DX

501. It's hard to make a living as a professional victim.
502. We are defined more by what we leave behind than by what we take along.
503. The simpler the truth, the less bigots will understand it. Or to get Biblical about it, "And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not." John 1:5

D

491. English faces this same demise in a time more likely measured in years than in centuries.

492. It is likely that the next great advances for humanity will come from third world countries with minority languages. If these countries are forced to Anglicize their tongues in order to co-exist in the modern world, we may forfeit our chances for survival and for advancement.

493. There are some things that we can do to combat the stagnation of our culture The first suggestion is to teach bilingualism to our children. In fact, multi-lingualism would be better. Ideally, all humans would speak at least three languages. These would consist of a major popular tongue—essentially English, Russian, Chinese—a classical language—for example, German, French, Spanish, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Japanese—and an emerging language such as Farsi, Thai, Korean, Afrikaans, etc.

494. By schooling our people in this way, we impart to them the past, present and future. They will see the classical concepts that are engendered in our modern thinking and have a truly dynamic grammar with which to create.

495. Alternatively—possibly simultaneously—we should be inventing new grammars and new words. Words should be invented even before meanings are found for them. Then let people strive to define them with their experience.

496. Whole new structural systems for communication should be invented to encourage expanded thinking. If we can invent multi-dimensional forms of geometry; can create massive computer systems of ones and zeroes; can fly to the moon; then surely we can utilize new grammars to conceptualize new ideas and to experience new events, emotions, and thought processes—perhaps even new senses.

497. A god must never allow its limits to be tested, for once tested it is confined to those limits, unable to grow, and therefore doomed to die.

498. To state that a god must never allow its limits to be tested is to limit the god just as effectively as testing them; therefore it is the creation’s inherent responsibility not to test the limits of its creator/god. To do so defines the limits of its god, thereby making the god less than god.

499.  Boredom is a substitute for deciding what to do, for creating, inventing, and thinking. If all the bored people in our world decided to do something creative (anything!) we would colonize the universe before the end of the century.

500. Final paradox: Frenetic activity may equally be a substitute for or a cover for ones boredom with oneself, ones inability to create, or ones incapacity for love.

 

And for good measure:

501. It’s hard to make a decent living as a professional victim.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This ends The Book of Wesley—his five hundred (and one) points of philosophy. The original writing was completed September 16, 1985. The editor has attempted to transcribe and correct Wesley's manuscript without over-editing, though occasionally sentence structure was changed to clarify concepts. The book does not reflect changes in society or our world over the past thirty years. Sometimes, however, his concepts are frighteningly on target.

J. Wesley Allen was a character created in my first novel, Behind the Ivory Veil which has never been released, though hope still exists. I proudly finished the manuscript and gave it to a trusted friend to read. He handed it back (all 120 pages) and pronounced it "Freeze-dried. If you added a little hot water it would be a whole book." Walking home that night I started going over all the questions I would ask of this character if I were interviewing him. I clearly heard him say, "If you'd shut up, I'd tell you how the world is. The entirety of that which exists has being only because it has been remembered . . ." Thus began The Book of Wesley. It was the first time (but certainly not the last time) one of my characters took over a conversation in my head and basically ignored me from that point on. Perhaps one day, Wesley will speak again.

XD

481. The fact of absolute zero—a temperature below which nothing may fall—should be indication enough that real numbers are all positive. The negative is a convention which only shows direction or relativity but has no bearing on reality.

482. An interesting cycle of events has occurred in the development of language. The words, phrases, sounds arise from the need to communicate. They augment and are augmented by gestures. The combined effect is useful in communicating between individuals when both are present.

483. If through my voice alone I am unable to get my message across, I can repeat it with different words or sounds, more emphatic gestures, etc. But my success or failure to communicate is immediately apparent.

484. When the race has advanced to a point where other people are deemed to exist even when they are not seen, heard, smelled, tasted, or felt, they might be able to communicate with others at times when no immediate feedback is possible. In other words, by writing. We develop an elementary grammar in which certain shapes represent certain sounds; or the shapes may represent objects/actions/concepts that have no sound as yet. This first grammar is strictly symbolic.

485. The second grammar is logic. In this grammar, the order in which the symbols are placed adds to the meaning. “House cat” and “cat house” refer to widely different concepts. “Run home” and “home run” cannot be interchanged. At this point the grammar is formalized and conventions come into play.

486. Conventional grammar is also order oriented but varies from culture to culture. “I see the dog” and “The dog I see” mean the same thing. In English, however, the former would be acceptable while the latter is stilted and awkward.

487. Finally, to expand on a word-short grammar, multiple meanings may be assigned to the same symbol (word) which can only be understood from their context. “Charging a purchase,” “charging a battery,” “charging a criminal,” and “charging the enemy” each assign different meanings to the symbol “charging.” Within the grammar, it is our only outlet for expanded concepts.

488. Paradoxically, the grammar which was born from the need to communicate begins at this point to limit communication. As it limits our ability to communicate new ideas, concepts, or experiences, it also begins to limit our ability to experience things which lie outside the grammar.

489. The limitation of experience also limits creative expression for, if anything, new artistic creations precede and build upon the experience of the artist/thinker.

490. The result is a stagnation in society and an ultimate death to the language. Perhaps the most notable example of this is the displacement of Latin as a spoken language, even in the church where it proves inadequate to express or translate religious experience. With the death of that language came also the fall of the world’s greatest empire.

CDLXXX

471. The second phenomenon has to do with absorption/dilution/solution. The nature of light is such that darkness breaks it down and absorbs it into itself. This is the same thing that occurs when you drop a lump of sugar into a cup of coffee. It dissolves and permeates the entire cup.

472. It is important to notice that the second phenomenon changes the character of the darkness. Just as having sugar in a cup of coffee changes the character (taste) of the entire cup.

473. As in a true chemical solution, the light does not “settle out” of the darkness, but stays attached to it, traveling through the darkness more by osmosis than through a propulsion of any sort. Thus it permeates the entirety of darkness, constantly moving toward an area of lesser concentration.

474. Unlike light, we have learned methods of keeping and storing heat. Heat must be viewed from the same perspective as light. It displaces cold; ultimately it is absorbed by cold, changing the character of cold.

475. An important difference between heat and light is that we have defined and isolated absolute cold—that temperature below which nothing can fall. We have not evolved a measurement or definition of absolute dark.

476. We have also learned to introduce a source of heat into an insulated chamber and that chamber will stay heated long after the source of heat has been extinguished. We have not learned to insulate a chamber in such a way that it stays lit after we turn out the source of the light. This should be possible.

477. Finally, we have learned to extract heat from our surroundings and use it—the process of breaking down a solution into its basic elements. The heat pump will theoretically extract heat from its surroundings down to a temperature of absolute zero—in other words, until no heat is left in the coldness. There must also be a means of creating a light pump which can extract light from darkness down to a lumen of absolute dark.

478. It should also be noted that since light ‘travels’ by osmosis, the speed of light is dependent on the rate of absorption into darkness. Since the absorption process indicates a movement from an area of greater density into an area of lesser density, the speed of light would be greatest when introduced to the area of greatest darkness.

479. A match lit in absolute darkness would be absorbed so quickly that it might not be seen by the human eye at all from several yards away. A powerful beam of light might take millions of miles of darkness (light years) to be fully absorbed.

480. A “light sail” could be created with which one could direct the force of a light beam during its absorption, driving a vehicle forward through the darkness.

CDLXX

461. If you travel perpendicular to the current—in other words, orbit the center—you experience time at its absolute rate, no matter how fast or slow you go.

462. This makes possible the theory of currents and short-cuts through space. The experienced space sailor will tack before the winds; pull out of strong currents; perhaps take cross-currents through space. If one actually found a whirlpool of space, conceivably one could use it to come out at a time before one went in and not suffer from the classic contradiction of existence. Perhaps that is what black holes are all about.

463. Among the first subjects treated in this work (43-45) is that of multiple relationships—assumed to be on any mental or physical basis with which the parties are comfortable. This appears to be as Utopian a philosophy today as it was when H.G. Wells first wrote of it.

464. Such relationships may never be possible in some societies where monogamy is so deeply seated that the results are an immediate guilt response, insecurity, and jealousies. However, were such a situation to prove possible, it would still be possible only in relationships which are completely, mutually open and honest. The alternative, of course, is that it will work in non-relationships in which nothing done by either party makes a difference to the other.

465. Typically, the relationship in which this is tried and fails is one in which one or both partners fail or refuse to recognize that anything they do might have any effect on the other partner. Therefore, their own acts are viewed as isolated and unrelational.

466. Honesty is empowering. (180-181) If Diogenes were to complete his search for an honest person today, he would find a person empowered to affect his or her own destiny.

467. An adjunct to self-empowerment is an inescapable power to effect other people’s lives. The self-empowered person (completely honest) must recognize and accept his or her ability to affect other people’s lives and accept his or her responsibility for the effect. Failure to accept the ability and responsibility will ultimately undermine the honest and the power. Failure to accept is dishonest.

468. A careful distinction should be noted in that honesty generates power to, not power over.

469. We tend to view energy like heat and light as mystical phenomena. This comes from our rational senses. You can’t touch light. You can’t see heat. You can’t smell or taste or hear either one. You can’t put a quart of light in a bottle and store it for use later.

470. There may be an advantage in assuming a physical nature of heat and light. I’m suggesting that light does not travel. Instead, two other physical phenomena occur. First is displacement. If you drop a stone in a glass of water, you raise the level of the water. Similarly, if you introduce light into darkness, you raise the level of dark or push it outward, away from the source of light. This forces a compression of the darkness at the edges of its container or simply forces it ever outward if there is no container. Theory of the ever-expanding universe—the more light that is introduced, the further out the darkness is pushed. You can see this effect in a darkened room when a light is introduced. Objects near the light are illuminated, but those farther away stay dim. The darkness resides in the shadows.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Even after expounding on relationships, Wesley returns to Light and Darkness. One wonders if that is how he defined his relationships.

CDLX

451. Let’s try the whole concept of the speed of light and time over again in a different light, so to speak. As a child in school, I was told to imagine myself on the surface of the imaginary planet Alpha, orbiting the North Star. On Alpha, I am equipped with an extremely powerful telescope—so powerful, in fact, that I can actually see events happening on the mysterious planet, Earth.

452. Today, as I look through my telescope, I see Columbus landing in America. I see this, even though in “reality” the people on earth are preparing to land a man on the moon. The reason? It has taken 450 years for the light to travel from the earth to Alpha.

453. If you have difficulty picturing reflected light, imagine that Earth is a gigantic movie projector facing Alpha. The movie started hundreds of years ago, and on Alpha, you are watching it as the projected images reach you—450 years after they have occurred.

454. As far advanced as Alpha is, you now have a space ship that will travel near the speed of light. You load your incredible telescope in the spaceship and blast off toward Earth, following the direction of the projected movie. Consistent with the theory that an object must pass through all intervening points in order to travel between two points, you will intercept all the projected images from Earth that have been sent from the one you were seeing at blast-off (Columbus) to the one being projected when you land.

455. Since the trip has taken over 450 Earth years, you see everything from Columbus to your landing time, sometime in the 25^th century. You have encountered 900 years of history!

456. But what time has passed for you on this remarkable journey? You step out of your space ship, set up your telescope to receive the projected images from your home planet Alpha and watch events occurring just after your blast-off. By your reckoning, on Alpha almost no time has elapsed at all.

457. Now the tricky part. Having proved that you could travel the 450 light years to Earth in almost no time at all, you turn around and head back to Alpha. On your return voyage, you encounter everything that has been projected from the time that you left with that same super spead that you viewed Earth with as you approached it. Your ship returns nearly a millennium later to hits home base.

458. Reversing your telescope to look again at Earth, you see the scenes of the day after you left, just reaching you. How much have you aged? By making the round trip, you are over nine hundred years lder, both by Earth standard and by Alpha standard. Does your own velocity keep you from aging? If anything, you have experienced nearly 2,000 years of history.

459. Now, let us extend the illustration one step further. Suppose that there is an absolute center of all that is—the cosmos if you will. Let us suppose as scientists have conjectured that all things originated at this center in a big bang and that they are forever expanding outward from the center. Time, in the absolute sense, necessitated by Einstein’s theory and the Lorenz transformation, originates at that center and radiates outward as a by-product of the expansion of the universe.

460. As you travel in your superoptic spacecraft, you will slow time down as you travel away from the center and speed time up as you travel toward the center.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This section and the one that follows shows Wesley in a new light. He has expounded theories and expostulated suppositions for 450 points, but in this he engages with the reader as if a student. He is a teacher, but the validity of his lessons remains to be seen. It appears that his logic could prove anything. It is his non-rational thought process at work.

CDL

441. Luvus chattelia: This is the love of a possession, or more appropriately of possessing. It is an emotion attached to an object simply because it is owned and like Luvus sexus, makes no distinction between animate and inanimate, though a case may be made for defining Luvus chattelia as referring only to animate subjects and Luvus objecta as referring specifically to inanimate objects, as in ‘I love my house,’ or ‘I love my car’ as opposed to ‘I love my dog,’ or ‘I love my wife.’

442. Luvus dominatus: Sometimes confused with Luvus chattelia and frequently accompanied by it, Luvus dominatus is the type of love that describes a ruler’s relationship to the subject Where Luvus chattelia is objective, Luvus dominatus is subjective. Both of these two are straight-line loves that describe a superior’s relationship to an inferior. ‘The King loves his country.’

443. Luvus seductia: The conquest. Contrary to common opinion, coitus is not normally the ultimate goal of Luvus seductia. Coitus happens merely as a means of keeping score. What counts in the seduction, or the conquest, is winning. Fair object of heart’s desire is overcome, submits to the conqueror. Like a good sting operation, the good seduction leaves its object at least satisfied with if not proud of its part and ending state. The subjects ending state may be described as Luvus worshipa. Many other types of love may be defined before we can hope to have a complete taxonomy.

444. Eintein’s theory of relativity (242, 285) implies a state within the universe or a point in complete stasis. At that point or in that state, a meter is a meter and time is constant. When placed in motion (when velocity is introduced) the measuring stick shortens and is less than a meter. The clock slows and time is dilated.

445. The earth, traveling at 30 kilometers per second is already in an insignificant time dilation of .99999995, Approximately 3.145 seconds per year.

446. If one travels away from the earth and back at the same speed as the earth, time remains relatively real. The same amount of time will be created by the earth’s velocity as by the traveler’s velocity.

447. If one traveled from the nearest star (approximately 4.5 light years) to the earth at the same speed as the earth, it would take several thousand years to make the journey. But the same time frame would have passed for both traveler and earth.

448. Proposition: As the traveler from this star increases velocity, it is not time for the traveler that slows down, but rather time on the earth that speeds up. So the traveler is stalemated. It will take that traveler just as long to reach the earth as the earth time that passes.

449. The Lorenz Transformation would indicate that traveling from that star at 90% of the speed of light would take the traveler five years but on earth, 21 years and ten months would have passed. Conversely, if the traveler reached earth in five years of earth time, the traveler would have been in transit only one year and two months, negating the speed traveled. The paradox of the timeframes would result in both the traveler and earth having the same amount of time pass.

450. This is completely consistent with the Einstein theory and with the constancy of the speed of light in a vacuum. In fact, it is this that would indicate that instead of light going faster or slower when you approach its source at an increasing velocity, it changes color.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The editor wishes to return to the taxonomy of love, which was at least partially understandable.