Beloved Reader, Welcome. A book is an invitation, one you need not accept. Few things are more precious than time and fewer things more demanding of that infinite resource than a book. It is not an invitation blithely taken nor given. But it is one you can always excuse yourself from. This book is no different.
This isn’t to say you leave all your choices behind once you accept it. If you find something here that isn’t your preferred cuppa, by all means, pour it out and find a blend that matches your taste. There truly is something for everyone. Above all, this book was written for an audience of one. It is not a novel. Nor is it a collection of short stories, poetry, essays, or (god forbid) a textbook.
It is all of these things, which means it is none of these things. Exactly as I intended.
Intentions are very important and I believe an author ought to make their intention known. This is what genres are for.
This book is intended to be read like any other. It has a beginning, a middle, and an end. But the choice is up to you. You can start here, as I intend, and work your way backwards until you reach December 6, 2016, the end of my book. Or you can go to December 6, 2016 and read forwards in time until you come back here, to the end of my book, also as I intended.
Or, you could print all these pages out, throw them in the air and then recollect them in haphazard order and read it that way. I doubt many will choose this. But this is the way life often presents itself. It’s rarely easy for anyone.
So what is the cost of this book? In terms of money, none at all. It took me six years to the day to finish this book and I will not accept a penny for it. I refuse to sell my birthright for a mess of pottage. Mark Twain said anyone who writes for a reason other than money is a fool. He’s right. And wrong. What he should have said is, anyone who writes for a reason other than payment is a fool. TANSTAFL (there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch, Mr. Heinlein whispers to me).
Money is not the only form of payment. I’ve already pointed out the first cost, time. The second form I ask for is a promise. I’m not going to say what that is right now, if you read long enough, you’ll know it when you see it. But again, the choice is for you to make, a promise forced under exchange is no promise at all. The promise I’ll ask for is nothing less than one I made myself.
What is my intention here? Always beware when someone offers you something without asking for money.
This book is a feather. It’s a bowl of pudding.
And I give it to you.
Good luck and I wish you well now and in the future.
Consciousness, n.; The collar around your neck connected to the leash in your hand. In the other? A carrot and stick, best when used traditionally. Hero’s Dictionary
Not all traditions are odious. One of my favorites is the author’s gratitude to those in their life who helped them accomplish their work.
But I get ahead of myself, which I often do.
My name is Daniel Hero. Yes, that’s my real name and has been since the age of five. I live in Oregon with my wife, Dr. Hero (I promise we’re not looking for a contract from Marvel studios) and our dog Kepler. We have one son. Needless to say, which therefore I must, without their love and support what I have done both here and elsewhere would not have been possible. Thank you, I know you both realize how very much I love you.
The problem with lists is that they tend to grow exponentially. If I started to list everyone who deserves the same amount of gratitude and love, well – let’s just say, the impossibility of that task is one of the reasons I wrote this book.
Yet. Yet, there are some notable thanks I feel compelled to single out.
First is to Rambler, thank you for being the hand that helped me through my own garden wall precisely when I needed it. I owe you a debt I can never repay, which means I certainly will. Next is to my teachers, both intended and not. It is no stretch to say I learned at least as much from unintended teachers than any I found at the head of a class or between the pages of a book. Few spring fully formed from their own brow but it is the job of the teacher to try to pass on the knack. To my parents, my first teachers: Thank you for the self sacrifice that is my life. Finally, to the well wishers in my life, without you, all this is meaningless.
Daniel Hero Expert Generalist-Aristotelian man of leisure Master of Arts in Pedagogy, George Fox University
Is it getting better? Or do you feel the same? Will it make it easier on you now? You got someone to blame
You say, one love, one life When it’s one need in the night One love, we get to share it Leaves you baby if you don’t care for it
Did I disappoint you? Or leave a bad taste in your mouth? You act like you never had love And you want me to go without
Well it’s too late tonight To drag the past out into the light We’re one but we’re not the same We get to carry each other, carry each other One!
Have you come here for forgiveness? Have you come to raise the dead? Have you come here to play Jesus? To the lepers in your head
Did I ask too much? More than a lot You gave me nothin’ now it’s all I got We’re one but we’re not the same Well we hurt each other then we do it again
You say love is a temple, love a higher law Love is a temple, love the higher law You ask me to enter but then you make me crawl And I can’t be holdin’ on to what you got When all you got is hurt
One love, one blood One life, you got to do what you should One life, with each other Sisters, brothers
One life but we’re not the same We get to carry each other, carry each other One One
Do what you want, be what you are
Do what you want girl, but be what you are There ain’t no right or wrong way Just a play from the heart It ain’t a sign of weakness to give yourself away Because the strong give up and move on While the weak, the weak give up and stay
So do what you wanna do What you wanna do What you wanna do What you wanna do But be what you are Be what you are
Do what you wanna do What you wanna do What you wanna do What you wanna do But be what you are Be what you are
Do you believe in hot cars Leather bars, or movie stars Is that what’s real? Payin’ dues, in earth shoes, Chicago blues Is that how you feel? You can change You can change You can change You can change But you can’t conceal What’s deep inside you It’s your game, it’s your deal It’s your game, it’s your deal
Do what you wanna do What you wanna do What you wanna do What you wanna do But be what you are Be what you are
Hall and Oates, Bigger than both of us
Maybe
Maybe I can love you Maybe be your friend Maybe I can help you, your troubles to mend Maybe sing a song for you That’s what I know best to do Anything you want me to I’ll be Anything you want me to I’ll be
Maybe we’ll be strangers Till our dying day Maybe then we’ll understand what we had to say Maybe when we’ve closed the door On all that’s negative in thought Anyway you want it, it can be Anyway you want it, it can be
Lift your head now Tears you’ve shed Are all ignored
Take a hand and make a stand Against all wars
Are you dreaming Or just scheming, for reward
Life’s illusions are misleading It’s so good to be here breathing
Anyway you want it, it can be Anyway you want it, it can be
Lift your head now Tears you’ve shed Are all ignored
Take a hand and make a stand Against all wars
Are you dreaming Or just scheming, for reward
Life’s illusions are misleading It’s so good to be here breathing
Maybe I can love you Maybe be your friend Maybe I can help you, your troubles to mend Maybe sing a song for you That’s what I know best to do
Anything you want me to I’ll be Anything you want me to I’ll be
Dave Mason
Your Bright Baby Blues
I’m sitting down by the highway Down by that highway side Everybody’s going somewhere Riding just as fast as they can ride
I guess they’ve got a lot to do Before they can rest assured Their lives are justified Pray to God for me baby He can let me slide
‘Cause I’ve been up and down this highway Far as my eyes can see No matter how fast I run I can never seem to get away from me
No matter where I am I can’t help thinking I’m just a day away From where I want to be Now I’m running home, baby Like a river to the sea
Baby, if you can see me Out across this wilderness There’s just one thing I was hoping you might guess Baby you can free me All in the power of your sweet tenderness Yeah (yeah)
Well, I can see it in your eyes You’ve got those bright baby blues You don’t see what you’ve got to gain But you don’t like to lose
You watch yourself from the sidelines Like your life is a game you don’t mind playing To keep yourself amused I don’t mean to be cruel, baby But you’re looking confused
Baby if you can hear me Turn down your radio There’s just one thing I want you to know When you’ve been near me I’ve felt the love stirring in my soul Yeah (yeah) Yes I have
It’s so hard to come by That feeling of peace This friend of mine said: “Close your eyes, and try a few of these”
I thought I was flying like a bird So far above my sorrow But when I looked down I was standing on my knees Now I need someone to help me Someone to help me please
Baby, if you need me Like I know I need you There’s just one thing I’ll ask you to do Take my hand and lead me To the hole in your garden wall And pull me through Jackson Brown, The Pretender
Shades of Scarlett Conquering
Out of the fire like Catholic saints Comes Scarlett and her deep complaint Mimicking tenderness she sees In sentimental movies A celluloid rider comes to town Cinematic lovers sway Plantations and sweeping ballroom gowns Take her breath away
Out in the wind in crinolines Chasing the ghosts of Gable and Flynn Through stand-in boys and extra players Magnolias hopeful in her auburn hair She comes from a school of southern charm She likes to have things her way Any man in the world holding out his arm Would soon be made to pay
Friends have told her not so proud Neighbors trying to sleep and yelling, “not so loud” Lovers in anger, block of ice Harder and harder just to be nice
Given in the night to dark dreams From the dark things she feels She covers her eyes in the x-rated scenes Running from the reels
Beauty and madness to be praised ‘Cause it is not easy to be brave To walk around in so much need To carry the weight of all that greed Dressed in stolen clothes she stands Cast iron and frail With her impossibly gentle hands And her blood-red fingernails
Out of the fire and still smoldering She says, “a woman must have everything” Shades of Scarlett conquering She says, “a woman must have everything”
Joni Mitchell, The Hissing of Summer Lawns
Take me to the Future
Hey I was walking down the street the other day You know when my head was aching And I heard some mother say she said I don’t know what’s wrong with all you kids today? And as the car hit her I said You’re too busy looking the other way I ain’t got no memory, I don’t feel no pain Take me to the future, there and back again There and back again I went to my sweet old baby gypsy lady She told me so she said I know the place where you is gonna go she said Some place across the ways and maybe do a show I said Thank you, merci, but I already know I ain’t got no memory, I don’t feel no pain Take me to the future, there and back again There and back again Too many busy people rushing down the street I said Their money shuffling to the hustling of their feet I said Well I just don’t dig it why these people never meet They got the movement, they just don’t got the beat I ain’t got no memory, I don’t feel no pain Take me to the future, there and back again There and back again I ain’t got feeling, I ain’t got no past Take me to the future, tie me to the mast (repeat) Sad Cafe, Facades
Dreamer
Dreamer, you know you are a dreamer Well can you put your hands in your head, oh no! I said dreamer, you’re nothing but a dreamer Well can you put your hands in your head, oh no! I said “far out, what a day, a year, a life it is!” You know, well you know, you had it comin’ to you Now, there’s not a lot I can do
Dreamer, you stupid little dreamer So now you put your head in your hands, oh no
I said, “far out, what a day, a year, a life it is!” You know, well you know, you had it comin’ to you Now, there’s not a lot I can do
Work it out someday Oh ma, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma
(If I could see something) you can see anything you want, boy (If I could be someone) you can be anyone, celebrate, boy
(If I can do something) you can do something (If I could do anything) but can you do something out of this world?
Take a dream on a sunday Take a life, take a holiday Take a lie, take a dreamer Dream, dream, dream, dream, dream, dream, dream, dream along Dreamer, dream and dream along C’mon and dream, dream along (come along) (C’mon and dream, dream along)
(C’mon and dream, dream along) na na na na na na na na Dreamer, you know you are a dreamer (c’mon and dream and dream along) Can you put your hands in your head, oh no! (c’mon and dream and dream along) I said dreamer, you’re nothing but a dreamer (c’mon and dream and dream along) Can you put your hands in your head, oh no! (oh, come on, oh, come on) Oh no
Supertramp, Crime of the century
Bargain
I’d gladly lose me to find you I’d gladly give up all I had To find you I’d suffer anything and be glad
I’d pay any price just to get you I’d work all my life and I will To win you I’d stand naked, stoned, and stabbed
I’d call that a bargain The best I ever had The best I ever had
I’d gladly lose me to find you I’d gladly give up all I got To catch you I’m gonna run and never stop
I’d pay any price just to win you Surrender my good life for bad To find you I’m gonna drown an unsung man
I’d call that a bargain The best I ever had The best I ever had
I sit looking ’round I look at my face in the mirror I know I’m worth nothing without you In life one and one don’t make two One and one make one And I’m looking for that free ride to me I’m looking for you
I’d gladly lose me to find you I’d gladly give up all I got To catch you I’m gonna run and never stop
I’d pay any price just to win you Surrender my good life for bad To find you I’m gonna drown an unsung man
I’d call that a bargain The best I ever had The best I ever had
Who, Who’s Next
White Rabbit
One pill makes you larger And one pill makes you small And the ones that mother gives you Don’t do anything at all Go ask Alice When she’s ten feet tall
And if you go chasing rabbits And you know you’re going to fall Tell ’em a hookah-smoking caterpillar Has given you the call Call Alice When she was just small
When the men on the chessboard Get up and tell you where to go And you’ve just had some kind of mushroom And your mind is moving low Go ask Alice I think she’ll know
When logic and proportion Have fallen sloppy dead And the White Knight is talking backwards And the Red Queen’s off with her head Remember what the dormouse said Feed your head Feed your head
Jefferson Airplane, Surrealistic Pillow
Logic,n: A frequentative flutter of fitful flight forestalling the fateful fall. Hero’s Dictionary.
A man does not show his greatness by being at one extremity, but rather by touching both at once. Pascal
The genius of both Newton and Einstein was not essentially about physics. Or math. Or the nature of light. All of the understanding gained in these fields are a consequence of their genius, not its cause.
They both observed a universal truth about observation itself. In Newton’s case, he observed that not only does the Earth pull the apple to itself but the apple also pulls the Earth to itself. Or to put it another way, gravity is an essential property of matter, to have one is to have the other. Einstein made a similar observation when he explained why there is no such thing as a special observer, or place to stand, in the universe by pointing out that regardless of where you stand, that is the center. (No matter where you go, there you are.) This fact is why light has a speed limit.
To have time is to have space, to have matter is to have energy.
They each made an observation about the inseparable nature of the universe.
It is a universal observation about observation itself that addresses the problem and at the same time solves the Achilles heel of Aristotelian logic, that is to say, the law of the excluded middle.
Instead of denying the existence of paradox, or eliminating infinity, I contend existence is the manifestation of paradox.
Paradox is fundamentally an observational problem, not a logical one. Once one observes the function of paradox, then its form becomes apparent, and what has form has pattern, because form is pattern and pattern is form.
Put another way, Russell’s paradox is re-solved by stating: the set of all sets is distinct by definition yet inseparable by nature. The result is a paradox. It is for this reason Russell abandoned his work on the unification of logic and mathematics.
I submit he succeeded, saw the obvious solution and immediately discounted it because of its obvious nature. Ironically, he was right for the wrong reason and wrong for the right reason. A pattern develops.
Fittingly, the problem begins with Aristotle and ends there. Only to begin again. Also interestingly, for someone who championed the golden mean, he left it out of his logic.
Logic requires it.
Picture a three legged stool. It is nothing fancy. A flat wooden circle attached to three legs which form a tripod. Now flip it over so the seat rests on the ground and the legs are now pointing skyward. Grab the middle leg and swing it over your head three times. Now place it back as you found it, seat side down. Ok, you didn’t need to swing it over your head, I happen to like practical jokes (this is important, we’ll get back to it), the important thing happened when you grabbed the middle leg.
Why? Because you had no choice but to pick the middle leg. In order to keep the tripod a tripod, all the legs are middle legs, the act of choosing makes it the middle. The middle is necessary, to choose it is to define it.
The law of the excluded middle is both true and not true. Both true and not true. It has to be because accepting this law forces us to contend with paradoxes. Which Aristotelian logic contends cannot exist.
Yet it does.
Paradox is the only function which accomplishes this.
Let me tell it like a story…
Long ago in our what is to come, that which is distinct by definition yet inseparable by nature observed itself, how it was distinct yet inseparable because there was nothing to compare itself with except itself. The only thing which could observe this is itself. One truly is the loneliest number. So one divided. In an act of self destruction that is in fact self sacrifice (the difference being love, say the mystics and I). In the only way possible, the way essential to itself. Paradox is the essential nature which runs the universe and infinity is the time in which it will take to do so.
Not so long after all.
Every electron in the universe shuffled in every combination. The ultimate chaos bound to the ultimate law. Or you can say it the other way ’round.
Or you can just say “Let there be light.”
God is a vacuous position because every role is the role of god. This is what Spinoza said. What William Blake said. What Meister Eckhart said. What the Buddhists say. What the Hindu say. What the Taoist says. What the Native American says, and the atheist. They are all right. And they are all wrong. Or to put it this way, they are all as right as they are wrong. The village barber is the village.
The role is vacant because she only fills it one person at a time. Constantly. Everywhere. She is the actress that is also the audience, the stage, the lights in the rafters, the slime mold in the producer’s refrigerator (two roles defined by the same organism) as well as the vacuum rapidly expanding.
The ultimate purloined letter.
As soon as the bearded man sits in the chair, the clean shaven barber shaves him. The now shaved man takes the razor from the barber and watches him leave. He is now the village barber and he waits for the bearded man. To be shaved is to become the barber. It is the act of shaving that creates the village barber, not the person who holds the razor, it requires role and action to be unified and in that unification is definition.
God’s nose knows no other.
One divides by zero by being equal to everything.
Nothing multiplied/divided by one is equal to paradox/infinity.
Euclid’s fourth common notion states that which coincides is equal.
Time coincides with space. Matter coincides with energy. Paradox coincides with infinity. Time is infinite. The Earth pulls the apple and the apple pulls the Earth. There is no special place to stand because it is all special.
A period, a straight line, a pendulum, a wave, and a circle all share an essential nature – their ending is their beginning and their beginning is their ending. They all have different speeds, forms, means of representation, but this is the thing which connects them.
How does this relate to the aforementioned practical joke?
The universe is the role of god playing the most practical of jokes on herself. You will eventually be doused by the bucket you set up. You are the spark of your own flame.
Is.
Not.
Is.
Not.
Is.
Not…tick. Tock. Tick. Tock….
There is no such thing as an uninvolved observer.
Universe; n. 1.The box you cannot look into before jumping. 2. The box you cannot climb out of. Hero’s Dictionary
Life is a pattern of immense complexity of the energy of the whole universe.
