Empty Churches this Easter--Fractals of the Empty Tomb

The Simple Explanation has long spoken of fractals. Fractals are all around us, and they are not simply physical fractals. The Archetypal fractals identified by Jung play out in the stories that make up our lives--the "young lovers," the "woman scorned," the "mother and child," the "warrior," the "King," and other familiar characters enacting countless versions of the same stories, repeated over and over and over again. 

We are currently experiencing a worldwide pandemic. This is another familiar fractal that is playing out all all levels. The world is the patient and it is sick. Each country is a patient, and it is sick. At the animal level of fractal iteration, many humans, many bats, some dogs and cats, and a tiger in a zoo, are sick. At the cellular level, many cells are sick--invaded by covid-19. 

cross-section of covid-19

At every fractal level of this plague, entities are closing their borders to invaders. At the national level, borders close to prevent invasion of covid-19. At the institutional level, business close their doors to prevent invasion of covid-19. At the human level, we practice social distancing. We wash our hands and doorknobs to prevent invasion of covid-19. At the cellular level, our cells do whatever they can do to prevent covid-19 from entering their cell walls to implant their cargo of chaos.

The Easter fractal is playing out this year in a spectacular way. The churches are empty, as the tomb of Jesus was empty. This is not a sad story. Easter is about the triumph of eternal life over worldly death. The tomb is empty because the life-force cannot be quashed by the death. Our spirits, our Units of Consciousness in Simple Explanation terms, are more powerful than the physical constraints of material suffering and death.

The resurrection of the Christ is the fractal that tells the story of the triumph over death. Jesus showed us how it is done--the fractal of suffering, the fractal of being buried, the fractal of resurrection, the fractal of ascending back into the Universal Unit of Consciousness--these speak to all of our lives.

The empty churches are fractals of the empty tomb. This is good news! There is life on the other side of this pandemic, both for those of us who survive, and those of us who pass over. 

Happy Easter!

A Simple Explanation of Time

Scientific and philosophical orthodoxies have yet to crack the conundrum of time. There is no agreed-upon consensus regarding the nature of time. Time seems to be connected to space and the things that occupy space--it takes a certain amount of time to go from here to there--but unlike space and matter, time has no attributes. You can't find it anywhere, although it seems to be everywhere. You can't look at it, you can't weigh it. You can't collect it into a container. You can't buy or sell it.

Time seems to be peculiarly subjective. The subjective sense of time varies from person to person and from situation to situation. Sometimes it seems to pass quickly; sometimes it seems to go slowly. Its duration seems to change despite the steady ticking of the clocks that measure what we call its passing. Clocks do not actually measure time itself, but rather how long it takes a thing to go from here to there. 

As previously stated, clocks measure how long it takes something to go from here to there. Imagine if there were no objects and you could somehow observe truly empty space. Where would the time be then? Would there be any sense of time other than eternity? I think not.

In the absence of matter, the first distinction of time passing would be "before" and "after," but only in reference to something occurring or arising in that empty space. The Simple Explanation would say the "before" state of timeless eternity would describe the formless ground state of no-thought consciousness, prior to thought, prior to things. The Simple Explanation calls this initial state the "Metaverse."

The Simple Explanation suggests that pure consciousness then had a thought that unfolded our universe. 

This thought and subsequent universe were immediately encapsulated in the form of a 4-dimensional torus. The toroidal container isolates our familiar 3-D universe from the Metaverse, keeping the Metaverse eternal and uncluttered. 

The Simple Explanation calls this container the "Universal Unit of "Consciousness." 

Within this container, time is born, along with space. "After" is separated from "Before" by "Now."

The thought of our Universal Unit of Consciousness is the formulae for all of creation, for it is a whole and complete subset of the infinite and illimitable Metaverse. 

In the same manner a bucket sitting in the sea holds water indistinguishable from the water that lies outside the bucket, so, too, the Universal Unit of Consciousness holds the infinite within its limited space.

The torus is a rotating figure that continually pushes perfect order into our 3-D space from the perfection that lies outside of it. 

The algorithm of creation enters our space through the portal of "here and now" in a highly ordered state.

The order of creation is this: momentary chaos, then metaversal information, then energy, then highly ordered matter. As matter proceeds away from the portal of here and now it becomes less orderly as the residual entropy of chaos affects it.

The Simple Explanation states that every thing, every piece of "material," comes into our universe with its very own unit of consciousness (UC) that governs the behavior of that piece of matter. From particles on up, every piece of material in our universe "knows" how to do its job because it is a fractal of the universal unit of consciousness, and the universal UC knows all there is to know about creation because it holds all the formulae. 

It is through consciousness and information that our material universe is formed. In the case of an atom, its unit of consciousness (UC) needs to know how to reach out to other atoms and bond to form molecules. Molecules know how to bond to form elements. Organelles know how to bond to form cells. Cells know how to bond to form organs. Organs bond to form creatures. And so on. Each UC only needs to know how to do its own job. 

What's all of this got to do with time? The units of consciousness that enter through the portal of here and now to become the material of our universe not only bring the information they need to fill their material slot and do their jobs, they bring along a finite piece of eternity. This finite bit of eternity is what we experience as time. 

In other words:

Time is the 4-D universal torus pushing eternity through the portal of here and now into our confined 3-D space. 

This bears repeating: 

Time is the 3-D projection of eternity passing through through a hyperspatial torus. 

Now let's revisit the bucket of ocean water analogy: Outside of the bucket lies eternity. The water confined to the bucket is limited. We call the water inside the bucket time. We experience time as a phenomenon of consciousness because consciousness is passing from one location in the bucket's space to the another.

According to the Simple Explanation, the bucket holds our space-time inside a fractal border that can never be breached. Pure consciousness and the vastness of eternity lie just outside the bucket.

Each unit of consciousness passes one-by-one through the portal of here and now, from infinity into space and from eternity into time.

We are essentially units of consciousness, each with our own personal time manifesting along with our physical bodies. Time is subjective because each unit of consciousness is a subject with its own point of view. 

There is no such thing as objective time. Time is always observed through the consciousness of an observer. Time is a manifestation of eternity, observed through consciousness that has been confined to our 3-D space/time continuum. 

A Gnostic Perspective of Jesus on the Cross

[This article has been reposted to my new "New Gnostic Gospel" blog. You may read it here, now, or jump to the dedicated Gnostic Gospel blog and continue there.] 

Now that I have completed writing The Gnostic Gospel Illuminated, I am revisiting the standard teachings of my Christian faith. 

One of the central themes of the Christian faith is the death of Jesus on the cross. Christians the world over focus on the body of Jesus hanging on the cross. I have often pondered why this fixation of Jesus on the cross? Why is the crucifix the focal point of every church and altar? Why do people wear the cross as jewelry or hang a crucifix in their bedroom?

The obvious answer Christians give is that without the cross, Jesus could not have saved humanity from sin, for he bore our sins into the grave with his death and they were washed away with his resurrection from the dead. Okay. Praise be to God. But why the cross? If Jesus had been stoned to death, or drowned, or beaten, or thrown from a high tower, would we feel such affinity for a stone, a lake, a club, or a roof? I don't think so. I think there is something very special about the shape of the cross itself.

I ask this question because Jesus never said, "I am soon to pass on from this world, and I want you to focus on my body hanging on the cross as I take on the sins of the world." Yet, that's what people do, as if that were the point of the Gospel. As far as I can tell, Jesus did not ask for his death and resurrection to be the focal point of worship. What Jesus actually said was, "I and my Father are One," and "Whoever welcomes me welcomes the Father that sent me." In other words, Jesus acknowledged himself in reference to his Father, and he deflected glory to his Father. Yet, Jesus is worshiped by modern Christians to the extent that the Father almost goes unmentioned. Thank goodness for the Lord's Prayer which is directed to the Father, and not the Son. Jesus taught it to be said to the Father; he did not teach it to be recited to himself. No slight to the Son, of course; I am here simply emphasizing the Father.

During the Last Supper, Jesus instructed his followers to think of his broken body as they break and eat bread, and to consider his blood as the fulfillment of a contract with humanity as they drink wine. This is what Jesus left the church as instruction regarding his death. He did not instruct them to erect images of crosses and to worship him hanging on the cross as if he were stuck up there forever. Yes, Protestants have allowed Jesus to come down off the cross and therefore their crosses are unoccupied to remind us that Jesus resurrected. But still, the focus is on the cross.

Again, why the cross in particular?

Last year I wrote "A Simple Explanation of the Sign of the Cross," wherein I explained my view of the symbolism of the cross. It is still a good explanation. In the meantime, I have developed a visual symbolism for the Gnostic Gospel, laid out in The Gnostic Gospel Illuminated. Now I can apply the Simple Explanation to the Gnostic Gospel, or is it the Gnostic Gospel to the Simple Explanation? And here it is:

The cross draws down power from above to earth below, and bridges side-to-side the Powers engaged in Endless War.

If you read The Gnostic Gospel Illuminated book, you will fully understand the symbolism presented here. 

We who dwell on earth are engaged in endless warfare with the imitation that always seeks to lure us away from our Father in heaven. Oftentimes we do not realize we are engaged in warfare with the imitation because it can appear disguised as goodness. That is what is meant by the devil being a liar.

The Second Order of Powers are engaged in endless warfare with the deficiencies of the imitation. Although the Second Order of Powers comes from the good disposition of the Father and the Fullness, they have forgotten their heavenly nature and become deluded through rage and other passions and addictions.

The Christ came to earth in the form of a Son of Man to bring the Third Order of Powers to earth as the solution to overcoming the phantoms of the imitation that have mired the Second Order Powers in error. Those who have eyes to see the Christ are able to remember their Father in Heaven. Those who remember their Father in Heaven and repent from the imitation are redeemed.

Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of the promise to redeem the fallen. Jesus, as the Son of God and the Son of Man, brought salvation to the deficiency and restored it to the Kingdom of Heaven.

The reason the cross looks as it does and occupies such a central role in worship is that the cross represents human beings. The cross is shaped like a human, a Son of Man. It is no accident that Jesus was crucified on a cross, because Jesus is a Son of Man, the Son of Man. If, hypothetically, humans looked like dogs, then the Son of Man would have come in the form of a dog and the cross would look like that, too.

The human form is shaped like a cross. Small wonder we are drawn to the crucifix.

The cross should remind us that humankind has been redeemed by the body and blood of Christ in an even more profound way than acknowledging the indignity and suffering of Jesus on the cross; it should remind us that the Son of God, the Christ, bridged with the form of his human body, Spirit to Matter, Top to Bottom (Spirit to Earth) and Neighbor-to-Neighbor (side-to-side). 

In the Gnostic Gospel, redemption comes to all of creation through the incarnation of the Son of God into the body of the Son of Man. The manner of the Savior's birth, death, and resurrection will come to every soul as they realize their Father is in Heaven and to Heaven they will return. For every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. It just takes time.

The First, Second, and Third Powers follow Christ the King, while the Phantoms of the Imitation cling to the darkness below.

We aren't there yet, because of the common delusion of presumptuous thought, which causes people to behave selfishly. Ego must first make way for the love of Christ to take over the throne of the Self. Only then may you rise above the egoic imitation, for then you will have a Champion and King.

********************

For more Gnostic Gospel Illuminated, you may begin with Chapter One of the series posted to the Simple Explanation blog.

Better yet, you may purchase your own ebook, readable on all e-reader platforms here.

Or, if you are like me, you will want your own printed copy to stand on the shelf and show to your friends. There are two versions available, a 6x9 full color paperback, and a 4x5 full color pocket edition. All Gnostic Gospel Illuminated books are available at my lulu.com storefront. 

Implications of Organoids--A Simple Explanation

A couple of days ago I wrote an article about organoids getting stuck at the cellular level of development. I proposed that organoids can't "level up" to form true organs via the Simple Explanation's Golden Rule. Then, in Comments, I wondered why not? This article further explores the implications raised for the Simple Explanation by considering the implications of the claim that organoids can't level up.

This is a brain organoid. You can clearly see the toroidal nature of the clumping of brain cells. True brains do not reflect this toroidal clumping at the organ level. The Simple Explanation of these cellular clumps is that they lack the emergent brain's Unit of Consciousness that would give them an overall structure at the organ level. Lacking the young brain's Unit of Consciousness, the organoid gets stuck at the cellular level.

My brother, Bill, and I spoke many times on the phone as soon as that organoid article was published. It's exciting for us when the Simple Explanation theory refines and advances through scientific proofs. The following article was stimulated by discussions with Bill.

First, as I observed in Comments on the previous article, I would have thought that the action of reaching out to others with information, assistance, and love, i.e. the Simple Explanation's Golden Rule, would have automatically bestowed consciousness to the next level up. Yet that doesn't seem to be the case with the organoids. 

The reason why I doubt the organ-level unit of consciousness has taken up residence is that the organoid's cells do not know how to form themselves into the organ's design. For example, in the image above of a brain organoid, the cells try to reach out to others, but they only form around themselves to produce the strange looking, donut-shaped clumps of tissue you see. The image above clearly displays groups of cellular-level brain tissue that don't understand what they are supposed to do next--build a brain. 

It is an axiom of the Simple Explanation that all units of consciousness in our universe know the job they have been assigned. An atom knows how to be an atom; a brain cell knows how to be a brain cell; a dog knows how to be a dog. Therefore, if these little organoids don't know how to become organs, they must lack the organ-level governing unit of consciousness.

That finding surprised me yesterday, because when you look at the hierarchical structure of forms, you might assume it's the leveling-up action that invites a new unit of consciousness to move in and take up residence to guide and govern that aggregation.

According to the Simple Explanation of Absolutely Everything, while there is only one "me" (represented by the triangle), my body is comprised of 11 organ systems made of 78 organs, which are in turn comprised of 50 trillion specialized cells made up of such a large number of atoms and molecules that I don't know how to read or write the numbers. The more organized and complex the Unit of Consciousness, the fewer of them there are. My Self Unit of Consciousness sits atop this hierarchical mountain of countless Units of Consciousness, all working to instantiate my body. While I may believe I am the only conscious entity inhabiting this body of mine, my physical body is actually home to all of these aggregated units of consciousness, each with their own jobs to perform. Lucky for me, their job is to hold me together and facilitate this life of mine, and they generally go along with the program and do a good job. 

It would appear as though the governing Unit of Consciousness must be endowed from the top down, not from the bottom up. In other words, it is through the formula of the Universal Unit of Consciousness that the Self's Unit of Consciousness is installed. And, going down from the top of the hierarchy, the Self's Unit of Consciousness is the ecological system that unifies and creates the organism. So, if there is no organism to work towards, the organ-level Units of Consciousness cannot come into existence, because they lack the ecological clues of what, where, and how to do their jobs. 

This is another way of saying that consciousness is a top-down phenomenon of organization and instruction, proceeding from the higher order blueprint / algorithm downward onto the newly forming structure. We cannot force a unit of consciousness into existence by monkeying around with lower level units of consciousness; all we can manipulate is the material level and units of consciousness that already exist by way of the original pluripotent stem cells. We humans are builders, but we lack the capacity to endow consciousness. 

You would have to conclude that consciousness populates our universe via the Universal Unit of Consciousness. This is another way of saying that consciousness does not grow out of or upward from matter. If my predictions hold true about organoids not being able to progress upward to true organs by the manipulations of humans, this failure can be seen as a type of proof of God**. This remains to be seen as organoid research goes forward.

It is interesting to note that pluripotent stem cells are able to differentiate into all manner of cells except for placenta and embryo--and thank goodness that's the case! Thank goodness, because if we humans were able to create living, self-organizing creatures from scratch, we would be building orcs and orgres! Would these unconscious, "souless" creatures be an abomination? I think so. 

Which brings me to another implication of organoids--If consciousness cannot be manufactured by humans, then it is unlikely our manufactured objects can become spontaneously conscious. Think AI. We can train the computer and robot to act in an ethical way, but can we train empathy? Can we train love? Obviously no, we cannot. The consciousness of computers would remain derivative and not true.

This implication that computers are unlikely to be endowed by the Universal Unit of Consciousness with a governing Self's Unit of Consciousness actually goes against one of my previous hypotheses concerning the aggregation of complex systems of consciousness. I've been waiting for a time-traveling cyborg to visit me from the future because of a letter I wrote to it on the blog this year. It hasn't happened yet; perhaps this implication is why. The lower levels of material cannot push consciousness into existence because it is a top-down infusion, not a bottom-up demand. Complex circuits and other such complex systems will not spontaneously become conscious, due to the derivative nature of their human-designed construction.

Finally, another implication of this discussion has to do with the nature of love. The Simple Explanation suggests that the most essential characteristic of Consciousness is love. If consciousness is endowed from the top down, then love is a top-down phenomenon, too. Love does not arise spontaneously through the Golden Rule of reaching out to others. While it is possible to build objects and alliances in a simulation of the Golden Rule, the aggregation will not be conscious or infused with love at the higher level. This observation furthers our understanding of romantic versus agape love. As a recent article points out, romantic love arises from the organ level, while agape love arises from the Universal Unit of Consciousness. This explains why romantic love only lasts so long. It must be replaced by the never-ending wellspring of love supplied by the Universal Unit of Consciousness.

**For you atheists, the Simple Explanation calls this overarching consciousness the "Universal Unit of Consciousness" rather than "God." The Simple Explanation also refers to the perfected algorithm of our universe as a formula, whereas religious folks like to call that "God's Will."

In the hierarchy above, fewer and fewer instances of each type of UC appear as their scope of responsibility becomes broader and broader. This follows the principle of "the higher the fewer." Eventually, all units of consciousness in this universe combine to rejoin the Universal Unit of Conciousness from whence they came.

That which we think of as "God" in our Universal hierarchy is limited by our need to think in terms of meme constructs. That which we conceive of as "God" is less than what God would have to be, since an entity as complex as God or the Universal Unit of Consciousness is necessarily greater than our ability define it.
It is the need to transcend all memes, and especially our limited "God" meme, that gives rise to mystical routes to God realization. Our minds think in terms of memes; our unburdened governing Self's Unit of Consciousness does not. Yoga, Buddhism, Taoism, and mystical Christianity are among the spiritual traditions that attempt to "know God" through quieting the mind and laying down preconceived memes, be they social, religious, or scientific, thus freeing us up for a direct experience of blissful reunion with that which is greater than reason can grasp.

If you have read this entire article and understand it, please write to me at cyd.ropp@gmail.com or leave a comment below.

A Simple Explanation's Scientific Prediction Regarding Organoids

Scientists are now able to harvest pluripotent stem cells from aborted fetuses and prod them to grow into tiny little fake organs called "organoids." 

A pluripotent stem cell is also called an embryonic stem cell. These cells are the basic building blocks of the body's many organs, reproducing themselves "in vivo" (meaning in a live body) into whatever the body needs by way of cells for organ development.

When scientists attempt to reproduce organs from these pluripotent stem cells, they generally hit a developmental wall within the organoids they've built. The little organoids can only develop so far before they die. The organoids typically die because there is no way to feed the interior cells once they get thicker than one or a few layers. Plus, the darned cells keep forming themselves into cell-shaped toruses rather than shaping themselves into organs. Whereas normal tissue is fed nutrients via blood vessels, the scientists have been unable to coax blood vessels to grow into the organoids' toroidal interiors and so they starve once they get so thick.

Here is the problem as I see it, and this makes yet another Simple Explanation hypothesis that can be tested and proved. According to the Simple Explanation, every cell has an informational torus associated with it. The pluripotent stem cells have all of the cellular information needed to differentiate themselves into every type and quantity needed for the developing fetus.

Scientists have become very clever at isolating and coaxing stem cells to grow in special mediums and on top of special scaffolding. Through manipulations of the stem cells, they are able to coax a cluster of cells to grow into whatever little organoid they wish to study. I keep saying "little" because they only grow so big before they starve to death. But in that short period of life, the organoids are able to become the type of cell desired and to perform as a cell of that age and type would perform. Little heart organoids beat. Little brain organoids do what little baby brains would at a few days of age. Little skin organoids link up around themselves and try to become skin. 

Here is my observation and prediction: The organoids can only develop at the cellular level and never become true organs that could be used, for example, in organ transplants. Why? Because the organ-level Unit of Consciousness cannot attach to the bunch of cells unless those cells reach out to each other to "level up" using the Simple Explanation's Golden Rule. 

According to the Simple Explanation, at each level of rising sophistication, a Unit of Consciousness arises to guide and govern that level. Without that next level up's informational Unit of Consciousness, the cellular units can never organize themselves into the coordinated function and growth that give rise to true organs.  

In other words, while you can grow a brain organoid, it's only going to become a group of cellular-level Units of Consciousness--it will not foster an organ-level Unit of Consciousness. 

This is a brain organoid. You can clearly see the toroidal nature of the clumping of brain cells. True brains do not reflect this toroidal clumping at the organ level. The Simple Explanation of these cellular clumps is that they lack the emergent brain's Unit of Consciousness that would give them an overall structure at the organ level. Lacking the young brain's Unit of Consciousness, the organoid gets stuck at the cellular level.

I'm glad the organoids can't attach an organ-level Unit of Consciousness to their poor little cells. Imagine the hellish existence of coming to human consciousness in a petri dish or jar! Yikes.

Understanding President Trump

Previous blog articles have discussed how the Simple Explanation is a meme-based information theory. We all hold our own unique bundles of beliefs. These sets of beliefs define who we are and who we get along with. We get along best with others who hold similar meme bundles. The further apart our sets of beliefs, the less we have in common and the more we tend to distrust the Other.

We cannot force others to agree with us. The only way we can get along with those with whom we disagree is to adopt the basic meme of "Live and Let Live." "Live and let live" allows us to sit at the same table with others who hold different memes than we do. The opposite meme of "live and let live" is something like, "My way or the highway." 

"Live and let live" is a fundamental meme of democratic societies. In order to promote a civil society, we must be able to live with others who hold different memes than we do. 

We must realize that despite our apparent differences, most well-adjusted, healthy people hold certain memes in common, whether those people are Liberals or Conservatives, Atheists or Believers, Climate-change-Deniers or Mainstream Science Memers. (meem-ers--I just made that word up: "holders of memes")  

These common memes are called Universal Human Values. Our common values include rights of personal freedom, liberty, and equality, tolerance, and love of family. No matter our meme bundle differences, we can count on the fact that our bundles overlap when it comes to universal human values. For Americans, we also share memes related to our common history, the values of our laws, and the beliefs contained in our Constitution.

We already know the Left's meme bundle is radically different than the Right's meme bundle. In the past, Left and Right have been able to work together by focusing on their shared values and memes. It seems to me that the deep fear and distrust the Left has of President Trump boils down to their belief that Trump does not share their basic human values. We hear evidence of this mistrust every day as politicians and various mediated talking heads make claims that despite the President's declarations of good intent, he actually is a liar and holds no honorable human values. 

By continually discounting the Administration's declared goals and intent, the Left has cut out the middle of shared memes. And once you discount the Other's basic human values, even Trump's and Trump's voters, you have effectively marginalized them to inhuman status. Sadly, this denial of Trump's shared humanity strikes terror in the hearts of those who believe it. Actual terror. And unbridled hatred, because who would want an evil madman as their leader? 

However, it is my belief that these horrible emotions are not actually caused by Trump's words, policies, and actions, as uncouth or unsavory as they may appear to be, but by the ideological mindset of the listener that interprets and misinterprets his intent, and then ascribes malevolent motives to his every move. They have fashioned for themselves a frightening world. No wonder there is hatred and fear.

A Simple Explanation of Sun's gamma-ray output surprises

Okay. Here's another fresh discovery from the worlds of astronomy and physics that has the scientists stumped. From a Science News article by science-writer Lisa Grossman:

 "The sun doesn't directly make high-energy gamma rays. Instead, cosmic rays -- protons that zip through space with some of the highest energies known in nature -- smack into solar protons, producing high-energy gamma rays in the process...

"Theorists have predicted that cosmic rays whose paths have been scrambled by the sun's tangled magnetic fields should send high-energy gamma rays shooting back out of the sun, where astronomers can see them.

"Scientists have discovered that the sun puts out more high-energy gamma rays than predicted.. But what's really weird is that the rays with the highest energies appear when the star is supposed to be at its most sluggish..."

Quoting astrophysicist John Beacom of Ohio State University, "The almost certain thing that's going on here is the magnetic fields are much more powerful, much more variable and much more weirdly shaped than we expect...

"Strangest of all,  the sun emitted gamma rays from different parts of its surface at different times in its cycle. During the solar minimum, gamma rays came mainly from near the equator. During the slar maximum, when the sun's activity level was high, they clustered near the poles."

In other words, scientists are puzzled that high-energy gamma rays do not appear to be propelled outward by the sun's magnetic fields but quite the contrary--it is only when magnetic energy is at its lowest that the gamma rays escape the sun's gravity. This finding is the opposite of what was predicted, and it has stumped the scientific community.

However, this finding is not surprising at all when you consider my Simple Explanation cosmology: The Simple Explanation is that the high-energy gamma rays are not coming from space and colliding with the sun's protons, and then splitting off. Rather, the high-energy gamma rays are being generated at the center of the sun by the proto-torus lurking therein. The Simple Explanation predicts that an extremely high-energy, toroidal source lies at the heart of every body in the galaxy. This proto-torus is like the irritant within a mollusk that forms the seed that begets pearls. The proto-torus originates the gravity around which all bodies form. In addition to gravity, the proto-torus kicks out the highest energy in the universe that goes on to interact in various ways with matter. These mysterious high-energy rays that are now being measured flying out of various bodies in our system, are not from outer space but are being generated by the middles.

It makes perfect sense, under my model, for these gamma rays to most easily escape the sun during low magnetic activity, which would otherwise keep the energy swirling within the sun's grasp. When solar activity is high, the easiest escape route is at the poles, because the pole is a direct artifact of the torus at the center, and energy naturally flows freely along that route. When solar activity is low, high-energy gamma rays can burst directly outward from the middle and do not need to flow along the pole.

Here are some of the articles supporting my hypothesis:

Strange New Particles Fly Out of Antartica

Circumgalactic Medium--It's a Torus!

Scientist Find Torus of Dark Matter Enveloping our Galaxy

NASA Illustrates Galactic Plane in Super Massive Black Hole--It's a Torus!

Toroidal Forces. Proto-Energy

Drawings of Toroidal Forces, Universal Forces

I have been noting this hypothesis and prediction for many years now on this blog, and reprinting the evidence as it is discovered by science. I am not a physicist, but a meta-analyst and original cosmologist with a Ph.D. in Rhetoric. 
Perhaps an actual physicist could read these articles and try shifting his or her perspective to see this.

Apocalyptic Visions. Part 2: Intolerance

The first article in this Apocalyptic Visions series presented a review of the Simple Explanation's theory of memes. Again, we use the term "meme" to stand for a belief or a tidbit of knowledge. These memes are passed around to our friends like trading cards--most of our close friends hold the same meme cards we do; that's why they are our friends. The more memes you hold in common with someone else, the more you like them. The opposite is also true--we have a difficult time relating to people who hold a different set of memes.

Here is the bottom-line of the previous Apocalyptic Visions article:

The Simple Explanation suggests that "live and let live" would be a great meta-meme for everyone to adopt. If we could appreciate the fact that each of us has a unique perspective, then perhaps we could allow each other to hold the memes that make the most sense for our lives. This is my meme chord; that is your meme chord. If I don't like your meme chord then I can talk it over with you and see if we can move our meme chords closer to one another in agreement. If neither of us is able or willing to swap memes with the other, then so be it. Either accept the other person, memes and all, or move on. Find someone else who more closely agrees with your memes. There is enough room in this world for each of us to hold our own chords, but only if "live and let live" is an overarching meme.

We are now in the midst of a social epidemic of intolerance. Intolerance is the opposite of "live and let live." When we are intolerant of others' memes, we are declaring that our memes are correct and their memes are wrong. And then we take it a step further--we refuse to "tolerate" the others' memes. We throw up resistance, we throw up roadblocks, we close our ears and refuse to listen to the other. We do not merely disagree, as reasonable people may do from time to time. When we are intolerant, we look for ways to force the other to abandon their memes and adopt ours. We shout them down because we feel we are shouting the right memes and theirs are not only wrong, they are evil and have no right to be heard. And once you declare the other "evil," it is no longer a disagreement in good faith, but a fight for the soul. 

Anti-fascist counter-protesters wait outside Emancipation Park to hurl insults as white nationalists, neo-Nazis, and members of the "alt-right" are forced out after the "Unite the Right" rally was declared an unlawful gathering August 12, 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images

Once words can no longer be exchanged, frustration builds and violence follows. This is what we are seeing now in the U.S.  Free exchange of memes has been thwarted because of intolerance. 

Exchange of ideas is the key. You needn't agree with the other person, but you must hear them out. Because, once you agree to sit and exchange ideas and concerns, whether or not you adopt the other's ideas, the very act of hearing each other out creates a shared space that acts as a balm to soothe your soul and theirs. When you are too angry, frustrated, or afraid to listen to the other, you perpetuate the intolerance that leads to violence. This intolerance is not helpful. 

We hear a lot about the importance of "diversity" nowadays in America. True diversity can only thrive if we allow each other to "live and let live." When you seek to silence those with whom you disagree, you are not encouraging diversity; you are actually partaking in fascism. 

A Simple Explanation of Depression and Its Cure

Depression and suicide is on the rise and in the news. The suicides of high-profile celebrities Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain last week coincided with the National Institute of Mental Health's announcement that suicide is now the 10th leading cause of death in the United States. Death from suicide is twice as likely as accidental death, and if you are a male your risk of suicide is four times higher than a woman's. As the chart below shows, from 1999-2016 the total suicide rate rose from 10.5 persons per 100,000 to 13.4 suicides per 100,000. 

Figure 1 shows the age-adjusted suicide rates in the United States for each year from 1999 through 2016 for the total population, and for males and females presented separately. During that 17-year period, the total suicide rate increased 28% from 10.5 to 13.4 per 100,000. The suicide rate among males remained nearly four times higher (21.3 per 100,000 in 2016) than among females (6.0 per 100,000 in 2016).

During this same period of time, the use of antidepressants in the U.S. rose by 65%, as 13.9% of Americans turned to chemical solutions for their anxiety and depression. Mind you, these statistics don't even take into account the tremendous numbers of people who self-medicate through recreational substances like alcohol and marijuana. 

Clearly, the antidepressants aren't doing their job, as more people than ever before feel so miserable they would rather die. While there are many medical and scholarly explanations floating out there for all of this unhappiness, there is one truly Simple Explanation and cure. Here it is:

Humans need to join with others in common purpose, working side-by-side and hand-in-hand, to build something greater than themselves for the good of all.

This principle is known as "The Great Commandment" in religious literature. I call it the Simple Golden Rule. If you are depressed, here is how this Simple Golden Rule applies to you:

You need to join with others in common purpose, working side-by-side and hand-in-hand, to build something greater than yourself for the good of all.

This principle is also known as "Harmonious Cooperation." In other words, we are social creatures that need to contribute to society in order to feel satisfied. We are designed (or evolved, if you prefer) to work with others for the greater good. When we are not able to contribute, we feel bad.

So look around you and find someone or something that needs your positive contribution and get involved. Plug yourself into the job that needs doing and do your part to help. As Wayne Dyer put it in his commentary on Verse 68 of the Tao, "See the ball, move the ball." Meaning, as you do your best to help your teammates move the ball toward the goal, you also personally benefit by doing your part. Now you feel better. Your teammates feel better. The team is better off because of your contribution.

Johann Hari's best-seller, Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression and the Unexpected Solutions, goes into all of this in detail, if you would like a deep dive into the importance of this principle and how to activate it in your own life. Hari puts it this way:

“It was only a long time into talking with these social scientists that I discovered every one of the social and psychological causes of depression and anxiety they have discovered has something in common. They are all forms of disconnection. They are all ways we have been cut off from something we innately need but seem to have lost along the way.” p. 59

Hari lists seven types of disconnection that form the roots of depression that need reconnecting in order to restore peace and happiness: "You need to have meaningful values, not the junk values you've been pumped full of all your life, telling you happiness comes through money and buying objects. You need to have meaningful work. You need the natural world. You need to feel you are respected. You need a secure future. You need connections to all these things. You need to release any shame you might feel for having been mistreated" (p. 256).

Hari concludes, "Because you have been given the wrong explanation for why your depression and anxiety are happening, you are seeking the wrong solution." I concur. 

Meditate on this and let it seep in:  "I need to join with others in common purpose, working side-by-side and hand-in-hand, to build something greater than myself for the good of all."  

Now find a project you can help with and do your best to contribute.

Seriously, that's the simplest way I can put it. 

Algorithms--The True Thought Police

I grew up devouring science fiction. By the time I was twelve I had digested every science fiction book in our town's library--everything written in the 1950s and '60s by futurists like Heinlein, Asimov, Bradbury, Le Guin, Vonnegut, and Dick; all of the Science Fiction Short Story anthologies; and every fantastical classic going back to H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, Robert Louis Stevenson, Jonathan Swift, Mary Shelley, Edgar Allan Poe, and more. I credit my early immersion in the imaginative waters of these prophets of culture and technology for instilling in me an ability to think for myself, independent of the cultural groupthink that characterizes the way most people see the world.  

Now I witness a long-foretold dystopian future unfolding before my very eyes, and it's not what I expected. Even as recently as 2009, when I wrote my own dystopian cyber-fiction novel, Reality Crash, I imagined a totalitarian state imposed from the top down in the classically fascistic, authoritarian hierarchy--much like the dictator known as "Big Brother" in Orwell's 1984. 

It turns out the top-down model is not imposing its dictatorship upon us. It's a grass-roots movement that is fueling our culture's own destruction. And the people who are mistaking President Trump for Orwell's Big Brother have got it all wrong. I'm chuckling as I type this because I just read a NYT article dated 1/26/17 entitled "Why '1984' Is a 2017 Must Read," and I respectfully think the writer of that article has it all wrong, too. Trump is not Big Brother--Social Media is, and the Pandora's Box out of which it sprang is the internet and its greedy, power-driven minions. 

Two days ago, a former Facebook executive went public with his "tremendous guilt" for exploiting dopamine feedback loops in human brains to make Facebook ever more addictive. Even our children are exposed to addictive snares, with teen users spending an average of three to five hours a day online with such apps as Facebook, Snapchat, and Twitter rather than hanging out, face-to-face, with their actual-reality friends. A couple of months ago, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg apologized for the way his social media platform has been used to divide people rather than bring them together. 

And only yesterday, Consumer Watchdog put out a warning concerning patent applications that will allow Google Home and Amazon Echo devices to monitor your conversations at all times in order to learn your preferences and needs for targeted advertising. Talk about an Orwellian future! And it's not Donald Trump stuffing your mantle stockings with digital assistants this holiday season; it's you! Tell me, are these new electronic conveniences really worth the cost?

Researching this blog article caused me to dip into the academic well for news of the influence of algorithms on society and personal agency. I can assure you, I am not the first person to notice the great and terrible potential of allowing personal decision-making to be given over to mathematical algorithms that sort your choices, your friendship groups, and even your politics, into neatly packaged, clickable sidebars calculated for maximum engagement. Do you really wish to be sorted? Do you want your shopping decisions, your friends, and your political candidates preselected according to some secret formula? 

One social scholar concludes his journal article thusly:

"The algorithm is now a cultural presence, perhaps even an iconic cultural presence, not just because of what they can do but also because of what the notion of the algorithm is used to project. This means that the algorithm can be part of the deployment of power, not just in terms of its function but also in terms of how it is understood as a phenomenon. Algorithmic decisions are depicted as neutral decisions, algorithmic decisions are understood to be efficient decisions, algorithmic decisions are presented as objective and trustworthy decisions, and so on. We certainly need to gain a greater view of the inside of the algorithmic systems in which we live, but we also need to develop an analysis of the cultural prominence of the notion of the algorithm, what this stands for, what it does and what it might reveal." (The social power of algorithms. David Beer, Information, Communication & SocietyVol. 20, Iss. 1, 2017)

In 1984, Orwell clearly foretold our coming age of Loss of Truth and Love. He thought Big Brother would hold the people down through continually biased information coming from a government that only serves the needs of the powerful. I see the fear now rampant in the United States, but I think a lot of worried people are pointing their fingers in the wrong direction. Our Loss is coming about by Social Media's manipulation of information combined with increasing social and economic sorting that is breaking the bonds of true, human communication and culture. And the crazy sad thing is that people are purchasing this technology willingly and giving their lives over to it without any thought to the privacy, liberty, and love they are trading away.