humanity
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Heart of the System
A young woman goes on a journey to the inner planets of our solar system and becomes a participant in one of the most unprecedented events in human history.
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“Samsara” Teaser Trailer
My favorite film of all time (Baraka) just got a sequel. I wish every human being on the planet could see this just once.
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As I was pulling into the drive-through to get breakfast…
As I was pulling into the drive-through to get breakfast, I had to stop and wait for an elderly couple to slowly drive out of the way. While I was waiting, a young woman came around the corner and cut in line ahead of me. I was way more annoyed than I probably should’ve been…
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I heard a boom followed by the screech of tires…
I heard a boom followed by the screech of tires. I looked outside and saw an accident had taken place. Thirty seconds after the collision I was telling 911 all about it. Two minutes later the first help arrived. Ten minutes later the two drivers were off to the hospital. Amazing how quickly we can…
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Q: We’re all essentially the same. Agree or disagree?
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…
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Stand by Me (Gaian version)
“Everyone needs someone to stand by them.” This video is the very essence of Gaian. It starts out simply enough with one man and a guitar, but it slowly and steadily grows into a multicultural expression of humanism and solidarity. It’s one of the most uplifting things you’ll ever see, and it’s worth sharing with…
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Happy Winter Solstice!
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…
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When It Rains, It Deluges
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…
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Romantic Influence on Us All
Since we are very young we are bombarded with images and ideas of romance. It is an important factor in our society that affects and reinforces 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. It could…
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Aggressive by Nature?
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…
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G-8 is Enough
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…
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Out of Africa, Too
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…
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Terrorism at Home, Even When Abroad
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,…
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T&A (Testosterone and Alcohol)
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…
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America: The Rich, Fat Uncle
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…
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Absence
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.…
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Trinity
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…
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The Gospel
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…
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Cosmos XI. The Persistence of Memory
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…
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Cosmos VIII. Travels in Space and Time
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…
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Cosmos XII. Encyclopaedia Galactica
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,…
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The River of Entropy
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,…
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Top 10 Good Things about 9/11
10. We are 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.…
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Wedding Bandits
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…
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Humanity’s Role in Evolution
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…