Radiolab is one of my most favorite podcasts. When first I discovered it I went through their archives. I have literally listened to every episode that is available on Stitcher. A bit of a feat as the podcast has been around a long while. It has been interesting watching the evolution of the show. The early episodes were nerdy, sciencey, hidden side of things. The current shows are still many times that, but they have also branched off into social and philosophical realms.
This week’s episode is titled The Cataclysm Sentence.
The theme of this podcast was if you could pass on but one sentence to the next iterations of beings, POST apocalypse, what would that sentence be. The impetus of the exercise was a lecture given by a famous atomic physicist, Richard Feynman in 1961. Feynman had worked on the Manhattan Project.
Radiolab interviewed various people in many fields and disciplines. As would be expected there were many different answers. Perhaps my favorite answer came from Jaron Lanier who is considered the founding father of virtual reality and was instrumental in the early start up phase of the Internet. First, he has many regrets about the Internet as what was envisioned as a positive force of communication for humanity has morphed into what is, arguably, the complete opposite. What he would pass on across the abyss to the new world would be absolutely nothing. Perhaps he feels this way from watching a project he was part of transform into something he is not proud of.
Of course, this got me thinking. You knew that was coming. If I were to pass on one sentence or one thought to the Sentient Beings 2.0 what would it be?
I’m agnostic. In my particular world view, that is not shared by most, I do not see religion as a positive force in the world. I actually see it as one of the big negatives of our societies. I truly feel it has done much more harm than good. There are many reasons I feel this way, but what is particularly important to this discussion, is that many religions focus on the after life or next life. Your life is pretty much in the crapper now, but no problem when you get to heaven all will be better. Don’t worry you get another try to make it better in your next reincarnation… ad nauseam.
So my thought would be: You do not actually know for sure if there is a God or that any afterlife or next life exists. Therefore, this is your one shot at existence, let’s make it the best possible existence for yourself AND all your fellow travelers.
Feel free to share your sentence/thought.
Should have used a semi-colon to make it ONE sentence. You had a ONE sentence job to do. ONE sentence.
Oops! Sorry, we blew it. Better luck next time.