Q: We’re all essentially the same. Agree or disagree?

Posted by Eric P. Metze On December 16, 2009 ADD COMMENTS
Rafal Olbinski - Confrontation of Similarities (1997)

We have more in common with one another than anything else in the entire Cosmos. The genetic differences between every living human is less than the difference between Chihuahuas and Huskies. We all have the same biological heritage and we all float on the same tiny ball in an unimaginably vast ocean of space. If you consider all of the various forms of matter and the possibilities of existence, you can begin to see just how much we truly have in common. One person may like lasagna with meat, one person may like it without meat, but every person that ever existed would eat a bowl of it if they were hungry.

Happy Winter Solstice!

Posted by Eric P. Metze On December 21, 2006 ADD COMMENTS

Looooong before the words “Christmas,” “Hannukah,” “Kwanzaa,” and “Festivus” ever entered humanity’s vocabulary, we have been celebrating the winter solstice. And why not? Without modern technology and capitalism making us fat, warm, greedy, and complacent, we’d be hunkered down in our holes, caves, and huts trying to make it through the brutal winters. As many  [ Read More ]

When It Rains, It Deluges

Posted by Eric P. Metze On August 3, 2005 ADD COMMENTS

Rainfall has historically been something to look forward to, but India recently has learned firsthand the lesson about having too much of a good thing. As the death toll continues to rise, the rain continues to fall, and the pressures it puts on the people of the region create several social problems. This natural disaster  [ Read More ]

Romantic Influence on Us All

Posted by Eric P. Metze On July 21, 2005 ADD COMMENTS

Since we are very young we are bombarded with images and ideas of romance. It is an important factor in our society and one that affects and reciprocates specific ideas about how relationships are supposed to form. There are problems inherent in this method of choosing mates, however, and they go beyond the purely superficial.  [ Read More ]

Aggressive by Nature?

Posted by Eric P. Metze On July 19, 2005 ADD COMMENTS

It was generally held for a long time that hunting, the act of stalking live prey and then killing it, contributed a great deal to our natural aggressive tendencies. After all, it seems perfectly natural to imagine how this ruthless ability to assault another living creature would serve our ancestors capture much-needed food. The problem  [ Read More ]

G-8 is Enough

Posted by Eric P. Metze On July 18, 2005 ADD COMMENTS

The G-8 was created out of the eight richest countries in the world in order to fight poverty in Africa. Poverty affects more people throughout the world than all of the citizens represented by their leaders in the G-8 conference. But poverty happens even in these countries, including the United States. It is not a  [ Read More ]

Out of Africa, Too

Posted by Eric P. Metze On July 14, 2005 ADD COMMENTS

There are three pervading hypotheses about the emergence of modern humans. While I was reading the summaries of the three hypotheses, I began to I favor the so-called multiregional hypothesis, which states that our species evolved relatively simultaneously in several parts of the Old World. I understood the logic behind the “Eve” hypothesis, which supports  [ Read More ]

Terrorism at Home, Even When Abroad

Posted by Eric P. Metze On July 11, 2005 ADD COMMENTS

The recent terrorist attacks in London remind us that people are still willing to use the most extreme measures to make their voices heard. It seems now that more people condemn terrorism than ever before, and yet it continues even in one of the world’s safest nations. It is a difficult task to overcome terrorism,  [ Read More ]

T&A (Testosterone and Alcohol)

Posted by Eric P. Metze On February 17, 2005 ADD COMMENTS

Why are people so shitty to each other? Furthermore, when someone is being shitty to someone, why does everyone allow it to happen? Last night I was enjoying a night out with my friends at a bar when I noticed a loud noise coming from the men’s restroom. I immediately knew something wasn’t right and  [ Read More ]

America: The Rich, Fat Uncle

Posted by Eric P. Metze On December 1, 2003 ADD COMMENTS

A good friend and I were discussing Thanksgiving and I started to think about how it must look to other countries for us to have a holiday where we stuff ourselves full of food and roll around on the couch watching football. You know, I can’t believe Americans even publicize Thanksgiving. It should be like  [ Read More ]

Absence

Posted by Eric P. Metze On November 13, 2003 ADD COMMENTS
Absence by Eric P. Metze

This short story focuses on the experiences of one man that finds himself unwilling to deal with the rest of humanity and his decision to leave society. After a time, strange things begin to happen in the skies above him, and he eventually finds himself wanting to reconnect with the people he had once abandoned. It was originally published in the inaugural issue of the Texas Texas University Honor’s College journal in 2003.

Trinity

Posted by Eric P. Metze On November 26, 2002 ADD COMMENTS

In a time before Ground Zero meant something else, After our cousins Einstein, Teller, and Oppenheimer, In an empty desert guarded by squat mountains, Humanity took its first step into another age With the detonation of a bomb named Trinity. We viewed the Opening from miles away, As creatures with fragile bodies must do. Even  [ Read More ]

The Gospel

Posted by Eric P. Metze On November 14, 2002 ADD COMMENTS

God, protect me from your people, With closed minds and blind third eyes. Misinformation and half-truths Are barely discernable from the lies. I’ve felt your presence and your power, My biology is impossible to deny. But I do not fear to think these thoughts, I’d rather know uncomfortable truths than reassuring lies. I appreciate all  [ Read More ]

Cosmos XI. The Persistence of Memory

Posted by Eric P. Metze On November 5, 2002 ADD COMMENTS

Information is important to Life, and Earth is positively rippling with both. Quasi-intelligent beings that never see the light of day live on inside us, While mindless molecular machines copy our biological biography With the guided precision of a skilled craftsman. All living creatures store libraries of information in their genes, But many beings are  [ Read More ]

Cosmos VIII. Travels in Space and Time

Posted by Eric P. Metze On November 4, 2002 ADD COMMENTS

Before the Sun rose and set in the sky of Earth, A giant blue-green rock spun lazily around its star. Then a being, mostly calling itself Man, Gave names to these gods of the ground and sky. Our solitary sun floats with its family of planets. A grain of sand in a beach too massive  [ Read More ]

Cosmos XII. Encyclopaedia Galactica

Posted by Eric P. Metze On November 2, 2002 ADD COMMENTS

Ethereal lights in the sky, unexplainable phenomena, And alleged astronauts older than any nation Lead many to believe we’re inundated with uninvited guests. Though I wish it were so, it probably just isn’t true. It could be that we have not been discovered, And our xenophobia causes us to see lights in the sky. Besides,  [ Read More ]

The River of Entropy

Posted by Eric P. Metze On October 8, 2002 ADD COMMENTS

I imagine the Cosmos, infinite and remote. I reflect on our sun, the perfect planetary host. I consider our world, the pale blue home of the Earthlings, I think of this forest, and of this path I tread. Intentionally lost among Appalachian giants, I wander a chaotic, forkful path. Willfully losing myself in the grandeur,  [ Read More ]

Top 10 Good Things about 9/11

Posted by Eric P. Metze On September 11, 2002 ADD COMMENTS

10. Cracking down on Terrorism With the horrors of terrorism reaching so vast an audience, the world’s new focus on defeating terrorism may one day save us from each other and ourselves. 9. The Odds Are in Our Favor The chance of anyone dying today (or any other day) is always the same. The people  [ Read More ]

Wedding Bandits

Posted by Eric P. Metze On November 7, 2001 ADD COMMENTS

I wish that when people saw a wedding band, it meant more that showing to other people that they are no longer “available.” People should see the band and smile to know that they have a significant other somewhere in the world for them. Some people use the band like a magical shield against possible  [ Read More ]

Humanity’s Role in Evolution

Posted by Eric P. Metze On November 2, 2001 ADD COMMENTS

Some people fear the idea of some form of artificial intelligence taking over the world and killing everyone. While this is probably the most extreme outcome, it is generally our worst fears that motivate us most. If we were to create a true kind of artificial intelligence that was actually able to think for itself  [ Read More ]