On Second Thought

by H.D. Weikle

I’ve been thinking a lot about rebirth lately. I suppose that comes with age, it’s been so long since my birth I hardly recall anything of that time.

Being born is something one should only experience once I guess, but again, so near now to the end of my sojourn on this Earth, I’m considering the advantages of that old saw,”If I just had it to do all over again?” 

Oh, that’s right, you don’t know the possibilities available to us these days being from the outer systems and all. Here on old Earth scientists and engineers having given us so many new technologies in the last three centuries since the final war had literally they ran out of options for innovation and new discovery so they turned their massive R and D resources to not merely improving the quality of life but adding to life expectancy. I got to the point that living past the century mark was now no longer remarkable. One hundred-twenty became routine even rather boring. One-hundred-fifty was common even one-hundred eighty or ninety. Hell even my sweet OLD grams turned a hundred ninety-eight just last summer…she’s considering marrying for a fourth time and maybe, this year we’ll be able to get her to stop driving.

That’s the problem however, science can extend life now perhaps indefinitely but they can’t fundamentally improve the quality of life. Who wants to go on living and simply repeating the same old routine of growing up, mating, parenting, working, retiring and dying…well maybe not dying. But, then what do you do. I don’t know about you but becoming famous was never in my cards and as for adventure, I’m more the ‘armchair’ type than the out there, machete in hand, beating a new trail through the wilderness type, I’d rather sit this one out, thanks.

So, anyway, back to the subject at hand.

Recently scientists stumbled upon something curious about the nature of everything, it’s not linear. That is to say, and I’m no scientist, but time apparently travels in multi-directions including not just forward and backward but, and this is where I admit, I should have paid more attention in physics class, sideways. I suppose that includes up and down and even just maybe it doesn’t move at all but remains frozen. Well, that’s just me speculating out of ignorance. Truth is that scientists actually discovered that time can move both forward and backward and the result makes no difference in the nature of the universe, unless, and that’s always the caveat, unless your existence, your life needs direction and it always does. 

Direction is a function of consciousness which is in turn an attribute of life. Everything in the universe has structure of some kind, a rock , a planet , a gas cloud, an animal, structure is both necessary and enabling that is we know what you are by what you appear to be. Someone once said, and I quote, ‘I think therefore I am.' Not, ‘I am therefore I am.’ Consciousness is life and consciousness it turns out works just as well going forward as backward. 

So, once science stumbled upon that given, I think it’s called a paradox. It was an easy swim to the conclusion that living things could exist in a two directional time stream which is pretty much the environment we have always lived in, the universe isn’t endless it’s timeless…same thing right?

 

The next step was to do something with that information and since immortality was likely not going to be everybody’s cup of tea they reasoned why not offer rebirth as an option. Not death and rebirth, just rebirth. Why not spend ones’s life romping in fields of carefree time abandonment? Be a star, or be a bum, try being an ax-murderer or if that’s too messy, be a victim. Get rich, marry a sweet something or other and raise a family or join and expedition to nowhere, you can always jump on a return time track and end up where you began, it’s all good.  So I’ve decided to sign up for the eternity transport. I’m off to the ‘Deployment Center’ and grab the first out of time track going anywhere, I don’t care. I’ll be king of the road, master of my own universe and second wheel to no one. Lookout Time Traveller, here I come. 

So friend, I’ll see you around…but not if I see you first.