SCi FI stories

A few years ago I read a sci-fi short story that unfortunately I forgot the title and the author. The story is about a machine that does everything for man (or humanity). In the story humanity achieved a level of technology where in they perfected a machine that requires no human intervention in its operation and maintenance --the machine is perfect.

Since the machine does everything for man, man became free of the burden of work. The time came when all the designers and the engineers and all the science people who created the machine died. Generations come and generations go the machine worked as expected. Because the machine provided everything for man not only did work ceased, learning also ceased. Man regressed to ignorance.

For thousands of years the machine worked well. Then the time came when the machine starts to breakdown. Nothing is so perfect that time cannot wear down. The machine started to malfunction and the people, dependent on it, started to realize that something is not right. Since all the learning vanished and the scientific and technological knowledge that created the machine died a few thousand years earlier, man is helpless.

“What are we to do,” said the people to the leader.
“Machine is angry at us for we are not worshipping right,” said the leader.
“Read the book and pray!” The leader was holding aloft a thick book titled “Operating Manual”.
And they knelt down and prayed hard for forgiveness of their sins.

This is how I remember the story. And this story got me thinking of the internet and Tielhard de Chardin. The internet may one day evolved to deity and may one day become the machine, like in the story. Chardin argued that through evolution and the emergence of man (or humanity) evolution entered a new dimension and that is the development of the layer of the mind or the noosphere as opposed to the biosphere or the layer of living things covering the earth. As the power of the internet increases, so does the information it contains and process. It is the pool of man’s mind. Imagine information interacting, processing on the internet on surface of the earth—earth, in reality is evolving a layer of mind.

This got me thinking of Arthur C. Clarke’s Child Hood’s End. (Most of Clarke’s novels that I read are creepy: Space Odyssey series, Rendezvous with Rama, The Songs of the Distant Earth and Childhood’s End.)

One day there came to earth great ships manned by “overlords”. These overlords solved the world’s problem like hunger, war, poverty etc. and promoted a golden age. After a few generations then came the phenomenon of the children; children were born with special gifts or powers. These special children were collected by the overlords.

The “overlords” then revealed that they (the overlords) are nothing more than an instrument of a higher consciousness or the “overmind” and although they are technologically superior to the earthlings they are at the end of their evolution; they don’t have the earthlings’ potentiality to higher evolution.

Thus said the overlord:
“In the centuries before our coming, your scientists uncovered the secrets of the physical world…Yet your mystics, though they were lost in their own delusions, had seen part of the truth…all the earlier changes your race has known took countless ages. But this is a transformation of the mind, not of the body. By the standards of evolution, it will be cataclysmic and instantaneous. It has already begun. You must face the fact that yours is the last generation of Homo sapiens.”

Then the overlords collected the children and left earth. The Homo sapiens left their childhood and evolved to a higher form.


Science fiction is creepy especially if you read some that was written during the 60’s and the 70’s because some their prophecies not only came true but some were even surpassed. Science fiction poses difficult question and they also provides profound answers to the questions they asked through stories that tickles and stimulate the imagination and entertains at the same time.

Another one is the story about the Kinimitz. Kinimitz are aliens that arrived on earth and solved men’s problems. They provided technology that solved war, hunger and poverty. The earth became paradise and all the earthlings became healthy, big and lean. Then came the invitation to visit the Kinimitz’ planet. Because of the promise of immortality, many volunteered and left earth happily. Then one earthman, a CIA cryptologist, decoded one book accidentally left by the Kinimitz in the UN assembly. He decoded the title of the book and it said “How to Prepare Man”. The cryptologist was thinking that the Kinimitz maybe preparing man for greater purpose in the universe. But on further decoding, he was shocked to find out that the book is really a cook book.

Buhay nga naman parang life.

Pirated CDs

My daughter has been asking me to buy SIMS 2, a computer game. I told her that I will not buy her one till its summer vacation because I fear she will be engrossed with the game that she will not be able to focus on her lessons. But classes are over now and since she did well in school this year, I decided to buy her the game.

Buying original CDs is not practical for someone like me (or us ordinary Filipinos) because they’re too expensive. Suspend moral judgments and techno ethics, I bought a pirated copy. It’s a four CD set that cost 200 pesos. When I installed it, this was when the nightmare began.

The first, second and third CD was installed without any glitch. But when CD no. 4’s turn came, error message boxes started appearing on the computer screen. I went back to the stall where I bought the CDs and asked for a replacement of CD no. 4. The sales lady obliged and replaced CD no.4. When I reinstalled the game, another message appeared telling me that CD no. 4 contains a corrupted file. I went back to the stall and this time the sales lady replaced the four CDs. When I installed the game, again, another message box appeared telling me that CD no. 3 has error in dll. files or something like that.

All this time my daughter was expecting that she could play the game.

The disappointment on her face every time the messages appeared on the screen is what kept me to return, again and again, to the mall and to the stall to ask for the CDs replacements.

When I returned this time I told the sales lady that I gave up. I want to shout and pull out a grenade and terrorize the people in the mall because I’ve spent the whole day going back there for the replacement of the CDs, and I’m already smoking with anger (of course its nobody’s fault but I can’t help but feel mad) but reason prevailed. I calmly told the saleslady that I gave up. I asked her to give me another game, any other game as long as it will run. She was understanding enough and told me to choose any four CDs on her display rack. I chose Harry Potter, Sim City (2 CD) and Cars. When I was installing the games, the computer asked for a code. I was looking for it in the CD’s sleeves but there was none. I realized that I have no choice but to return to the mall and the CD stall again to ask for the codes but it was already evening, and already very I’m tired.

The next day I returned to the stall and kindly asked the saleslady for the code and she obliged. When I installed the games, guess what? Errors again! I gave up. I told my daughter that I’ll buy her another CD if I have spare money.

My gulay, I want to kill somebody or something that day. I mean the cost of the jeepney fares alone is enough to buy an original CD. (Naahhh, I’m exaggerating.)

Rivers

Summers here and its already hot. I miss the provinces and their rivers.

Daraitan River, Tanay, Rizal
Daraitan River, Tanay, Rizal

Unknown river in Quezon Province. My daughter with her cousins.Quezon Province. MY in laws.

Does God have buttocks?

This is one of those days, idling; I’m tired of reading. Does God have buttocks? A profound question that bothered me today.

I remember something I saw on TV about a year ago. I was channel surfing our ten year old 14 inch Sony TV when I saw this guy from channel 37 debating with a young preacher about whether God has buttocks or none. The young preacher was passionately telling the guy from channel 37 that God cannot have buttocks since God is a spirit, which is logically and theologically true. But the guy from channel 37 known for his sophistry and theological gymnastics quoted verses:

Act 7:49 'Heaven is my throne, says the Lord, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house would you build for me? Where is the place for me to live in?

Col 3:1 You have been raised to life with Christ, so set your hearts on the things that are in heaven, where Christ sits on his throne at the right side of God.

“Since God has a throne then he must have buttocks for what will God use in sitting on his throne?” The incredible guy from channel 37 who has been suspended several times by the Philippine Motion Picture and Television Review Board for cussing on live television proudly declared complete with the cheering of his equally incredible sycophants.

And this, this is incredible but true. Does God have buttocks?

To add to this theological stupendous inanity is the question whether Christ will sit at God’s lap or at God’s right side? It’s funny how the guy from channel 37 who was suspended several for cussing on live television conducted a running debate against the men in white from the equally interesting group from channel 25 (may I say that these people have class). “No, Christ will not sit on God’s right side because it would be a gross disrespect for the Father if Christ sat on the Father’s lap” The Guy from channel 37 averred. “Yes, Christ will sit on the Father’s lap just like a father will allow his child to sit on his lap,” The guys from channel 25 countered. (And all the apostles and disciples and the early church fathers and the apologists and the reformers and the liberal, neo orthodox and all the theologians of the world shook their heads at the profundity of these people’s debates.)

The issue is anthropomorphism:

Anthropomorphism (Greek anthropos, “human being”; morphe, “shape”) is the depiction of God in human image because it is impossible to think of God without attributing to him some human traits.

The problem with anthropomorphism (the spelling is killing me!) is when it is taken literally and not metaphorically.

I am a firm believer in eternal security (although some of my posts in this blog seem to indicate that I’m an agnostic with pantheistic, panentheistic, deistic and atheistic (and walastic) tendencies , in reality, however, I’m a true blooded Southern Baptist) and the following verse are the favorite verses that we Baptists use to affirm the doctrine of eternal security.

Joh 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

Joh 10:29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.

Unfortunately, when we think of Father’s hand the image of a human hand is the first thing that comes into our mind. I was young when I heard Pastor Saulon (one of our church’s pastors) telling how an Arminian (those who believe that salvation can be lost) illustrated that since those who are saved are in God’s hand then the saved can jump out of God’s hands (those who chose to lose their salvation) to which Pastor Saulon replied that what God will do is He will catch those who jump out of His hands. I cannot forget this story because eternal security is embedded in my head ever since I am a child, and I’m a firm believer of it. But the story also shows the limitation anthropomorphism creates in our mind--the image of man in God.

Put simply, the human attribute that the scripture writers used in describing God and his attributes is metaphorical. They are literary devices used to make God and his attributes graspable by human intellect—making the conceptual concrete. It boils down to language.

This is where I will tell what’s really on my mind. Sometimes it is advisable (from my experience) to try to understand people who try to grasp God beyond anthropomorphism like the Greeks, Spinoza and his pantheism, the Deist; I’m not saying that these people should be believed what I’m trying to say is that there are people and may I say good people who sees the limitations of anthro blah, blah, blah. Paul Tillich said it very well when he said that we must try to separate God from our conception (or apprehension) of him from the God who is the ground of our being.

It’s erroneous to limit our apprehension of God to human likeness because in the process the limitation of human attributes to God cannot be helped but be included.

But it is also not good to picture God without human likeness for then what will be apprehended (if it’s possible at all) are ideas.

It still boils down to language. I am thinking of Christ and God incarnated and the more I think of it the more logical Christ is becoming for me and the more God is becoming clearer to me.

I’ve still a long way to go!

Patroni et pastrani

Why do I make faces every time my churchmates call me pastor? Its not that I hate pastors or the pastorate, I make faces whenever I am called pastors because I believe that people who should be called pastors should be pastors. It’s that simple. I make faces because I don’t think of myself as a pastor. I am a deacon; my job description is pastoral but I’m not a pastor. The title pastor is reserved for pastors although it does not mean that the work of the pastor is limited to the pastor.

Why I am against the indiscriminate use of the term “pastor”?

One reason is linguistics. The reason why words die is because they lose their sense. The death of a word starts with wrong usage. Naturally, wrong usage will result to the word’s vagueness and ambiguity. Vagueness and ambiguity takes away word’s specificity thus its power to recall images is gone.

What will happen if we start calling everyone pastors?

I remember a friend of mine who is a graduate of engineering. I call him engineer thinking that it would flatter him, but instead he was offended. He calmly told me that he is not an engineer until he passed the licensure exam. Now, I’m not saying that pastors should have a board exam (although I’m in favor of it especially for pastors who studied in theological seminary, but for layman pastors, their practical experiences more than suffices) what I’m trying to say is that attached to the word pastor is a heavy, heavy responsibility and to make fun of it by its indiscriminate use is simply wrong.

This may hurt, but I don’t think that unemployment should be taken and mistaken as a calling for the ministry. Unemployment should be taken for what it is. I mean, with the rate of unemployment in my church, and if we start calling all our church's unemployed pastors, we'll have a problem. This kind of thinking is not only wrong it also has no theological foundation. I say be realistic; the ministry is not for the unemployed it is for people who has the calling to lead.

Eph 4:11 It was he who "gave gifts to people"; he appointed some to be apostles, others to be prophets, others to be evangelists, others to be pastors and teachers.


The other reason is practical and organizational. The pastor is not only the spiritual head of the church but he is also its administrative head. Anyway, there’s no such a thing as a pulpit pastor, it’s an oxymoron—a contradiction in terms. Pastors are shepherds not pulpit drivers.
Of course it does not mean that I’m closing my doors to the pastorate, it’s just that I believe that the pastorate is something that one should prepare for physically, mentally, emotionally, and intellectually. The times are changing. The challenges that today’s ministers will be facing is the same as that of ministers faced before but these challenges will have a different faces and unless ministers of today are equipped they will have a difficult time meeting this challenge.


Pastorate—I remember how one of my church mate--who married a man who was almost appointed the youth pastor in our church but unfortunately run away with another woman--pronounce the word, without the last “e”; nah, too nasty to print here.

Of course I’m flattered when I’m called a pastor but you know….I know my church mates mean well but I have high regards for the pastorate since my father was a pastor, my older brother is a pastor, my in laws are pastors…hmmm…the odds are against me.

But still call me a prude and rude I don’t think the title pastor should not be taken lightly; I’ll tell when it’s time to call me a pastor. I hope and pray…
Pastor, pastor, pastor, castor, castor oil….(purgative oil)

La Bamba

I was washing our clothes while tuned in to RJ 100 FM, a music station that plays music from the 50’s to the present, when I heard Trini Lopez singing “If I had a Hammer.” Booom! Nostalgia hit me so hard that I choked. I’m being dramatic here but I almost cried; well, not cry as cry with tears but it’s close to that, I almost cried because I remember my father. (Here we go again.)

I don’t think that Trini Lopez will ring any bell today. But many may not know it but before the Latin invasion of the 90’s led by Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez, Selena etc. he’s the Latin guy who made Filipinos dance to that percussion driven Latin music way back during the 60’s and the 70’s.

My father loved dancing the cha-cha. I remember him picking me up from our bed, hugging me while he was holding my right arm like he was dancing with a woman, while my free left hand clings to his neck tightly afraid lest my father’s turns threw me on the floor, and then off he went back and forth, back and forth and turn and back and forth back and forth and turn like a steam train trying to maneuver into its garage. It was fun.

My father isdead and Trini reminds me of him.

Atomic headache

There is the great spectacle of scientific relativism, observable not only in the preliminary character of every scientific statement but also in the model aspect of scientific constructs and in the fact that terms like "atoms," "molecules," "energy," and "movement" are on a boundary line between model and concept. This gives a relativistic character even to scientific thinking. If you ask which model or concept is closest to reality you may receive the answer: none is; what we have here is a "game."

Paul Tillich

Absolutes in Human Knowledge and the Idea of Truth

I am thinking of atom and Plato’s idealism.

There are many models of atom presented. There’s the Thomson atom (1899), Rutherford atom (1911), Bohr atom (1913) and the Schroedinger atom.

But the truth is no one has seen an actual atom. All these models of the atoms are nothing but mere representation of physicists’ theories based on the characteristics that they observed that the atoms manifest. Let me quote Einstein: " In our endeavor to understand reality we are somewhat like a man trying to understand the mechanism of a closed watch. He may see the face and the moving hands, even hear its ticking, but he has no way of opening the case. If he is ingenius he may form some picture of a mechanism....but he can never be sure that his only picture is the only one which could explain his observation...He will never be able to compare his picture with the real mechanism...he cannot even imagine the possibility of the meaning of such a comparison. "

"The atom is not only an idea, it is an idea that we cannot even picture." (Zukav)

The classical concept about atoms (at least in RP government schools) is that atoms are particles but what is confusing is that atoms are also behaved like waves i.e. they are like light. (I’m not a physicist and I’ll leave it at that.) What is more confusing is that there are “particles” (my idea of particles is like a grain of sand but in physics particles is different) smaller than atoms called leptons and quarks, and then there are fermions and bosons (the odd and even classification of elementary particles) and the more the physicist dig deeper into the subatomic world the more theoretical and the more conceptual and the more idealistic their language becomes. I will not be surprise (a non physicist) if our search for the basic building bloc of the universe and reality will lead us to the immaterial world of the world of ideas or forms that Plato spoke about a few thousand years ago.

In reality our picture of the atom and the subatomic world is just an imperfect reflection of our ideas about them; we believe (well, some of us don't) that the atom and the quarks and the leptons and what have you in the future, they’re ideas, really, is the unit of material reality!

Of course Plato’s theory on ideas and forms is difficult.

But the more I look at it, the more I read about what is fundamental element that makes up the universe and reality the more I realize that everything ends up to ideas.

“If you ask which model or concept is closest to reality you may receive the answer: none is; what we have here is a "game."” Tillich

Tillich is right. What we have here is a game and sooner or later we may find Plato laughing in our faces.

Dreams

I was thinking about sleep and dreams. I don’t think that I have a sleeping problem; it’s just that, I like nights, so peaceful and serene especially when you’re listening to James Taylor. (I got to have coffee. This is becoming a habit, whenever I feel I must continue with this thing I do, I got to have coffee--must be James Taylor’s guitar and voice that’s doing this to me.) I was thinking about dreams, not that dreams, but the kind of dreams where you have nightmares and fantasies. The kind of dreams that make you wet your bed, make you wake up tired, make you wake up feeling dehydrated; dreams that sometimes affects what you’re aura or mood would be the whole day. Dreams.

Maybe I do have a sleeping problem: I am a hyper-somniac insomniac. It runs in the family, we’re late sleepers…err…I mean we’re early sleepers…hmmm…

My daughter sleeps with me and my wife. And it’s really interesting to observe my daughter when she’s asleep. She talks, kicks, grinds her teeth, and sometimes she even throw punches at us, just kept hitting us with her fist as if she’s in a boxing match. So, I got into thinking about dreams. Childhood dreams are powerful. When I was a child, I remember my mother waking me up. And when I woke up I was crying; in fact I was weeping, because when she woke me up, I lost the toy car that I was playing with in my dream-- a toy truck that drives it self. I don’t know if it’s a remote controlled or a battery operated toy truck, I don’t know because I can’t even describe it to my mother. My mother was dumfounded because I was looking for a toy that she has never even seen and she can’t even afford if it existed at all. I was crying hard and I was throwing pillows at my mother and looking under the pillows and the blankets for the toy truck. I rolled the buli sleeping mat, crawled under the cot to search for it, but there was no toy truck that drives by it self there. I was so mad because I lost a magical toy.

Now I know better and looking at my daughter asleep, I know how powerful and how wonderful a child’s dream can be. No, I never wake her up even when she’s talking or fighting in her sleep; those dreams are precious. Who knows what adventures she’s maybe in?

I remember waking my daughter up for school. She stood up, as if magic, because ordinarily waking her up is struggle. She stood up and looked at me and smiled. She ate her breakfast without any pleadings and threats, took a bath and we walked to school and I can feel there’s something in her, something’s not right, or should I say there’s something wonderful that happened to her that morning. When I arrived home that day, I saw her watching High School Musical and she’s singing along with the movie. I know, yes, I know that that morning she dreamt High School Musical and I know that she played the lead role in her dream.

I remember my older brother telling a story of how he woke up in the middle of the night to urinate and how he looked at the bed and saw himself still lying on it. He told us that what he did was to lie down on the bed again to reunite himself with the thing that was lying on the bed. When my mother heard this story, she got into talking about how her family had stories of out of body travels and she also told of other stories that were meant to tell us that we have powers beyond any normal human being. Well, that’s my mother and whether that story was true or not is immaterial because my mother is my mother.

But let me tell you about a strange dream I had. This happened about two decades ago when I was still in my teens, I was staring at the ceiling trying to sleep. I was about to fall sleep when I felt that my bladder was full. So, I stood up. And here’s the strange part, when I stoop up, my head hit the ceiling. I was looking at the ceiling and wondering why it was in front of my eyes. I didn’t look down; I just closed my eyes and went to sleep. Out of body travel? Nah, indigestion is more like it. Or maybe…just maybe…too freaky even to consider. Mother’s stories…

Dream. I read one book written by a Filipino theosophist titled “Scientific Basis (or Proof) for the Existence of Soul” (I read the book a long time ago and I can’t even remember the author) and one of his argument as proof for the existence of the soul is dreams. Dreams prove that there’s someone in there; some one that never sleeps; some one that is constantly vigilant and wakes you up when its time to wake up, when your dreaming it’s that someone in there who’s active. I don’t know, but dogs dream too; maybe, dogs have souls too.

Nuno sa Punso (Fiction)

“Why do the people here avoid that anthill?” Charles, also known as the American tourist from Nebraska who likes to wear tight denim jeans, asked.
“People here are superstitious. They believed that there is an old man that lives inside that anthill, and it would be rude to look at the anthill’s direction. People here tell stories of how even just pointing at anthills can make your finger grow big.” Pepe from Bulacan said.

Now, Charles, also known as the American tourist from Nebraska who likes to wear tight denim jeans, had a problem. He is insecure because he thinks he’s not big enough. He was divorced five times and he always blames the size of his manhood as the cause of his divorces. When he heard the story of the anthill, of how merely pointing at them can make a finger grow big; he had an idea.

He searched for the largest anthill he can find. And when he found one, he pulled down his pants and pissed on it. “I know it’s just superstition but who knows? Saves money on plastic surgery, might as well try.” Charles, also known as the American tourist from Nebraska who likes to wear tight denim jeans, smiled.

After a few days:

“Why are you wearing pajamas?” Pepe from Bulacan asked Charles, also known as the American tourist from Nebraska who likes to wear tight denim jeans.

“I run out of jeans.” Charles, also known as the American tourist from Nebraska who likes to wear tight denim jeans, replied.

“Why are you walking like a duck?” Pepe from Bulacan asked Charles, also known as the American tourist from Nebraska who likes to wear tight denim jeans.

But Charles, also known as the American tourist from Nebraska who likes to wear tight denim jeans, like a penguin, rudely turned around and walked away trying to hide the two basketballs between his legs. And his manhood, small as ever, was dwarfed by the two humungous…you know what.

Now, Charles is known as the American tourist from Nebraska who likes to wear loose pajamas. He is also sometimes called the penguin.

Moral lesson: Don’t blame the size.

Manny Pacquiao

Manny Pacquaio will be running this election, and this time its final. He will be running for the congressional seat of the 1st district of Gen. San. Now, I always felt that he was just confused and still trying to make up his mind and that in the end reason will prevail. I have nothing against Pacquiao but we have to be realistic; he just passed his high school accreditation (if that's what its called) examination and with that education, what can his constituents expect from him?

However we look at it, education does make a difference.

I recieved an e-mail calling for the Filipino to be discerning this election but in the end it is still the voters who will decide. Unfortunately voters discernment is equatable with voters' education.

If Manny wins the election it would only mean that his constituents want him and there's nothing we can do about it--they get the leadership they deserve. We get the leadership we derserve. Cheat or no cheats by simply ommitting to act against electoral fraud we are, in a way, part of the conspiracy to elect nincoompoops.

That song, Again!

I can't really get Stevie Wonder's song "Used to be" out of my head. My older brother had already posted the lyrics of the song here so that I would not have to lose sleep trying to find the words but my memory is not how it used to be. I consider the song the best song ever written and the way it is sung is...hmmm...touching. It touches many things from family to church to human rights etc. but without the anger and the bitterness (well, in the way it is sung, I suppose) of folk singers. And the ending is so appropriate. Maybe this song should be sung in churches. I'm posting the lyrics here.

-

Used To Be

by Charlene and Stevie Wonder

--

Superman was killed in Dallas

There's no love left in the palace

Someone took the Beatles lead guitar

--

Have another Chivas Regal

You're twelve years oldAnd sex is legal

Your parents don't know where Or who you are

--

Used to be the hero

Of the ball game

Took the time to shake

The loser's hand

Used to be that failure

Only meant you didn't try

In a world where people Gave a damn

--

Great big wars in little places

Look at all those frightened faces

But don't come hereWe just don't have the room

--

Love thy neighbor's wife and daughter

Cleanse your life with holy water

We don't need to bathe

We've got perfume

--

Used to be a knight in shining armor

Didn't have to own a shiny car

Dignity and courage

Were the measure of a man

Not the drugs he needs

To hide the scar Whoa, oh, oh, oh....

--

Can your teacher read

Does your preacher pray

Does your president have soul

Have you heard a real good Ethnic joke today

Mama took her speed

Daddy ran away

But you musn't lose control

--

Let's cut a class

I got some grass

The kids are wild

We just can't tame em

Do we have the rightTo blame em

--

We fed em all our indecision

We raped their minds with television

But what the hellThey're too young to feel pain

--

I believe thatLove can save tomorrow

I believe the truthCan make us free

Someone tried to say it

And we nailed him to a cross

I guess it's still the wayIt used to be