is the reason for stars and planets to be circular. Since the force is exerted on any object of any mass by other objects also of any mass and is essentially uniform around an object, this would explain why they are circular and why there aren't sharp edges around those heavenly objects, at least not big enough to distort the shape (What would you think of a triangular planet?). Why, then, are very large things and very small things circular but not us? Perhaps I've been brainwashed into thinking that small things are circular from textbooks that illustrate particles and elements as circles to aid in understanding. We can't see quarks and things like that, so why is the circle the first thing to come to mind when considering them? Another interesting bit to consider - some of those particles have no mass, how can they retain a shape? How do they exist if they don't take up space? My brain squirms and retches trying to latch on to the idea. This is why I can never become a physicist. Besides, I think most of our understanding of physics has been concluded - at least from what I remember hearing in college. That's the problem with being the self-proclaimed masters of the world and intellect, once you've decided you completely understand something, there's no one to tell you otherwise.
Everyday we see people on the road and we don't consider what they are doing. Think of all the people you see stuck in traffic in the morning. Most are dismissed as day-jobbers while some have to be traveling salesman, some drug runners, some freight deliverers. I know people who didn't have a job for part of their lives - could there be people like them just sitting there lost in traffic, searching for a way? Everyone is doing something on this planet, whether it be work, play, or just living and I have always felt a longing to know what that particular thing is for everyone I know, but it's impossible. "Why do I care?", you ask? I truly don't know, but the feeling has always been there. Maybe I feel that I'm missing out? What am I missing out on? I think most people have jobs or are going to school - and their day-to-day is simple and normal. Sure, they have little shavings of excitement here and there, like going to the bar or some such after work, but it could be, as the saying goes, "Same shit, different day". It's easy for me to say that, but not think it. Deep down, I feel like everyone has a really exciting life and I'm missing out. I guess I'm just insane.
This begs the question: What are your days like?
Suddenly, the circular shape of something, probably a headlight, caught my eye and then consumed my mind. As a gazed up from the road from my looking glass view of the free world, I was ensnared with thoughts of the cosmos and science. I wondered at the fact that so many things physical are spheres or circular - stars, planets, some molecules, electrons, fundamental constituent particles, elements. Based on our current understanding of physics, I think that gravity is the reason for stars and planets to be circular. Since the force is exerted on any object of any mass by other objects also of any mass and is essentially uniform around an object, this would explain why they are circular and why there aren't sharp edges around those heavenly objects, at least not big enough to distort the shape (What would you think of a triangular planet?). Why, then, are very large things and very small things circular but not us? Perhaps I've been brainwashed into thinking that small things are circular from textbooks that illustrate particles and elements as circles to aid in understanding. We can't see quarks and things like that, so why is the circle the first thing to come to mind when considering them? Another interesting bit to consider - some of those particles have no mass, how can they retain a shape? How do they exist if they don't take up space? My brain squirms and retches trying to latch on to the idea. This is why I can never become a physicist. Besides, I think most of our understanding of physics has been concluded - at least from what I remember hearing in college. That's the problem with being the self-proclaimed masters of the world and intellect, once you've decided you completely understand something, there's no one to tell you otherwise.
posted by P-Wagz at 1:05 AM
1 Comments:
1. "What are these people doing out on the road right now?...Everyday we see people on the road and we don't consider what they are doing."
Answer: If we considered what people were doing or where they were going, we would crash into the car in front of us. Driving is not a good time for people watching.
2.'"Why do I care?", you ask? I truly don't know, but the feeling has always been there.'
Answer: Well I would have thought that was easy enough to answer. Circles. Connectivity. You want to know about your fellow man to fit yourself into the world that we, as a society, have created.
3. "things." You use the word all of the time. How many different words (more precise and succinct words) could you use instead of things? Think about it.
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