Speak Softly, Teddy

It's been well over a month since my last post. I hope you didn't miss me too much.

Have you thought much about this last assumption that I stated? In case you forgot:

The measure of the life of a man is equivalent to the power with which the components of his existence that he controls touches and effects the remainder of reality.

It's all about power. What does it mean to have power? What does it mean to wield power? Well, we may have been condition to believe a number of things. My guess is that the greater majority of people out there believe it to be primarily displayed through physical manifestations of power. Let's take a look at a few of these examples.

1. Individual Physical Might - Whether it's the ability to carry the largest stick or hit another entity the hardest, individual physical might is one of the most common manifestations of power. A number of our most distant relatives in the animal kingdom began out this way. Think of the ancient beasts of old: dinosaurs. Their dominion over the Earth wasn't challenged for quite some time. Their sheer size would certainly have been something to behold. At least, for those few moments before you began running in the other direction. They're gone. What's more is that the largest land carnivore in the world today is now the Polar Bear. Seriously? At least according to Wikipedia, it's true. Although I'm not going to formally state it, I think we could probably take a cue from nature, which has forced its largest predators to the outskirts of the world but that's neither here nor there.
   
2. Collective Physical Might - What's better than having the biggest stick? Having two large sticks and a friend to help you out. Not to be cliche but there is strength in numbers. Animals that live in collectives can be seen throughout nature. Beehives, wolf packs, schools of fish, flocks of geese, and so many other examples show how well things work when things work together. Nations and empires have been built upon the premise of collective physical might ruling with an iron fist over the masses. Countless millions have been conquered through these means. I would argue that this way of life will cause, at best, stagnation and, at worst, demise if it were not for another kind of power.
   
3. Knowledge - It's great to learn, cause knowledge is power! I love Saturday morning cartoons. Well, I used to. Now, they're way too involved. I remember when I could turn on the TV on Saturday morning, watch some Looney Tunes followed by Schoolhouse Rock and, hey, learning was fun! Conjunction Junction, what's your function? If you can't answer that question, you need to be schooled! How about this one: what's better than having two large sticks and a friend to help you out? In most circumstances, the answer would be having a gun. Even better, having two guns and a friend to help you out. Better technology leads to more efficient ways of killing things which, as we all know, leads to personal prosperity, right?

Whoa, what? Hold on a second here. Are we making a connection between power and the ability to make other things die? That seems a little backwards, don't you think? If we could find a way to optimize power as well as the other entities that witness our power, that would be the greatest power, wouldn't it? That's a nugget that I would like to plant into your mind but this brings up another assumption that I want to get out there.

Man seeks, and should seek, to predict how to maximize the measure of his life.

That seems like somewhat of an obvious statement to me but it's something that I want to make sure is understood. I won't go as far as to say that it is a "good" thing to seek to maximize the measure of one's life since it would bring up a debate on good vs evil (we'll save that for another time) but, as far as life pursuits are concerned, I feel that it's one that should rank above others. Call it foolish idealism or what you like but there's a certain purpose, a certain drive, that maximizing one's life gives to a man that, I would argue, is the best because if life is something to cherish deeply, then immortality is invaluable. I won't beat that point too much but let me tie it back into my previous points.

If we want to maximize the measure of our lives, we need to maximize the power with which the components that we control effect the remainder of existence. Destruction certainly will leave ripples but will it create the largest waves?

Think on it. With luck, I'll be back to discuss within a short while instead of a long one this time.