Incredible to watch. It took my breath away.
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Panorama of Milky Way
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Sep 222009
Anything is possible
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Sep 202009
The Matrix happens to be my all time favorite movie.
At the end of the movie, Neo says to The Matrix:
“I know you’re out there. I can feel you now. I know that you’re afraid. You’re afraid of us. You’re afraid of change. I don’t know the future. I didn’t come here to tell you how this is going to end. I came here to tell you how it’s going to begin. I’m going to hang up this phone, and then I’m going to show these people what you don’t want them to see. I’m going to show them a world without you, a world without rules and controls, without borders or boundaries, a world where anything is possible. Where we go from there, is a choice I leave to you.”
One of the overriding themes of The Matrix revolves around choice – free will and destiny. Which do we operate under? Is it a matter of one or the other, or some mixture of the two? There is no doubt, at least in my mind, that we all have choices, and make them with regularity. Those choices, in their turn, will either expand or contract future choices and what events we face in the future.
If I oversleep in the morning and have an accident on the way to work, a good argument could be made that I was “destined” to have that accident because of the physics of time and space. The unknowable is whether I would have had an equal accident had I not overslept and found myself occupying a different time/space.
But it is always the very last line Neo speaks in the film, the last line of the above quote, that reaches deep inside of me and gives my psyche a good shake:
“…a world without rules and controls, without borders or boundaries, a world where anything is possible. Where we go from there, is a choice I leave to you.”
“A world without borders or boundaries, a world where anything is possible.” I believe that is not only true for us on an individual basis, but for the world as a whole – especially at this juncture of time and space.
We stand at the cusp of some truly exciting advances, and at one and the same time, the cusp of some truly frightful possibilities. A world where anything is possible by definition means the really bad as well.
Will we be wise enough to make the right choices now to avert a future catastrophe for humanity as a whole? I like to think so, but I’m not overly confident on that one.
Can we continue to ignore the “truth” of the choices we face for that “anything is possible” future?
Do we take the Red Pill or the Blue Pill? Sometimes I really wonder which would be better.
Posted via email from SophiaZoe
Schizophrenic government: What’s New?
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Sep 202009
From the Washington Post [Excerpt]
States send mixed message on texting and driving
By ANDREW DeMILLO
The Associated Press
Saturday, September 19, 2009 11:31 AM
– Fiddling with your iPhone behind the wheel can get you fined across much of the nation. But many states are more than happy to tweet you with up-to-the-minute directions on how to steer clear of a traffic jam.
It is a mixed signal that some safety experts and politicians say could be dangerous.At least 22 states that ban texting while driving offer some type of service that allows motorists to get information about traffic tie-ups, road conditions or emergencies via Twitter.
"You shouldn't be fiddling around with any kind of electronic gadget in your car while driving," said Minnesota state Rep. Frank Hornstein, who helped write his state's no-texting-while-driving law. Nineteen states and the District of Columbia have banned all texting while driving, and eight others prohibit texting by younger drivers only, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association.
OK, so we are a bit schizophrenic, nothing new there. The fact is, Twitter has become a tool, and for driving, it can be as valid as a GPS unit, which, by the way, is not without its own causes of driver mishaps. 2009 will probably be known for the year governmental agencies discovered Twitter and overall it has been a win/win engagement of technology and social media. A win for the governmental agency and a win for the constituency served.
Since I drive a standard transmission car I do very little of anything on my iPhone as I drive, and that includes talking. But, I have to admit that I have, on occasion, sent or read the odd text message. In my defense, such as it is, they were always related to my job in some form or fashion.
All of this is still evolving and we will have to learn to adapt and use our new "tools and toys" wisely. Nope, we don't have a stellar track record there, but one can always hope.
Posted via email from SophiaZoe
