So I have been watching Netflix' The OA. It's a good series. Unsatisfying ending, of course, but good. Kinda rekindled my interest in death. Now some of you know I work for Vienna's old people homes right now so this should be a constant in my life. But it isn't since I'm doing press and marketing work. I'm detached from the day to day dealings with our target audience Only really hits me when, for example, one of our models (real people who live here) dies. Anyway. What do you think happens when we die? Me, after 20 years of extreme physics as a hobby... well, I tend to believe (and it's not more than believing) in the Many Worlds Interpretation. Please note that I do NOT believe it's influenced by decisions made by lowly primates like us. I think parallel worlds happen on a quantum level. So... nope, we don't have a number for how many there might be since there are a quadrillion quantum decisions in my little finger every Planck unit of time. This is kind of wild. If MWI is wrong and there is a good chance of that, I think it's option 1. Out. We are that insignificant.
1. Which is why I live my life in such a way that my actions and deeds will make me immortal. Only way in which I will exist after I die is if I have done enough good to enough people that I am remembered.
Obviously I have no idea (same as everybody else). I worked half a year as a grave-digger decades ago, enough time to see a thing or two about physical mortality. Given that the brain decomposes or vaporizes or whatever shortly after death, it's difficult for me to believe that any personal identity remains, any *I*. And isn't that the ego stuff that all Achievers of Wisdom are always telling us we have to struggle ourselves free of? It's possible that some aspect of human intelligence is part of an inter-mega-universal Pool and that our minds survive ---- in a manner of speaking ---- well, that there's some overall connectivity that transcends our pathetic mortal coils. But I ain't bettin' any good money on it. Death is probably The End. And just as well. However, like most of you, I've seen and heard just enough Verrry Strange Stuff that I'm willing to hedge a little. There is apparently something Out There of which we have no idea. Apparently. Whether it has a whole lot to do with individual consciousness is another question.
A group I cofounded and help lead just got a $54B (yes that is a b - for billions) transit package on the ballot and passed. It is largest local transit package in US history and will transform my city. I'm pretty happy with what I've been able to accomplish in 4 years. More still to do. Do we go back again in 18 or wait till 20? Use the county TBD (Transportation Benefits District), the city CTA (Citizens Transportation Authority) or just go back to the RTA (Regional Transportation Authority) but this time a bonding measure (needs 60%) against the taxes we passed in Nov. Main focus though will be to put pressure on the cities to speed up the EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) process. Generally speaking construction is only about half the time for these kind of projects. Getting to a ROD (Record of Decision) is just as long. By pressuring cities and counties to expedite we can shave a couple years off the timeline.
Cool story, Bro. Perhaps we should set you and Dayton up on a play date so you can talk past each other by how awesome you each are.
There's talk, and there is action. Look up 'Seattle Subway' and 'Prop 1' or 'Sound Transit 3'. I feel good about the legacy I will leave behind. Do you?
Sounds bureaucratic. I teach teenagers (and adults) the real-life applications of STEM stuff that public schooling fails to do - so they can go off to do cool things like fly airplanes or avoid killing people with heavy machinery. But I'm not so much interested in legacy as I am in people doing cool things and avoiding killing me with machinery. I think when we die things will seem to us just like they were before we were born: nothing; no awareness of anything.
Life is just a chemical process. When we die, it stops. You can try to live longer by becoming memorable, but most memorable people arn't so.... good
The many worlds hypothesis is highly speculative and not at all any sort of support for a continuation of life. Death is the end.
It's a moot point - my awesomeness is so all encompassing their awesomeness is like trying to spot one lit match in the middle of a raging forest fire. That said I see Anc's point - he is doing great things that positively impact people on a very real level. And Dayton is too by influencing kids to be interested in history and maybe building character through sports. Both these things are very important.
That is cool though it will no doubt be a crush debt burden fpr future residents. If you really want to see more public works then you need to find a way to decrease costs which really means killing union backed provailing wage laws. There is no reason pushing a broom at a construction site should pay $30 per hour and, yes, the result of those high costs is a lot fewer projects get completed. I agree with you that the approval process is a joke, takes orders of magnitude to long, and ultimately does not improve the project instead just driving up costs and adding years of delay.
Na, not really. Seattle Subway is the name of two related non-profits, one dedicated to educating folks on the benefits of grade separated high capacity transit [the (c)3] and another for advocating for more grade separated high capacity transit [the (c)4]. Our big thing is grassroots activism. Getting out in the communities to build awareness and support. Farmers markets, neighborhood councils, local chambers, etc. Prop 1 is the formal ballot name of Sound Transit 3. A ballot measure (the third) to increase local taxes to build more grade separated high capacity transit.
Not really. As I alluded to earlier, these are tax measures, not bond measures so have low debt ratios. And Sound Transit is quite conservative in their forecasts. The last projects of ST1 came in $230m and $30m under budget (and ahead of schedule). So far the ST2 projects are trending at 92% of budget. This conservative forecasting was actually an election issue, as it made the package look bigger (over 50% contingency) and take longer (lots of float).
Ralph Stanley did a song called "Use the county TBD (Transportation Benefits District), the city CTA (Citizens Transportation Authority) or just go back to the RTA (Regional Transportation Authority) but this time a bonding measure (needs 60%) against the taxes we passed in Nov?" Say what you will about hillbilly music, it's a lot more sophisticated than people give it credit for!
Funny thing is a monorail isn't a bad idea. I took the monorail in Seattle. It wasn't a bad ride. Just short.
I love the monorail and take it whenever I can justify it. The views are unparalleled. However it can't really be expanded. Monorails have two major issues. First, every design is proprietary. Meaning you ever need maintenance or buy new vehicles you only have one source. No competition = not good. The second is switches. In order to switch you need to shift the entire concrete center rail. Also if something fucks up the vehicle rides right off the rail and into thin air. In our case the big issue is that since it is not tied into the regional fare system it isn't that useful for residents. On the other hand it makes money as a tourist thing so.
Worm food, or ashes, either way, your molecules are gobbled by the Earth, then the sun goes red giant, boils the Earth, and sprays your atoms back out in to space to do the dance all over again until the protons run out of juice in the year squadzillion.
I hate when that happens! But I remember reading something a long time ago about all the atoms decaying (ceasing to function) at the same time because they they all were created at the same time - and nobody knows what their lifespan is. Or something like that anyway - I'l research it though, it sounds fascinating. I think when we die we go back to doing whatever we did before we were born.
