Danger, nerd talk ahead.

Today, CERN announced that they have found a boson right where the Standard Model predicts the Higgs boson to be. It's incredibly exciting news, made even more interesting by the fact that this boson doesn't behave quite like the SM predicts that the Higgs boson should. There's much more research to be done, but this could very well end up having the same type of impact that the discovery of electron had. There's a very good write up about the whole thing over that Bad Astronomy, if you want more details. Congratulations to all the scientists and engineers who worked on the project, and happy 4th of July to everyone in the US. 

We are One

I thought you all might enjoy a poem I wrote a while back.

I know you

You were a baby, full of potential

You were a child, full of dreams.

You were loved, you were hated,

Your dreams faced the waves of fate

Your hopes faced the rocks of reality.

You lost those you cared for,

You loved and lost and loved again,

You have seen the best and worst of humanity.

I do not know how your life has been shaped

by the storms of time, but I know one thing,

you are me and I am you.

We are humans, and we are the same,

Beneath the skin, beyond the battle scars,

We are one, you are me and I am you.

We are not at war, we are not enemies,

You are not some horrible other,

You are me and I am you.

We are born, we live and we die

Our lives are like a flickering flame

You are me and I am you.

We believe God is real,

We believe God is an illusion,

We believe in Goddess and Gods and everything inbetween.

And yet,

       You are me and I am you.

Forget those who say that we must fear

Forget those who would rule us

You are me and I am you, and we are one.

I'm Baaccckkkk!

So, I've been on a bit of a sojourn around the country, leaving me with limited internet access, but I'm back now, and will hopefully be updating this blog on a more regular basis. One up side to all the travel has been gaining the perspective (literally, the last stanza is the result of staring into a beautiful night sky and trying to see the stars in perspective instead of flat) to finish a poem I've been working on for a month or two. Enjoy!

Comprehension

Unbridled sea of raging waves,
Upon which peaceful vistas rest.
Immortal as the dying day,
A soul takes up it's coming test.

Who stands before the realm of power
And lifts the rock of wisdom high?
Who would seize that awful fate,
To cast the world, as if a die?

Yet one alone, the charge must take,
To history's final goal attain.
To tread upon an ancient path
This truth to shatter, yet retain.

What mortal flesh the light can stand,
What mind the symphony unfold,
But one who sees the sands of time,
And knows them as in thoughts of old.

Invictus, Excelsior, Caldazar,
Brave ring the cries of ancient days.
A song unsung yet ringing still,
Across eternal hidden ways.

 Into the rift, into the void,
Into the heart which goes astray.
'till east is west and up is down,
And light and darkness interplay.

There is no rest, no passing friend,
No chance to husband might or will.
A razor's edge honed into fate,
And one such end a death so still.

Within the void that fills the sky
With eyes that see to distant suns
The mind must tread where angles dare
And travel till the journeys done.

Recent events have made my little corner of the world even less safe then before. They've also turned my thoughts to death, both the effect it has on people in general, and my thoughts own eventual (and hopefully distant) demise.

One thing that I noticed is the no matter how much people claim to believe in an afterlife, most humans are overwhelmed by the sorrow for their loss. When a loved one's death is caused by another human, there is a strong drive for revenge and "justice". Ironically, those who believe most strongly in a paradise for the departed seem to be the most likely to want justice in the very final sense of the death penalty. There seems to be little thought given to the fact that for the person being executed, it's over rather quickly, while the ones who really suffer are the family members and friends left behind. Like every other form of violence, it's a vicious cycle, even if you put together a philosophy that allows for a Just War, a Just Execution, etc, etc.

On matters of my own mortality, I can't muster a great deal of concern about the issue. I of course hope to spend many long years enjoying my family and all this life has to offer. I also want to be as sure as I can that those I leave behind will be cared for, since I will no longer be around to see to it myself. However, I don't really see much to fear about the whole act of passing on. On a very deep level, I can't really differentiate it from any other new experience. There are plenty of things on Earth that have required a leap of faith into a great unknown. I suppose if someone lived in a cave their whole life, and suddenly found a way out into the open world, that would be overwhelmed and scared by the newness and difference of it all. But if they had spent a good deal of time looking out the cave entrance, wondering what was out there in that great beyond, I think that they would look forward to setting out to explore. This is, in my view, the greatest benefit of spending some time every now and then to think on death. Regardless of belief system, those who do so tend to face their mortal end with serenity and peace.

Occupy Humanity

‎”Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience. Our problem is that people all over the world have obeyed the dictates of leaders and millions have been killed because of this obedience. Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves and the grand thieves are running the country. That’s our problem.” — Howard Zinn.

Science vs. Religion?

If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change.

Buddha

I wonder what the Buddha would think of how clearly science has allowed us to see the miracle of a single flower.

Not every TV show is trash.

My wife was kind enough to send me a copy of the series "COSMOS" featuring Carl Sagan. I've seen it before, but it is one of my all time favorite shows, so I've been enjoying it immensely. If you haven't seen it, it's well worth watching, and last I checked it was up on Hulu. One thing that always strikes me when I watch the series is how well Dr. Sagan balances scientific knowledge with a deep sense of wonder at the natural world. In a society where we are increasingly drawing battle lines between the camps of faith and reason (more on that in another post), it's very refreshing. Dr. Sagan was, as far as I know, an agnostic. If more people could have the humility to admit that they don't know, perhaps the world would be a better place.