"Stuck in a Linear Way of Thinking"
(nyb 2002)

i was reading an article on relativity (don't laugh, Einstein is sexy) 
mulling over time and space, speed and light, when it occured to me 
that perhaps the past, present and future.. (as well as the aging process).. 
were not the only things effected by earth's gravity...

what if our very way of thinking has also been compromised by this massive 
force of nature and physics??  

and by this, i mean.. arg.. where to begin?  (sometimes it's hard putting 
abstract thoughts onto paper)  for instance:  why are some concepts so 
hard to grasp?  so hard to "wrap our minds around"?  concepts such as 
"time travel" and certain religious concepts such as "the trinity"?  (i'm not 
talking religion, just using those concepts as "big thinkers" that we so often 
dismiss as unsolvable.)  which is my point exactly, why do we so often accept
 the meager explanation that "it's not meant for us to understand"?  (especially 
when in reference to religious paradoxes)  in my opinion, if we are able to 
entertain a thought, then it is within our capabilities to understand it.  before 
i go on with my own personal theory about "relativity and its effect on linear
 thinking",  let's start with some basic definitions and info to ease you into the 
mindset of abstract thinking, and to refresh your memory on the power of relativity:  

at best, 10% of the human brain is functional.

Einstein once wrote, 'the distinction between the past, the present, and the 
future is only an illusion'.

time is relative
the following paragraph is stolen from a magazine article about Einstein and 
Godel (two of the century's greatest physicists/mathematicians) by David 
Berlinski (there, now you can't sue me)
Imagine a group of observers scattered carelessly throughout the cosmos.  
Each is able to organize (map) the events of his life into a linear order.  Each 
is convinced that his life consists of a series of nows, moving moments passing 
fr/the past to the present to the future.  Special relativity urges a contrary claim.  
The observers scattered throughout space and time are all convinced their sense 
of now is universal. Now is, after all, now, is it not?  Apparantly not.  Time passes 
at a different rate depending on how fast a person is moving:  While one hour 
passes on Earth, only a few seconds might pass on a rocket ship hurtling away 
from Earth at nearly the speed of light.  It is entirely possible that one man's now 
might be another man's past or future.

Einstein suggests that.. "Change is an illusion.  Things do not become, they 
have not been, and they will not be:  They simply are.  Time is like space; it is 
precisely like space.  In traveling to Singapore, I do not bring Singapore into 
existence.  I reach Singapore, but the city has been there all along.  So, too, I 
reach events in the future by displacing myself in time.  I do not bring them into 
being.  And if nothing is brought into being, there is no change."

so.. there you have a taste of the awesome power of relativity and its effects on 
time/space.  now.. take a moment to visualize with me, if you will..

ask yourself these 3 questions:   why are we here?  how did all of this start?  
and what is the grand purpose of life?  3 questions engrained into our human 
psyche on some genetic or spiritual level,  passed on from generation 
to generation throughout eternity.. the questions, which are but a shadow 
as they trail across 
our mind.. a mere glimpse of this shadow, a gift.. the ability to entertain the very 
existence of our nature.. a gift that separates us, human from animal.. a glimpse 
of our divinity and our divine nature.. or in the very least, our divine potential.   
but to understand my theory, you don't have to answer these questions, you 
don't even have to search for the answers, the answers themselves, are not 
important to my theory.. what is important, is being able to visualize the moment 
you receive the answers...

now.. close your eyes, and envision yourself at this precise moment.  you have 
just been granted the secrets of life.. you have  received all the answers.. allow 
yourself to feel the glory of this knowledge washing over and through you.. let it 
sink in.. you are fullfilled.. you have all the sacred knowledge of the universe.. 

now.. visualize yourself opening your eyes.. where are you?  where do you 
stand as you receive this knowledge?  what do you see?  

i would venture to say that in your visualization, as in mine.. you are not on 
earth.. but looking down at earth from some point in space.. perhaps you can 
see even more of the solar system.. some of the surrounding planets..  why 
is this?  why, when we visualize receiving "the answers", we are not on this 
earth? 

my point, my theory in practice..  we can see so much more and so much 
more clearly with a "bird's eyeview".. can we not think more clearly as well?  
is it not possible that earth's gravitational force not only affects time and space, 
but our thought proccesses as well?  could not the pull of this massive force 
not only cause us to age faster here, than in space (the "twins theory" look it up, 
this post is already long enough) but could it actually affect the way we think?  
hampering, hindering, perhaps even "crippling" the very functions of the human 
brain?  

could my simple visualization be some kind of primordial or instinctual evidence 
that earth's gravity truly does hold us captive to our linear way of thinking.. and 
if we were to break away from our earthly abode, would it in affect, free our minds?  
free us from the restraints of linear thinking?  enabling us to find those eternal 
answers we are born seeking?