Perspective 2

So I'm still working on figuring out my perspective. Where are we, where are we going? There are certain people in this world who seem to have a pulse on things that eventually filter to the rest of us several years later. Some of this is just people and politics - power people who shape things and then the product of that will power manifests years later. Some times there are forces at play beyond the control of people and it is the knowledge of those forces and the game plan which are the currency of the power brokers. Sometimes it is a little hard to tell one from the other. The first can be altered, the second can not. I have been following the events of several threads for almost 10 years now. One of the central predicitions is something that was forecast back in 1956 and is referred to as Hubbert's Peak. It is kind of scary how accurate the events around this prediction have been, the Oil wars, the economies, but the one thing that was not predicited was development of our biological knowledge. There is a power player who is always worth keeping an eye on - Craig Venter - the only human to have his personal genome sequenced. His latest venture is a company called Synthetic Genomics. So here we are, without a blink, without a fanfare, here we are. We can create new life - design it like a computer program and manufacture it on an industrial scale. Yes we have been able to do this for 4000 years, first with selective breeding turning grasses into corn and rice and breeding cows to be stupid so that they are easy to herd, and then with gene splicing and GMOs - adding extra bits. But now we can create new life to specification. Fear and power drove us to this inevitable point. It is a brave new world and I sense a lot is going to change very soon.

Perspective

It's late and I need to go to bed, but I also felt a need to follow a thought through. Recent events have shown me a lot about the people around me, and about my self. But I think it is also showing me something about the human condition. We are such a strange species and I have seen similar patterns in America, Europe and now Japan so I am more and more convinced that it is part of the species and not an element of culture. We are so afraid of so many things and that fear drives us on so many levels. And I think the level of fear in the whole world keeps growing each year. As resources get short, as competition increases, as the economies shift and change, everyone seems to be more and more afraid each year, and it seems people are grabbing for power and control more and with less tact. Desperation. When we feel safe and secure we can be so amazing, so inspired and so beautiful a species. But when we get afraid, we can be so cruel. I am so happy to be in Japan right now. The sense of safety and security here is wonderful, and because of that people here are quite amazing. But I also wonder what will happen over the next couple years as the pressures around the world start to push and bend and stress the world economies. It just makes me wonder what my purpose should be and where I should be to realize that purpose. I sense my eyes are starting to clear and I think my true purpose is starting to reveal itself. But after recent events I am more cautious about jumping to conclusions, but I sense something, and something has presented itself. It feels my destiny has really caught up with me and I sense I may final see that I can't escape it anymore. But I should not be afraid of it, afraid of the harm it might cause. I must embrace this destiny, and let it lead where it will and approach each step without fear. Not to block the steps or run away because of fear. And not to push it in a direction out of anger and hurt. A technology is not good or evil, good and evil only exists in the hearts of people and their will to use a technology for an end.

relax and ride

just a short post. In my chat yesterday, I came up with this and thought I'd put it here.

"I need to relax and ride this out
it probably isn't as bad as I think it is..."