Mental Exercise and Success

Good Morning...

This week was not one dedicated to the pursuit of deep intellectual insight...in fact it was just the opposite!

I actually played with my thoughts...which I believe that everyone should regularly do...it is these activities that often enhance a person's probability of success...

My week was focused on challenging my foundational beliefs...which sometimes...but most times, not...open my eyes to deeper truths...

DISCLAIMER - Go with this...it is just mental musing...and not meant to be any statement of fact...or my real beliefs...it is simply meant to challenge and ultimately show how biases and paradigms can cloud reality!  You may find yourself in total disbelief or arguing the points.  GOOD!  This is what the exercise is meant to do!  You may have more evidence that stands against my thoughts...that is a good thing and just what this exercise is all about!


Have fun with this...and use what we ponder as a lesson that you can apply to your journey towards success...

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My initial thought began with..."how far mankind had come in a relatively short period of time..."

According to science...roughly 40,000 years ago "we" were living hand to mouth...residing in caves or simple dwellings...and barely subsiding...

What we are now...is absolutely amazing...yet there are many unanswered questions...

Like...how could early man (less than 5,000 years ago) build something like the pyramids?

Another question...does the first question really matter?

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Let's drive back a bit further into the scientific (and geologic) history of our planet...

Because...

If we (humankind) could advance so quickly in a relatively short period of time...what if a life form had an opportunity to exist (longer) by a factor of 200 to 500 to 1000?

That intelligence and insight gained over millions of years could be so far beyond what we possess that it is unfathomable!

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According to science...there was a life form that had that opportunity!

The dinosaurs!

The age of the dinosaurs was significantly longer than the age of mammals...

Yet it is a paradigm of science that creates a problem...They assume the dinosaurs resemble our current day lizards that makes us think that they were simple and primitive...(by our standards)...

There is also nothing to really support this assumption!  In fact recent discoveries actually put the dinosaurs closer to birds than reptiles!  Some had feathers!

They also contend (because of that paradigm) that if they were advanced whatsoever...there should be a record of their advanced state of intelligence...

Perhaps there is a record!!!!!

(more on this later...)

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Now let's mess with the earth...from its meager beginnings has had an amazing journey...

It formed...the current theory, by accretion...

The accretion theory holds that the early solar system had the sun at the center and millions of rocks orbiting it...

Over time the rocks collided and amassed...into what we have today...

As I thought about this...I realized that this theory runs contrary to other observations...

Our world erodes...and seldom accumulates...

If the materials orbiting in the solar system amass...why do we have an asteroid belt or why does Saturn have rings?

Collisions break things up...not combines them!

Big stuff turns into little stuff and finally into dust!

These two conditions run contrary to that theory...

Enough of that...

Another thing that the earth has is...scars from those interactions...

I can not dispute that the earth has encountered major asteroid hits...

It is this case that accretion is based upon...because a small asteroid smashes into the earth and adds to the overall mass of our home!

I think that this is the exception...A relatively little thing smashing into a BIG thing...

But I can not imagine collisions between asteroids (of relatively equal size) doing more than creating smaller asteroids!  Erosion...space dust!

I cannot believe that accretion created the earth...if it was a fact...the Rings of Saturn would be little blobs...and the asteroid belt would be building into a planet or two!

One final observation that stands in the face of this belief...is that the meteorites that have been found on this earth...and analyzed...are homogeneous!

If accretion was a rule...then we would find meteorites that were stony and iron...combos!

Enough of this thought!

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Speaking of asteroid hits...let's shift gears for a moment and ponder that cataclysmic event that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs...and probably 5 or 6 other dynasties!

Scientists believe that a huge asteroid impact changed the face of the earth...

It doesn't take a very big one to really destroy everything on the earth!  4 or 5 miles across and everything on the face of the earth will cease to exist!

The impacts affected life almost immediately...by destroying it!  SHOCK...FIRE...DUST...

In a macabre way...Extinctions are the way that the earth "wipes the slate clean" and tries something different!

When an asteroid stuck the earth's surface...or air burst...

The impact was unparalleled!  It exceeded anything that we (advanced humans) could create...even if we detonated every atomic weapon we had!

The temperatures were unbearable...often exceeding the melting point of many of our metals!

The entire globe was affected...

Many areas were buried in huge layers of dust...

The entire face of the world was cleansed with major fire and heat...or it was buried...

If this were to happen today...most if not all of our cities would disappear!

Most life would be annihilated...before that cities!

The entire face of the earth would be cleansed of every bit of evidence of our existence...except for those who may have been buried prior to the intense heat...

Our gold would melt and pool back into veins like those from which we initially mined it...

Cars would melt and again become iron ore!

Our buildings would revert into its basic elements...

Few things would remain in the refined form...except perhaps only diamonds would remain unaffected!

AND...then life would start all over again!

I hope!

My point is...depending on what we call signs of advanced life...most of these records would be destroyed by cataclysmic events like those scars that science accepts as having occurred!

The earth would revert into its primal state!

According to current scientific thought...this has happened at least 6 times!

6 total cleansings!

This means that looking for significant records of intelligence may be a futile effort!

Intelligence generally leaves no fossil record!

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Speaking of fossil records...

There are no fossil records of verbal communication (one of the criteria that we used to define advanced life)...

DUH!

Words may be powerful...but they are no lasting!

The fact of the matter is...we do not know if dinosaurs communicated...

They may have...but there are no records of written dinosaur communication...

Perhaps they didn't need to communicate...and what we think is a criteria of an advanced creature is totally wrong...

Our basic requirements for advance organisms may be flawed...and even if they are right...we have no evidence that they did exist...so we conclude that they didn't exist...

However...the event that caused the mass extinction...may have also destroyed any evidence...

There is no knowing for sure...

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Let's look back at the pyramids...

The greatest thinkers have been looking for the answer to...how could man have built them?  There are 100 ton blocks...perfectly positioned...impossible to cut and move.

We would have a difficult time doing that today!  Even with our heavy equipment...

Yet we attribute these engineering marvels to man!

Perhaps we (mankind) didn't build the pyramids!

What if the only thing that we did was unbury them?

We had shovels back then!

That was something we could do!

They possibly could have been built by a creature that could move 100 ton blocks easily...

...and all "we" (mankind) did was find them...claim them and tunnel into them and made burial chambers out of them!

Maybe they were markers built by dinosaurs!  Communications!

This thought makes me smile...a bit crazy...but it is possible if we change the basic assumptions that we build our theories upon!

Can you see how we often allow our arrogance to jade our conclusions...

If it is complex...it has to be done by mankind!

That doesn't have to be true...

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If you want to change your conclusions...

You have to change the assumptions upon which they were derived...

Our conclusions are built upon specific chains...just like we are built upon our own DNA...

We cannot be anything other than that which our DNA (or our passion) has programmed us to be...(if your DNA is programmed for human...you can't be a butterfly!)

If our DNA is flawed...we are flawed

If our assumptions are flawed or wrong...our conclusions will be flawed...

Enough of that...

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My advice for this weekend update is that our conclusions are often based upon assumptions and not facts...

Our realities are shaped by assumptions rather than facts...

Our failures can often be based upon our assumptions...rather than fact!

Although the journey to success is "from left to right"...

Reverse engineering helps us to identify and challenge any assumption that may stand in the way of our overall goals!

Although it seems petty...this exercise is valuable...

Start with success...and work your equation in reverse...

Reverse engineer it...think through each assumption...and fact!

Challenge each one and ask...what if it were different...where would that take me downstream!

You'll be amazed!

ENOUGH SAID!

Pura Vida!