E39 There Is Nothing You Can Do, So Make Every Effort

E40 Fall In Love With Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle

Werner Heisenberg was deeply involved with the beginning of quantum mechanics. He focused on what he could observe about electrons, rather than use old pictures of electrons “orbiting” the nucleus of an atom. When he was only 23, he developed matrix mechanics. What is Heisenberg’s Uncertainly Principle? It essentially states there are pairs of properties, (for example position and momentum,) that cannot both be known with certainty at the same time. Knowing more about one property means you know less about the other. At one time, people thought, “Hey! If we knew the position and momentum of every particle in the universe, we could make accurate predictions about exactly how the universe will unfold. It would be just like predicting where a billiard ball would go.” You can see this very human desire to predict take on new force as AI develops. I don’t think the Uncertainty Principle has really sunk into our culture at large. Most people don’t feel comfortable recognizing the depth of uncertainty in life. But uncertainty is a property of reality itself. Since uncertainty is what we are made of, let’s fall in love with it. Visit the podcast website at tencrutches.link [http://tencrutches.link/] to download the free ebook Ten Crutches For Walking In The Present. Show notes are here. [https://tencrutches.link/archive/]

E39 There Is Nothing You Can Do, So Make Every Effort

A riff based on the following: 1) My subjectivity appears separated from the unity of the universe. This can feel like a prison or a trap or comfortable cocoon or anything in between. Any effort I make to “merge with the universe” is simply more “me” being “me.” No idea or plan can work, since ideas and plans only reinforce the separated subjectivity I wish to leave. One simple fact to accept: there is nothing I can do. 2) I can and must make every effort to escape the trap of being separate. Either thought, on it’s own, leads to feeling helpless and hopeless. You either give up or bang your head against a wall. This episode attempts to place the two statements together in a larger picture. Visit the podcast website at tencrutches.link [http://tencrutches.link/] to download the free ebook Ten Crutches For Walking In The Present. Show notes are here. [https://tencrutches.link/archive/]

E38 Support The Copernican Revolution!

The Copernican Revolution uprooted the idea that a non-moving Earth was at the center of the universe. Instead, it placed a non-moving Sun at the center of the universe. But even our galaxy isn’t at the center of anything. It’s zipping along thru space just like countless other galaxies. And just like humans considered the Earth to be at the center, most of us think and feel and act as if we are at the center. At the center of what? Of life itself? Of what’s important? We can each undergo a Copernican Revolution of the self. We can realize it does not make sense to think of ourselves at the center of anything, except our current frame of reference. The Copernican Revolution must continue! Support the Copernican Revolution! Visit the podcast website at tencrutches.link [http://tencrutches.link/] to download the free ebook Ten Crutches For Walking In The Present. Show notes are here. [https://tencrutches.link/archive/]

E37 Giving Up The News

Many people keep up with the news automatically. It’s just an accepted part of our culture that you will know “what’s going on.” And, of course, there are good reasons to be aware of important current events. But there is also a harm involved in “keeping up with the news” mindlessly. It’s just not good for a human nervous system to take on that much stress. I think it is well worth considering getting off the news entirely, or at least taking regular breaks. Assess what you need (and what you don’t). Then act accordingly. Visit the podcast website at tencrutches.link [http://tencrutches.link/] to download the free ebook Ten Crutches For Walking In The Present. Show notes are here. [https://tencrutches.link/archive/]

E36 We Can't Help Ourselves = We Must Help Ourselves

A riff on, well, just what the title says. We do not seem to be able to stop ourselves, as a whole species, from ignoring strong evidence of being needlessly destructive. We can’t even stop long enough to genuinely evaluate risk. We are helpless in the face of our greed and aggression. We have not developed any way to work together, as a species, with all of us caring for all of us. But somehow we must. Visit the podcast website at tencrutches.link [http://tencrutches.link/] to download the free ebook Ten Crutches For Walking In The Present. Show notes are here. [https://tencrutches.link/archive/]