Pioneer, our immortality

Say hello to the piece of art - the poem, the story, the epic of us - that will last the longest of any piece of art. In fact, it's likely to last far longer than humanity itself. The Pioneer Plaque, conceived and implemented by Carl Sagan and Frank Drake (of the famous Drake Equation:

It looks wicked complicated, doesn't it? But it's not really - look it up. This is not the place for equations!).

Anyways, look:

The plaque is made of solid gold, and was mounted on the inside of Pioneer's legs, in order to protect it from the solar wind and space dust. For reals - it's abrasive! Anything is, really, over millions of years.

There's the story, by the way. Designed to relay as much information about humanity and Earth as possible in such a small space. Also to note - the size of the spacecraft on the right is proportional to the size of the naked humans.

Imagine! Can you imagine NASA trying to send an image of naked people to space today? Ah, how we've progressed. Anywho:

Mr. Sagan with the actual plaque, in front of Boston City Hall, beautiful monstrosity that it is. I used to smoke cigarettes to the way back right there, and I've previously posted this picture:

This wondrous display of FREEDOM! takes place on the right of City Hall above, and that's the Old State Building at the end of this corridor, which, hilariously, was the scene of the BOSTON MASSACRE, featuring the wonderfully named Crispus Attucks - the first "martyr" of the Revolution. Ironic, right?

Anyways, now that I type this all up - nicely, I think :) - I realize I might have done a similar post many, many years ago. And while I certainly strive not to repeat any pictures, ever, unless for effect, in this case, what the heck! Behold the glory that is dialectic free association. Man.

a poem eternal

Here's good old Carl holding what will most likely be one of the longest lasting artifacts of humanity. This plaque was attached to the spaceship Pioneer, currently heading towards the star Aldeberan. We lost contact with the tiny ambassador in 2003, and so now she's destined to silently float forever, unless there's an incredible stroke of bad luck (like .0001% chance). We're talking hundreds of millions of years, flying black out into the deep darkness.


As an example of what makes Carl the man, he and some fellows put together this plaque made of pure gold, which tells a little story about mankind. Here:

It is of course highly, highly unlikely (like a .0000001% chance) that anyone(thing?) will ever read this - that would assume aliens, our some futuristic, peace loving human explorers of the far distant future. But does that matter? It's a wonderful expression of the human spirit, of awe and wonder, dedication and curiosity. It's what makes us human.

For all our toil and grandeur here and in the days to come, it's far more likely all life will be wiped out on Earth than anything will ever happen to this plaque. All kinds of bad things could happen easily enough and, poof! All gone. But this golden plaque is safe as the safest house you ever knew. And thus, a poem eternal, floating in empty space, waiting for SOMEONE! to show up to the reading, forever...

Also, Boston City Hall - pretty futuristic on the outside. You'll be dissuaded of the notion, however, if you are ever unfortunate enough to visit an office inside.

The Object of Worship is Irrelevant

This is the Hoba Meteorite in Namibia. It's estimated to weigh about 66 tons, and is the single largest known meteorite in the world. It was discovered by a farmer around 1915, was excavated, and sat in a field for a while. Only in 1987 did this theater get built to display it.

Which brings me to my point (maybe!). Worship, in one form or another. I recently heard a very interesting theory about humanity's invention of God, or the Afterlife. To wit: When whatever monkeyman got smart enough to conceive of his own mortality, this produced an existential/neurological crisis. If you think about it, this ability - to understand one's own mortality - is one of the key separations between humanity and all other animals. This understanding produced enormous anxiety and was probably, in the short term, highly detrimental to whomever conceived of it.

But quite quickly thereafter, another idea was conceived: The Eternal. Something that does not end, does not die. This conception was the antidote to the idea of one's own mortality - that it is possible to go on, forever. Soon enough this concept developed into all kinds of different forms - Gods, Heavens, Hells, etc. But the key, and they key to all worship, all spirituality, is the focus on the eternal. And this focus is essentially the brain's protection against the very real and tangible concept of death.

So, worship/spirituality = focus on the Eternal.


And to end, I give you, the Universe - all the eternities you could ever conceive of, and so much more. 


So while the specific object of worship is irrelevant (in that it could be anything as long as it evokes the Eternal), there's no doubt some objects of worship are more "worthy" than others. Christ on a Cross? Rather ludicrous. A meteorite? Getting closer!


If you're ever in Namibia, check it out!