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Philosophy

The Prospect of Eternal Life - The problem of space

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Parent Category: Ideas
Category: Philosophy
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The problem of space

 

For most of the past century we have known that our galaxy, the Milky Way, contains about three hundred billion stars, like our Sun.   Astronomers have now mapped around 10,000,000 similar galaxies.  But when the Hubble space telescope was pointed to an apparently empty portion of the universe and its camera shutter opened for a long time exposure, instead of blackness it photographed tens of thousands of un-mapped galaxies.  The observable universe is now estimated to contain 9 × 1021 stars (9 billion trillion stars).  Planets have been discovered orbiting most nearby stars and it is believed that most stars have a planetary system, just as most planets have moons.

Within our own solar system we have now discovered water on Mars and it is now very likely that we will discover primitive life forms on Mars and possibly on one of the moons of Jupiter or Saturn.

We hold ourselves supreme on this planet for our intelligence. Only humans (and our computers) can play chess or understand electromagnetism sufficiently well to build a radio or a light emitting diode.  But many animals and even plants have the appearance of limited intelligence, the power to choose - volition.  Watch an ant, among the simplest of animals, for a few minutes. Does she seem to have the ability to choose a way around if you interfere with her foraging?  Does a dog or cat appear to be empathetic?

Notwithstanding the discovery of simple life such as bacteria elsewhere in our solar system, it is extremely likely that many of the billions of trillions of planets that we now know to exist, host complex life.  None of them may resemble humans but if they’re intelligent do they too embody an immortal soul?  If they don’t, why not?  If they do, does their soul share heaven with us?  It is reasonable to ask the status of a human God, in whose image we are made, on another planet, far beyond the reach of our current communications.

 

 gods son responsiblity

 

 

 

 

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Travel

Canada and the United States - Part2

 

 

In Part1, in July 2023, Wendy and I travelled north from Los Angeles to Seattle, Washington, and then Vancouver, in Canada, from where we made our way east to Montreal.

In Part2, in August 2023, we flew from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, down to Miami, Florida, then Ubered to Fort Lauderdale, where we joined a western Caribbean cruise.

At the end of the cruise, we flew all the way back up to Boston.

From Boston we hired another car to drive, down the coast, to New York.

After New York we flew to Salt Lake City, Nevada, then on to Los Angeles, California, before returning to Sydney.

Read more: Canada and the United States - Part2

Fiction, Recollections & News

On The Secret

There is an obvious sub-text to my short story: The Secret, that I wrote in 2015 after a trip to Russia. Silly things, we might come to believe in, like 'the law of attraction' are not harmless. 

The story is also a reflection on the difference between American and Australian stereotypes, that were evident from conversations on the cruise.

I lived in New York for some time and my eldest daughter was born there. I have visited the US fairly regularly since. It is, in many ways, the closest country to Australia that you will find, outside New Zealand.  So, I have often been surprised by how different it is in other ways to Australia, given the great similarities in the median standard of living, shared popular culture and immigrant demographics.

I have come to the conclusion that this stems from our different founding origins.

Read more: On The Secret

Opinions and Philosophy

Electric Cars revisited (again)

  

Electric vehicles like: trams; trains; and electric: cars; vans; and busses; all assist in achieving better air quality in our cities. Yet, to the extent that the energy they consume is derived from our oldest energy source, fire: the potential toxic emissions and greenhouse gasses simply enter the atmosphere somewhere else.

Back in 2005 I calculated that in Australia, due to our burning coal, oil and sometimes rural waste and garbage, to generate electricity, grid-charged all-electric electric cars had a higher carbon footprint than conventional cars.

In 2019, with a lot of water under the bridge; more renewables in the mix; and much improved batteries; I thought it was worth a revisit. I ran the numbers, using more real-world data, including those published by car companies themselves. Yet I got the same result: In Australia, grid-charged all-electric cars produce more greenhouse gasses than many conventional cars for the same distance travelled.

Now, in the wake of COP26, (November 2021), with even more water under the bridge, the promotion of electric cars is back on the political agenda.  Has anything changed?

 

Read more: Electric Cars revisited (again)

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