On Appreciating | Scientists & Scary, Brilliant Innovations

#JournalingJuly - July 5th

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So I saw a preview for an anime called "Dr. Stone" pop up on my Crunchyroll notifications.

Don't worry, I only have them send to my iPad on silent.

The preview & premise of the new premier seemed quite audacious: A tale narrating human civilization after a cataclysmic blast that turned every human into stone. Mankind wakes up after 3,689 years — in the hands of 2 High Schoolers. Basically, they've got to rebuild society from scratch, and luckily these two kids seem capable of pulling it off. One of them is a dead-to-rights scientist. And that aspect of the anime is what intrigued me the most. The other is referred to as "Big Oaf".

I give all due credit to scientists in this day & age. They work off of a force that's so beyond surface level existence. The essence that compels scientists forward is so fascinating to me. I'm really taken-aback by the fringe thinkers on the forward edge of innovation & paradigm shifting discoveries, yet a solid TED Talk video wisened me up to the fact that we are all Scientists in our own right. We were born with that unbridled sense of wonder. For many, it has been conditioned away from you. For others, we marvel in it, creatively expressing it in ways that provides existential, emotional joy, or designing in reverence to reality.  And on the flip side? the scientists, the mathematicians, the engineers... creative inquisition & pragmatic problem solving. Their wonders drive us all towards evolution on the express lane.

Yes, it's at times unfathomable. It's disturbing to say the least. It's harrowing when contemplating the possible consequences. Oh but is it magnificent to behold when you acknowledge it for all of its beautiful possibilities. The paramount gratitude I feel to have lived in a time to at least experience all of this wonder being manifested so rapidly before our eyes... it's magnificent & stupefying.

Do not get me mistaken, I certainly recognize all the causes for concern. I too feel them deeply. Yet & still, gratitude & presence knows no peers. The perceptions we perceive when looking through the lens of gratitude in the now, is so very wondrous. It's something you truly have to witness for yourself, I can only inform you of its general location. Somewhere within, in stillness, present. Observing respiration & sensation.

Almost nothing of what we enjoy today could have ever been done without the compounded efforts of thousands & thousands of scientists & their collective research. Without them, we probably could've been ended by the measles or bubonic plague or something like that. No joke.

Actually, while we're on the subject, let's go ahead & get into the whole Vaccine discussion. Scary isn't it? Yeah, it's never exciting to hear that the drugs you've been injecting your children with could potentially give them Autism. But wait. what's the percentage of that potential? What's the consequences otherwise? Reasonable questions to ask. If we're talking about numbers, hands down, Vaccines have saved far more lives than they've ever ruined. Fear-mongering however can quickly make people anxious however, and fear spreads like a wildfire.

In the Information Age, Misinformation is the most troublesome thing to have inundated our airwaves. Not only are we dumbfounded with the amount of information we have access to, we have no certifiable ways to ensure that the information we are intaking is accurate, true, helpful, just an opinion, or intentionally misguiding. Even if we did, we'd second guess it. Maybe even some of the regulatory agencies have had moments where their legitimacy was questioned. Perhaps something slipped through on accident, or they shook hands to let it be — who knows. Business sharks may sell you "Privacy" & "Guarantees" & when they get found out say it was just marketing. This is false advertising. Most guarantees are like 99.99% AT BEST. I think people underestimate the likelihood of them falling into that 0.01%, let alone a larger margin.

I mean don't get me wrong, the harvesting of black bodies, organs, blood, plasma, etc. to be used in experimentation to extend the lives of some hidden 1% of the 1%, or used as feeder material for vaccines, definitely sounds a bit plausible given the harrowing cruelties we've learned about from slavery, the current hunting, sterilizing, & food-poisoning of our people or better yet all people who aren't in discussions with the leaders of the free world... along with the modern day genocide of animals. I'm just saying, people barely bat an eye at how grotesque the reality of animal agriculture is, but I digress.

Check back in.

Where's your head at now?

What feels true, what feels like a lie, what feels like only one side?

Duality. The good & the bad. The expressions of this existence will ebb & flow, yet they will always be balanced in the grand scheme of things. Yes, perhaps some of these evils exist. Do you see how quickly fear can be made to persist? Never forget that righteousness is always a contender, in every endeavor. Most of the scientific discoveries of our era were made to have been of great benefit to mankind as a whole.

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I salute & applaud the righteous scientists who have invented & discovered on behalf of humankind. On behalf of generations yet to come. I salute & applaud the whistle blowers & private research firms that continue to do the work that is benevolent & full of compassion. For the good of us all. I salute the multicultural scientists across the globe, working together despite their nationality.

So yes, I'm grateful. I'm inspired. I'm giving respect & recognition where it's due. Because for all it's worth, the good & the bad, it's a sight to behold.

Now, I may pick & choose if I ever want to submit myself to the uses of any doctor prescribed drug, or any technologies I can utilize... because it's my choice (well, except for A.I., Machine Learning, & Facial Recognition). I have faculty over my own body. In that regard though, if I'm making a decision on my own behalf, I must be considerate that my decision does not detrimentally effect others in my near vicinity. It'd be unwise to put those nearest to you at jeopardy, simply for personal choice or apprehension without heeding the 2nd & 3rd order consequences. But anyway.

If you'd like a look at the things that are emerging in our world at the cutting edge of scientific discovery & innovation, I highly recommend these Youtube Channels, I watch the at my leisure sometimes, just to stay hip:

• Seeker
• Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell
• TED
• Veritasium

P.S. — I was so excited to hear about this Dr. Stone that's going to be releasing soon, that I had went ahead & started checking out the manga. I was eager to see how they incorporated the sciencey bits, haha.

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All the Best,

Sean aka Mr. Wildenfree

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#LiveLifeWell