What's Next? April 15, 2008
We started with nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
Then there was light. Or, Let there be light.
For the brief blink of an eye (actually, much, MUCH less than that) there was space, time, and plasma and energy.
Time slowed. Plasma condensed into gas.
Time progressed. We have motion of matter. Solids formed.
There are four forces, Strong and Weak nuclear, Electromagnetic and Gravitational.
These forces work on matter and energy, making changes.
Eventually, there were liquids.
Change. That is the most important thing.
Change is the only thing that is constant, a paradox.
Over time, our Sun became. Our world started.
Somehow, on this world, and perhaps others, life started.
Change continued.
Single cell. Multi-cell.
Plants. Animals. Consciousness. Humans. Now we are getting somewhere.
Change is getting faster.
Humans live together, talk, and build civilization. Ordered by authority and power.
How else?
Well, how about looking right into the horse's mouth to actually count how many teeth it has?
What if we learn how to learn, so we can do it “better”.
There's a system we use now, called science, that does learning better than before.
Authority and power will allow us to get along, but we will very quickly run off the edge.
Science may allow us to keep from running off the edge, but I'm not too hopeful.
Technology is the result of applied science, and look what that's gotten us.
We need to do better. Change is getting faster.
Darwinian evolution is the best tested and least accepted scientific theory we have.
It may be the current crowning achievement of humanity. Why don't most people like it?
It does not maintain power anywhere.
So, how can we do better?
What comes next, after science? Is there a better way to learn, to progress? Is there some successor to science that will be as applicable to Beauty and Good as science is to Truth?
What comes next, after humans? Will it be a superior biological life form, or something entirely different, like silicon? There certainly is a lot of sand along the seashores.
What comes next, after consciousness? Is there another emergent property of this universe?
What comes next, after models? They are the basic result of science, built so we can understand and do a better job of generating meaning. Change is getting faster.
Will there still be life?
Or will we just use up this small and fragile biosphere and never have a chance to find out?
Can every why question be decomposed into a series of how questions that can be answered?
How do we find out?
Do you care about any of this, or is there something else more important to you?
Pick any comment or question and respond. Re-write the whole thing your way....