LIVE TEN BILLION YEARS AND TRAVEL TO THE ENDS OF THE UNIVERSE

Introduction

My purpose in this essay is to offer you a nearly foolproof plan whereby you can "live ten billion years and travel to the ends of the universe." I would be willing to bet you that no one has ever offered you a proposition quite like that before. If you find the idea intriguing, read on. It may be that I have exactly what you have always been looking for.

The average human being, in our culture, lives to be well over seventy years old. In those few years, the person may travel anywhere from a few miles to a few million miles, with those who travel a few million miles usually doing so by going over the same routes countless times.

Also, during those seventy-odd years, the average person will spend a good deal of time, quite a lot of money and a lot of effort either to stay young or to give the appearance of being young. Most of that time, money and effort is wasted. In the end, those who pursue youth in whatever way and however rigorously wind up like everyone else and like every living thing: Dead, within the "law of averages."

How is it then, you might ask, that I am so bold as to made the above offer? That is an excellent question. The answer is quite simple. Really! What I propose is not that you will live any longer physically. Nor will your life seem any longer to you. To the contrary. If you follow the advice given in the following part of this essay, your life will be filled with such interest and with so much stimulation that it will seem as if you have not lived as long as you have.

The plan

Now, to the plan! If you think about it, it becomes obvious. I am not up to anything other than common sense. How long has the universe, as science has come to understand our world and its place in that universe, been around? The universe has probably been in existence for something like thirteen billion years; our world has been in roughly its present form for, maybe, five billion years. I use these estimates for purposes of simplicity.

Humankind has learned much about the past ten billion years during its tenure on Earth, especially during the past several centuries. That is, during the time that science has flourished. However, I am not talking about scientific knowledge only. Rather, I mean ALL of mankind's accumulation of knowledge from all of its creative efforts. Included is knowledge from art, architecture, literature, religion, philosophy, psychology, sociology, and economics, as well as from the physical sciences such as chemistry and biology.

Thanks to modern technology, beginning with the development of written language and continuing through the invention of printing press and all that came after it, the accumulated knowledge about the universe and our world is readily available and in ready-to-use and ready-to-understand forms for all but the least educated or educational challenged among us. And, that knowledge is now available in many formats.

For example, Carl Sagan's Cosmos series on TV was a notable example of a television program that brought together a broad spectrum of information from many disciplines. The program was widely advertised and had a sizeable audience by PBS standards. The basic information presented in that program was easily understood by most viewers. Other, similar examples abound.

Furthermore, science and technology have combined to bring a great deal of information about the nature and the extent of the universe together. We may not know exactly how large the universe is or where the farthest boundaries are, but we know it is both very old and almost unimaginably extensive. This information is available to all but the least educated and the seriously educationally challenged among us because it is in usable and understandable forms.

Ah! Ha! Eureka, and all that sort of expostulation! Now you have it: All that one needs to do in order to "live for ten billion years and travel to the ends of the universe" is to acquire the accumulated and readily available information humans have amassed about the course and the incidents of human accomplishments - in the broadest sense of that term - and of the past ten billion years of the history of the universe.

Impossible? Of course, if one speaks of all of the knowledge of every conceivable sort. But, the broad outlines can be learned, and a surprising array of the details also can be learned by the average person in her or his lifetime. Yes, I will affirm it once more, many of the specifics can be acquired. In fact, with the benefits of modern technologies, an enormous range and number of the specifics can be learned by those with even modest aptitudes or intelligences.

Learning is at least as much a matter of motivation, a matter of time dedicated and a matter of methods used as it is for aptitude and intelligence. Let us look at motivation, time and method in that order.

Motivation

When I speak of motivation, I am talking about desire, will, drive. Call it what you want to. It is the spark that is evident in all human endeavors. It is as fundamental as life itself. It is present in all human beings at all times. There is something 'akin' to it in animals and some sort of vital force in other living things. It only needs focusing from within or without. One aspect of it is curiosity: Curiosity about one's self, fellow beings, environment, world and universe. It is this curiosity that, if ignited and directed, can provide the basis for organizing and putting into effect the study program necessary to "live ten billion year and travel to the ends of the universe."

Time

Most people say that they are too busy with their lives already and could not possible take on such a formidable, time-consuming task. For the great majority of people such an argument will not stand the test of careful examination. In part, this is where motivation comes in. It is true that most people live lives that make it seem as if they are 'short of time' for any more challenges. They do 'fill up' their time here on Mother Earth. However, a careful analysis will reveal that - for most people, most of the time - a great deal of time is either 'wasted' or spent on 'trivial matters,' even by their own standards and admissions.

Time can be 'found' to do what I propose if the motivation is there. Following the determination to learn what I propose will lead to setting different priorities, to reorganizing and to re-scheduling of one's life. It is not a matter of 'finding the time,' it is a matter of making the time!

Method

An old Chinese saying goes something like this: A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. It that is true for such a short journey, it must be a great deal more to the point for a journey through a lifetime of knowledge acquisition. Both a journey of a thousand miles and one that goes "through ten billion years and takes one to the ends of the universe" are a matter of adopting the appropriate methods: Of putting first things first, whether it be one foot or gaining one fact from the nearly limitless facts about yourself, others, the environment, the world or the universe.

The fact is already true that you have taken a great many "strides" toward the kind of knowledge I am talking about. Most people know more than they generally realize without giving the matter a great deal of thought. And, they have some pretty good idea about how to add some of what they want to know.

The methods for knowledge acquisition are fairly well known. The ways are largely charted. The facts are organized in myriad ways, both systematic and unsystematic. From Adam to Zoroaster, with Jesus, Buddha and Mohammad included for good measure, from Socrates to Einstein, from Aristotle to Asimov, from Plutarch to Henry Steele Commager, from Ptolemy to Carl Sagan, the paths have been at least somewhat cleared and signposted for you. And, from the printing press to the computer, your journey along those paths has been made easier. Almost any librarian can get you started. The methods and the ways to "live ten billion years and travel to the ends of the universe" are in place, just waiting for you. All you need to do is put forth that small bit of effort that is necessary to learn some of the methods and paths and to put them to use.

Summary

There is a sense in which it is possible to "live ten billion years and travel to the ends of the universe." That sense, was set forth in this essay. The "way" of the journey was briefly described. The rest is up to you. Why not start today; tomorrow, after all, never comes. Triggering the motivation to do it is more than worth the journey. So is making the time to do it. And, learning and applying the methods will reap rewards beyond description. It is an experience that will be different for you than for anyone else. Doing it will add "spice" and "value" to you life. You will have found the "fountain of youth," the "Holy Grail," and the only form of near-mortality available to you during your lifetime.

GOOD LUCK!