The world of the futuristic Shadowrun has a few other changes as well. Magic. Magic returned to the world and nothings been the same since. Orks, troll, dwarves and elves living day to day like everybody else, working like everybody else, and occasionally causing trouble, like humans. Then we've got Dragons that could do whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted and thankfully, they choose not to unless somebody really upsets them. There are shapshifters, though they're generally considered to be more animal than human or meta-human. And this bring in my latest round of thinking.
Here we are in the real world and look at the stories of the shapechanger, most notably the Werewolf. Myths and legends we all say. Well, myths and legends have to start somewhere with a basis in truth. After reading some of those Shadowrun novels, I started thinking about it. What if there really are/were shapechangers? Ok, technically there's no "magic" in this real world of ours, so magic can be ruled out of the equation for now. Then I hit upon this thought. Like most other extra-ordinary things, like telepathy and telekinesis, it's all about mind over matter. Using the power of the mind, a person could very well change shape at will. Sounds crazy, huh? Actually it isn't. It just means that a person who could do such things can tap into a larger portion of their brain than most others.
I can here it already in the background now, "It's the Devil's work". Wrong idea, people. Once again, it's all about expanding one mind to be something more than a hat rack. Ya know, I don't mind it if people disagree with me. If truth were to be told, I'd actually prefer it that way so I can be left alone to explore for myself the wonders of a fully open mind. But if people come to me to voice their disagreement, it'd better be something more than a straight from the book opinion. It needs to be from your heart and in your own words otherwise it'll look like your parroting somebody else without truely understanding it for yourself.
I've heard it said that we are created in God's image. Well, if that's the case, then why are we al different looking? And here's another. If we're all created in God's image, shouldn't we be just like Him? I mean we are His images, right? Personally, I don't know about the first part, we could just be a cosmic joke for all I know. But as for the second part, we may have been created in His image, but we were made mortal, which is less than Him, being God of course. Human's use of 10% of their gray matter (for all those without imagination, that translated into brain's). If we're only using 10% of our brain power and we've got television, cell phone, sent men to walk on the moon, so on and so forth, imagine what could be accomplished by using 20 or even 30% of that brain power.
Opps, bad idea. Why do I say bad idea? Simple really. People would be able to do more things with their minds alone. Telekinesis, telepathy (whew, brings a whole new meaning to telecommunications), empathy, and a whole bunch of other mental abilities. Now, why is this a bad thing? Because it's the Devils work. Yeah, right (let me shovel the sarcasm to the side for those that didn't get it the first time around). People, it's not the Devil's work, it's natural evolutionat work. I mean, we should be working our way up to being god-like, then we'll be able to finally attain the Utopia that everybody seems to want.
One of the thoughts/theories I've had run through my head fairly recently is being able to tap into that unexplored power of the brain. Hmmmm, with that power at my fingertips there isn't anything that I couldn't do, as long as I believed that I could do it. And I want to learn everything that I can. Now, some people would worry about a person with that much power. Scratch that, everyone would worry. Here's the kicker. With that kind of power, why would I want anything else? I'd be able to look further out and learn even more incredible things, on my happy way to true enlightenment.
As I see it, there are three levels of power, wrapped up into one. Mind, that one of the planet, and then the entire cosmos. For some, it'll seem limiting to go in those steps. I consider it to be a learning process. You can't exactly learn to run before you can even crawl. the way I figure it, you start with the mind. Learn to open yourself to a wide variety of things, say for example telepathy, telekinesis, and who know's what other amazing abilities, eventually mastering our rampant minds. Then we move on to mastering the power of the Earth. Admittedly, there's a whole lot of power to work with there, and a person who's able to work with it could do a phenominal amount of things on a global scale, like weather control for an example. The downside to this though is that same person could do an awful amount of atrocities with that same power. Hence the saying that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. I do believe that it is possible for a person to wield such power and not be corrupted by it. Of course it'd take a strong person to be able to do that.
I'm not talking about the guy who's built like Arnold Schwartzenager, that kind of strength, because I've seen the physically strong guys break under mental pressure, though it is possible for this kid of person to succede. No, I'm talking about the 94lb, when soaking wet, weakling being the stronger because he's mentally prepared to push hi8mself beyond all barriers despite size, wieght and build because he intend to succede no matter the odds. Ultimately, though, as long as an individual is willing to go all the way no matter the odds, they will triumph.
Something else I should point out. While I may say mastering the power or even controlling it, I don't mean it literally. Master and control yourself and work with the energy. Because if you try to control it, you'll just get "burned" by it. A perosn who is able to tap into that power can learn so much, that's what life is all about. Learning. Evolution is pretty much the same way, only slower. The more someone learns, the more evolved they become. Yes, there will be problems along that road. But as long as people are willing to learn from their mistakes and not bury and forget them, humainty will evolve into something much better than what it is now. Can you imagine no wars, no crime, none of the negativity that we suffer through each day? Didn't think so, because we're too used to it. We say that we're going to make a difference, make our lives better, the problem is saying it is better than doing it. Doing it takes effort. How many want to make the effort? Not many because the world we live in is all about convience, instant gratification, and nobody really wants to work for something better. Personally, I'm not going to be a lemming and run myself to death following the rest of the pack, I want to work hard to make my life better. I'm going to make it better by opening myself to the mysterious and incalculable power of my mind. And if I'm lucky, I may be able to help others learn how to make their lives better.
Mike Maier
E-Mail: