1.) Why are there exceptions to every rule?
Why is it that all of our rules, theories, maxims, and
models all have an exception? This is precisely the way the
world works, except when it doesn’t.
In a perfect world, we wouldn’t have any exceptions, or
would we?
On the surface this seems like a rather trite question, and
if you ask the average person on the street, most will
simply smile, shrug, and move on. But in a world where
scientists have spent countless billions to research and
understand such topics as the relationship between matter,
energy, particles, and waves, everything has to make
sense, except it doesn’t.
Even with our basic understanding of math, 2+2 does not
always equal 4. It depends on what type of measurement
scale you are using. There are four types of measurement
scales – nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio. Only in the
last two categories does 2+2 = 4.
So why do exceptions matter? Exceptions matter because
nothing comes with 100% predictability. Yes, we can count
on such things as buildings existing from one day to the
next, the earth traveling around the sun in the same orbit,
gravity holding us down, and the speed of light remaining
reasonably constant. In fact, most of the world around has
been created around natural forces that can be predicted
with high degrees of probability.
For this reason, there is no such thing as absolute
certainty, except our certainty that nothing is certain…
maybe.


2.) Why do logic and reason fail to explain that which is
true?
In many scientific circles, the only truths are those that
can be explained with logic and reason. Religious people
use a different metric, but they too have a way of
calibrating their truths with logic and reason.
So why are logic and reason such miserable tools for
explaining the world around us? It’s as if the world around
us was perfect, and then someone divided by zero.
Everything perfect has a touch of that one secret ingredient
known as chaos.
Is order more perfect than chaos? Or is chaos just a higher
form of order? How will we ever know if we can’t explain it
with logic and reason?


3.) Is the universe finite or infinite?
If we were able to travel to the outer edges of the
universe, what would we find? Perhaps we would run
smack dab into another universe, but how would we know?
Would the other universe somehow come in a different
color, operate with a different set of rules, or smell slightly
like almonds? How would we know?
I’m imagining a large sign that says, “You have reached the
end of Universe A! Welcome to Universe B where proximity
is not an issue!”
How much is infinity plus one?


4.) Why does anything exist?
Before there was something, there was nothing. And out of
nothing, how did we get something? What existed before
the big bang, before creation, and before God?
Yes, it becomes very confusing when we throw in theories
about other dimensions and non-linear time, but all of
these theories fail to answer this most fundamental of all
questions, “Why does anything exist?”
We know things exist, but why?


5.) Why does time exist?
Time is the sound of a metronome ticking in our heads, the
beat of our heart, the blinking lids on our eyes, the mental
waves in our brains, and all the circadian cycles that
govern our lives.
Much like fish that can’t understand water because they’re
in it all the time, we have a very poor grasp of our most
immersive of all substances – time.
Each of us thinks about time differently. To some it is a
tool to be leveraged, to others a setting sun, a theory of
physics, a philosophy to be debated, the hands of a clock, a
lengthening of a shadow, or the grains of sand dropping in
an hourglass.
And yet every truth we have about the existence of time
comes with a counterbalancing exception to the rule.
I love Albert Einstein’s comment that “the only reason for
time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.”
What Einstein may have been alluding to is the existence of
other dimensions outside of those governed by time. But
whenever he made the comment, it always ended with a
smile, the universal sign for “no further explanation will be
forthcoming.”


6.) Why do humans matter?
We are born as a baby, struggle our entire life with
everything from finding food to eat, homes to live in,
educating ourselves to gain more understanding, staying
healthy, making friends and relationships, raising a family,
earning a living, and then we die.
If we have more accomplishments in life, earn more
money, have more friends, raise a bigger family, and
somehow do everything better than anyone else, we will
still eventually die. Right?
In a world teaming with 8.7 million different life forms, how
do humans fit in?
Every past civilization, with their manmade structures,
machines, systems, and cultures, has eventually
succumbed to Mother Nature. Plants, animals, bacteria,
and fungi methodically remove every trace of what we
leave behind.
Why are humans important?
Does the fact that we can ask questions like these, ponder
the unponderable, think the unthinkable, and accomplish
things that no other species can accomplish, somehow
give us a higher purpose?
Are humans destined to become the guardians, caretakers,
and eventually the masters of the universe? If so, then we
have to ask…



7.) Why are humans so fallible?
Humans are the bull in every china closet, the off-center
bubble on every level, the mystery behind every hidden
agenda, and the blunt instrument whenever a precision tool
is called for.
We are both our greatest heroes and our most feared
enemies. We are praised for our accomplishments and
castigated for our failures.
Of all species on planet earth, humans are the least
predictable, most destructive, require the longest nurturing
period, and consume the most food. At the same time, we
are also the most curious, most aware, most innovative,
and the most likely to waste countless hours playing video
games.
Yes, we may have better developed brains than all the
other animals, but that doesn’t explain why we are so
unbelievable fallible?



8.) Do human accomplishments have long-term meaning?
If you do a search of mankind’s greatest accomplishment
you come up with lists that include the building of the great
pyramids, landing on the moon, the invention of the
telephone and light bulb, amazing artworks, and the
composition of countless music scores. But are those
things that human’s consider to be great accomplishments
really significant in the bigger scheme of things?
Perhaps today’s human accomplishments are a stepping-
stone to what comes next?
We live in a world driven by prerequisites. A machinist
needs to understand a single-point lathe operation before
he or she can advance to multi-axial milling. Engineers
need to understand the concepts of mechanical stress and
strain before they start bending a cantilever beam.
Metallurgists need to understand thermodynamics before
they attempt phase transformations in solids. Physicists
need to understand quantum mechanics before they can
understand a standard model for particle physics.
Mathematicians need to understand nonlinear differential
equations before they can understand strange attractors.
Are all our accomplishments just stepping-stones to
something else that we don’t know or understand yet?
So what is it that we don’t currently know that will make
tomorrow happen?



9.) Why is the future unknowable?
While I’m well aware of the notion that a “known future”
will strip us of our drive and motivation, understanding the
consequences still doesn’t explain why the future isn’t
knowable.
I like to think of the future as a force so massive that the
entire universe is being pulled forward in time
simultaneously. We have no choice in this matter. The
future will happen whether or not we agree to participate.
Currently there are no known techniques for us to speed it
up, slow it down, or even try to stop it. The pace with
which the future is unfolding is constant, and at the same
time, relentless.
Will the future always remain unknowable?



10.) What is the purpose of death?
Shortly before his death, Steve Jobs said, “No one wants to
die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to
die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all
share.”
But why death?
Couldn’t we just dissolve into a pile of ash, fly out of our
skin, step into an invisible elevator preprogrammed to go to
the highest of all floors, or just mentally fade to black.
People fear death. We spend millions on vitamins, health
food, fitness programs, and doctors all to avoid the
unavoidable. Or is it unavoidable?
Why are we so terrified of the unknown?
Final Thoughts
People who surround us today are part of the present and
will also be part of the future. For people who are
intellectually enlightened and “tuned in,” it’s easy to
discount those who have a different perspective.
Yet the future is being created by all of us. If we believe
we have a purpose, then so does every butterfly, pocket
mouse, and beam of light.
We have all experienced things that we would consider
extra-dimensional, such as thoughts that spring from
“nowhere,” words that come from our “intuition,” and ideas
that torture us relentlessly.
Regardless of your beliefs, start with the most basic of all
questions – Why does anything exist?
It’s rather ironic that our first impulse is to use logic and
reason to come up with answers, an approach that has
historically only been able to answer questions about the
tiniest of all fractions of the knowable universe.
If you were expecting me to have all the answers to life’s
most unanswerable question, then this column will
certainly disappoint you. It has been a lifetime journey for
me just to formulate the questions.
That said, I would love to hear your thoughts. Am I asking
the right questions? Do you have answers to these
questions, even one of them? Here’s your chance to weigh
in.
.
By Futurist Thomas Frey
Author of “Communicating with the Future” – the book that
changes everything

This one is strong o...
Got me like

ha!

Have alway's look for this type of question that would make u think of the unknown nd bring the reality out of it.....the face's about time..is just man's creation,everything can't possibly be done @ one's the date'sthe time are all result of different location's nd work @ a particular place differ's from other.about the death thing.....the choice we don't have to prevent ouself from being born is also the inevitable end to our death...ppeo fear death..but if we look @ it closely death is the only thing that stop's us from all the ambition nd unending career pursue.in life we don't get enough until we alway's get's insatiable whenever we achieve something until death call's so I think death itself is a natural thing that bring's us to rest.when sleeping is an example of how free nd stressfree we re.but about the difficulty on knwing what the future entail's......? There is nothing like future...it is the work of ppeo today that determine what tomorrow might look like..yes there might be calendar or date's nd night nd morning...the only thing's that's is constant is d growth within us....which is shaping the development around us....the question y does anything exist....the fact's is nothing existed before man started to plough the floor nd started fishing,frming or building thing's is hard but very truthful when I say ppeo talk abt God .not realising we re God'sourself look around u everything created is as a result of creation by mankind,under over series of invention then,,,,another better superior one will emerge everything today that make's the world livable nd interestion aren't d creation of any superior God but we ourself untill we come to the realisation b4 we understood.that the world is just a surviving ground.....when u die is when re finally free.in as much s we re thinking of hving ambition we can never be free from unending pursuilt of happiness which @ the end would pave the way for upcoming generation to have better living than even u yourself...cause u would hve change d environment to unknowinly thn'k's this my opinion tho.

one more...



what happens when an irrestitable force meets an unmovable object.