Notes - Question: Dark Matter & Gravity / Basics

        Dark matter and gravity. Doug sent a note about it and I interrupted your reply and said something can be done with that.

         I was sitting here wondering what I was going to begin with and I couldn’t remember what Doug had said. I was surprised you interrupted. Very odd. It has only happened a couple of times and it makes me suspicious that I have two personalities; myself and my writer self. Fortunately you don’t exhibit yourself, Amorella, except in writing or rarely in subtle muscular movement surrounding the eyeball.

         I don’t know how you can do anything with dark matter and gravity. No one knows what either is exactly. Here is the selection from Doug’s note:

Dick,.. . . Dark matter has really  made me question if we have any true understanding of gravity. Supposedly without dark matter there would be no galaxies and thus no life. Yet there is no clue as to what dark matter is. All we seem to know is that it clumps together and that is where the galaxies form and exist.

Doug

 **

         When you (Amorella) interrupted I was thinking . . . this stuff is too deep, I wouldn’t know how to use this in a discussion or in the books . . . this is Doug all the way . . . throwing things out for me to think about . . . part of his sense of humor as well as his great interest in the mysteries of science.

Here is my yesterday’s reply to Doug:

Thanks! You are always stirring me up . . . dark matter and gravity . . . and the thinking . . . 

Hello, Doug. Dark matter and gravity. I may be able to do something with that. - Amorella

I don't know, Doug. She just popped in. I'll let you know what happens.   Dick

**

         It is interesting that I “popped in” not “popped up”.

         That’s true, but, you popped into the conversation. You could have still popped up from my head.

         You are always interested in prepositions in these matters.

         I am. Figures of speech are set by unconscious standards; this is my feeling. I am probably generalizing but I think there is something to it. Popping into my head and popping up from my head are two different things – like Jesus walking on the water or Jesus walking around the water. Sometimes it makes a huge difference in translation and/or comprehension.

         Take a break, post, and respond to Kay H.’s morning email. – Amorella.

        

         She has good questions, and I am not sure I can answer them properly.

         I will help you. – Amorella.

Carol is off to lunch with her friends leaving you with the cat,  who is presently having one of several mad dashes of energy for the day – probably before her afternoon nap.

A nap sounds like a good idea.

No nap, you worked on correcting the phone directory numbers and have yet to run it off. Carol returned and you took a walk in Rose Hill Cemetery, now you are over at the Streets of West Chester waiting for Carol in front of Chico’s. Looking for one more piece of clothing for your trip West.

You took some time to play a game of computer chess. You won on fast speed. First time a full game on MBA.

I need to practice. I haven’t played much since the late nineties. It’s at the computer’s weakest level, which is fine for me because I am making enough mistakes already. Nothing beats chess for a computer game.

You have moved to inside Barnes and Noble so let’s go to the web. Dark matter first...From NASA you have this:

“When the Universe was young, it was nearly smooth and featureless. As it grew older and developed, it became organized. We know that our solar system is organized into planets (including the Earth!) orbiting around the Sun. On a scale much larger than the solar system (about 100 million times larger!), stars collect themselves into galaxies. Our Sun is an average star in an average galaxy called the Milky Way. The Milky Way contains about 100 billion stars. Yes, that's 100,000,000,000 stars! On still larger scales, individual galaxies are concentrated into groups, or what astronomers call clusters of galaxies.

The cluster includes the galaxies and any material, which is in the space between the galaxies. The force, or glue, that holds the cluster together is gravity -- the mutual attraction of everything in the Universe for everything else. The space between galaxies in clusters is filled with a hot gas. In fact, the gas is so hot (tens of millions of degrees!) that it shines in X-rays instead of visible light. In the image above, the hot X-ray gas (shown in pink) lying between the galaxies is superimposed on an optical picture of the cluster of galaxies. By studying the distribution and temperature of the hot gas we can measure how much it is being squeezed by the force of gravity from all the material in the cluster. This allows scientists to how much total material (matter) there is in that part of space.

Remarkably, it turns out there is five times more material in clusters of galaxies than we would expect from the galaxies and hot gas we can see. Most of the stuff in clusters of galaxies is invisible and, since these are the largest structures in the Universe held together by gravity, scientists then conclude that most of the matter in the entire Universe is invisible. This invisible stuff is called 'dark matter', a term initially coined by Fritz Zwicky who discovered evidence for missing mass in galaxies in the 1930s. There is currently much ongoing research by scientists attempting to discover exactly what this dark matter is, how much there is, and what effect it may have on the future of the Universe as a whole.”

And, then,

“. . . . By fitting a theoretical model of the composition of the Universe to the combined set of cosmological observations, scientists have come up with the composition that we described above, ~70% dark energy, ~25% dark matter, ~5% normal matter. What is dark matter?

We are much more certain what dark matter is not than we are what it is. First, it is dark, meaning that it is not in the form of stars and planets that we see. Observations show that there is far too little visible matter in the Universe to make up the 25% required by the observations. Second, it is not in the form of dark clouds of normal matter, matter made up of particles called baryons. We know this because we would be able to detect baryonic clouds by their absorption of radiation passing through them. Third, dark matter is not antimatter, because we do not see the unique gamma rays that are produced when antimatter annihilates with matter. Finally, we can rule out large galaxy-sized black holes on the basis of how many gravitational lenses we see. High concentrations of matter bend light passing near them from objects further away, but we do not see enough lensing events to suggest that such objects to make up the required 25% dark matter contribution.”

Both from: science.nasa.gov/

** **

         The above are the definitions we will use here. Below is a definition of gravity. – Amorella.

History of gravitational theory

Equivalence principle

The equilvalence principle, explored by a succession of researchers including Galileo, Lorand Eotvos, and Einstein, expresses the idea that all objects fall in the same way. The simplest way to test the weak equivalence principle is to drop two objects of different masses or compositions in a vacuum, and see if they hit the ground at the same time. These experiments demonstrate that all objects fall at the same rate when friction (including air resistance) is negligible. More sophisticated tests use a torsion balance of a type invented by Eötvös. Satellite experiments are planned for more accurate experiments in space.

Formulations of the equivalence principle include:

•                The weak equivalence principle: The trajectory of a point mass in a gravitational field depends only on its initial position and velocity, and is independent of its composition.

•                 

•                The Einsteinian equivalence principle: The outcome of any local non-gravitational experiment in a freely falling laboratory is independent of the velocity of the laboratory and its location in spacetime.

•                 

•                The strong equivalence principle requiring both of the above.

The equivalence principle can be used to make physical deductions about the gravitational constant, the geometrical nature of gravity, the possibility of a fifth force, and the validity of concepts such as general relativity and Brans-Dicke theory.

General relativity

In general relativity, the effects of gravitation are ascribed to spacetime curvature instead of a force. The starting point for general relativity is the equivalence principle, which equates free fall with inertial motion, and describes free-falling inertial objects as being accelerated relative to non-inertial observers on the ground. In Newtonian physics, however, no such acceleration can occur unless at least one of the objects is being operated on by a force.

Einstein proposed that spacetime is curved by matter, and that free-falling objects are moving along locally straight paths in curved spacetime. These straight paths are called geodesics. Like Newton's first law of motion, Einstein's theory states that if a force is applied on an object, it would deviate from a geodesic. For instance, we are no longer following geodesics while standing because the mechanical resistance of the Earth exerts an upward force on us, and we are non-inertial on the ground as a result. This explains why moving along the geodesics in spacetime is considered inertial.

Einstein discovered the field equations of general relativity, which relate the presence of matter and the curvature of spacetime and are named after him. The Einstein field equations The are a set of 10 simultaneous, non-linear, differential equations. The solutions of the field equations are the components of the metric tensor of spacetime. A metric tensor describes a geometry of spacetime. The geodesic paths for a spacetime are calculated from the metric tensor.

Notable solutions of the Einstein field equations include:

▪                The Schwarzschild solution, which describes spacetime surrounding a spherically symmetric non-rotating uncharged massive object. For compact enough objects, this solution generated a black hole with a central singularity. For radial distances from the center, which are much greater than the Schwarzschild radius, the accelerations predicted by the Schwarzschild solution are practically identical to those predicted by Newton's theory of gravity.

▪                The Reissner-Nordstrom solution, in which the central object has an electrical charge. For charges with a geometrized length, which are less than the geometrized length of the mass of the object, this solution produces black holes with two event horizons.

▪                The Kerr solution for rotating massive objects. This solution also produces black holes with multiple event horizons.

▪                The Kerr-Newman solution for charged, rotating massive objects. This solution also produces black holes with multiple event horizons.

▪                The cosmological Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker solution, which predicts the expansion of the universe.

The tests of general relativity included the following:

▪                General relativity accounts for the anomalous perihelion precession of Mercury.

▪                The prediction that time runs slower at lower potentials has been confirmed by the Pound-Rebka experiment, the Hafele-Keating experiment, and the GPS.

▪                The prediction of the deflection of light was first confirmed by Arthur Stanley Eddington from his observations during the Solar eclipse of May 29, 1919. Eddington measured starlight deflections twice those predicted by Newtonian corpuscular theory, in accordance with the predictions of general relativity. However his interpretation of the results was later disputed. More recent tests using radio interferometric measurements of quasars passing behind the Sun have more accurately and consistently confirmed the deflection of light to the degree predicted by general relativity.

▪                The time delay of light passing close to a massive object was first identified by Irwin I. Shapiro in 1964 in interplanetary spacecraft signals.

▪                Gravitational radiation has been indirectly confirmed through studies of binary pulsars.

▪                Alexander Friedmann in 1922 found that Einstein equations have non-stationary solutions (even in the presence of the cosmological constant). In 1927 Georges Lemaitre showed that static solutions of the Einstein equations, which are possible in the presence of the cosmological constant, are unstable, and therefore the static universe envisioned by Einstein could not exist. Later, in 1931, Einstein himself agreed with the results of Friedmann and Lemaître. Thus general relativity predicted that the Universe had to be non-static—it had to either expand or contract. The expansion of the universe discovered by Edwin Hubble in 1929 confirmed this prediction.

Gravity and quantum mechanics

In the decades after the discovery of general relativity it was realized that general relativity is incompatible with quantum mechanics. It is possible to describe gravity in the framework of quantum field theory like the other fundamental forces, such that the attractive force of gravity arises due to exchange of virtual gravitons, in the same way as the electromagnetic force arises from exchange of virtual photons. This reproduces general relativity in the classical limit. However, this approach fails at short distances of the order of the Planck length where a more complete theory of quantum gravity (or a new approach to quantum mechanics) is required. Many believe the complete theory to be string theory or more currently M-theory, and, on the other hand, it may be a background independent theory such as loop quantum gravity or causal dynamical triangulation.

From:  Wikipedia

** **

  

         Now what, Amorella? I will have to continue to go over this several times just to make sure I get the basics for the books. I don’t see how any of this can be used in The Rebellion.

         Sleep on it. Post for now. – Amorella.

Notes - Perception & Prairie Dogs / Lead Belly

          Up before eight, breakfast and the paper. Last night you finished Harper’s and found some personal interest in your reading. Your main interest was the essay by one of your favorite writer’s of letters, Lewis H. Lapham and the title is “Democracy 101—Mark Twain’s farewell address”. 


          Harper’s is the closest magazine left of one of my other favorites during college days, Norman Cousins’ The Saturday Review of Literature. The other essay of interest is “Video Ergo Sum” by Israel Rosenfield, which focuses on Oliver Sacks new book, The Mind’s Eye published by Knopf.

         What struck you most was the brain’s perception of color as in nature there are no colors. Here is the paragraph on page eighty.

         “The creation of a coherent environment out of chaotic stimuli is one of the brain’s primary activities. There are no colors in nature, only electromagnetic radiation of varying wavelengths (the visible spectrum is between 390 and 750 nanometers). If we were aware of our “real” visual worlds we would see constantly changing images of dirty gray, making it difficult for us to recognize forms. Our visual stimuli are stabilized when the brain compares the variations in the different wavelengths of light; the consequence of these comparisons is what we perceive as “color”. The brain creates a sense of “color constancy”: no matter the lighting conditions – bright sunlight, filtered sunlight, or artificial lighting – colors remain more or less the same. This phenomenon is not fully understood. But colors themselves are not in our surroundings. Brains therefore; create something that is not there; and in doing so they help us to make sense of our environments.”

Harpers, “Video Ergo Sum”, Israel Rosenfield, April 2011, p. 80.

**        

         The other bit of interest I discovered in the “Findings” article on the last page, 84. “Prairie dogs kiss more often if humans are watching.” Why would that be, I wonder? Do they detect the ‘humorous joy’ on the human faces and find it of experimental interest and curiosity? Why would those creatures find it of interest to our touching noses? Dogs sniff each other’s butts, I wonder if these two-legged creatures find that of equal interest? Anyway, it provides a light-hearted moment in my day.

         Post while the moment is still with you. – Amorella.

         Running on noon. You ran an errand for more grass seed as the other batch got washed out. And, after calling Time-Warner Cable you are driving in to Tri-County mall to exchange your digital remote, which presently is not working well. This morning an old musician whose music you love popped into mind to add to Woody Guthrie yesterday. And you are reminded of teaching an American literature course or two at Mason. You developed a unit for late Spring – Blues, Bluegrass, and Rock – which some of your students enjoyed as a diversion from the literature book. You enjoyed developing the unit which lasted two to four days at most because it brought back memories of being a disk jockey for WOBN while at Otterbein College. The objective was to show the artistic connections of rhythm and lyrics (subject matter and romantic literary elements) in the development of blues into early rock. The only testing was a short essay on what was learned that was of personal interest (notes allowed). The musician you thought of this morning was Lead Belly. So, you would add Lead Belly to Woody Guthrie, Amazing Grace (by a one time slave ship captain turned minister, John Newton), Noah and Jesus in thinking of “redemption”. Lead Belly was born Huddle William Ledbetter in January 1888.

         I always considered Woody and Lead Belly down to earth authentic musicians. Many were influenced by their music, lyrics, and style.

         More later, post. - Amorella

         You spent much of the afternoon attempting to program your new remote with the TV. It did not work, T-W Tech told you to return to Tri-County for another remote. The newer one works better but it also is not satisfactory as the sound does not work. Fortunately an older remote can work the sound.

         It has been one of those days but not having work hours helps tremendously. I don’t feel like writing though, a scramble of notions in the brain or mind. Not much focus. I also updated the software on the iPad to 4.3 from 4.2. I can’t tell any difference at all so far. No complaints though the iPads are running fine. I think we do not use our Apple products to the extent of others. They are all continually reliable, I don’t expect much more.

         Left over Papa John pizza (always excellent nuked on day two) for supper after a mid-afternoon lunch of Tri-County Graeters, the best local makers of chocolate sodas. No real lunch for you after that other than an apple on your second drive into town.

         That’s pretty much it for the day, Amorella. I am hoping to go to bed early and let Monday be gone. I need to go buy myself a Lead Belly CD at Half Price Books. I am in the mood for that raspy voice and some picking on his twelve-string guitar. I have a vintage Smithsonian CD that may have to do tonight.

         Tomorrow, dude. – Amorella. 

Notes - Preliminaries / Deconstruction / Obstinacy

     

         The first day of Spring. Breakfast and the Sunday paper. For a treat you are sucking on a Hershey’s Double Chocolate Nugget, half milk chocolate, have dark. Carol is reading the paper at the dining room table, you are in the large and comfortable living room chair and the cat is in her house by the window getting warm as it is by the heater vent.

         Mid-afternoon. You have spent the last two hours listening to a new radio station, Radio Gaia, enjoying the mix of eco-music while pleasure reading (a rarity) the newest well-written Harper’s from cover to cover (you are on the Mark Twain essay presently).

         Upon checking your email you found a fresh note related the “thought” from Doug, John D. Goss, PhD, is an old friend, former classmate, and your book advisor on physics. Here it is:

Dick, I have been meaning to send you this thought for some time. Remember when I said a thought was like some s/w code. I was not accurately describing the situation. A thought also contains information from our 5 senses (sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste). We live in a 3D world, xyz and time. That adds up to 9 dimensions that our brains are using to create thought (dimension 10) and dimension 11 - emotions. No wonder it is difficult to understand how we think and how we generate thoughts and emotions. If our emotions are independent (fear, hate, love joy, happiness, etc) then we have even more dimensions, which make up our everyday existence. I suspect that memory is another dimension also.

Doug

**

         Your response was to use this information to deconstruct the central theme of the six books since it was fully formed in your head as you awoke yesterday morning. Let’s move through his concept keeping emotions (as one), eleven, and memory as number twelve. Here is that central theme:

“The Merlyn’s Mind series is a story of Grace and Redemption which takes place unknown to all the characters including the Supervisor.”

         First, “Grace” as you use it here, comes from G---D’s Promise to Abraham for an eventual better world for the whole of the human species. “Redemption” comes from your insight of Milton’s concluding poetry in Paradise Lost. In your mind the ‘redemption’ is from committing original sin; however, you are not personally convinced there ever was ‘original sin’, that built in moral ‘guilt’ built ‘original sin’ as an excuse. 

         With this in mind it was easy to transfer Milton’s (and the earlier biblical) concept into a ‘redemption’ from an old human concept not a direct G---D induced concept. Thus, in the fiction, the characters would be mentally freed from those ideas and the concept would be updated (based on meeting the marsupial-humanoids and more direct connections with the Dead of both species to have an open window in the mind for broader human perceptions related and focused on community, and broader rights of freedom and dignity for both species, on simple politely oriented social and individual rules rather than laws.

        The last point, that even the Supervisor, is unaware, is unique to your thinking – inferring that G---D (who can subtly intervene in human affairs) is distinct from all characters, settings and concepts presented in the books and blog. This would bother you to communicate such thoughts if “fiction” were not the label. To you this is as a dream you have and are writing down for whoever desires to take the time to read and consider it. Nothing more, nothing less. This is a way for you to carry on your old classroom challenge to “get your students to think for themselves” -- by thinking for yourself. 

         You summed this up much better in context than I could have. Now that the concepts are clearer, how to deconstruct the theme? As the theme was already formed, how did the formation of the theme occur?

         Take a break. Post. More later. – Amorella. 

         Close to seventeen hundred hours. As you continue to be unsure how to do this, how about I help and if you disagree I’ll make revisions.

         That’s fine. It is interesting to take ideas apart and see how they were constructed. No proof in any case, but a hypothesis can be made.

         First, I’ll define dimension as a mental quality, several of which help to mold an idea into reasonableness. Start the order with the three dimensional world, xyz and time, next sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste, then memory and then emotion. Finally, the thought is dropped from the mold. Grace, redemption, and G---D fit in a moral/emotional aspect, thus they do not fit in the construction as grammar (reason/memory) does.

         The three-dimensional plus time world is reality at its most basic both within the body and without as far as the brain is concerned in this project. The dimensions in this case are memory and emotion. GRACE: amazing grace lyrics; REDEMPTION: forgiveness for eating the fruit, a rule transgressed not a law and liberation as the world has enough people today in it and technology to consciously, humanely and systematically care for themselves (community and individually) and the planet.

         The five senses do not play a part directly. However, in your mind the memory “sight” of words as well as “touch” play a part. This is the reason for the Amazing Grace lyrics as well as Woody Guthrie ballads – romantic literary qualities. These qualities also fit with possible redemption, the symbolic rainbow with Noah and also adding the flavor of Jesus, the human being suffering on the cross.

         The Supervisor (memory) related to an ArchAngel only. No more and perhaps less in your dream-story. You have a definite though wordless line separating G---D from all things and beyond (which are by definition, less). What do you think?

         This is correct (or so it appears), but not what I expected. The words sound right in context though. Amazing Grace, Woody Guthrie, Noah and Jesus did flow through as I slow the process down. They sound very reasonable for me to have thought and considered. When I see ‘touch’ in such a context I also have to include empathy, which I assume is emotional in dimension.

         For better or worse, that is the conclusion of the exercise. Doug is correct; it is difficult to reason how a thought actually develops. I was surprised at your leap to having the Supervisor less than G---D or even an aspect of G---D. Your idea of ‘separation’ of G---D from all Things and Beyond is as a fact about G---D not an assumption or believe or conjecture. Would you agree that “G---D is all Things and Beyond”?

         No, because this does not allow for Free Will. Free Will is a Given.

         Rather arrogant on your part, isn’t it, boy?

         It is human on my part, Amorella. That is what I am. I am what my culture and my experiences have made me. The ‘separation’ of G---D from all Things and Beyond is how I feel (a combination of emotion, memory and assumed facts of experience). This is how it is existentially in my mind. What else could you expect of me, Amorella?

         This is enough for now. Post. This post is completed for the day. – Amorella.

         I am not going to be bullied on this. No one has to agree. I have my rights as to free thought and free speech just as anyone else, including Amorella, if she has some separate reality to her besides my imagination. 


        After some consideration, I concede. In thinking of Ohio's state motto: With God all things are possible (or something to that effect) then it may be possible for G---D to be separate and not separate at the same time). I feel I am separate from G---D. I do not know anything about G---D as a fact. It is not my place to speak for G---D in any case. I don't even know if SheAnHe exists. I just am trying to write a piece of fiction in six parts to pass my days in retirement for some self-fulfilment. - rho

Notes - Irony and Humor / Audacity / once desired / Merlyn's Epilogue, Bk.3

         Morning. Up, did some chores, and you have been thinking about the concept in your mind when you woke up. “The Merlyn’s Mind series is a story of Grace and Redemption which takes place unknown to all the characters including the Supervisor.” Now, time for breakfast and the paper. – Amorella. 

         During after breakfast chores I wondered if it is not arrogant upon blasphemous to use God’s promise to Abraham (and Sarah) in a six book fiction.

         You need reminded that you did not write the promise down it is found an ancient biblical text. Here it is in translation. . . .

         I am having trouble finding a translation online without commentaries attached. . . . 

         That, in itself, should tell you something. – Amorella.

         I cannot find the passage as I remember reading it originally for “Pouch Text”, Chapter Eleven, Braided Dreams.

         The book’s subtle suggestion to the Promise does no harm. The series is about your hope that God will fulfill the Promise for a better world, and as your hope is not so deep to see a real possibility, you make one up for yourself in a fiction instead. That appears allowable from my perspective. - Amorella.

         Being an agnostic and a cynic I cannot imagine why I would have any hope for humankind at all.

         Such is the irony and the humor in your (legally) writing any of the books in the first place. Post. – Amorella.

        While in the tub late morning Merlyn showed up in your head and said to look to the rising full moon tonight if the sky and clouds are right. You chuckle because a day or two ago you had a note from NASA about the full moonrise tonight, and hoping for good weather, are looking forward to it.

         It is good to know Merlyn is still around though. Sometimes my characters do talk to me, silently of course, but I catch their drift. Carol just mentioned on going for a walk, as it is a very sunny and pleasant March day so far. I suppose that will happen. I was invigorated enough to use my weights this morning. That is a rarity in itself. I do have some yard chores to do and I’m sure we have a couple of errands to run. Seems like I’m forgetting something, although I would hope my thank you for the unusual blueprint to the books’ conclusion I would have never thought to go so far – it takes a certain amount of audacity to come up with such a thread for the main theme of the series.

         Audacity. 1a. intrepid boldness; b: bold or arrogant disregard of normal restraints. (Merriam-Webster) – Synonym: Temerity: 1. unreasonable or foolhardy contempt of danger.

         I’ve been here before. When you think, the only way out is to continue to think, at least as far as writing is concerned. I always stressed the importance of thinking to my former students so it is time for me to practice what I preached. I trust you and myself, Amorella, to work through these books one way or another. It would be nice to leave this planet hopeful rather than the cynical and crotchety old geezer I see in the mirror most every day. Merlyn is right, it is better to look into the reflected light and admire than into the sun and be blinded.

         Post. – Amorella.  

         Sitting at Natorp’s Nursery while Carol looks for bluebells. You have it in your head to send your original group of readers plus Doug as he is helping you with this book, a copy of the last few days of the blog to let them know you now have a central theme. It is a polite response that is needed and I will help you with it. You are stopping for a walk in nearby Rose Hill Cemetery first; at least that is the plan presently. No luck at Natorp’s so you swung over to Lowe’s to check out their garden store for wire protectors to place over plants mainly eaten by rabbits and groundhogs.

         We had lunch at Longhorn’s and our favorite server, Jennifer, was there. We have excellent meals every time. Rather expensive, but like Outback, worth it once in a

while. Good food is a weakness, most always has been.

         You had your walk and are now at McD’s near King’s Island Amusement Park watching traffic, Carol has an ice vanilla coffee and you a diet Coke.

         Home and it’s almost eighteen hundred hours. High clouds in part. Hope it is okay for the moonrise. Carol is out working in the yard. I’m content to be at my MBA in the living room. She said she would get a new car in two years, which is fine with me. At one time I would have enjoyed a new one, a 2012 model and told her so, but I don’t really care about buying a new one anymore. In 1965 I had a new dark green VW Beetle with light leatherette interior, an AM/FM radio and a rear speaker as well as pop out back windows and a moonroof. My first new car and I bought what I wanted. My second favorite car was a red1985 VW GTI with all the fancy trimmings and a moonroof; a pocket rocket is what they called it in those days. Our next car will be a good car; I’m sure, with four doors, perhaps a hybrid, probably a Honda Accord EX like we have two of now. It is not difficult to imagine. The 2014 model will probably be little different from the 2012 model, except newer. I loved that green Beetle and red GTI, I had my run as far as cars I really desired and actually bought and paid for. I’m not chasing forty as far as cars go. Now, my new MacBook Air, that takes the place of cars. Again, I bought what I really desired and paid for it. What could be better?

         The nightly news may be coming up soon. Post. Later, dude. – Amorella.

         Dusk. You and Carol are at the park near the outdoor pool waiting patiently until dark. You brought binoculars and the camera knowing full well the optical effect is not discerned by the camera mechanics. Hazy clouds so you should be witness. You are reminded of Merlyn’s Epilogue in Merlyn’s Mind and how the eclipse of the moon played a part. Here is that Epilogue from book three.

         First, Amorella, wouldn’t it be better to shorten this? This doesn’t really have that much to do with the moon rather than it was written under its shining.

         It was important for Merlyn’s character to witness the event. His character wants to witness tonight’s moon event. As a further introduction to Merlyn’s character for the readers of the blog, they may read Merlyn’s words if they wish. Why not? You don’t really care because you have already read and forgotten most of it. If the reader chooses not to read, fine, but to not allow the reader the freedom to do so, quakes among your basic principles as a character yourself. For those interested here it is. – Amorella.

The Merlyn’s Mind Epilogue (Conclusion of Bk. 3)

         The design of these six works was deliberately held secret from the writer for good reason. For one he is not an author in the traditional sense. He is a lover of words first because he sees words as small living entities. When he was quite young he had quite an imagination and one of the uses of it was playing with his parents’ Underwood typewriter, 1940’s vintage. The big letters were the parents and the small letters were the children. He wasn’t old enough to read or write, nor did he need to be. The typewriter was a fun toy for a small boy during World War II. A second early example of his imaginary life was the development of friends he could converse silently with. One was the Aunt Jemima logo on a pancake box. They had quite a few private conversations.

         His paternal grandparents lived across the street from the Otterbein College Cemetery in Westerville, Ohio and he used to play among those headstones. He realized people were buried under the headstones so he would talk to them. None ever replied though. He understood early on that the Dead were a quiet lot, and he didn’t want to be disrespectful so he would talk to them silently. He was a very polite and mannerly boy and told the Dead how it was for the Living. The sky was blue and partly cloudy. It is spring and the flowers are growing as is the grass and the leaves are coming on the trees, that kind of thing. He was a quiet boy who found the world rather noisy, that is, most people he encountered talked all the time but he rarely understood what they were actually saying. Early on he understood that people don’t always say what they mean so he spent his time attempting to translate what was actually said into what was actually meant. This was and still is a primary interest. 

         As you have probably read, he grew up following the dictates of the Boy Scouts and he tried to always be prepared but it was difficult when he did not know what he was to be prepared for outside of emergencies. He delivered newspapers in a suburb between Westerville and Columbus called Minerva Park. In those days, outside of school, he was an explorer as many children are. The lakes and wooded areas of Minerva Park and Alum Creek and the woods around Otterbein Cemetery were as the far reaches of the world, mostly the ruins of ancient Greece and the jungles of the Amazon basin. Another fun place of exploration was the Westerville Public Library. The pre-adolescent boy loved ancient artifacts and ancient civilizations whether they were legend or real it made no difference. The adolescent boy fell in love with science fiction. One of the first books he read was I Robot by Isaac Asimov and short stories by Arthur C. Clark. He was hooked on UFO’s and ancient mysteries both at once. He also liked Mark Twain and Robert Lewis Stevenson adventures. Words were a cheap and fun way to escape the world he lived in. Early television was entertainment. The movie theatres showed the national and world news and adventure stories of all kinds. Words were the medium that moved his mind to thought and sometimes action.

         His early college years and his twenties did not detour his imagination and they heightened his reasoning abilities. He focused on poetry and short descriptive pieces of his everyday life. He and his friends enjoyed European art films as they were called in those days. Fellini and Bergman come to mind. Literature became a love affair. In his late twenties he taught grammar and literature and he became the English chair at Escola Graduada, the Graded School of Sao Paulo, Brazil. His wife taught at the elementary school on the same grounds. They traveled Latin America during their time in Brazil. Once again in the United States this writer continued to teach British Literature, World Literature, Science-Fiction/Futures Studies, Mythology and Expository Writing. He also was the chess advisor for a time at his last two schools. He taught words with passion for thirty-five years and retired five years ago this year, 2008. He loved his students, but he loved the silent word more. What is more important here is that he arrived in his sixties with his reason and childhood imagination still intact.

         Reason and imagination is what this Merlyn is. Reason and imagination are two things you take with you when you die. What use for a Heaven or Hell without them? Both are mixed with memories you take with you too. Do the Living want to be transformed into something other than their human selves when they die? Why? Is it not good enough to be human? These dream-books are no different than the mind who once lived. These dream-books, studied as well as read, show this. The imperfections show. Call them my imperfections if you will and work your way past them or through them as if I were the unseen spirit I am. You want to witness a spirit world, witness mine through the writer.

         These first three books have been deceptive in the sense they are as one book in three bindings, but it does not take a classical Caesar to conquer them. Strangely the writer cannot imagine himself writing these books, but here they are. He cannot imagine writing the next three either, but they are in his head waiting to make themselves known to his fingertips so that he might read them for the first time himself. Some might think this is fiction but it is not, and it is funnier than it is mysterious. What is interesting to me is that this is how many of the Dead feel upon arriving at the Other Side as it were, funny. Being Dead might first appear a fiction, but here you are anyway. Surprise. What did you bring with you from the Living? Reason, Imagination, Memories, and Memories of Life Experiences. Human Reason is always first. Human Imagination always second. It is a preordained rule of sorts. Friends Memories require thought and introspection and sometimes discussion with friends who have similar shared memories. are needed to separate the imagination from the shared reality. Without your friends you cannot collaborate your existence. Your friends have to be completely trustworthy and they have to trust you as well. Just like with the Living, you work with what you have. The problem is that you don’t have much. Now, if you see the humor in the situation you find yourself enlightened, just as I once was. The Dead are basically a friendly lot. They have little choice. Sometimes though, one needs time for introspection. At least you have your mind, you might as well use it.

         This is how the Place of the Dead exists in these books. You may remember Erwin Schrödinger’s thought experiment concerning the cat that was alive and dead both at once. He said that in theory no one would know if the sealed cat was living or dead if it depended on the state of a subatomic particle inside the closed box. Put the remains of a recently deceased human being inside a sealed box and you assume sheorhe remains dead. You do not know however if the human mind that belonged to the body is sealed in the box also. You don’t even know if it is sealed in your body when you are alive. And, some people, those who are out of their minds, are alive anyway. The mind is as the cat sealed in the Schrödinger box, it all depends on its own existential state of existence.

         Panpsychism is a philosophical theory, an experiment in thought in its own right. For my purposes it states that consciousness is needed to exert personal will. The will in this case is the individual human mind’s will to continue to exist after the physical death of the individual. With this consciousness are feelings, emotions, and memories as well as imagination and reason. The freed from the body mind remains a reality within itself and its surroundings just as the mind in a living human body. The only way it can reasonably determine it still exists is that if another human mind recognizes it in its newly freed from the body condition and circumstance.

         If you were the only human being alive, how would you prove your own existence? You see, there is no real difference in the thinking whether you are alive or dead. As it appears as natural to be dead as it does alive, then this is a natural circumstance. God is not denied. God may indeed exist, perhaps more likely to exist under such circumstance. This some people would find positive and uplifting in itself. The observation of another mind that recognizes your own is a very positive experience. It stimulates the human spirit. This is true in life and it is true in death. Being dead in these books is a truly existential existence.

         In twenty-first century terms I like to think of the human mind existing in a quantum mechanical soul-like apparatus if you will. Does a dead human mind make a difference in the world of living human minds? According to Chaos Theory it may, because first, you don’t know if the mind is living or dead to begin with. The illusion or imagination may be enough. And, like the butterfly effect, it makes no difference how small the mind may be, it will indeed, if it appears real enough, make a difference.

         The human spirit is in your Present and it exists beyond time and space. Every time a person asks a sincere and legitimately thought out question, the human spirit shows itself. The writer asked a few questions once, and I was the response to one of them. When you have an answer without remembering what the exact question is, it is necessary to dig the question out. Orndorff is writing the books because he is attempting to discover that exact question that caused me to be here. That is his objective, his goal. He will write until he can no longer physically or mentally do so. He is not an author, he is a writer, he is presently my writer, and I am the Merlyn who was once a Scotsman who lived in the sixth century. He is my writer because his mind and fingers can reason my personal dreams into twenty-first century words and concepts.

         What does the reader gain from all these words? A perspective of the world/universe in which you live that you may not otherwise have. The perspective is drawn from the twisted twins of higher human thought: reason and imagination.

         What perspective is drawn from the writer’s some sixty-five plus years of human experience? Subtle humor is the highest level of human thought in these books because it is the highest level of thinking of the writer, and it is the one human condition most necessary for the continued satire on a dreamed human existence.

         The reader should realize old Merlyn is limited to work within the framework of this writer’s intuitive and anomalous mind. What I send to his fingertips has to run through his open mind first. Parts of my dreams may become lost in translation from the page to the reader. However, if the reader has the mind and energy sheorhe will come to an understanding about human beings that above all, retains a sense of humor. Without understanding the usually understated humor the reader will have to wait patiently, sometimes for decades, to pick up a wry chuckle here and there among the marginal hallways. As for the writer, he would rather write than breathe, and as such, he already has a more than a whiff of the scent of understanding in much of the flavored humor.

                                                      Merlyn, the Bard,

                                                      Written Under A Full Moon

                                                      The Night of a Full Eclipse

                                                      20 February 2008,

                                                      Local Time: 1920 Hours

                                                      Earth

** **

         You are home sitting in the car waiting in the driveway for the moonrise as Carol grew tired of sitting in the public park where there were no streetlights. You returned to the park but because of the hazy clouds disappointment descended. It was large but you have seen it larger as well as brighter. This morning Carol got you up to see the moon begin to sink in the western sky, it was very bright indeed, like a car headlight on bright. Moving on twenty-one hundred hours. Time to shut down and give the computer a rest. Post. – Amorella.