DT #1: Blue skies, smiling at me . . .
Well, seeing that DTs are new, I decided to start off with a question that many have asked through the ages, one that has puzzled the greatest thinkers and scientists of many ages:
“Why is the sky blue?”
Of course, I'll immediately have certain people jumping on me, telling me the scientific explanation, which is something like human eyes having only a small range of vision in terms of color, and we see the sun glinting off the water droplets in the Gamma quadrant of sector four as described in the 77th law of thermodynamics, and nuclear fusion in the sun which causes our eyesight to lessen, and so when that happens we're left with the theory of cold fusion to repair our eyesight, and blah blah blah and so on and so forth for hours and hours. I, however, do not believe this explanation to be true.
Well, perhaps it is. But certainly there is either a better way to put it, so that laypeople can understand it, or an alternate explanation for those of us who do not memorize 77 laws of thermodynamics. I shall do my best to locate this explanation and pass it on to you.
“Why is the sky blue?” Well, there is, certainly, one more explanation that immediately pops into mind. “Why is the sky blue? Because it is, that's why.” However, perhaps we should examine the question a bit more.
The question “Why is the sky blue?” immediately implies three things: 1) There is a sky, 2) it is blue, and 3) there is a reason for this. I believe we can all agree that #1 is true. Now, that brings us to number 2. Naturally, one would say, “Ah, but we can also see that number 2 is true. All we need do is look up into the sky.” However, I believe it is also safe to say that our vision is not infallible. Also, the sky is not always blue. We look up at night, we see a blackness, punctured by little spots of light. We look up in mid-January, we may see a gray sky.
“The grayness is not sky,” you will say. “The grayness is clouds.” Ah, but what, then, is sky? Is sky not the expanse that stretches above the earth? If that is true, then clouds fill that expanse, and are therefore not sky. However, if we work with this hypothesis, we could also say that the blueness is not sky, either, but is merely something that fills sky.
If we really want to get right down to it, one could argue that there is no substance nor color that can truly be called “sky.” “Sky” is, then, nothing but an idea, a belief, something that we believe to exist that we cannot explain. “Sky” is not so very unlike the Matrix.
Or maybe it is. Maybe I just totally related a statement to something it does not describe. But I like the Matrix, and so I shall assume that I am right. And if this idea of “Sky” is not unlike this thing we call the Matrix, does that not mean that “Sky” stars Keanu Reeves?
Ah-HA! And therein lies the connection. No, not Keanu Reeves. Stars. Both Sky and the Matrix have stars. Thus they ARE similar. However, we are back to assuming that Sky is the expanse above the earth, which contains stars. But that's okay, because we now have a deeper understanding of it, now that we see its connection to the Matrix.
Now, if we want to get deep into the Matrix to try to discover why the sky is blue, we must naturally inspect the colors of the Matrix. In the Matrix, two colors stand out above all others: black and green. And what do you know? We have already said that the sky is black at night.
Could we not, then, assume that the sky is not, in fact, blue, but green? Perhaps we could, perhaps we couldn't.
At this point, you are no doubt exclaiming “The sky is blue! What is all this crap about the Matrix??” And I say to you that in the Matrix, there is a sky, and this sky is blue. And we see thus that within its very self, the sky is blue. The sky's mental projection of it's digital self is blue.
Therefore, in its own mind, the sky is blue. And we, as mere outside observers, cannot be more reliable then the thing we are observing as far as that goes. And so I trust the sky to tell me that yes, the sky is blue.
“Why is the sky blue?” Because the sky said so. And that oughta be good enough for you.
“Why is the sky blue?”
Of course, I'll immediately have certain people jumping on me, telling me the scientific explanation, which is something like human eyes having only a small range of vision in terms of color, and we see the sun glinting off the water droplets in the Gamma quadrant of sector four as described in the 77th law of thermodynamics, and nuclear fusion in the sun which causes our eyesight to lessen, and so when that happens we're left with the theory of cold fusion to repair our eyesight, and blah blah blah and so on and so forth for hours and hours. I, however, do not believe this explanation to be true.
Well, perhaps it is. But certainly there is either a better way to put it, so that laypeople can understand it, or an alternate explanation for those of us who do not memorize 77 laws of thermodynamics. I shall do my best to locate this explanation and pass it on to you.
“Why is the sky blue?” Well, there is, certainly, one more explanation that immediately pops into mind. “Why is the sky blue? Because it is, that's why.” However, perhaps we should examine the question a bit more.
The question “Why is the sky blue?” immediately implies three things: 1) There is a sky, 2) it is blue, and 3) there is a reason for this. I believe we can all agree that #1 is true. Now, that brings us to number 2. Naturally, one would say, “Ah, but we can also see that number 2 is true. All we need do is look up into the sky.” However, I believe it is also safe to say that our vision is not infallible. Also, the sky is not always blue. We look up at night, we see a blackness, punctured by little spots of light. We look up in mid-January, we may see a gray sky.
“The grayness is not sky,” you will say. “The grayness is clouds.” Ah, but what, then, is sky? Is sky not the expanse that stretches above the earth? If that is true, then clouds fill that expanse, and are therefore not sky. However, if we work with this hypothesis, we could also say that the blueness is not sky, either, but is merely something that fills sky.
If we really want to get right down to it, one could argue that there is no substance nor color that can truly be called “sky.” “Sky” is, then, nothing but an idea, a belief, something that we believe to exist that we cannot explain. “Sky” is not so very unlike the Matrix.
Or maybe it is. Maybe I just totally related a statement to something it does not describe. But I like the Matrix, and so I shall assume that I am right. And if this idea of “Sky” is not unlike this thing we call the Matrix, does that not mean that “Sky” stars Keanu Reeves?
Ah-HA! And therein lies the connection. No, not Keanu Reeves. Stars. Both Sky and the Matrix have stars. Thus they ARE similar. However, we are back to assuming that Sky is the expanse above the earth, which contains stars. But that's okay, because we now have a deeper understanding of it, now that we see its connection to the Matrix.
Now, if we want to get deep into the Matrix to try to discover why the sky is blue, we must naturally inspect the colors of the Matrix. In the Matrix, two colors stand out above all others: black and green. And what do you know? We have already said that the sky is black at night.
Could we not, then, assume that the sky is not, in fact, blue, but green? Perhaps we could, perhaps we couldn't.
At this point, you are no doubt exclaiming “The sky is blue! What is all this crap about the Matrix??” And I say to you that in the Matrix, there is a sky, and this sky is blue. And we see thus that within its very self, the sky is blue. The sky's mental projection of it's digital self is blue.
Therefore, in its own mind, the sky is blue. And we, as mere outside observers, cannot be more reliable then the thing we are observing as far as that goes. And so I trust the sky to tell me that yes, the sky is blue.
“Why is the sky blue?” Because the sky said so. And that oughta be good enough for you.
posted by Darth_Harbison at 8:56 PM
9 Comments:
Essay Becomes an Exploration of Being Poor
And so he sat down at his keyboard and began to write. His essay, "Being Poor," gives readers a glimpse of poverty in America.
Hi, I was just blog surfing and found you! If you are interested, go see my office supplies related site. It isnt anything special but you may still find something of interest.
..::unties tongue::.. In honor of Eleanor's and my out loud reading of Mark's blog we did so. However, it was without Eleanor and since it made no sence reading it with the usual charisma was most difficult! in the end all we are wondering is... "what does this do????" and "why hasnt he deleted those stupid adds??"
that was very entertaining, thank you Mark for the mental... break?
Well, here's my comment.
First of all, I must confess that the tie between the sky and the Matrix was pretty brilliant. Rae and I were cracking up for a while.
Second of all, your comment about the predominant colors in the Matrix leaves a little to be desired. In fact, the truth of the matter might have given you even more food for thought.
There are actually 3 primary colors in the Matrix. Black is primarily just a stylistic touch--black leather and spandex, etc. Green is the color of the Matrix. Pretty much all of the scenes shot in the Matrix are tinted with green and/or have something green in them. (A subtle example is when Morpheus and Neo are in the loading program--the white space: Morpheus is wearing a green tie, and Neo's shirt underneath his black jacket is dark green.) But the third color, that associated with the real world, is actually BLUE. Chew on that, Einstein. And for all you readers of Mark's blog, check out MY new blog, speaking of the matrix:
The Matrix Has You
AJ
<><
Eh. The sky is blue due to a programmer's typo. Trust me on this one. And the laws of physics are so far from what the design called for. You'd think they'd have done a proper debugging. But noooooo...
i could give the artists explination of course... its blue... cause thats what it says on the paint tube!
Very profound and brilliant. But "deep thought" those words, I mean, have a certain hilariousness for me. I listen to a morning radio show of the political nature which I enjoy because I am a brainwashed child who was fed conservative viewpoints at an early age. (Go Bush!) Anyway, there's this funny thing on the show the "deep thought of the day" which is when any political people say funny things about nature, or religion, or anything in a contemplative manner. So that I am not consumed with laughter every time I look at your blog with a "deep thought" title, I reccomend that you rechristen DT as "contemplative thought".
I think that the sky is blue because God created our eyes to see the comination of atmosphere and sunlight and what have you as blue, because blue lowers blood pressure and because it's my favorite color. I think the next Contemplative thought should be "what is blue"? I'd like to see you take THAT one on, Mark.
And didn't some talk-about-able things happen on last Saturday (as in "ragtime")?
...lowers blood pressure huh? so THAT explains why i passed out everytime i saw Grover when i was taking INDERAL!!!
...."Blue skies, nothin but blue skie from now on..." ... WAAAHHH!!! Data's dead!!!! The fools killed him! *sob*
- Dave...id
Or maybe the sky is blue because the sun is teal...
i think you should keep it deep thoughts, unlike cilla anne i AM accustomed to laughter when i read "Deep thoughts" i can thank Jack Handey on SNL for that! Some examples:
"Whenever I see an old lady slip and fall on a wet sidewalk, my first instinct is to laugh. But then I think, what if I was an ant, and she fell on me. Then it wouldn't seem quite so funny."
or
"If I could be a bird, I'd be a Flying Purple People Eater because then people would sing about me and I could fly down and eat them because I hate that song."
for more fun go to: Deep Thoughts With Jack Handey
no this is not an ad.
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