Dear Othniel Pilipili,
It was with great pleasure that I read “Your” origin story, which is in fact “Our” origin story. I am writing to address some concerns that I have in regard to some of the content. I forwarded this reply to my other selves, namely Othniel Ape, Othniel Cat, Othniel Ant, Othniel Thylacine, Othniel Saber, Othniel Permian, Othniel Ordovician, Othniel Devonian, and Othniel Tasmanian. As the chairman of the council, I hope you will receive my reply with objectivity and create an environment where objective truth dominates.
1. You felt powerless to “stop time”
In your article The Origin Story, you suggested that you do not believe that time is linear. This is a fair stand as there have been multiple conceptions of time across early cultures. For instance, the Incan, Jainism, Mayan etc. believed in a cyclical conception of time, where repeating seasons was the frame of reference. This view is still held today in some cultures like India. To other early people, a timeless view was widely held (some American Indians tribes, Jewish kabbalists, Australian aboriginals etc.). This view suggested that the past and the present are intimately connected. While these views were important in their contribution to cultural cohesion and their intuitive nature is strong, they required serious scientific scrutiny that still goes on today. Today, the human race uses both the linear (eg. calendar) and cyclical (eg. annual holidays) conceptions of time. Nonetheless, your claim that you don’t believe in linear time while telling us your story using some versions of the beliefs aforementioned raised serious concerns in my mind today morning.
On this note, I’m writing to invite you to consider Eternalism. This view suggests that the past, the present and the future are equally real. Our perception of “Now” as objectively real is only the workings of our consciousness and arbitrary localization in the time realm. For instance, your “Now” is not any more “Nower” than the now a random human being is experiencing on January 23rd 1451, 11:12:07.
In fact, while in absolutism (Newton) and relativism (Einstein) an object or event exist in a specific place at a specific time, a subatomic particle exists in a probability of places and states (Quantum physics). A speculation is held by some physicists that time may be quantized although convention, not prediction, in quantum physics is to treat time as linear and continuous.
In sum, I’m suggesting that you should’ve either used one of these structures: a model of time that align with your belief (1), a model that depicts exactly your concept of time as a child (2), or many models while clearly showing how they integrate (3).
2. Do bees have a mind?
The brain of a bee contains around 960,000 neurons. With these few neurons, compared to other insects and animals, a bee is able to complete its spatial learning using associative learning. It’s able to recognize landmarks in the environment and deduce actions to be taken in order to achieve their goal. For instance, this accurate information dissemination on navigation and distance enables bees to exploit food sources and recruit forages by “dance language”.
Moreover, a bee has a different sensory system from that of humans. Bees are sensitive to the direction that light fluctuates, see different colors than humans, and are able to sense electric and magnetic fields. For instance, to check which flowers have recently been drained by fellow bees, bees use small changes in the electrostatic patterns of flowers. Hence, bees respond to information the human race does not even realize exists. In light with your article, whether this information is important to your younger self it’s up to the true nature of Time. Whether this information provides a ground for the question your younger self had, may the future tell us. Maybe the past.
3. On the simulation of a bee life
I appreciate this simulation. I remember when “we” had it, and at a time, it was a very exciting journey free of human burdens you had as kid. However, the simulation seems incomplete from what I can remember. For instance,
– You did not describe how the bee engine needed repair.
– We agreed never to tell anyone about our intention running this simulation. Finding a portal to the underground world has always been our dream as a kid. Do you remember that this obsession came when you were “swimming” in heat under the surface of the earth?
Needless to say, this simulation was both about the bee and a possible trip to the unseen. Now that you failed to keep this secret, I’m not sure I will be able to collaborate with the council anymore.
Dear Othniel Pilipili, dear council members, in a spirit of collaboration without compromising objectivity, consider my concerns and submit them to the highest scrutiny.
Sincerely,
Othniel Triassic
