I enjoy speculation in the abstract.
In an attempt to second-guess the unknown.
To break down the principles of convention, and reconstruct a newly devised apprehension.
eXample:
Conventional idea(s) of space-craft: That they are made of sturdy materials, such as metals or plastics; that they take the form of a rocket fuselage; that they are propelled by a fusion reactor or nuclear powered, etc.; that they contain within their limited, artificially constructed housing enoughspace for an X-number of passengers; etc.
A Non-Conventional idea for a space craft:
Said interstellar craft might be powered by a nuclear/fusion source as large as our sun. This engine may be of such extreme power that it is not even attached physically to the spacecraft itself: instead, the craft is placed in orbit about the engine. The craft may not only be large enough to house an X-factor of Crew + Generations Of Offspring, but it might, by due course, have sufficient land mass for photosynthesis to become possible so that the crew's food supply can be provided via agriculture and livestock. The craft's route through interstellar space could also conceivably follow a complex course. As the "bridge" of this immense space ship is in constant orbit about it's nuclear fusion power source, the "direction" through space that it takes would describe a fractaling arc; as the bridge itself achieved orbital spin in its revolution about it's engine, the direction of the entire craft (engine and all) is desc ribed by a greater arc which is the movement and course of this sun-engine itself.
From this it can easily be inferred that this model for a "Spaceship Earth" could in fact be a literal reality, and humanity itself could be none other than the descendants of the original "crew". The irony here wouldbe the simple yet profound fact that the knowledge that this planet was nothing other than a "bridge" to a vast starship set on an epic course through the cosmos has been entirely lost on its crew; an unforeseen symptom of no other fact than that the original calculations as to the length of the journey may have been overwhelmingly shy of the actual mark.
i.e., we may still be traveling to this date, completely oblivious to the fact we are a greatly increased crew possibly not even "lost" in space, but merely not quite having reached our destination yet.
The point I am striving to illustrate is certainly not to convince anyone that this scenario is in fact the case with us; rather, it is but one example of myriad that illustrate a possibility of a model for reality that many of us may not have even considered. And the point of that is to lay the groundwork for a fascinating insight: Just what if the nature of reality (what is going on) just happens to be something entirely along these unconventional lines? For it seems to me that the chances of that are quite high. For I feel that most, if not all, of what we have discerned as being reality, or the laws of nature, is a certain degree shy of the actual mark, perhaps a great degree. One must remember that there is that platform that lies within our perceptive field as well as that platform that encompasses our perceptive field + everything else. Reality is not necessarily limited to our percept-fields. Hence I question our perceptions, but don't necessarily throw them all out. However, I feel that an enormous amount of our perception(s) are way off mark. And it may have something to do with the fact that often, we forget that our perceptions are limited. The old "I'll believe it when I see it w/my own eyes" adage seems to me to become effectively a kind of self-imposed curse that fates one to be excluded from ever acquiring real knowledge.
What the hell am I babbling about.
Merely this: a reminder that we must all, from time to time, rub the grit out of our eyes and reopen them wide again, and reconsider what it is that we see before us.
And that through imagination as our compass may we stand a chance at getting to the real truth.
