My Ghost Theory

I have never seen a ghost nor am I 100% convinced that they are real. I believe it is one of humanity's ultimate desires to exist eternally and because of this belief, I remain a little skeptical that ghosts really walk amongst us. Believing in or "seeing" ghosts satisfies our mind's yearning to exist forever. So if we don't walk among the living after we die, I have a theory could explain why people see "ghosts".

I am almost convinced that there are more than 4 dimensions (3 space & 1 time). String Theory is based on 11 dimensions. Through parallel universes it is thought that we can travel through time, teleport, exist in two places at once and visit alternate versions of our own reality. Scientists have been able to teleport atoms and prove that they can exist in two places at once. With the force of a black hole, just like space, time is altered. This is why some believe black holes can be used as a means to travel matter through time. However, the force of a black hole would rip us apart.

Most ghost sightings occur in areas of abnormal magnetic fields. What if these magnetic fields alter another parallel time dimension to "bleed" into our own? Maybe the ghosts that we see are actually real people living in an alternate dimension. Then why do we only see "ghosts" in the past and not the future? Maybe its only a one-way thing like in thermodynamics, heat only moves from warmer to cooler areas. We have little understanding of the complexities of time so it's possible that time alterations could only move from past to future. Or maybe aliens are actually "future ghosts"?

It's also strange how most ghost sightings I've heard of are of the recent past. One would think that you would see cavemen ghosts also. An explanation that kind of fits with my theory is that the parallel time dimension is "stretched" into our own through the force of the magnetic field. Maybe the magnetic field does not have enough energy to stretch the other time dimension past a certain amount of years.

How come ghost sightings are always of people? Well sometimes its spirits and demonic entities. But why are there never dog and cat ghosts? Or at least I haven't heard of any. Also, if my theory has any truth to it, wouldn't an alternate dimension also transport non-living objects as well, such as, a chair, bicycle or even a whole house or a mountain range? Hmm...what if the human soul has significance and some kind of relationship with these time dimensions that others do not. Maybe since we understand time and perceive we are able to better travel through it. But why then do the "ghosts" clothes come with them into this dimension? Clothes are just as much a part of us as the other inanimate objects we encounter on a daily basis. Even if we can exist as real ghosts after we die, why would our clothes still be with us? I asked these same questions about superheros...how do their clothes always make it through the destructive forces that their bodies can handle?

Let me know your thoughts...

inspiration

We all want to be inspired. The happiness that comes from inspiration gives us a reason to live. Whether it be seeing the beauty in nature's intricate design of a snowflake or the experiencing the vast expansiveness of the earth from above. When we see and experience beautiful things, our neurons fire and our mind is stimulated. Stimulation is what tells us we are alive.

There are many things in life that provide stimulation and there are many paths to follow to get that feeling that we as humans desire. There are the essentials. Food and shelter. There are also the materialistic things that we crave to satisfy our stimulation needs. However, these materialistic things come with a cost and force us to trade it for time and money. But there is more that we desire. Yes we need stimulation but its best to have in small doses and moderation. I believe that it is not until we realize that we can experience things that are free and simple (human relationships, nature, birth and even death...or at least accept it), that we are truly happy and alive. Yes human relationships can be simple. All you need is to be honest and willing to help others.

I think about these things but only in certain environments. Not when I'm rushing to get to school on time. Not when I'm busy at work. Not when I'm in a bad mood or stressed out. It's not until I simplify my life that I can think like this. Turn all of the lights off and have a conversation with someone or just think to yourself, it will most likely be deep and meaningful, perhaps even life-changing. Remember sitting around a campfire with friends? Sleepovers once everyone is huddled in their sleeping bags? Darkness forces the mind to think and when we combine these pure thoughts with others...it is a powerful thing.

Climate Confusion...another book review

Who would have guess it? I am now very skeptical that global warming our planet is experiencing is occurring because of the amount of greenhouse gases we put in the atmosphere.

Back in college, I was a meteorology major for my first year. Our professors, one in particular, warned us that the CO2 we are putting into the atmosphere will warm the Earth and eventually cause global problems by warming the earth by only a few degrees. Also, during the past 6 or 7 years I have heard a lot of news about scientists, politicians and countries all over the world warning of the coming doomsday. Is this an agenda of the "New World Order" for more global govermental control? Or is it a way to make money off of scared people? Or is everyone just misinformed? It's probably a combination of all three.

Well, yes the earth is warming but is it because of human activity? Nobody knows for certain. Even the author isn't 100% sure it is not. It is however necessary to debate the topic given the risk of negligence if the problem does happen to be from man-made activities.

The book, Climate Confusion by Roy W. Spencer, makes some good points. The first one really convinced me that global warming is not from man-made CO2 or Methane.

Point #1: The amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is only 0.038% (about 0.027% pre-industrial), which is about 380 molecules for every 1,000,000 molecules in the atmosphere. Other greenhouse gases such as Methane are even lower. Since CO2 is such a small percentage of our atmosphere, the author argues that it can't have much effect. I agree. Water Vapor is the most potent greenhouse gas and is a lot more prevalent in the atmosphere. It's funny, you don't see scientists thinking of ways to reduce the water vapor in the air...without it, there would be no rain; )

Point #2: Many scientists now can easily receive funding (stay employed) by researching man-made global warming. If you are a scientist skeptical of man-made global warming, you are ostracized and can find little funding.

Point #3: Sometimes trying to help a problem will create another problem. For example: The banning of DDT is responsible for up to a million deaths a year in Africa. DDT can be used to combat malaria.

Point #4: Future predictions are based on models. The climate is extremely complex and modeling this system accurately is a difficult task. Look at how often weather reports are wrong when only predicting into the next week.

Point #5: Rising numbers of reports and devastation from storms could be due to increased population. More people live in the midwest, therefore, there is more probability that a tornado will be reported. More people live on the coasts, therefore, more devastation and lives will be lost to flooding and hurricanes.

I was always a little skeptical of man-made global warming but now I'm just a little more convinced that it's just hype. Scaring people makes money. Whether its about the climate or about terrorism.

Overall, it was a good book. The author definitely has a bias and I believe puts a little too much faith that economics will solve our problems but I recommend you read it to gain a different perspective.

So what do I believe now? I'm not sure. The earth is warming. Many of the skeptics claim this is because the sun is sending more radiation to us due to a normal period of heightened activity. However, I'm not sure I believe that considering that the sun's radiation is in a decreasing period yet we're still warming. We should not rule out the fact that other man-made activities could be attributing to the warming we are seeing. Could expanding cities (urban heat island) and deforestation be having an affect? I still think the Earth and its species are vulnerable to human activities. What we are doing is not natural, therefore, it can have an effect on something whether it is on a local or global scale. I have breathed and seen the pollution in China. There are always consequences to our actions.

I still consider myself an aspiring environmentalist. It has never been a global warming issue for me. My reasons for wanting to protect the environment are mainly due to localized pollution problems (air quality, water pollution, etc) and for economic reasons due to the depletion of non-renewable resources. I believe that sustainable/renewable energy and products are necessary to keep our economy stable. I also believe that living with less will preserve our resources, allow us to be more efficient and let us lead happier lives. Our wasteful and over consuming nature does not lead to an ideal society.

I want to save the trees and they want me dead

Ever wonder how close you come to dying in a given day? What if you missed a deadly car crash just because you couldn't find your keys when you left your house? Anything is possible and different decisions or external forces can be the deciding factor whether you live or die.

I had a couple minor incidents happen to me this past weekend that really got me to thinking about this stuff. Coincidentally, they both involved trees. I was at a friend's house sitting by a bonfire on Saturday night and a huge branch fell from a tree. It was about 15 feet behind me and would have seriously hurt or could have even killed me. Funny thing was, I didn't even flinch. The next day, me and the same two friends went for a hike out in what we thought was the Conestoga Trail near Lancaster, PA. During our hike through the woods, a storm rolled through. We kept walking and came to a campground and decided to turn around. Once we reach the spot we were at 5 minutes before, we saw large, sharp wooden shards all over the trail. About 15 feet away we saw a tree that had a fresh lightning strike on it.



The slightest delay in our hike could have led to us getting impaled by flying shards of wood or even struck by lightning.

My weekend brushes with death have not scared me or deterred me from doing the things I love. If anything, it has helped me realize that anything can cause your demise and you have to live it up while you still have time!

I probably won't post for a couple weeks. School just started so I have a good amount of homework. Also, I'm officiating the wedding of two good friends and going to Niagra Falls this weekend.

Take care and watch out for the trees...

I have a set a threshold

45 minutes. That is the amount of time I will now wait for someone before going home.

I spent an hour driving to a park on memorial day, my day off of work, only to sit under a tree with no phone reception for an hour and a half and then drive another hour home because no one showed up. I was also intentionally 30 minutes late because I knew everyone else would also be late. Don't get me wrong, I like hanging out with my friends but a lot of them have a complete disrespect for time. I understand that its hard to estimate arrival times and things come up. It's difficult for me to arrive on time especially since I live far away from most things, but I think anything over 45 minutes without a good reason for being late is unacceptable.

It's simple. If you value my friendship, you should value my time. Don't value my time? I will place less value on our friendship.

This post was a little more personal than I want this blog to be but I need to get it out. I would have also contacted everyone personally of my decision but I'd rather not spend the TIME right now: )

In Defense of Food...a book review

I just finished reading a good book that my good friend Charlie had me read. It's called In Defense of Food. It's definitely a must read if you care about your health and what you eat. Even if you think you're eating healthy, it may not always be the case...

The book follows a basic idea. "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants". The author backs up this idea mostly with common sense. When he says "Eat food", food is considered to be anything edible in its natural form, nothing processed. He argues that "food" is what we've evolved to eat, not something that comes in a box and includes 30 different ingredients. Lately, most grocery stores sell very little "food". Even if you're buying something that you think is healthy because it includes essential vitamins & minerals, omega-3 fatty acids, etc...these nutrients are not being digested by your body as well as it would in real "food".

Much of the real "food" has been pushed out of supermarkets in the last 40 to 50 years. Even fruits and vegetables sold today are grown in industrialized soil and contain about 1/3 of the nutrients of a fruit/vegetable grown in organic soil. Also the animals that feed on industrialized grain diet lack these nutrients as well. The author believes that this is a good reason for the kind of obesity we see with the western diet. Since much of the food we eat is lacking in nutrients, our bodies tell us to eat more of it. Cultures who do not follow the western diet have much lower rates of chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease.

One interesting part of the book talks about a group of Aborigines that developed diabetes from eating the western diet. This group agreed to participate in an experiment in which they reverted back to their non-western diet. After only 7 weeks on a new diet, their diabetes symptoms were either completely gone or significantly lower.

I strongly recommend that you read this book. There are tons of tips on how to eat healthier. And my review pales in comparison to the knowledge that you'll gain from reading it. I was so motivated by this book that I spent a couple hours today planting a vegetable garden. So I will soon be able to eat tomatoes, cucumbers and sweet peppers that I grew myself!

Not Showing Off...Not Falling Behind

A huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Literally. I'm carrying no school books in my bag to work. Ahh...feels good. Anyway, so I guess I should post something.

I used to think that the harder you try, the more you get out of life. I don't think that's necessarily always the case. If you're good at something, there will always be someone else trying to leech off of your hard work. The gnats will always be most attracted to the sweetest fruits...

When I started my professional career, my boss and coworkers kept repeating the phrase "Not showing off, not falling behind". At the time I thought it was a little ridiculous but it'll be 5 years since I've been with my company and I am now a firm believer in the phrase. I spent the first half of my career busting my ass and trying to show off. My reward for this behavior was more work. I get the logic, if you're efficient at something, why not maximize the amount of work you do? Well, this logic is flawed because just like a sweet piece of fruit, you will attract all of the gnats until your body lay eaten and useless. Managers don't realize that maximizing their workers too much will eventually lead to demotivation from feeling overwhelmed and from not receiving reciprocal benefits. So before I ended up a devoured pit of a peach, I decided to tone my skills down. Now because of my decision to slack off, I'm less stressed and able to focus on just a few projects at a time. It seems like everyone else follows suit as well. If I need a column added to a database view, it takes a month. This is a task that literally takes 2 minutes but I know the "developers" on the other end are in the same boat as me so I understand. Sure there are the necessary hoops and red tape to go through but still a month seems crazy for this kind of change. But I don't stress. I just tell everyone a project is on hold until that change is made. I wonder how much money businesses would save if they actually valued their efficient people and didn't try to "maximize" the output of their skills. Whatever happened to quality not quantity?

Well it seems like my slacking off has paid off. I received an award yesterday and will get a check for $300 for the 5 minutes of work I did on a project. Granted this was a team award and it wouldn't be right for me to not be included but I doubt I would have received an award like this if I really did fully exemplify "excellence". In conclusion, don't show off in life. I guess Office Space is a very sad reality.