There’s another aspect of Time to consider…God exists outside of both space and Time, and I would argue that the piece of us that we call our ‘soul’ also exists independently of Space and Time.
So, while we are faced with ethical questions here on Earth, our actions are not as final as we believe. If I drop a bomb, it has consequences for my soul. God wants us to use our Time to build up our soul, not to degrade it. But we don’t have the ability to degrade somebody else’s soul…we can only end their allotted time on Earth.
It’s not Time, but God that controls the essence of each person.
Many topics in the above "Time, Destroyer of Worlds" post are too deep for a passing comment to be meaningful, other than I appreciate the thoughts expressed and agree the topics are worth taking time to reflect on. I will share an opinion on one point, however. While writing my recent dual biography on Oppenheimer and Heisenberg I had plenty of time to think about the use of atomic bombs on Japan. If comparing the choice to kill a few hundred thousand people, or the choice to kill no one, obviously anyone with empathy prefers the latter. But this is not the choice faced in August 1945. Yes, the United States would have defeated Japan eventually without using atomic bombs. But it probably would have required the planned invasion of the Japanese home islands in 1946, with approximately two million estimated casualties. Not only did the use of atomic bombs end the war in time to avoid those much higher losses - it changed the postwar balance of power. The Soviet Union had four times the number of troops in Europe that America did by late 1945, and many believe America's temporary monopoly on atomic bombs kept the peace and prevented a Soviet invasion of the rest of Europe. What if America had suffered another 500,000 dead soldiers by early 1946, had not demonstrated ownership of atomic bombs, and was still at war with Japan which refused to surrender... while the Soviets had time to rebuild? Or to "liberate" all of China and Korea under Soviet rule? Japan would not be better off. The United States would not be better off, and arguably the world would not be better off. Hiroshima and Nagasaki would be better off, at the expense of the rest of Japan and the world.
For starters, thank you for reading it. I was using the shadow of a controversial and consequential event to help frame a personally difficult tribulation, which was my primary objective. All human life has value, but too often we do not have the gratitude and appreciation for it that we should have. If it be something of a personal nature or if it happens to be something far removed from ourselves such as the actions of foreign policy, we should all be more mindful that others feel pain same as us.
Which brings me to your points about the events in Japan. I just received the physical copy of your new book and am going to begin reading it very soon. You always articulate your points very well and from what I can tell from just a cursory look at the topics in the book, you have some interesting things to say about the Oppenheimer and Heisenberg relationship. I will not dive into too many details, but the premise of the book implies we do not really know the whole story. Granted, the general public rarely knows the whole story, often they know a complete fiction.
With that being said, I have considered previous understandings of the WW2 battle space and find significant portions of the common narrative to be complete fiction. I am not at all sold on the soviet antagonism and threat, then and now. What I will say, they provided an opponent for our blooming MIC to focus on, imaginary or not. We always need an opponent, even if it is a form of "Eurasia and Eastasia" from 1984. With that being said, considering the nature of the NatSec state, I doubt I will ever perceive the events of WW2 as they actually were.
Although, I will admit, it is possible that there are very legitimate tactical reasons to have deployed the bomb, some of which you mentioned. Hindsight is always better to evaluate such things, but as a default I will err on the side of caution. I do not advocate for the use of nuclear weapons in any situation. But if one is presented a trolly problem..
Lastly, I am very much looking forward to reading through your book, there are many things in there for me to consider.
As I know you know... reality is stranger than fiction.
I have a message for you and could send it again if you can get it. If you still have mine you could reach out that way. I guess there is PM on here but I haven't figured it out.
There was a temporary problem delivering your message to david777@ptd.com. Gmail will retry for 22 more hours. You'll be notified if the delivery fails permanently.
Again, thank you for spending time reading this. It is my hope that in addition to me exercising my muse and gaining a form of catharsis by writing, as well as giving my children my thought that will outlast my ability to speak them, I wish that others might find something useful in what I write to assist them during their own path. Even if it is just bringing to the front of our minds that physical life is temporary and we should live it accordingly. I am also highly skeptical by default, I have a difficult time believing much in this world. While my hopes and faith reside in the next world, which I respect the fact that not all believe as i, I do not claim to know for sure how that world interacts with ours. Prophecy? Coincidence? Synchronicity? Some form of fate? This I do not know. What I do know, I have certainly experienced what you speak of. Usually I have to reflect as well considering that it may very well mean something indeed.
Perhaps it has to do with the general theme, that "everything is temporary." Maybe there is something you need to address in your life? I know there are things I am attempting to address in mine. The rest of the writing that I have posted, including one that will be up tomorrow, sort of extends that theme. This modern world... it really distracts us from our short temporal nature and for that things get lost, including the authenticity of the things we do choose to do. If you gain nothing from my writing save for picking up the phone to ring an old friend, or a reminder to pay a vistit to a loved one, or even make a change to your habits , then sir I will have considered my time spent writing in the semi-public square well worth it. Again, thank you for reading.
There’s another aspect of Time to consider…God exists outside of both space and Time, and I would argue that the piece of us that we call our ‘soul’ also exists independently of Space and Time.
So, while we are faced with ethical questions here on Earth, our actions are not as final as we believe. If I drop a bomb, it has consequences for my soul. God wants us to use our Time to build up our soul, not to degrade it. But we don’t have the ability to degrade somebody else’s soul…we can only end their allotted time on Earth.
It’s not Time, but God that controls the essence of each person.
Indeed. Ironically I am short on "time" at the moment. You might be interested in Discourse 5.2 .
Many topics in the above "Time, Destroyer of Worlds" post are too deep for a passing comment to be meaningful, other than I appreciate the thoughts expressed and agree the topics are worth taking time to reflect on. I will share an opinion on one point, however. While writing my recent dual biography on Oppenheimer and Heisenberg I had plenty of time to think about the use of atomic bombs on Japan. If comparing the choice to kill a few hundred thousand people, or the choice to kill no one, obviously anyone with empathy prefers the latter. But this is not the choice faced in August 1945. Yes, the United States would have defeated Japan eventually without using atomic bombs. But it probably would have required the planned invasion of the Japanese home islands in 1946, with approximately two million estimated casualties. Not only did the use of atomic bombs end the war in time to avoid those much higher losses - it changed the postwar balance of power. The Soviet Union had four times the number of troops in Europe that America did by late 1945, and many believe America's temporary monopoly on atomic bombs kept the peace and prevented a Soviet invasion of the rest of Europe. What if America had suffered another 500,000 dead soldiers by early 1946, had not demonstrated ownership of atomic bombs, and was still at war with Japan which refused to surrender... while the Soviets had time to rebuild? Or to "liberate" all of China and Korea under Soviet rule? Japan would not be better off. The United States would not be better off, and arguably the world would not be better off. Hiroshima and Nagasaki would be better off, at the expense of the rest of Japan and the world.
For starters, thank you for reading it. I was using the shadow of a controversial and consequential event to help frame a personally difficult tribulation, which was my primary objective. All human life has value, but too often we do not have the gratitude and appreciation for it that we should have. If it be something of a personal nature or if it happens to be something far removed from ourselves such as the actions of foreign policy, we should all be more mindful that others feel pain same as us.
Which brings me to your points about the events in Japan. I just received the physical copy of your new book and am going to begin reading it very soon. You always articulate your points very well and from what I can tell from just a cursory look at the topics in the book, you have some interesting things to say about the Oppenheimer and Heisenberg relationship. I will not dive into too many details, but the premise of the book implies we do not really know the whole story. Granted, the general public rarely knows the whole story, often they know a complete fiction.
With that being said, I have considered previous understandings of the WW2 battle space and find significant portions of the common narrative to be complete fiction. I am not at all sold on the soviet antagonism and threat, then and now. What I will say, they provided an opponent for our blooming MIC to focus on, imaginary or not. We always need an opponent, even if it is a form of "Eurasia and Eastasia" from 1984. With that being said, considering the nature of the NatSec state, I doubt I will ever perceive the events of WW2 as they actually were.
Although, I will admit, it is possible that there are very legitimate tactical reasons to have deployed the bomb, some of which you mentioned. Hindsight is always better to evaluate such things, but as a default I will err on the side of caution. I do not advocate for the use of nuclear weapons in any situation. But if one is presented a trolly problem..
Lastly, I am very much looking forward to reading through your book, there are many things in there for me to consider.
As I know you know... reality is stranger than fiction.
Do you not use your old ptd.net email? Tried to send you a message
I just saw one email asking me if I still use it
I have a message for you and could send it again if you can get it. If you still have mine you could reach out that way. I guess there is PM on here but I haven't figured it out.
I can't find anything email david777@ptd.net
I keep getting this same message for a week:
There was a temporary problem delivering your message to david777@ptd.com. Gmail will retry for 22 more hours. You'll be notified if the delivery fails permanently.
Again, thank you for spending time reading this. It is my hope that in addition to me exercising my muse and gaining a form of catharsis by writing, as well as giving my children my thought that will outlast my ability to speak them, I wish that others might find something useful in what I write to assist them during their own path. Even if it is just bringing to the front of our minds that physical life is temporary and we should live it accordingly. I am also highly skeptical by default, I have a difficult time believing much in this world. While my hopes and faith reside in the next world, which I respect the fact that not all believe as i, I do not claim to know for sure how that world interacts with ours. Prophecy? Coincidence? Synchronicity? Some form of fate? This I do not know. What I do know, I have certainly experienced what you speak of. Usually I have to reflect as well considering that it may very well mean something indeed.
Perhaps it has to do with the general theme, that "everything is temporary." Maybe there is something you need to address in your life? I know there are things I am attempting to address in mine. The rest of the writing that I have posted, including one that will be up tomorrow, sort of extends that theme. This modern world... it really distracts us from our short temporal nature and for that things get lost, including the authenticity of the things we do choose to do. If you gain nothing from my writing save for picking up the phone to ring an old friend, or a reminder to pay a vistit to a loved one, or even make a change to your habits , then sir I will have considered my time spent writing in the semi-public square well worth it. Again, thank you for reading.