Sunday, November 25, 2012

Time. free will and the stuff we are bound to

I don't remember if I've posted it here but I've been thinking a lot about time.
Free will and time.
Past, future, present and time.
When I think of historic preservation I do think of the future, along the lines that history is not done, and space is limited. To preserve a square block for the celebration of something that happened in 1894 or 1945 or 1966, is to say no (until politics, natural disasters or acts of god change it) to other options for the next 10, 100 or 200 years or more.
How free are future generations to say, "No Thanks" to a 'gift' presented in the form of preserving an event that may have 0 relevance to the people of the future, or fiscal burdens masked as trinkets for the people of the present?
I think of our G-d existing outside of time, unbound by it, as he exists outside of our space. He, I believe, exists in eternity.  So I wonder when he looks on our present, is it really THE present or another spot in time? If our present isn't THE present, then he'd know our future, which is just someone's past. He knows where our vices and virtues will take us, and which sins will snag us.
I haven't taking the divine thought too far as it wanders way too close to Predestination. I have been thinking a lot about where is THE present and does a present really exist. Dealing with history and historic documents, the people of our past act as if they are existing in a present. Who is to say we are not the same?
If we were to go to our past who are we to say that Dewey won't defeat Truman? But we can't go into the past, nor the future. Someone in the far future may know what's in my nearish future, but can't warn me, nor can they impact the decisions I make which may be helpful or harmful to that future person or myself. They, like myself, are stuck in their present.
That future person maybe aware that I will do X in 2013 or 2015, and now in my present I am free to do X or Y, even though the people of the future know I will do X. I believe Y is an option and might consider it so right up until the point I change my mind. Dewey still can win the presidency, it is an option, right up until all the votes are counted.

Tuesday, November 06, 2012

Blissful ignorance

We have avoided the news since waking up this morning.
We were only exposed to about 5 seconds of news while trying to see if TMZ* was on.
We voted, had dinner, then watched a DVD. Now we are going to bed.
Tomorrow NPR will tell us the outcome and thankfully this will (hopefully) be over and done.


*TMZ in one way endangers our souls, but on the other hand it allows us to know about people we could care less about without having to watch their mind numbing soul destroying shows. We know 'of' the Jersey Shore, but we don't 'know' Jersey Shore.