AVENGERS ASSEMBLE: I never would normally admit this (and these days, Im very careful about expressing personal things on Facebook in general), but in this rare instance, I feel its important to make a personal confession here. Warning: before you proceed with reading this, note that the post which follows will be a lengthy one. If your attention is prone to waning, go ahead and return to watching cat videos on YouTube. In recent weeks, Ive been struggling with something Ive never had to struggle with before in my life... or at very least, in recent memory. It is an affliction that is of the most insidious nature, and of the greatest concern to any active mind. Boredom, my dear Watson. Lately, I cant shake the intellectually drowning effects of boredom on my brain. But why is boredom striking so suddenly, and perhaps more importantly, how could boredom even thrive in such a case as yours truly? Granted, I have plenty going on to occupy my time: Im hosting my radio show on Mondays, The Gralien Report Podcast on Tuesdays, filling in as host for an extended period on my pal Mack Maloneys Military X-Files program on Wednesdays, doing The Paranormal Report every Thursday with Jim Harold, and special subscriber content for Gralien X usually on Fridays or someplace in between the rest of this madness... several articles written each week for Ben and Aaron at Mysterious Universe, articles edited for the fine folks at Fate Magazine and a handful of shows with my formidable music companions Caleb, Charles, and Dakota in Nitrograss mostly on the weekends. My schedule is packed, in other words. Now Sunday is a special day... typically meant to be a day of rest, I usually visit with my family on Sunday afternoons. But then the silent invader returns, and Im back to studying zoology, forensics, chemistry, astronomy, and physics in the Gralien laboratory (some might call this what I do in my spare time, though I usually dont have much of it). Whatever the case, scientific knowledge, and lots of it, is requisite to understanding the nature of the world around us, and hence I pursue it with the same fervor of summer ants on a sugar cake. Im not exaggerating... I think this rather concisely rounds out the proceedings of my typical week, barring occasional trips to conferences, performances with the band, and other necessary outings (while work-related, some of these are at least reasonably close being what I might approximate as vacation time, at least in a strictly non-traditional sense). But lately, despite all thats going on, I think Im missing something. Adventure, for one... and discovery, perhaps even more importantly. Which brings to mind something novel: renowned skeptic and self-proclaimed confrontationalist P.Z. Myers recently wrote a critique about, of all things, the skeptical movement, saying essentially that he feels that negative skepticism (i.e. blogging and providing other commentary solely for the purpose of debunking others dubious claims) is not particularly useful or rewarding, because it does nothing to advance science by contributing discoveries or innovation. This is one instance (though its not the only time Ive ever found myself agreeing with the man), that I must again say that Myers is spot on. Sitting around attacking one another, or purely attempting to bolster ones self image through meaningless posturing - whether intellectually, or through literal, physical posturing of ones posterior before a camera - does very little (or nothing) to aid in bringing new knowledge and insight to humankind. It is important, I feel, that commentators like me remember this, since within the purest essence of my heart, I know there is more to my personal aspirations and motivations than the kind of self-aggrandizement that many pursue (and saying so is not in any way meant as a slight directed at anyone specifically... I want to say that right up front, so that there is no confusion or insinuation there. I mean this purely in the general sense... though there may be a few stars of various films and television shows who come to mind, albeit vaguely. This disclaimer brings me back to my point at the outset of this epistle, and thus explains why I generally dont post personal matters on Facebook; people read too much into things others say, and take personal offense at matters of no valid concern to them, thus causing unrest that is, in truth, unnecessary. If you are truly my friend, and you are reading this, then you already know in your heart that this is all true, and were better for acknowledging it). I would much rather be an innovator, and uncover things of merit to the world around me which improve the quality of living for all, in addition to furthering our scientific knowledge of the world... and I would far prefer to succeed at this and fade away into obscurity, than to achieve nothing of true merit, and be rich and famous for it. Fame does not impress or attract me. Knowledge does, as does having a means to obtain it, or to convey it to others. Hence, I involve myself with some of the same things that a person questing for fame might pursue, but for very different reasons. At the heart of the matter, while Im covered in work and projects, my boredom arises from a lack of discovery, and a knowledge of areas of interest that, if pursued, could lead to pure innovation and brilliance. I need brilliant thinkers... science-minded individuals... serious individuals... qualified students or experts in biology, chemistry, physics, geology, history, and astronomy (or more specifically, such individuals you may know who are attending university in the Western North Carolina region, and who are interested in contributing to some field work). People who are inspired, or hope to be inspired, and who can lend more knowledge than I alone possess. Its time to get off our laurels, and go solve some mysteries of science and the modern world. Any takers? Serious inquiries only.
Posted on: Mon, 14 Jul 2014 17:50:42 +0000
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