The empty focus

Why no talk about the empty focus inherent to Kepler's assertion
that planetary motion about the sun is elliptical? It's no secret
the Sun is but one of two focuses inside the ellipse.

If the Sun's mass is responsible for the motion of its
planetary bodies encircling it, then it follows that there must be
an explanation accounting for the empty focus, and whether or not anything is there at all, or perhaps something like dark matter, energy, flow, or possibly a dark sun.

Four theories jump immediately to mind.

1. Perhaps the two focuses inside an ellipse are not in actuality
restricted to being mere "points", but rather, perhaps those two points are but static instances along an additional ellipse (or circle) which describes the Sun's own path. (Just the next logical step in the progression of the next dimensional order of complexity.)

2. Perhaps the empty focus is the point where a dark sun occupies.

3. Perhaps the empty focus is the ideal spot to place a hidden camera. [Such a monitoring device may have been hidden here by this system's Creator(s), to keep tabs on us, for example.]

4. The most intriguing theory to me, and seemingly less paranoid (yet also more improbable), is this. What if the empty focus were the actual location of a holographic projector device which is responsible for creating the illusion of what we perceive to be our solar system, universe, or even reality? Bear with me while I make the necessary points for these postulations to be considered as being within the realm of possibility.

If you were to fashion an elliptical pool table (for instance) and then identified the two focus points, first placing a pocket (for the pool balls to drop into) at one of the focuses, and then putting a marker (for a pool ball to be placed on) at the other focus, something quite interesting is set up to occur. Place a pool ball on the marked focus point and then shoot it in any direction whatsoever, and it will always bounce off the inner wall of the ellipse and travel directly into the pocket where the other focus lies.

The implications for how this might affect our understanding of our solar system are intriguing to me. Since our Sun is at one of the focuses, that means that all the light which emanates from the Sun, were it to "bounce off the inner walls" of earth's elliptical trajectory, would then be reflected directly into the empty focus (which counterbalances the Sun's position). This observation of course can work both ways (hence my theory of a possible holographic projector at the empty focus instead).

Two things immediately come to mind. The first is that the empty focus might be a perfect place where a cosmic Designer might place a hidden camera. I haven't figured out the mathematics but its possible this spot might remain well hidden from the prying eyes of astronomers, I don't know. The second thing is that the empty focus could be the position of a holographic projector which is responsible for projecting the image of our universe (or solar system) to us. i.e, a sort of artificial machine which projects "the matrix", to coin a contemporary popular term.

These amusing speculations aside, the real concern which first must strike the conspicuous observer, is that arc which describes the progress of history's astronomers' initial observations. It has been said that one may begin drawing a circle at any point, so I will begin with Galileo having theorized about the possible heliocentric nature of our planetary orbits, then move on to Kepler's slight correction of these pathways into an ellipse (by necessity including now two focuses rather than the original single focus of the Sun resting in the direct center of a circle). Hence the most obvious and first order of speculation must be the admission of a (most likely high) probability that Kepler, too, may have been mistaken (albeit further along the path towards the truth). Herein is where we must consider the possibility that both Galileo's (circle) theory and Kepler's (ellipse) theory are but the first two relatively crude steps towards our having discovered the true(r) nature of these planetary motions.

The most likely explanation for the empty focus point in our own solar system, in my opinion, is the first of the four theories described above. The theory which states the empty focus is nothing but a static point along the path of our Sun's own trajectory.

Which brings me to the consideration of a thesis. The objective of the thesis would be to distinguish whether Kepler's ellipse theory is actually correct or if, indeed, he merely succeeded in shading one more dimension of the model which will eventually be completed by a current or future astronomer. Upon considering the possibilities myself, I tend to think there is still much to work out about this model of the motions of our universe's celestial bodies.

To bring this matter into proper perspective, allow me to chart our progress of these models for celestial movement via dimensional analogy. I will ascribe the "1st dimensional step" towards solving this puzzle to Galileo (a point = heliocentric), and the "2nd dimensional step" to Kepler (the two focus points make a line = elliptical); therefore, its a relatively simple matter to plug in the "3rd dimensional step" to whomever is credited with having made the discovery (a 3rd focus whose inclusion would better describe cubic space = the next theory, i.e, holographic).

File Under Dodo

You know what items I think are highest on the "soon to become a thing of the past" list ?

~Balls. We who enjoy a fine set of these things (guys-?) should really marvel over the fact that, well that we got 'em. Because balls are going out of style, and in my estimation, right out of the evolutionary order of things. Honestly its quite evident to me that anyone with a set of these outdated items should simply enjoy them while they can. Because not only are they going out of style, I'm beginning to suspect humanity is reaching that stage when parthenogenesis will supplant the old paradigm of sexual reproduction. Not only are balls going the way of the Dodo, but I'm afraid the "stems" to which they're attached (formerly known as the "male" of our species) may soon be relegated to Neanderthal status; that is, strictly a throwback to human evolution. I imagine a near future time when either most males will be neutered at birth until such time comes that we are born asexual, ultimately - or just fast-forward to the inevitable extinction of the male sex altogether. I am convinced the males of our species have outlived their usefulness.

~Individuality. I think the problem going on now is one of an entirely different order than we might wish to imagine. First off, I think human life is, at this point in our history, and by definition, quite cheap. At 6 billion and counting, we’ve simply dissolved completely away whatever value our individual lives might once have had. Humankind is going through major changes in how it sets up its own basic life support system; I tend to think the rugged days of individualism itself are quickly becoming a thing of the past. What this means is, those of us who might fancy ourselves as “individualists” today are, by definition, throwbacks to a period in human history already quite done for. I.e, We who like to imagine we “think for ourselves” are like the few cavemen left struggling amidst a burgeoning sea of plugged-in drones who largely support our society, now. The capitalist-driven faction of our world, ironically set up by individualism itself, has reached a phase now wherein it must continue to be supported by a culture of faceless masses without the necessity to think for themselves. i.e, It (once “we”) now has Technology to do its thinking for it - -cellphones memorize our loved one’s phone numbers, iPods’ programmings select our choices of music, etc. I’m willing to bet my life that most Americans today plugged into their iPods and PS3s, etc, really couldn’t think for themselves and furthermore, wouldn’t really want to. Let’s be honest here - - why would you want to think for yourself if you can have your blackberry, iPod, or celly do it for you? Face it - thinking is going out of style. And that’s as it should be - - mankind has been burdened with having to think for itself for far too long, if you ask me. Which leads to the third most popular item on humanity's list soon to be struck from the record, so to speak:

~Thinking. Thinking itself is overrated - let the robots do that.

You think I’m being snarky or sarcastic ? Hahah, get your iPhone to think for you again. Give up your dream and hope of humanity “growing an extra set of testicles” any time in the future. And that’s because the balls we once had dropped long ago. And now they’ve shriveled up, soon to be relegated to the spurious sections of our anatomy; how much you wanna bet that sexual reproduction for our species will be the next thing to go, after our individuality? Like I mentioned before, it isn’t difficult for me to imagine a near future where most males are simply neutered at birth or just born without packages period, until parthenogenesis becomes the new human standard for reproduction of our species.

Yes I’m suggesting that not only are “balls” swiftly becoming a thing of the past, along with individualism and thinking; but more to the point -- if you or a loved one happen to *be* or *know* a male specimen of our species who still reads, thinks, and has balls — simply urge them (or yourself, whichever the case may be) to enjoy what they got while they got it — cuz all them "bells & whistles" are being relegated to the “recycle bin” of humanity’s evolution, even as we post. /"Smoke em while you got em"

Glimpses.

1. Our natural state is that of a whore.
2. Because one picture is worth a thousand words.
3. The more the exposure, the cheaper the appearance.
4. By controlling one's image, transcendance is possible.
5. Total exposure, the actual self, is the most base.
6. When revealing yourself, less equals more.
7. This is how you salvage some grace.
8. Knowing the painted is the real face.
9. So you see the unbridled danger of honesty.
10.How appropriate not to spread the truth.

Open Letter

Dear World,

Today I think I finally understand
something. How to end terrorism.
All terrorism, great and small.
Infernal or holy.

Think: Instead of maintaining
as we have for centuries, that "God is on our side"
(as if it were in contradiction to our adversary's situation)
why not instead try giving them the benefit of the doubt?

We could say to them "You are right and we are wrong.
There's just one thing. Real humanity represents
a mix of all that is most sublime and beautiful
with all that is most vile and monstrous in the world.
A vigorous thinker by the name of Michael once stated this.
We Americans understand now that in order to get over this,
we refer to one aspect as divine and the other bestial,
representing divinity and animality as two poles,
and in between we've placed ourselves, humanity.

We at long last have come to realize, in painful hindsight,
that these three states are not, and never have been,
seperate at all. And our history can be said to have
diligently worked at keeping them seperate, which is to say,
destroy their unity. Which is to say, destroy ourselves.
This destruction when focused in on to the highest resolution
(the present) can be seen directly in terrorism and wars.

We Americans now realize that if we earnestly desired
the cessation of these things, it would be necessary
to abandon our insistence in believing in this antiquated
notion of God. We Americans are willing to admit
we are growing up, and that it is necessary for us
to change our minds."

Therefore, we can also add "Have your God. You may keep Him."It is not that we are getting rid of ours, but rather
we've woken up to the reality that He was never as we
had envisioned Him in the first place.

We Americans have decided it's time to acknowledge
that the three poles of our religious creed:
divinity, humanity, and animality, are indeed one entire
inseparable entity. We Americans believe it is time to
walk the walk and truly emancipate ourselves,
and become free. We Americans throw off the shackles
of our outdated conception of God;
you keep your own conception, as you wish.

We simply want to acknowledge
the wholeness, the unity of all men, beasts,
and living things. In our moment of clarity,
we are even willing to concede that non-living
things may deserve our respect as also being
a part of this scattered whole, and will do our best
to respect them as well, and not defile them.

We Americans are tired of remaining unconscious slaves
to the false order of divinity implemented so many
generations ago, which gives the state power and license
to unevenly distribute the wealth and well-being
of our nation. We feel that if we finally stop
trying to keep these three aspects of our humanity
and existence separate, then the process of healing
will begin. But we feel honor-bound to warn you:
we see now that your own society is fundamentally
no different than ours. It could be said that
you are at a different stage than us in your status as
(necessarily) Slaves to the counterbalancing status of
your Master. Allah is within you, as God is within us.

"Allah" and "God" are just two words in different languages
which reference the same thing. Our task ahead is difficult.
For it is not about which of us is right, but rather,
that we are both wrong. This simple truth can be difficult
to accept. We Americans will put down our pride.

We hope you will be able to put down your own, as well.
But your business is your own. If you wish to continue
putting a strain on creation with your spiritual divisions,
we are sorry. But we thought you should know
that we will not tolerate this state of underdeveloped
maturity within ourselves any longer.

We now know we were wrong, and are prepared to admit it.
We are also very excited about turning
our now more grown-up minds back to
the original question of divinity.

We will remind ourselves that the face of God is something
we can not ever totally see. We are enthusiastic about
the prospect of revisualising the divinity of the whole
of life on this planet, and our roles in it.

We can only hope that, given some positive results,
that you may look forward sometime to doing the same,
and free yourselves from the chains you yourselves wrought.
See these chains of ours? They say "made in USA".
We are getting rid of them, at long last. We now see
why Church and State must be kept separate.

We will reclaim our heritage, for our fore-fathers
already laid the groundwork for us; we simply forgot it.
Our fear got the best of us, and consequently has left us
exposing the worst. We Americans vow to remember
what it really means to be the home of the brave.
(Our indigenous predecessors not withstanding)
it refers to the courage required to defy these antiquated
religious doctrines imposed upon us, so that we might truly
embrace our freedom, having tossed off the shackles
of oppression. Voltaire was quoted as saying
"If God weren't real, it would be necessary
for us to invent him." But he was checkmated
with the statement "If God were real,
it would be necessary to abolish him."

I say this reveals to us that the natural state of affairs
is without the existence of "God" -- at least the old
conception of God we have formulated across the expanse
of our mass consciousness -- and therefore,
what we are about to abolish is merely our old,
faulty preconceptions about what "God" is.

We Americans see now that this may be the only way
to stand a chance at starting over again.
When our state of slavery to these embedded
notions is annulled, then so too will the power
be dissolved not from God -- remember, that was only
a flawed concept to begin with; a mistaken understanding --
but rather, the power will be dissolved from those
factions of humanity which served to (mis)represent
the delegates of this divine authority.

And they are precisely the ones whom we are
the most desperate to have stripped of this power.
We Americans insist on history's first peaceful revolt.
Because we have thought this through, and we now can see
how this dynamic has worked, all these years.
We Americans are committed to allowing
the healing process to begin.

Caveat:

Our saving grace (should we be mistaken about
God) will naturally be, that to have attempted
this thing will only be relegated to the already
accepted notion of having sinned, something no
different than where we are at now.
We Americans know we have nothing to lose.

Amen

Ourselves.

The promotion of intellectual crime
by way of tanno-gallate of iron,
with gum arabic and water, used to
facilitate the infection of idiocy

may have transmogrified through
various properties and incantatory
rituals, from ink to email, but
the function remains the same, to make

reputations, and unmake them; to blacken
them or to make them white.
The caustic quest is to burn
these stories into the mind's eye.

Imperial associations are gradually corroded.
With these staves the music is woven with which
we charm the serpents of iniquity from guarding
our enemies' treasure. That being their secret identity.

Ourselves.

mirrorsails

Check out the reflections
and notice similarities,
shake out recollections and
get rid of the disparities.

There's an organization on the crawl,
it's left its shadow on the wall.
The imprints are diminishing and
respectively we're finishing

the arcs of each dream
strung out like a rosary
spinning us dizzy and
leaving simply no choice

but to choose to use
the protocols we confused
for inconveniences.
If change is the name

of the norm, then we
must modify our form
to not just embrace it,
but skilfully surf it.

Resistance is futile.
Hang Ten with each new wave.
Crunch the numbers and mold them
so they work for, not against us.

Do the math first;
minimize the worst.
Stay on top, and
get the drop.

Push against the blade
with a chain mailed fist.
Use that edge against them
so they cut their own wrist.

I'm sorry but I must insist
we get with the program before
the moderators get pissed.
But here's the gist:

Allowing yourself to be
programmed is to follow
the rest and be damned.
Take the reigns and surf the wave.

Start shaping the new plan.
Wear it like armor.
Give it time and soon
it will feel like a new skin.

Shed the old fears
and feel the sudden wind.
Spread your tailored sails
and let the voyage begin.

What If...

...There is no such thing as extraterrestrials,
only post-terrestrials (and pre-terrestrials).

...The vastness of space holds no alien life;
only across time can alien life forms emerge
(before or after us on the timeline).

...Earth is the virtual center of our creation.

We like to think of space as this sort of
"wide open area", like a vast room;
when in fact, space may be nothing of the sort.
Rather, it might be more like a vast labyrinth
comprised of the narrowest passages linking
to each other in an interminable array of
unpredictable twists and turns.

What if the wide gyre of sprawled starpoints
spread out before us in the night sky was
really nothing but the illumination reaching
us from long ago, now dead stars?
/end 'as if you haven't heard that before'
This would indicate that perhaps - the only
real, living portions of the universe are that
branch of the galaxy we are a part of. Said branch
would extend from our system from two (and only two)
directions; in one direction the remainder of our branch
of the Milky Way extends (of which we are roughly
three-fourths of the way along already); in the other
direction the branch of our galaxy upon which we are
situated extends towards the central hub.

One or both of these directions could be in our
"blind spots". They may extend just beyond the curve
of our cosmic horizons. All remaining stars spangled
and glittering across the night may be nothing but
backdrop afterglow, the galactic equivalent of a sort
of peripheral glare.

Only portions of our own branch of the galaxy,
extending in two directions from us,
might be glimpsed sunken brightly amidst the murk
and glare of all those lost stars beyond.

The Death Of Imagination

I have foreseen the future of the human race by extrapolating from current trends.

Today we all dwell within an age that must yet be classified as being within the subheading of darkness; i.e, despite advances in technology, I feel we are most likely in our darkest hour.

I believe this is because we, as virtual cavemen, are still possessed by our imaginations. Hence the proliferation of wildly expressive and divergent art forms, be they painting, poetry, writing, movies, video games, you name it.

Furthermore I am prepared to state: Due to the inherent savagery of this, our darkest hour, such fare as art has become our loftiest ideal. That is to say we exalt and hold our art on the highest pedestal. We champion our heroes and writers, be they Shakespeare or Andy Warhol, whose works we not only admire, but often speak of in hushed tones as being almost sacred.

I have hope for the human race, and believe that one day, the remaining collective will at last evolve past the dark age mire we are currently wallowing in to the point of despair. Yet I suspect this hopeful evolution will involve the death of imagination.

It will be a good thing. Our current ideologies (which exalt art, for instance) will fall by the wayside. The wildly unbalanced imaginations we so cherish today will be looked upon as barbaric by our descendants. Such things as horror tales and diverse paintings and video games will all become eventually abolished as the human mind must perforce give up spurious imaginings in favor of a hard line progressive mentality which eschews fruitless artworks in order for the real humanitarian problems facing us to be solved.

I imagine that art itself will not be entirely abolished, however. Instead, it will resemble something so refined, so minimalist in its execution and symmetry, that we today do not have the brainpower to recognise it as art (only they -- our inheritors and future solvers of most humanitarian crises facing us now -- will be able to appreciate their own art, whose delicacies will remain so refined that we ourselves are poorly equipped to detect them).

In conclusion, I offer this consolation:
You and I will be long buried, of course. Therefore, I say to you: cherish the art and writings we now indulge in. They are momentary reprieves from this stage in human evolution; this, our darkest hour.

Perhaps,

the most terrifying prospect facing mankind is being free.
Truly, independantly, completely and actually free.
Because from the day we are born, everything, but absolutely
everything, is handed to us. Everything but our freedom;
that is something we have to work for. Perhaps
Freedom is never just handed over. It is taken & seized:
or it is denied. That is, should it ever come to that.
In truth, the great majority remain imprisoned in their worlds
handed over to them. Perhaps passing the world along
is all that keeps it alive. Perhaps we remain the world's slaves
so that it might be free.

2 questions, 1 answer

Is the ultimate wisdom . . .
that knowledge is an illusion?
Or is it to question this?