Zim election!

Our domestic helper (Judith) went home to Zimbabwe recently to visit family. Upon arrival officials took her passport, and rumours said that it was because of the election at the end of March, tomorrow to be specific.

Earlier this month Judiths husband went to deliver his vote back in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. At the same time he asked what options Judith had, being in South Africa. They soon found out that Judith had in fact voted already - but she was completely unaware herself. No wonder Mugabe is confiscating passports! It doesn't hit the media like the ordinary massacres. I was just thinking about all those people that drowns trying to cross the river to South Africa. If Mugabe has put up a net downstream, he can probably pick up a lot of passports... and Zim-salabim VOTES!!

The newspapers report that everything looks fine in the Zimbabwean election. What a joke!!

π×∞µ = GOD!!

Eureka! I’ve been wondering about the existence of GOD and time travels recently. Now I think I’ve found the missing link, or at least the guy that can provide me with the missing answers to my puzzle!

Michael Heller, a 72 year old Roman Catholic priest, pioneering cosmologist, and mathematical philosopher is my man! Mr Heller was a friend of late Pope John Paul II, now aspiring saint. Pope John Paul evidently used his influence on Mr Hellers mathematical abilities to provide circumstantial evidence of God’s existence! Wow!!

I like maths, and I have actually played with the idea that mathematical formulas can explain things that happen in the universe. In my job I always look for an opportunity to put anything into a spreadsheet with suitable formulas. In marketing it’s widely accepted that 1+1=3. Mr Heller has taken it a couple of steps further and made formulas that can explain everything, even calculate chance. The chance of winning the lottery is easy to calculate, as you have a certain framework to work within, like 6 numbers out of 42. I don’t know exactly in what relation Mr Heller can now calculate the chance, but figure that it’s more like chance of a meteor hitting your head as opposed to my head, pretty advanced!

To actually calculate and prove the existence of God is quite impressive, and would require a damn huge spreadsheet I’m guessing. To prove this mathematically and scientifically is for me one step closer to believing... although with my higher grade maths and economics Mr Heller could still easily bullshit me with his formula. How could I trust whatever comes out of his formula? All I know is that there is money involved, which makes me sceptical! The price money which is £820.000 is more than the Nobel Foundation splash out. Although Mr Heller says he will donate the price money, I’m sure The Catholic church has been very interested in getting the right outcome of his formula! Who can prove this guy wrong anyway?!

There is just one thing that makes me a little bit sceptical. An expression goes; “Seek and you will find (what you are looking for)”. As a marketing student I learnt how important it is to have an open mind and stay neutral both when you create your survey as well as when you interpret your data. Mr Heller, a Roman Catholic priest has no doubt got a biased mind here. If there is more than one God, I fear that Mr Heller’s formula will systematically ignore any but a Catholic God. I will therefore spend some time before departure to study the formula extensively and seek to neutralize any Catholic biased criteria.

Make no mistake; I don’t want this guy to fail, not at all! I’m not laughing. I’ve thrown all my Jante baggage aside and currently looking at the exciting opportunities that this opens up for. My spiritual time travel does not seem so farfetched any more at all. The backing of a priest/cosmologist/mathematician is probably just what I needed to make this dream come true! I should be able to get funding from all over the place. A few years ago I backed out of a kayak expedition along the coast of Greenland – because of the cost involved of course (nothing else). The whole concept did not have the necessary “wow” effect to get sponsors onboard for an un-described explorer like myself. This time however, I have a project that will make people laugh at moon walks, and building space stations will be simple as building Lego in comparison. NASA and ambitious companies within aviation, exploration, extreme sports and religions (in search of God) and you name it - simply cannot ignore and not fund this project. If your competitor was braver than you, you can pretty much close down your business when I return with my report from God! You’ll be branded an unbeliever and a heretic ...

If Mr Heller can prove the existence of God, then it must be just a matter of time before he can locate God also. Soon, with the help of Mr Heller’s formula and an oversized silicone systems computer installed in my space shuttle, I will know every supernova and bump on the path leading to God - in heaven I assume!

Just for my own preparations sake, so that I know what I’m facing and so that I won’t make an ass of myself, it would be nice if Mr Heller could specify what religious orientation God belongs to. After finding God, it should be an easy task to determine this! Well, maybe this should be held a secret until the necessary funding and arrangements are made and I’m well on my way.

Judgment Day

I’ve been accused of having a negative focus, and I will partly blame that on the Law of Jante. What more natural then than to think about Judgment Day? Well, it was accidental that I came over this book with a couple of quotes that caught my attention. With my negative focus it was simply the law of attraction and the universe’ answer to my inner calling (Ref The Secret), so I had it coming sooner or later!

Jesus said (according to Matt 25, 31); “Judgment Day will come and all people will have their sentence”. A question then arises in my mind. Is this; (1) one specific day, that no doubt will go down in history unless it wipes out all and everything, or (2) is it one day for each and every one of us like for instance the day we die?

If (1) a specific day in history: Jesus promised this day almost 2000 years ago (or thereabout) but still nothing?! You may go through Nostradamus’ (That’s one guy with a more negative focus than me by the way!) predictions one more time, with a different set of goggles to see if there is anything you should seriously worry about in your own life time. Jesus further said that evil/bad people will get their eternal punishment or eternal life (Matt 25, 46! I take it that this is supposed to be the heavenly counter offer to eternal punishment!). People who heard this live back in the days, and didn’t have to wait until Matt published and broadcasted it worldwide, have now waited 2000 years for Judgment Day… going on something eternal at least (Waiting). What is this waiting room like I wonder? Laws and legal systems are often founded on good religious values, so I presume that GOD will grant us the same benefit of the doubt. So if you’re innocent until proved otherwise, it should be like the eternal heaven for the mean time, right?

Besides, you can’t possibly bite nails daily for 2000 years! I’m sure those guys are quite chilled and relaxed about it, purgatory or whatever you call it. Imagine you are forced into a situation where your decision will no doubt lead you to eternal punishment (Hell I presume). When Judgment Day arrives that is! How long will your waiting period be, in heaven mind you? Another 2000, 6 or maybe even 10.000 years? Not bad at all I’d say, especially if you like to live NOW and not overly concerned about planning for old age and eternity! I never sold one life insurance or investment annuity of any kind that could match this prospect! Judgment Day is suddenly not so frightening any more, or negative!

(2) however, means that your time will come no matter what, and as soon as you’re dead, your trial starts. This is the propaganda that I grew up with, and to be damn honest – it’s a fair deal! There is really only an UP side to it if (1) should be the true destiny.

Paulus however has a very interesting interpretation that I want to believe in more than anything else out of sheer convenience! He concluded that the death of Jesus (+ some minor technicalities) means that GOD is able and prepared to in his/her Supreme Court to drop all charges against us! Paulus said that; “This, you accept when you believe and have faith, and mercy will come to you in this spirit”! GOD should really be careful and put this in very small print in his contracts. I was very excited to read this and see NO reason whatsoever to sign a contract with GOD after this. I believe in what I see (only!), that’s just the kind of guy I am. Since GOD never showed up in my presence, court or anywhere I’ve heard of, belief and faith is zip zero nada from me!

When my day comes, and I have to settle my life time deficits however, I will reconsider! When GOD presents himself/herself before me, I will have no reason to doubt his/her existence any more. I’m that easy to convince (Well, maybe I’ll pinch GOD’s arm just to check)! You can run a polygraph and a faith test on me after that and I’ll be 100% rock solid (steady) in my belief! With my newly acquired faith GOD will then have to grant me mercy in his Supreme Court. FANTASTIC!! I can multitask deadly sins and risk nothing basically!! I feel like a kid inside Willy Wonka’s Chocolate factory! It’s like Pick’n’NOT Pay from the top shelf. The Vatican has added some modern vices to the traditional deadly sins… I must really update myself on optional vices. What was all that nonsense about negative focus??

My spiritual time travel

If you travel with the speed of light, you would actually do a time-travel they say. Only if you travel towards the core and the very beginning of the universe (or all the universes, not sure of the correct terminology here) though. As we are constantly moving away from that starting point we are all ageing. Slow that down, and you don’t have to look for the fountain of youth any more.

Driving back and forth between home and work, I’m wondering if just one of the ways are “the right” direction? The speed is of course insignificant compared to speed of light and time travels. Nevertheless, with the right direction… wouldn’t I in fact slow down my own ageing process marginally but still? I would think so! It’s like walking from the back to the front of a plane in mid air, you will outfly all of your fellow passengers during that walk. Whilst planet earth is constantly ageing, I would be one of the least ageing people… on my way either to or from work. I should actually find out which it is… maybe I should skip work and go the opposite direction?! My daily return would in any event nullify the effect. To get a proper effect in other words, you have to leave earth. Unless of course you could give earth a push with some giant rockets. But that would be practically impossible. Just imagine getting earth out of orbit and onto the right direction and handling all the other solar systems and orbits that you would be sucked into… A space/time shuttle is the only way!!

In my space shuttle I could go at the speed of light times 50. No 50 times the speed of light would still take forever… well, it would go fast enough for the purpose eventually for this imaginary trip of mine. I would travel until I reach the preferred age. I can’t remember which era I enjoyed the most… 16-18 maybe… or 25. In any event, when I reach the desired age I could put the cruise control on at the exact speed of light so that I could stay, say 25 for as long as I wanted.

The only problem is once again direction?! Direction is crucial in this case, as I would become a very wrinkled man if I took a wrong turn. But how do you find the beginning of the universe? My compass and GPS would be very confused on an intergalactic journey like this… turn left at the end of the milky road… If we were at least at the edge of the universe, I could make a 90degree angle from the edge and follow a straight path back to the centre and the beginning of time. Just imagine the flat pancake earth where I’m trying to find the centre. Of course in this case we’re talking 3D… or a big stack of pancakes, but unfortunately the edge is nowhere to be seen. It seems we are right somewhere in the middle of the galactic porridge. I’m sure NASA could provide me with a space map and give me a general direction as a start. I’ve been backpacking before, and I quite enjoy improvising. There is no doubt in my mind that I will find my way. After all, I don’t need to go all the way to the beginning of time, as I would in any event be way too young by… back then!

It would be very interesting however to get to the bottom of things and the beginning of time. What would I find? I’m a great believer in The Big Bang theory, but still have a hard time explaining that there was “nothing” before that. How could anything start if there was initially “nothing”?! The mega rock that eventually exploded and made all the planets and stars must have come from somewhere also…? It seems that God is ignoring his creations and not showing up in court as I was hoping for earlier, so this might be the only way to confront God with his/her existence. He/she must have left fingerprints or something that can get me on track. There is no perfect crime, right! Lucky I’ve picked up a couple of tricks from the Hardy boys, Mrs. Fletcher and CSI. God – here I come!!

Hmmm… for a second I thought my own theories implied that God left us at day one after creation. No wonder nobody saw him/her after that… Rather though he could be anywhere these days watching over us like an invisible ghost. In any event, the only certain point in time where I know I can catch him/her red handed is back in the days when he created earth and the rest. Given these facts, why the hell did nobody contact God? I'm surprised and really disappointed NASA did not prioritize this and establish a shuttle/pony express!!

Blue eyed studs!

I’m a mutant! I read it in an article, and scientifically explained in the journal Human Genetics. My blue eyes came about through a mutation about 6-10.000 years ago. I can be classified and grouped safely together with The Teenage Ninja Turtles. The name mutant gives me the notion that I could be in the company of a lot of freaks with extra limbs and other unfortunate mutations out there, but is it really that bad? It did not give me any powers like Spiderman that I’ve discovered so far

Before this mutation took place, everybody had brown eyes apparently. Blue eyes appeared due to a genetic switch that turned down the amount of melanin in the iris. A complete Eskom switch off would have turned us into albinos. Nature stopped the process before it went that far, thank God… or evolution! Today apparently blue eyed people make up a good percentage of the European population. Even in an evolutionary time frame, there has been an explosion of blue eyes in Europe. The question arises; “How can this be?”

Hawk gives me a very satisfactory answer! “This gene does something good for people. It makes them have more kids!” Ok, we’re not making Australian rabbit like explosion with billions of people like in China and India. We don’t need 12 kids for disciples or pension aid. No doubt though, when we set our mind to it and hit the sack, more blue eyes will pop up! We’re the human studs – incredibly reproductive! Our sperm can outrun any competitor’s donations. So if you’re a woman struggling in this department, find yourself a blue eyed stud and consider the matter solved! I take it that Hawk is a member of the scientific crew, so there can be no doubt!

The Human Genetics article never gave any explanation as to what caused this mutation though. The second monkey theory should help explain it once and for all! As opposed to the African monkey which lived in abundance, the Stensby voortrekkers ended up in the much scarcer northern Africa and Middle East before getting to the tip of the Ice berg, Norway. The Old Norwegian tradition of taking surnames after the place of birth should be evidence enough. Stensby = stone + town, as between a rock and a hard place and very scarce. Obviously we were pushed, and had to develop more rapidly in order to survive. The good mutational conditions in Europe along with the genetic gearing resulted in us blue eyed studs! I don't know many blue eyed people with red hair, which means that we steered clear of the Neanderthals, which in turn means we're not overly kinky weirdoes either. Darwin would have put us on a pedestal if he knew, and I suspect that Hitler was on the brink of this discovery although in a different context!

Been there, done that!

It’s funny how you are prepared to do crazy things to prove that you’ve done something, or at least joke about it. My friend Salsa King is a good example, although I never really confronted him with the story I have many individual sources confirming this. Salsa King studied at a university in South Africa. It’s obviously an exciting thing for a Scandinavian (I can confirm that) to come here for the first time and experience everything about this lovely country. He must have been very chuffed and eager to brag about it to all his friends back home… but how to spice up the story and give it some oomph - that was of course the question. I’m sure he had lots of stories to tell that could help – it was just never enough. What is truly an African thing he must have thought?! Malaria had a far less negative connotation than say AIDS… and sailed up as clear evidence and a great story enhancer. Malaria would more than justify all the possible sufferings and make him the coolest guy back home. Salsa King never went the whole way as far as I know, not even a mosquito bite to show for. Naturally his Africa encounters never hit the big headlines… only the nearest family and friends knows about his Africa stories and Malaria flirtations…

Likewise I had similar thoughts on my Madagascar trip recently. I caught a sailfish and had the fishing experience of my life there. Even as I was struggling to get the fish up from the water, I was already thinking about how I could inflate this story and brag about it. Not inflate if like a puffer and out of proportions size wise, but still make it an impressive and memorable story. Lots and lots of pictures were taken so the evidence was there. It was not enough though! Pictures eventually fade, and the colors look dull and old after some time and hunting/fishing trophies shrink to mice and sardines. I would not let that happen to my sailfish, so what else?!

When the fish was landed, I tried to carry it to the front deck in my arms like a baby, but soon learnt a painful lesson. The skin is like sandpaper! I got terrible burns on my tummy, upper and under arms… that eventually developed to open wounds and scab. That’s when one of my dear travel companions gave me the brilliant idea that I could keep rubbing and digging the wound to secure an impressive scar. I could show off for years to come, and the scar alone would make a far better story than I could ever make. The brave fisherman couldn’t stand the digging though… so the wounds soon faded and disappeared! Well, two months later, I have still got a dark shaded “sailfish mark” on my arm. I might have something to show for after all!!

The Catholic Church (an RDA-file)

It’s been a while since I did anything on my Religion Decision Aid (RDA) project, but then I stumbled over what I believe to be one of the pillars of “Catholic theory”. The Catholic Church up until today still relies on St Thomas Aquinas proofs on the existence of God. Aquinas’ proofs are published in his work “Summa Contra Gentiles”, so naturally I was curious about his evidence on the matter. As a scientist, I had an open mind… even open to the possibility that reading this stuff could forever turn me into a slave of Catholicism. Curiosity killed the cat they say… but what the hell!

This scripture in old fashioned language is a bit hard to grasp for me so I had to read it over many times… What Thomas Aquinas’ and the Catholic Church’s teachings eventually boils down to in my mind is; Desire – knowledge – happiness!

1. Desire for the first truth and cause
The last end of all man and of all his deeds and desires is to know the first truth and the first cause, namely God. Thomas further says that the men or “intelligent substance” desires happiness at the end. Happiness for men, Thomas says, is to know God! I’ve noticed in old people, that although they did not seem like very god fearing people before, they cling to a hope that there is “something”… just in case maybe? Hedging your bets! So for now I’ll give this the benefit of the doubt.

2. Knowledge - a way to happiness
Ultimate happiness can only be obtained through knowledge of God, but knowledge to what level and extent?! According to Thomas the common “knowledge” among most Christians is the general and confused knowledge of God through "opinion" or "demonstration". Way superior though is knowledge through "faith". Whether you are of the “shallow” type or you have 100% faith, Aquinas says that this is still not enough for man to be happy. Since faith is as far as a man can get in this life – you can not be happy! How sad isn’t that?! Maybe Catholics are just too demanding and expect too much??

3. Nature’s way
Aquinas says that nature does nothing in vain, so man's natural desire for happiness will be fulfilled at some stage. As no man can shun death, happiness must be fulfilled after this life! As man’s concept of truth is only through speculative science, a man's life would be in vain unless he can reach the ultimate knowledge and happiness after life. According to Aristotle and Aquinas, man's knowledge through speculative science is limited and proportionate to his capacity. “Proportionate to man’s capacity…”; this sounds very much like Chris Argyris' theory X to me (meaning basically that man is not very competent), and in this case man can not expect to get much joy out of life! In this day and age I feel this is a very negative way of seeing things… even for an ultra conservative Catholic Church!

Conclusion and RDA-rating
I deduct from this that NO catholic person can be happy, which means I would shun Catholicism more than death in the first place! The beginning and the first truth… according to science that I put my trust in is the big bang. Being a Darwinist… I have therefore already fulfilled my desire of knowledge of the first truth and cause. This ultimate knowledge can sink inn at any time during life, and you can thus reach a state of ultimate happiness and stay happy for most of your life also. Clearly this is much more enjoyable than being a depressed Catholic. Besides, before you discovered the ultimate happiness you were probably too young and immature and oblivious of the fact that you were unhappy! That means also that being an Atheist and Darwinist, your life is not in vain. It’s amazing and ironic that the teachings of the Catholic Church in fact give you a better argument to be an Atheist?! Imagine the catholic slogans; “Become a catholic, be depressed and live a long painful life in vain”! Still, there are quite a few Catholics/masochists out there…? I hope they’ve got something else and better up their sleeves!!

Thomas Aquinas made use of Aristotle’s rationalism to give his own theories some oomph. Aquinas, Aristotle and not to mention the Pope and numerous saints, although bold and famous names, does not bring the Catholic Church high up on my ranking. I've always wondered though, whether they sing "When the saints go marching in" in the Vatican... maybe when a new Pope is elected?!

Since nature does nothing in vain, this was Aquinas' and the Catholic Church's proof that there is something after death. However, they do not provide much information about exactly what happens after death (unlike Hinduism)... which leaves Catholics in "limbo" whether you are baptized or not! Only that you will "know and be happy"! With some goodwill this adds some amount of credibility, since nobody have so far reported first hand on the "ultimate knowledge and happiness" and what it entails!!

I was surprised that this is still the proof of God in this day and age. To me this is only a weak explanation that is crowbared to serve the purpose, but no proof! I believe in evolution, that I belive can be proved scientifically. Nevertheless it does not exclude the possibility that a God was behind the Big Bang or at some point in time. Either way you come short and can't prove it! So why can't the Catholic Church or any religion just tell it like it is - you have to choose whether you want to believe or not! Belief is so far as far as we can get in this life, but still not in vain!

Come to think about it, I really have to fill out my RDA scorecards in order to get some sense of all this. As for now they seem to make a cluster “not very high up on the ranking", which is not very specific. I promise to work it out... some time soon!!