Page 24 - Vol. VI #2

When I worked for IBM, the corporate motto was “Think.” As I have grown older, I appreciate more and more the importance of “Thinking Longer and Harder.”
People, for example, want to write about what they consider important. Why would you want to write about something unimportant?
There was a time when I liked science fiction. Here I will not talk of science fiction.
I have thought a great deal about this. How do our minds, on a cellular level, decide something is important. When, how, and why do we decide something that we once thought was critical is now irrelevant? Our worldview and what we think is important can change. In some sense, what we write today may reflect a different per- son than the person who writes even a short time ago. In this story, I only hope I indicate how long- ago thoughts of bees can influence my thoughts and writings today.
There was a time when I found insects and biol- ogy fascinating. Here bees and a dog are moved forward.
There was a time when I was interested in the stock market. I was not writing then and, after a long time, I concluded that I had only learned a lot of useless things. Now I am not so sure. Neverthe- less, I will not discuss the stock market.
There was a time when I was interested in the physical sciences, everything from the smallest atom to the vast universe. And beyond. What I write here is influenced by this time.
One strange thing about this story is I don’t think of it as having an end. We can always think more about any subject, look at it from a different angle. I would only like to reach a point where there is a logical pause. I am desperate to reach this logical pause. I fear that one day my reasons for wanting to write this story will disappear.
There was a very long time when I was inter- ested in business. The relationship between people and technology is complex and intrigu- ing. What I have written about people and the internet could make one a better salesman and financially more successful. Yet, I am only con-
Even if we are all unique, there may be common
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Pinky Swear
My writings are different. I pinky swear it. cerned here with what bees want to sell.
I will talk of many things, but here will limit my What is this small memoir segment about? What discussion to only two—uniqueness and bees. is its genre—fiction, non-fiction, creative writ-
I am unique. This is a source of pride to me—false
pride. You see, you are also unique. We are all
unique. None of us are perfectly normal. Maybe
I am wrong about this—the false pride part. Our
uniqueness is valuable, important, or, at least,
interesting. Why shouldn’t we all be proud of our
uniqueness? What I write here is about the power of thought.
A lifetime of experiences gives us our strengths and weaknesses. Some of my strengths may help you. Some of your strengths may help me.
Einstein imagined what it would be like if he were riding a beam of light. This thought experi- ment lead to the theory of relativity. Einstein changed the world. Maybe all of us are capable of even more sophisticated, in-depth, revolutionary thought experiments. This story seeks to encour- age this kind of thinking.
ing, mystery, or some strange mixture? I think
of it as primarily non-fiction, but speculative. I have tried to think “outside the box” while keep- ing at least one foot in the box. My foot is look- ing around our universe, searching for support for my unusual thoughts.
mike stewart