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April 29 2018: Universality

The word universality is a derivative of the word universe. Universe, defined, is all that is beyond the mind’s reach. We surmise this is all there is because highly educated physicists and astronomers tell us this is so. To say that there are several universes out there may be a redundancy. But then again, we infinite beings just do not know. We are born and we die, therefore we are finite. And in being finite, we can’t grasp the implications of infinity. But like ants, we only got one jar.

Thus, the word universality means “to embrace all and everything.” All, in relation to lists, is all encompassing. You got your list, you step out the door with your list, and you are, even in going to the store, embracing universality. Such lofty thinking for such a mundane task.

You fill the cart with what you need and then some. Then some is like din sum, the stuff not on the list. Once home, you carry your bags up to your cabin, making multiple trips. After putting the goods away, you feel awash with a sense of completion. This is even if you forgot to buy soap. Completion is the universal cleanser. This is because you have all you need, and all you need is universality. It’s samsara, or what the Buddhists call the circle of life.




I pause. My last sentence is a tough act to follow. I mean I have provided you with an excellent example of universality. Another would just be a redundancy, or again, another universe. However, one can never have too many universes.

I do wonder what a physicist’s daily list of things to do would look like. It most likely would be comprised of theorems interspersed with shopping items. But, this like most things is a matter of conjecture.

An example:
Black hole check to determine who wrote theorem to prove it
Run theorems by colleagues at lunch.
Purchase install printer
Time
Space
Continuum
Purchase chalk

Yep, yep, yep, just another day in the life of a layperson who is intrigued with the idea of universality. And so the lowly shopping list and the higher echelon physics list have a commonality in that both have commonalities. Like Dr. Bronner says on his soap labels “one is all and one is all.”

I suspect that once you go eyeball to eyeball with a black hole, you are never the same. Therein this portal to the soul lies infinity. This feeling is the opposite of the one where you come out of store, it being “same old same old.” Or in other words, my banana is your banana. The black hole, gazing into its depths forces you to acknowledge that in the great scheme of things, shopping lists are inconsequential. The bumper stick mantra of those who’ve peered into the abyss is “Lists: Love them and Leave them.”

Best to just content yourself by sitting in a chair and staring out into space.

Next: 120. 4/30/18: The ABC’s of Listing – V is for Virtuous

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