Questions from 2000

I originally wrote these questions in 2000. The inspiration for these questions came from the quote:

"Ultimately, the entire universe (with all its particles, including those constituting human beings, their laboratories, observing instruments, etc.) has to be understood as a single undivided whole, in which analysis into separately and independently existent parts has no fundamental status." (Synchronicity, Alan Combs and Mark Holland, (c) 1996, p. 12)

I am posting them here because I feel they share a similar sentiment to my current reflection on Leadership and the path I am on. It is amazing to see how we always loop back to ponder the same things.

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If we are all an interconnected "being", then analysis of the self shouldn't be our sole concern. In fact, it really shouldn't be our concern. And what impact does this have on the concept of free will? If we are to have choice, that means we are independent of each other. And yet with this argument we are clearly not independent but interdependent.

Conversely, free will does not negate that my choice has a direct impact on someone or something else. In fact, it may have a huge impact on the world as a whole, on the universe as a whole.

Take a look at the themes explored in His Dark Materials trilogy by Phillip Pullman (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass). Lyra's decisions, no matter how small they were, had a direct influence on the larger universe she was not originally aware of. Similarly, Neo's choices in The Matrix Trilogy also have larger implications throughout the world of both machines and the matrix. In the end of both stories, the prevailing triumphant theme is "love can overcome". What does that really mean? Can love overcome everything else? If it can, what is love?

Certainly it has to be more than just an emotion. It has to be some force that is larger than anything experienced by one person. If it is that large, is it the unifying particle that runs through everything? What does that really mean? What impact does that have on philosophy, physics, biology, religion, the universe?

Can love even be defined? What role does war and corruption and politics play in the larger theme of love? Are there any answers? Or are there more questions that are unanswerable to the human mind? If they are unanswerable, is there a point in posing the questions? And why do we always look for the answers? Why do we want everything wrapped up in a bow?

Is wrapping things up in a bow a Western concept? Is this phenomena of wanting complete resolution unique to the Western experience and culture? In the aftermath of Christianity/Judaism/Islam, we have found ourselves looking at things in a very similar way we look at this page - black and white. Is this acceptable? Is there more we do not know and yet insist we do?