Wick and the Cricket

[austintorn@aol.com]

“Hi, Wick,” chirped the cricket. “Yes, ’My telescope’ was just my looking at some Hubble photos on the internet. The internet’s data as well as all libraries and books are an extension of my mind.”

“Interesting, that mind and knowledge are not merely internal.”

“Yes, I can’t keep everything in my internal memory, so I often dip into the external memory and knowledge.”

“It’s another storage medium that supplements the brain. So, what’s new?”

“Well, not New York, for that is old now.”

“What’s old, then?”

“Ptolemic type ideas such as that the sun and the other planets revolved around the Earth.”

“Yes, they had to do quite a reversal on that one.”

“Such, too, as your reversal of light to be no longer moving. This reversal approach is a good way to examine new ideas.”

“What other ways are there?”

“Well, one can take two separate thoughts and combine them into a new thought, such as the quantum realm plus that of classical biology could be the secret of life—the élan vital.”

“You read that in another thread on ToeQuest.”

“Like, I say, my little cricket brain plus the world’s knowledge is what I am, for that is what I amount to in the end result.”

“Why are you wearing a read plaid shirt with green striped pants?”

“We don’t have color vision. There was no need to evole it.”

“But you can see patterns. Plaid with stripes?”

“I got dressed in the dark. We come out after the fireflies have gone to bed.”

“Ah, you only work the night shift; sorry to hear that.”

“Yes, it’s tough work, but it’s only for three seasons, and the summer nights are rather short.”

“Well, that’s not a bad job. What does ‘Katy did it’ mean that you all seem to say.”

“I shouldn’t really gossip, so I won’t.”

“And towards the end of autumn, I only hear ‘Ka—’”

“We are so cold and shivering that that’s all we can say.”

“What other reversals might we make?”

“Well, to continue the Ptolemic one a bit deeper, why was it that they all wanted Earth to be the center of not just the solar system but also of the universe?”

“They saw themselves from only their one point of view.”

“Yes, and while we are presumably rare, the universe is a big place and is mostly of stuff that is not us.”

“Um, mammals, and, er, insects and all life are not the center and purpose of the universe?”

“Well, we don’t know, but that’s what comes out of the reversal. Of course, not all reversals are appropriate. However, in considering the species, we are not really the Kings of the Earth either. Nor were the dinosaurs.”

“What is?”

“Bacteria, for we need them, but they don’t need us, and they were among the first and foremost. We would die in two minutes without them. Plus, they labored two billion years to make most of the oxygen in the atmosphere, as well as many carbohydrates.”

“They do seem important as well as long lived.”

“Some of them are rather indestructible. They can even gorge on plutonium, the deadliest substance ever known.”

“Yikes!”

“So, what are you working on now?”

“A quantum computer, for then I can follow all paths at once.”

“That could be how the brain works.”

“I know, but my brain is small and I need help, for the internet is too large for me to sort out all the boloney.”

“GOOD LUCK!”

“Not so loud—you may disrupt the quantum state.”

‘ok’.

[Wick]

Wick weighed what the cricket seemed to be saying, then decided to alter course a bit:

"Perhaps, the universe isn't about anything living. I mean why should we assume that bacteria or any organism is "king". I am of the opinion that law is king. I mean think about it. We are sitting here on a rock warmed by a sun and that sun is a few billion years old. But neither you or I matter at all to the rock or the sun, we are simply come to this point of the universe at this time to sit here and talk. But were it not for specific laws, the existing rules of order that established the sun which warmed the rock, the moon which now brings us light, the cress in the nearby stream, you and I would likely not be having this conversation.

"If we are here, talking together, we are here because the law has brought us here. The question I'm trying to understand is this: Is free will sustained by universal law, or is it only a ruse--an imaginary prison that puts on the pretty face of liberty while holding all in chains. If the free will is a "legal status" in this universe, then it must be at least partially indeterminate. If free will is not a "legal status", then determinism is the law and all of us stand at the beckoned whim of spacetime."

The cricket thought for a moment, trying to reestablish the quantum state Wick had disrupted with his outburst, then asked, "Does this mean that you can imagine a universe in which there are no humans or "thinking" beings.?"

"Oh, yes."

"Then you are not of the opinion that God created this universe for the express pleasure of man?"

"I don't currently find that particular question interesting. But if God did create the universe, I'm interested in knowing whether he created a universe of freedom, or a universe of constraint. Perhaps I even wonder if God was free to create the universe or was that creation a universal imparitive. I would ask the same question even if there was no God. In other words, assuming there is no God, is the universe required to look in an already determined way tomorrow? Does that predetermined configuration of the universe already exist? Or will that configuration be a universal surprise?"

"I like to think it won't be too surprising."

"Why?"

"Because I want the sun to rise soon...I'm getting cold...And if the universe were to reconfigure in a surprising way, tomorrow there might be no sun."

"That's not the kind of surprise I mean. I'm talking about the little things...whether the sunrise will be orange and magenta, or whether it will be all shot through with gold, or whether it will be a snowy, sun-obscured day. I trust there can be a supreme law without necessarily implying constraint. Children play soccor, for instance, in accordance with a set of rules, and the rules maintain order in the game, but the rules do not determine the direction the ball goes at every moment of the game. The rules are a framework within which the game flows. But the game flows nonetheless. The rules do not make the game determinate. If they did, no one would play....no one would watch.

"Am I making sense cricket?"

[labelwench]

.....the mare stepped through the portal with caution, time and space having moved since her last visit. She looked above her, at the placement of the moon and stars; this appeared to be the correct locale. She had yet to discern the cricket and Wick and wondered if they lingered still.

She slowed her breath and listened, reluctant to leave herself vulnerable by using her talent of mind touching, alone as she was at present. Ah yes, they were in discourse by yonder stream near the big rock. The mare approached on silent hooves taking in the new course of the conversation and making her appearance just as Wick inquired, "Am I making sense, cricket?"

Sensing her approach, Wick intoned, "Greetings, Caramel. That is your name, is it not? Why are you come alone?"

"My companion is on our resident timeline, taking her rest. She believes me to be in the stable yard with the others, enjoying our hay and resting likewise. Might I interpose that there is both constraint and freedom? There are the constraints of the certain natural laws that you are only just beginning to comprehend your relationship to and within. Still, there is much freedom of choice, many which are available to each being or form." The mare spoke English quite plainly in a low and slightly husky tone.

"And while we are at it, perhaps you might enlighten me why the concept of a teleporting equine is any harder to accept than a pub-crawling, multi-linguist cricket", she added as she settled in to a more comfortable stance, resting her hind leg.

Wick almost felt that the mare was testing him. This was quite irregular.

"Come cold cricket", suggested the mare. "Jump up on my my back and warm yourself. If I must leave for any reason, I shall give you sufficient notice of my departure."

"Now where were we......?"

[austintorn@aol.com]

“Hi Crick,” said Wick. “Did I wake you?”

“No, I’m just having trouble getting up from this heavy bed gravity.”

“Well, you are countering the entire gravity of the earth to get up and out of bed.”

“Hey, ya. I’m pretty strong, aren’t I?”

“Yes, in a way, but you did get up rather easily and so perhaps gravity is rather feeble.”

“Oh, well maybe it is that matter is very lightweight compared to how big it looks since all is mostly empty space. Thus, gravity doesn’t have to be so powerful.”

“True, and a lucky thing for us, I guess, plus a lot of entities are massless anyway.”

“Is there some extra bed gravity that makes it really hard to get up on some days?”

“No, that’s just a way of putting that it’s hard to move when one is still groggy.”

“I have to pick out some shirts to wear. Can you shine your flashlight so I can get a better look?”

“Sure, I’m pointing it to your collection of shirts.”

“Ok, let’s see. Oh, ugh, not that one. Hmmm, just wore this one. Oh, there’s a spot on this one. Oh, wore a similar color yesterday. Ah, here’s some good ones all about the same. Ill just close my eyes and pick one. Doesn’t matter which.”

“What was that ‘ugh’ about?”

“Oh, that’s all that a part of of my nonverbal side of my brain could get out. It means ‘no’. It didn’t really tell me the details. I’m just saving that shirt for Halloween, I suppose, or I’d throw it in the trash.”

“Did you use free will to pick out a shirt, then?”

“No, but I used free choice from what I know and from what shirts were available. One cannot will that which does the willing.”

“How come?”

“The ‘will’ happens subconsciously, during brain analysis that we are not privy to.”

“Not privy?”

“Well, it’s just that the result is not available until the brain completes its analysis, that’s all, but when it’s mostly done, it gives us a peek at the result. We can still veto it, using a higher brain, if we have one and we pause to use it. This is called ‘free won’t’.”

“So, perhaps a lessor simpleton brain area says to do something and so this surfaces on the mind in consciousness, as usual, but then some kind of global review says ‘nope’?”

“Something like that.”

“But isn’t this ‘veto’ thing still determined by your brain and not really free will?”

“Yes, but it makes us think that our will is free.”

“Can we predict the outcome of a soccer game?”

“Maybe in theory, but in practice there would be 10**100000 calculations, so, we can never know the future. Life would be totally boring if we could know all of the outcomes.”

“What if we videotaped the Super Bowl, learned the score somehow, and then watched it later?”

“That’s different, plus knowing the outcome might take some of the excitement out of it.”

“So, what is light?”

“It’s the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum. The non-visible contains x-rays, ultraviolet and all that other great stuff that gets used for something.”

“How do electromagnetic waves get someplace?”

“They are a self-renewing disturbance of electrical begetting magnetic begetting electrical, etc. This discovery doomed the “required” aether medium, but, ironically, electromagnetic waves are a kind of aether in themselves.”

“How do you know so much?”

“I google.”

“There is a lot of junk out on the internet.”

“I know, so I just use stuff that has been proved. For example, although quantum mechanics sounds weird and counterintuitive, they’ve used its principles all over to manufacture stuff that works great, so I believe in it.”

“What are you doing tonight?”

“I have some interviews with some blind dates.”

“Will that ‘ugh’ first impression thing guide you?”

“Yes, I hope so.”

[Wick]

"You know cricket, sometimes we take the most obvious things for granted. Take the horse you've been sleeping on. Here you and I have been talking and we have left poor Caramel out of the whole exchange. I'd be interested, Caramel in what you have to say, but I must say that what you think you did, and what you did seem completely different to the two of us.

"For instance, you thought you went through a time portal, but what I saw was you galloping (and a might slower than you thought) over the hill. There was no portal, no vanishing act, and your rider, I think is lying asleep in beneath one of the aspens over there. I still hold that time is not a navigable medium. People might think it is, they might convince themselves it is, but time is none of that."

Caramel looked a bit taken aback, "You have no idea what you're talking about. I maneuver my way through time as a matter of course. Its what I do?!"

"Come with me, Caramel. Let me show you what I mean."

Wick jumped from the rock and made his way along the stream to the stand of aspens with Caramel behind him and the cricket riding on the mare's back. The leaves trembled on the dawning air, which shimmered with a silvery mist. Wick carefully laced his way through tall nettles and several clumps of leathery looking mushrooms until he finally found what he was looking for.

There in the grass lay the rider, sleeping in a bed of dewy grass, breathing deep and steady.

"You see, Caramel, I watched the whole thing. You were here all the time. You never left us. Now I'm not saying that you're an untruthful horse. I'm only saying that what you perceive and what I perceive are different things. To date I have never seen a time traveller. I doubt I ever will. I don't think the universe permits such motion."

The cricket looked down at the sleeping rider.

"By the way, Cricket," Wick added, "Light is not what you said. You need to google it again. Most scientists describe light as anything that moves at the so-called speed of light. That includes all electromagnetic effects--radio, microwave, infrared, visible, ultraviolet, x-ray, gamma ray--they are all light. They all travel at the velocity "c". What's more, there are many animals which see beyond the "visible" spectrum. Snakes for instance see in the infrared spectrum and certain birds see in the ultraviolet spectrum. You are another example. Visible light for you includes primarily the spectrum of green and ultraviolet. Most other kinds of light are not well understood by you, which is partly why your having so much trouble with your clothes. Talking about light as if it were only that light in the visible spectrum is very misleading. We classify a phenomenon as light because of its behavior, not because of how it is perceived by various species. The peculiar behavior of all light has to do with the way it moves. Light moves through space at the assumed velocity "c" in relation to all other things.

"What's more, you should not deceive yourself into thinking we know what light is. We don't. We do a pretty good job describing its behavior in terms of motion, speed, mass, neutrality, etc. But that is like describing a man by his motion, speed, mass and neutrality. We can have done that and still fail to understand what the man is. We know almost nothing about what light really is. If anyone tells you otherwise, he has allowed arrogance to blind him to his blindness."

[austintorn@aol.com]

"Of course, I misspoke. I meant to ask what visible light was, but I made a typo."

"Oh."

"Visible light is the rainbow that a species can detect among all the other frequencies."

"Other frequencies may be detected, too, but don't show up as visual."

"Yes, we both have a motion detector that lets us duck out of the way of things like a diving bird, but in crickets this is an even better one, as it has to be."

"How few photons can we see?"

"Humans can make something out of about 3-5 photons?"

"Why is the speed of light the constant c?"

"That's how fast protons spin, so that's the speed that photons are thrown off at."

"How were your blind dates? Did you have to go out with them as soon as you met them?"

"No, they were actually blind and could not see."

"Is this OK."

"Of course, I am fair to all, but I must say, that, um, they will never be able to see the messes that I might make around the house."

"And so they couldn't nag you to clean up? But they could feel around for the messes and then ask you to tidy up."

"Well, I told them that I was deaf."

"You wouldn't do that, and neither would Austin!"

"I know, but this is just a story. You do know about how many marriages don't work out."

"Sure."

"Well, this would be the perfect marriage since I couldn't hear what she says to do and she mostly would not know about my messes."

"Not to mention that she could hear you and then have to take all direction from you. Oh, cricket!"

"Um, you're right. I'll tell her the truth and we'll make it work. I'll be neat and we'll converse both ways."

"So, no 'ugh' about her?"

"No, she is a 'wow' and I told her that I'm handsome."

[Wick]

Wick thought a moment and then asked, "Does she know you can only see in green and ultraviolet? She's going to have to wear crazy makeup. By the way that thing about spinning protons casting off light---you made that up. Point particles don't spin in the way you mean and we have no way of detecting how fast they spin, and the electromagnetic reaction is mostly a reaction between photons and electrons, and the only thing protons are thought to cast of is gluons, and this whole discription (the Standard Model of Particle Physics) is only barely different than your blind dates trying to find your messes. And. And. And...

Wick looked at Caramel. She was standing, but she was fast asleep. And he wondered if cow tipping would work with a horse...

[labelwench]

Caramel flicked an ear at Wick, without opening her eyes.

"Cows generally don't sleep standing up and they are quite difficult to sneak up on, making that rather a 'moo point', dear fellow."

"Besides which", the mare continued, "attempting to push a horse off it's feet, unless the animal is tranquilized, would be considered an act of aggression and a breach of the 'Human/Horse Protocol', agreed to when my kind first came to the assistance of your species."

Cricket made a high pitched squeak, chortling in cricketese.

"I'll ignore your earlier remarks, Wick, and point out only that yon rider, sleeping 'neath the aspens is a construct of your mind, what you expect to see, as you recall her. Your memory of her is not entirely accurate and there are many inconsistencies. As for my departing speed, it was quite accurate. I have participated in barrel racing and been clocked. Objects viewed from a departing angle are quite hard to determine the speed thereof, enough said. Not that I think you are an untruthful human, merely that your theories do not remain constant when you start adding an extra dimension or few.

Now, in regards to your friend the cricket; the wardrobe challenged one has been using the plaids and stripes gig to distract you from the fact that he has been travelling between venues during the whole of your conversation. He is very quick and likely counting on the fact that individuals among his species look quite similar and that with the wardrobe as a constant, even one as astute as yourself, might not notice.

These minor differences aside, I find both yourself and the multi-dimensional cricket quite good company, so let us continue in this vein. I'm not here to question anything, merely to observe and enjoy. By the way, the alfalfa and cress were very thoughtful. And here's an inside tip. My companion, when next I bring her, likes Australian Shiraz or a good Cabernet. Does yonder pub have an off-sales policy? Pull that out of your hat and you'll have her thinking you're a mind reader.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll continue my rest. Although horses appear to be sound asleep, we can only achieve REM sleep when we are laying down, and we seldom lay flat unless we feel secure, with one of our kind or a trusted species acting as sentinel. So no more thoughts of 'cow tipping', Wick, agreed?"

[austintorn@aol.com]

“So, Crick, what do you think about time travel?”

“Impossible.”

“How come?”

“No one ever came back here from all of the infinite future.”

“If they did, we would probably lock them up.”

“Oh, poor Robert!”

“His work life already has a lock on him.”

“They lay off people and give their work to those remaining.”

“What does visible light do for us?”

“We sense its waves, like anything else that we can sense, and represent it in our brains as brightness, reflection and luminosity and all that let’s us ‘see’.”

“It’s bright within our dark heads?”

“Yes, that’s part of our simulation model of the waves and stuff of reality that is ‘out there’”

“That’s remarkable. Guess all things sensed only come to real life within our heads.”

“It’s a model, but it is hopefully a fair representation of what comes into it.”

“Is light alive and how does it go on forever?”

“Well, yes it’s alive in the sense of having a life of its own in the way that we described its propagation of self-renewal by electric/magnetic/electric/magnetic generation. The field actually creates a photon, destroys the photon, creates a new one, etc. It’s amazing!”

“It can indeed travel on its own to anyplace near or far.”

“It waves to us as it goes by.”

“What’s Mother Nature’s final glorious word these days?”

“It’s the beautiful but boringly named ‘standard model’.”

“Yes, it’s probably the most amazing accomplishment in history and it does just about everything for us and is likely very useful for billions of years. What should we call it?”

“We could call it ‘Queen Mother of All Reality’ and stand up and bow whenever we refer to it.”

“God save the Queen!”

(You all must stand up and bow now.)

(I am watching via a web cam.)

[austintorn@aol.com]

“Hi Wick,” said Crick, “I borrowed the proton/neutron spin rate from Jimbo’s Fluid Energy Theory, in which liquid energy forms whirlpools when two opposing current pass, this taking even millions or billions of years to amount to a single neutron or proton, which then solidifies and throws off the photon as excess energy that is continuously collecting but is unusable by the already solidified particle. Even hurricanes and galaxies are whirlpools.”

“This theory has no standard model, but I’m intrigued. What is the spin rate?”

“Well, the highest known electromagnetic wave frequency is 10**23 waves per second, so I’m taking this as the spin rate of 10**23 revolutions per second (rps). So, you can do the math, but taking the diameter of a spherical neutron to be .954x10**-15 meters, as known, the surface speed of the spinning neuron hen comes out to be exactly c! I was so amazed. All this sounded good as a reason for the speed of light.”

“I wonder what the real reason is?”

“Who the heck knows these kind of things! Do they matter?”

“Mass matters. And, hey, I thought you were interested in science.”

“Ha-ha. And mass even comes from stuff with nearly no mass. Going on dates has become more important to me than science.”

“Yes, for mass need not be conserved, but only energy, charge and momentum.”

“Who makes these laws?”

“The Queen Mother.” (all stand and bow)

“How could a law be forever defined as a law without even having been defined?”

“Maybe there was a lawless, formless, timeless.”

“Well, who cares, for I have a great girlfriend now. Although she’s blind, we only go about in the dark anyway, which actually gives her an advantage, for she’s used to not seeing anything. I guide her through twilight dawn and dusk and when the moon is out; otherwise she guides me through the darkness.”

“That’s cool.”

“Anyway, we have other senses.”

“What are they?”

“I don’t know—because Austin was lazy and didn’t look them up yet.”

“So what’s your girlfriend like?”

“Me.”

“You know what I mean.”

“She’s educated, lively, fun, inquisitive, creative, spontaneous, beautiful, a good planner, sexy and sings nice chirps.”

“Getting married?”

“No, for we both agreed that then we might stop trying to impress and court each other. We are on a permanent honeymoon.”

“Then no one could ever say anything that wouldn’t be appropriate on a honeymoon.”

“You got it.”

“Is this relationship better than science and figuring out our essence?”

“Yes, existence must always take precedence over essence, for we are thrust into life and must deal with it. Essence can’t even be known, so who cares!”

“Ain’t that kind of the only truth, but it’s a fun hobby and you said that learning is good.”

“So I’m learning about my girlfriend now, and Google will tell me all the science answers.”

“Is the celebration of a wonderful relationship as the icing on a delicious cake more satisfying than intellectual pursuits?”

“Yes.”

“OK, I’ll try to pique your interest in science again. What’s dark energy and dark matter?”

“They’re not dark, they’re transparent.”

“Then how do we know they’re there?”

“Circumstantial evidence. We see the gravitational influence.”

“What’s dark energy specifically?”

“No one knows a dang thing about that, not even Google. I was hoping you wouldn’t ask.”

“Dark energy is everywhere; whereas dark matter is a very large halo about galaxies.”

“Oh, so let’s say that dark energy is a standard part of everything, being 25% of all mass. Done.”

“That takes care of that one. What’s dark matter?”

“It’s a really large halo with a slight impurity in it called a galaxy.”

“Hey, good reversal. Actually, that’s kind of true as there is so much dark matter.”

“70% of all mass is dark matter.”

“Perhaps it is the lightest particle, one undiscovered as yet.”

“Or the darkest, ha-ha, but, yes, why not. Finished.”

“So we solved that one.”

“Any really hard questions? Those were too easy.”

“What the heck are we doing here thrust into this existence?”

“Please, not that hard.”

“Why did the chicken cross the road?”

“Please, easier ones than that!”

“Consciousness?”

“Ayeeeeee. Too tough.”

“Why do squirrels run toward and under cars instead of away from them?”

“Impossible to answer! It makes quantum mechanics look easy by comparison!”

“How did astronauts land on the sun?”

“Ha, easy—they went at night.”

“How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?”

“None, unless you are Catholic.”

“How far does the needle move when playing a record album on a turntable? You can round it to the nearest mile or kilometer if you wish.”

“About 4 inches.”

“How many grooves are there on the record album?”

“Two, one on each side.”

“You’re sharp today.”

“Love does that.”

“So it is a good time to think science.”

“True.”

“What is the longest month?”

“October, if it has an extra hour added for daylight savings time.”

“What is the thirteenth month?

“Remember.”

“How many seconds are there in a year?”

“Thirteen, the second of every month.”

“Where do you find a no-legged dog?”

“Wherever you left him, the poor guy.”

“All this alertness comes from love?”

“Yes, it awakens every sense and brain cell.”

“What were two little animals doing cast adrift in a boat in the middle of the ocean?”

“They were two stinky skunks that were thrown off of the Ark.”

“How many animals of each species did Moses bring aboard the Ark?”

“Moses didn’t have an Ark, Noah did.”

“Was Noah’s wife named Yesah?”

“No, she was Joan of Arc.”

“Can you explain gravity?”

”The answer just got posted in the ‘Idea’ thread.”

“What happens after you die?”

“You are dead.”

“What else?”

“People note that you owed them money.”

“Could the Universe be God?”

“No, that is a distinction without a difference, such as the Universe is the Cosmos.”

“A rose is still a rose by any other name?”

“Yes, and I’m giving some roses to my girlfriend tonight.”

“Where are you two going?”

“There’s a great rotten tree where we can cuddle and rub our legs together.”

“Hey, you can’t say that stuff on ToeQuest.”

“It’s OK, that’s how we make those little chirps.”