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What is the importance of space exploration in our society?
Space exploration itself is a modern concept, striving for the advancement of knowledge and the perpetuation of mankind’s mastering of nature. I believe that the human species as a whole is afraid of extinction, afraid of being forgotten, afraid of being insignificant. Humanity has an issue with the fact that it is hard to be certain about something you cannot see; this uncertainty breeds anxiety in the human consciousness, and thus space exploration is a way of alleviating such anxiety (such is the purpose, not the importance). Space exploration is valued by most as a means of pulling back the curtain, and perhaps finding something we can learn from. I believe this to be futile. I love the idea of space exploration, and the idea of navigating the space outside of our home planet, but ultimately, space exploration is escapism; a search for a way out. Not to mention that the “Space Race” was really just a PG gun show between nation states; space exploration is like leftovers from last century’s penchant for displays of brute force.
How do you create meaningful experience in your life?
I struggle to find meaning in life every day, and my typical avenue of pursuance is that of authenticity. I do “art” because I feel like the creative process is something to be valued (personally), and I live my life in a way that suits me because it is comfortable, but sometimes it all feels like a distraction from the ever apparent cynicism in today’s society. It is as if we know that nothing really matters, and now we are sort of running from that. The whole planet could be annihilated tomorrow, and nobody would miss you or remember your accomplishments; maybe some far off civilization would be missing out on some good entertainment, but that is all. I think that with society’s discarding of any true meaning in life, the only thing left to do is to indulge in hyperrealities and simulated perfection. Media offers an escape from one’s own problems and also a sense of pleasure, and perhaps that is how the contemporary world should function; as decadent orgy of hedonists doing what they would like, for life is short, and is more of a joke than a gift (both are enjoyable). Let us all laugh together as the world burns, it would be much more fun than bitching about it.
Do you think anything is absolute? If so, what?
Not really. Perhaps some physical parameters are “absolute” (the speed of light, the boiling temperature of water, the half-life of a uranium atom). I wish things could all be certain, like the lines on a piece of graph paper, with their constant length and distribution, but it just isn’t so. In contemporary life, chaos reigns supreme. Each and every person on this planet has some form of decision making power, and a list of options, which they choose according to their values and beliefs ( but even these intangibles are not absolute). I would like to think that perhaps an altruistic view of the world could be absolute, that people could do good for the sake of doing good and never not do good, but once again, good is subjective. At the current moment I’m in love with a girl who is also in love with me, but tomorrow she could meet her dream guy and leave me, and I could not blame her if she did. People change, things change, that is how the world works. I wish love was absolute, but that is just the selfish human I am abhorring the idea of being left with the short end of the stick. Fuck, this is getting depressing. Perhaps disappointment and sadness are absolute, and happiness and contentment are merely joy breaks from this everlasting state.
In your opinion does this photograph of a pumpkin:
- Reflect a profound reality (A picture of pumpkin is like the real thing)
- Mask and denature a profound reality (A picture of the pumpkin is like a shitty version of the real thing.)
- Mask the absence of a profound reality (the pumpkin was a lie.)
- Lose all connection to reality, becoming pure simulation (Pumpkins, as a natural phenomenon, are a lie and this picture I just handed you is just a napkin that I peed on.)
- All of the Above
Source: UNDERSTANDING JEAN BAUDRILLARD WITH PUMPKIN SPICE LATTES
This pumpkin… I hate this pumpkin. We call this this a pumpkin, but what is it really? A linguistic construct, another symptom of mankind’s need to define. The “pumpkin” is an easily recognized pattern of “orange” matter in a spherical form, that grows on a vine; but what is “orange”?; A mere term for visual stimuli that appear often in nature? What is a sphere?; a perfectly round geometrical object in three-dimensional space? What the fuck is a geometrical object? I mean we could get into some strange mathematics that can model what a sphere is, but to model is to describe, which is a qualitative exercise in terms of finding meaning. As you can see, seeking real meaning leads to endless streams of jargon, with each term further trying to quantify an idea. Replacing jargon with descriptive data is like replacing an Impressionist painting of a real-world place with a photo of a real-world place; The photo certainly has more detail, but who gives a fuck, it still relies on a finite visual vocabulary that is severely limited by our narrow sensory functions.
What is time? What is Macaroni Time?
Time is a song by Pink Floyd that I used to listen to when I got high. Time is what humans associate the passing of events with, and it may be tangible, or at least one may be able to escape the effects of time (aging being one of the observable effects). I’m sure you all have seen Interstellar, remember when Cooper and Amelia get back to Endurance and Romilly is like, 20-something years older, yet they have aged by a few hours? Such is an effect of time dilation, which involves the bending of spacetime by gravity (as you can see, I am not a physicist). Time is something that is inherently present with the passing of each miniscule moment in life, but I’m not sure why. Some say the time is is less like a line, and more like a circle, but I’ve never actually had to argue about that, and I intend on keeping it that way.
Macaroni Time is a song by Chief Keef. Macaroni Time also sounds like something one would shout excitedly after being served a bowl of pasta. Macaroni Time may be a term in opposition to “hard time”, referring to whimsical prison sentence, as opposed to the seriousness of the latter. The quanta of time, if there is such a thing, may be like bits of spaghetti and ziti, rigid until cooked; maybe gravity is the boiling pot of water.
The following artwork was made by Bradley.
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