I Wonder . . . .

[slyc_willie]

I wonder why I've lived the life I have, if there is more in store for me or if I've already hit the apex of my life and am now coming down.

I wonder why it's so easy for some guys to walk into a bar and strike up a conversation with an attractive woman.

I wonder if the Hubble Space Telescope will ever find an Earth-like planet and zoom in to find satellites in orbit.

I wonder if my friends truly understand how much I admire and rely on them.

And I wonder if the power of the mind is stronger than the body, and that I may be a fool for going off my prescription.

 

[Guest]

I wonder if I can get more than 4 hours of sleep tonight.

i can hope​

 

[3113]

I wonder why I've lived the life I have, if there is more in store for me or if I've already hit the apex of my life and am now coming down.

Nope! Because fans of your stories won't let you stop writing them

I wonder why it's so easy for some guys to walk into a bar and strike up a conversation with an attractive woman.

Because they think they're more attractive than the attractive woman?

I wonder if the Hubble Space Telescope will ever find an Earth-like planet and zoom in to find satellites in orbit.

Yes, but as it will be light-years away they'll be seeing what it was like in the distant past.

I wonder if my friends truly understand how much I admire and rely on them.

They wonder the same thing about you

And I wonder if the power of the mind is stronger than the body, and that I may be a fool for going off my prescription.

Get back on your meds! Get back on your meds RIGHT NOW!

I wonder if I should respond to "I wonder" questions

 

[slyc_willie]

Nope! Because fans of your stories won't let you stop writing them


Because they think they're more attractive than the attractive woman?


Yes, but as it will be light-years away they'll be seeing what it was like in the distant past.


They wonder the same thing about you


Get back on your meds! Get back on your meds RIGHT NOW!

I wonder if I should respond to "I wonder" questions

1) You're too kind.

2) *snicker* Maybe.

3) Yes, but even if we are fifty light-years away, the evidence is still there.

4) I'm sure.

5) Nope. Call it a study. We'll find out how well it works

 

[amicus]

[QUOTE=slyc_willie]I wonder why I've lived the life I have, if there is more in store for me or if I've already hit the apex of my life and am now coming down.

I wonder why it's so easy for some guys to walk into a bar and strike up a conversation with an attractive woman.

I wonder if the Hubble Space Telescope will ever find an Earth-like planet and zoom in to find satellites in orbit.

I wonder if my friends truly understand how much I admire and rely on them.

And I wonder if the power of the mind is stronger than the body, and that I may be a fool for going off my prescription.[/QUOTE]


~~~

Since at this point there are 27 reads and only a few comments...I sense something going on here...

It is, I think, a frightening realization to even ask the question, as you did: "...if I've already hit the apex of my life and am now coming down...."

It would seem to me that when you reach a point to where you can ask that question, some deep thinking is going on.

I personally find your question about the 'Hubble' interesting. The more we learn, the more we realize how unlikely it is that the circumstances necessary for life, as we know it, evolving elsewhere, becomes less and less likely.

The 'billions and billions' of the late Carl Sagan is now passe', as it is now unlikely that intelligent life, carbon based, has ever developed anywhere else in the Universe, let alone our mid sized galaxy.

With what we are now learning about planet earth, it seems unlikely that even our species will be around all that long, what with ice ages, snowball earth, solar bursts, cosmic radiation from nearby supernova's and vulcanism, super volcano's, we may be just a passing fad in an unrecorded history...the span of humanity is brief at that in the timespan of the earth.

That leads to my point...grins...I always have one...live what you have left, apex or not, for the moment, carpe diem, use it all up.

amicus...

 

[slyc_willie]

Since at this point there are 27 reads and only a few comments...I sense something going on here...

It is, I think, a frightening realization to even ask the question, as you did: "...if I've already hit the apex of my life and am now coming down...."

It would seem to me that when you reach a point to where you can ask that question, some deep thinking is going on.

I personally find your question about the 'Hubble' interesting. The more we learn, the more we realize how unlikely it is that the circumstances necessary for life, as we know it, evolving elsewhere, becomes less and less likely.

The 'billions and billions' of the late Carl Sagan is now passe', as it is now unlikely that intelligent life, carbon based, has ever developed anywhere else in the Universe, let alone our mid sized galaxy.

With what we are now learning about planet earth, it seems unlikely that even our species will be around all that long, what with ice ages, snowball earth, solar bursts, cosmic radiation from nearby supernova's and vulcanism, super volcano's, we may be just a passing fad in an unrecorded history...the span of humanity is brief at that in the timespan of the earth.

That leads to my point...grins...I always have one...live what you have left, apex or not, for the moment, carpe diem, use it all up.

amicus...

I'm in an arugumentative mood tonight . . . .

Such a premature thing to state that 'the more we learn . . . life evolving elsewhere, becomes less and less likely.' I suppose I must be in the minority when I say that intelligent life is less complex than we presume it to be. There seems to be this idea that 'intelligence' is a difficult thing to occur 'naturally.'

That's supreme arrogance.

As a human species, we are not intrinsically special. There are others like us, on other worlds, with other ideas about life, politics, religion, and economics. I can't prove that, but neither can anyone disprove it. At the moment, it is a matter of faith . . . or mathematical probabilities, if you wish.

However, regarding your 'live what you have left' comment, who knows? Maybe I'm cutting my time even shorter, or maybe I'm taking a risk that will play out in my favor.

We'll see . . . .

 

[amicus]

I'm in an arugumentative mood tonight . . . .

Such a premature thing to state that 'the more we learn . . . life evolving elsewhere, becomes less and less likely.' I suppose I must be in the minority when I say that intelligent life is less complex than we presume it to be. There seems to be this idea that 'intelligence' is a difficult thing to occur 'naturally.'

That's supreme arrogance.

As a human species, we are not intrinsically special. There are others like us, on other worlds, with other ideas about life, politics, religion, and economics. I can't prove that, but neither can anyone disprove it. At the moment, it is a matter of faith . . . or mathematical probabilities, if you wish.

However, regarding your 'live what you have left' comment, who knows? Maybe I'm cutting my time even shorter, or maybe I'm taking a risk that will play out in my favor.

We'll see . . . .

~~~

Seems like I am the only one up and about for you to argue with Slyc, so be it.

And I am an arrogant bastard, without a doubt, one of my finer attributes.

As to other life, intelligent life, in the Universe, I have always been a science fiction fan. As a boy, I read every science fiction novel and magazine there was, used to lay out in the fields at night, reaching out for an alien space ship to come whisk me away.

As time went by, we went into space, we orbited the earth, landed on the moon, sent probes to Mars and beyond and created telescopes that could do amazing things.

Mankind is in its infancy; we are just now learning about the space we occupy.

Once we got over the 'God' thing, that man was a special creation, we actually began defining the conditions necessary for the existence of life outside the earth.

Now, I watch every NASA channel program, all the Discovery and Science Channel things, everything that deals with new, cutting edge knowledge about everything and I even go to the websites and follow up from there.

Such a wealth of information available on television and the internet, just marvelous, I love it.

The more we learn....it seems that solar systems all evolve, according to the laws of physics, quite the same way. Material accretes, a star is born, a sun.

Excess material also accretes and becomes planetary bodies as they sweep in orbit around the sun.

Those too close to the sun are too hot to support life of any kind, those too far from the sun are too cold to support life of any kind.

There are many variations and if you know all this, I apologize for boring you, the upshot is, that with advance radio telescopes, we can look back into time and discover how solar systems and galaxies evolve.

It seems like the 'gas giants' in most solar systems, sweep up all the planets that might support life in a huge percentage of observed systems.

While we are still new in our technology, each passing discovery lessens the possibility of life, as we know it, developing in other solar systems.

We may indeed be unique in the universe.

Startling thought, no?

"Faith or mathematical probabilities?"

The mathematical and physics based probabilities lessen, as I said, with each discovery, and faith, I don't know anything about that.

amicus...

 

[BlackShanglan]

I wonder why I've lived the life I have, if there is more in store for me or if I've already hit the apex of my life and am now coming down.

I think it's an actively changing thing - not something that will happen regardless of my efforts, but rather as a result of them. If I sense a downward trend, I know it's time to step back, examine things, and apply energy upward.

I wonder why it's so easy for some guys to walk into a bar and strike up a conversation with an attractive woman.

They've learned to release their fear of failure. It's remarkable how liberating life is once one accepts the possibility of looking a little silly now and then.

I wonder if the Hubble Space Telescope will ever find an Earth-like planet and zoom in to find satellites in orbit.

To borrow from The Onion - "Is that 'Earth-like' as in temperate and habitable, or 'Earth-like' as in overrun with self-absorbed assholes?"

I wonder if my friends truly understand how much I admire and rely on them.

They're your friends. I think they must.

And I wonder if the power of the mind is stronger than the body, and that I may be a fool for going off my prescription.

I hope that this comes out well. I also hope that your record your experiences carefully and do consult with the doctor. Take care of yourself -

Shanglan

 

[Chantilyvamp]

I wonder how much trouble I'd get in ......*wakes up out of daydream* Yeah better leave that wonder alone.

Slyc I agree with Shanglan...record your experiences off your meds and make sure to consult the doctor. Be very careful love and if in any doubt take them!

 

[marifree]

I wonder why I've lived the life I have, if there is more in store for me or if I've already hit the apex of my life and am now coming down.

Only if you turn your life in a downward direction... that is up to you.

I wonder why it's so easy for some guys to walk into a bar and strike up a conversation with an attractive woman.

They just do it. What do they have to loose? Really?

I wonder if the Hubble Space Telescope will ever find an Earth-like planet and zoom in to find satellites in orbit.

Anything is possible.

I wonder if my friends truly understand how much I admire and rely on them.

Maybe you should tell them- just in case.

And I wonder if the power of the mind is stronger than the body, and that I may be a fool for going off my prescription.

It sounds like a good theory. But, in reality... not so much. Stick to what the docs say... my DH tried the mind over matter thing. Today I'm waiting on hospice to come help me with his end of life planning. Your life is a very valuable thing to be gambling with. Is it something you’re willing to loose?

 

[carsonshepherd]

I wonder what stinks in my refrigerator.

I wonder if I've made a terrible mistake or if I just hang in there, it will turn out to be the right decision.

 

[tickledkitty]

I wonder if I will do it. If I do it, what will happen? Will it be a life-changing experience or simply a small diversion?

 

[BlackShanglan]

I wonder if I've made a terrible mistake or if I just hang in there, it will turn out to be the right decision.

Depends what you do while hanging. I recommend fighting for the right to party.

 

[WRJames]

I wonder why it's so easy for some guys to walk into a bar and strike up a conversation with an attractive woman.

My company sponsors technical leadership conferences, which are usually pretty dull affairs -- a preponderance of middle aged males. But this one year at least a third of the attendees were young, attractive, women. I don't know if this was because they were really good techies, or just for the edification of the regulars. Anyway, there were several times when I would be sitting at a table at lunch, and some beautiful young lady would sit down next to me and start chatting. I felt as if I had suddenly acquired some mysterious charisma.

Then, after the conference, I was eating lunch in the airport with two guys my own age, describing my good fortune. "It's because you look safe," one of them laughed, "these girls don't think you're going to hit on them."

Just last week, I was standing in line waiting to board a plane in Chicago, and I was remarking to my wife how many people might be connecting with this early flight. A drop dead gorgeous blonde volunteered that she had just come from St. Louis -- she actually went out of her way to break into our conversation.

So my advice -- some grey hair, a few extra pounds -- a wedding ring -- that benign grandfatherly look.

 

[Dar~]

I wonder if this is wrong, and if I am being honest with myself, with them. Who do I love, do I love either. And more than anything I wonder when I will get my chance...

 

[impressive]

I wonder if they'll hate me when he moves out.

 

[rachlou]

And I wonder if the power of the mind is stronger than the body, and that I may be a fool for going off my prescription.

Be careful.

 

[jomar]

A man of a certain age asks these questions, my friend. And only you can answer some of them. I can only repeat BlackShanglan and marifree. Please do be vigilant about your experiment, however.

As for the Hubble and space: I think the more we learn the more the mathematical and physics based probabilities increase for the existence of life elsewhere in the universe.

 

[slyc_willie]

I have to say that I'm a bit overwhelmed by the responses on this thread. Especially as to my questions. I was just putting a few thoughts out there, some things in my mind. I really didn't think too many people would offer their answers.

But I am grateful that you have done so.

And grateful, more, that others have offered up their own wonderings. There are always things we wonder about in the world. Even if the answers are not forthcoming, it helps to ask the questions.

 

[slyc_willie]

Be careful.

Always, Rach, always.

 

[slyc_willie]

It sounds like a good theory. But, in reality... not so much. Stick to what the docs say... my DH tried the mind over matter thing. Today I'm waiting on hospice to come help me with his end of life planning. Your life is a very valuable thing to be gambling with. Is it something you’re willing to loose?

I've followed their advice for four years. The pain and swelling haven't changed. I am still at risk for a life-ending embolism. Can I do worse on my own?

Of course I could, the doctor would say. But the doctors have only gone so far with me.

I think I'll try relying upon my own strength for a while. Not to sound morbid, but if it kills me, at least I die under my rules.

Buty that's not going to happen any time soon.

 

[slyc_willie]

~~~

Seems like I am the only one up and about for you to argue with Slyc, so be it.

And I am an arrogant bastard, without a doubt, one of my finer attributes.

As to other life, intelligent life, in the Universe, I have always been a science fiction fan. As a boy, I read every science fiction novel and magazine there was, used to lay out in the fields at night, reaching out for an alien space ship to come whisk me away.

As time went by, we went into space, we orbited the earth, landed on the moon, sent probes to Mars and beyond and created telescopes that could do amazing things.

Mankind is in its infancy; we are just now learning about the space we occupy.

Once we got over the 'God' thing, that man was a special creation, we actually began defining the conditions necessary for the existence of life outside the earth.

Now, I watch every NASA channel program, all the Discovery and Science Channel things, everything that deals with new, cutting edge knowledge about everything and I even go to the websites and follow up from there.

Such a wealth of information available on television and the internet, just marvelous, I love it.

The more we learn....it seems that solar systems all evolve, according to the laws of physics, quite the same way. Material accretes, a star is born, a sun.

Excess material also accretes and becomes planetary bodies as they sweep in orbit around the sun.

Those too close to the sun are too hot to support life of any kind, those too far from the sun are too cold to support life of any kind.

There are many variations and if you know all this, I apologize for boring you, the upshot is, that with advance radio telescopes, we can look back into time and discover how solar systems and galaxies evolve.

It seems like the 'gas giants' in most solar systems, sweep up all the planets that might support life in a huge percentage of observed systems.

While we are still new in our technology, each passing discovery lessens the possibility of life, as we know it, developing in other solar systems.

We may indeed be unique in the universe.

Startling thought, no?

"Faith or mathematical probabilities?"

The mathematical and physics based probabilities lessen, as I said, with each discovery, and faith, I don't know anything about that.

amicus...

So many things . . . .

If gas giants 'eat up' the material in a solar system, why has Earth eluded Jupiter and Saturn?

'Mankind is in its infancy.' Yet you claim you can state that there is no other intelligent life out there. Arrogant bastard, yes; finer point . . . not so much.

'Each passing discovery?' What is 'passing' about them? 'Lessens the possibility of life . . . being discovered?'

The entire point of 'discovery' is that it leads to questions, and thence to answers. So there is no 'passing discovery,' save that someone, somewhere, wants to repress or refute it out of hand. All there is is a further drive to learn more.

I understand your position, Amicus. I'm not going to belittle it. Instead, I simply offer my own: That the more we learn, the more we realize we have yet to learn. Our laws of physics may not quite be universal.

And the idea that there are a few, a dozen, a hundred, even a thousand other intelligences out there who ask just the same questions, seems more and more plausible to me every day.

Slyc . . . .

 

[CeriseNoire]

I wonder who I'd be now if I'd never moved to the United States. Less bitter? Weaker?

I wonder if I really am cold and insensitive for not liking the 'mushy stuff'.

I wonder if maybe it is me.

I wonder if alone together is better than just alone.

I wonder if mildly melancholy isn't as good as it gets.

I wonder if I can make it work.

I wonder if I'll let it drag on if I realize I can't make it work.

I wonder if I can live up to my expectations.

 

[snake307]

There are always questions with difficult, or no obvious answer

I wonder if the Hubble Space Telescope will ever find an Earth-like planet and zoom in to find satellites in orbit.

I wonder if my friends truly understand how much I admire and rely on them.

And I wonder if the power of the mind is stronger than the body, and that I may be a fool for going off my prescription.

The only ones I feel even slightly comfortable answering are these. First, is there intelligent life in the universe, and will we discover it.

I believe that the infinitely large universe does contain other intelligent life forms, I just have trouble believing that they come here to this little ball of rock. I have heard the reports, and read some of the witness statements online, OK, it's plausable. Here is my rub. An alien species conquers that whole faster than the speed of light problem, and zipps across incredible distance to arrive here, and they kidnap some redneck and shove a probe up his ass? How much can you learn about butts before you are a Proctologist? Wouldn't these aliens have pretty much summed up the butt by now? Wouldn't they move along to noses or ears sooner or later?

Also, why are they always naked? You would think that if they had technology that would allow them to travel the hundreds of light years distance that they would have invented a jump suit or something by now right?

Your friends, they may, they may not. It's one of those difficult things to discuss with people at times. Often our language doesn't do justice to the feelings we have.

Finally, medications. That is potentially dangerous amigo. Suddenly stopping medications could lead to a chemical bounce back, or a serious physical problem, depending on the medication you're taking. I would suggest in the strongest terms that you contact your doctor before you do that. Tell him/her what you want to do, and why. See if they can help, or if they can suggest a different medication that treats whatever the problem is, and perhaps is easier to deal with or afford or whatever.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

[amicus]

So many things . . . .

If gas giants 'eat up' the material in a solar system, why has Earth eluded Jupiter and Saturn?

'Mankind is in its infancy.' Yet you claim you can state that there is no other intelligent life out there. Arrogant bastard, yes; finer point . . . not so much.

'Each passing discovery?' What is 'passing' about them? 'Lessens the possibility of life . . . being discovered?'

The entire point of 'discovery' is that it leads to questions, and thence to answers. So there is no 'passing discovery,' save that someone, somewhere, wants to repress or refute it out of hand. All there is is a further drive to learn more.

I understand your position, Amicus. I'm not going to belittle it. Instead, I simply offer my own: That the more we learn, the more we realize we have yet to learn. Our laws of physics may not quite be universal.

And the idea that there are a few, a dozen, a hundred, even a thousand other intelligences out there who ask just the same questions, seems more and more plausible to me every day.

Slyc . . . .

~~~

"...If gas giants 'eat up' the material in a solar system, why has Earth eluded Jupiter and Saturn?..."

I am not an astronomer or a physicist and I didn't even stay at a Holiday Inn last night, so I cannot answer that question.

But...Hubble, or nothing in the reasonable future will ever 'see' satellites around another planet, the distances are just too great.

The only means by which radio astronomers can even detect a planet orbiting around a distant star, is to note when a planet passes in front of a star and occults the light from that star.

And, none of this is done by the human eye, or even a photograph, rather by computer programs that are set in motion with a time lapse feature, as I understand it.

New discoveries are coming in fast, among them, discovery of a planet the revolves around its sun in four earth days. Also, that many of those suns observed with planets, have those, 'gas giants' orbiting much closer to the sun than ours do.

Now the 'why' of that, I do not know, and I think the astronomers and scientists who devote their lives to such things, don't know either. General knowledge was that all solar systems would mirror ours, with the 'gas giants' at the far reaches of the system. When they discovered many, many 'gas giants', in close orbit around their suns, they stated that they are at a loss to understand why, as I recall the several programs I have seen.

There is also the 'tilt of the axis' of the earth, as I recall 22 or 23 degrees, which brings the 'seasons', in which plant and animal life might survive and flourish.

When one begins to add up all the 'requirements' for the evolution of life on other planets, the odds mount against the possibility.

I have had a lifelong interest in such things but like many, I suspected, in the Carl Sagan equasion, that surely, life abounded in the universe.

But, the more they learn and the more I listen, read and watch, the more complex it becomes.

For example, the 'theory' of 'snowball earth'. When an ice age completely covered the entire globe. The only life that survived was under the ice and it took another handful of millions of years before volcano's, spewing greenhouse gases, before the earth began to warm again and provided suitable habitat for life to evolve.

Add to that, vulcanism, which periodically saturated the atmosphere, blocked sunlight and eliminated all plant and thus animal life. No one knows how many times in the Billions of years, that life began and was erased.

Consider also, asteroids, or stray planets, from which our moon was formed. Consider also, the small fact, that without the moon, there would be no life on earth.

All those critical variables, absolutely necessary for life to begin and evolve, have to happen at just the right time and place...a certain distance from the source of all life, the sun, a certain tilt to the axis, the presence of water, an iron core, proper rotation to generate a magnetic field that protects the earth from solar radiation...and there is much more...

So while I personally accept the 'possibility' of other intelligent life in the universe, I think it is a far smaller probability than most accept.

Anyways...I hope you can work things out for yourself concerning your condition and continue to ask questions and seek answers.\

What else can we really do?

amicus...