Thursday, May 6, 2010

You Are Not Alone

I can't recall when I first had the strange thought that the room I'm in is filled with sound waves but I couldn't hear them. Wherever you went, if you had a radio you could pick up a station.

When we were kids, my dad had purchased a multi-band radio that could pick up short wave signals from all over the world. Even though he mostly listened to WOR on the AM dial I remember tuning in to strange languages and trying to guess where they were coming from. "Is that Russian? Is that Finnish?" I imagined a submarine captain in the Baltic Sea.

All these sounds were surrounding us, but each originated somewhere and it was interesting to contemplate.

But nowadays, think of the bombardment. Satellite radio is spraying signals continuously, and satellite television. Your GPS device signals are ever instructing, and the old fashioned network TV towers keep singing. We're surrounded by a cloud of noises we can't hear at all.

Science has shown us that the atmosphere is also filled with light waves. We don't see light waves, of course, but only see the objects that they reflect off of. Our light bulbs emanate photons likewise invisible to perception or comprehension.

Many religions add still another layer to the list of things unseen and invisible, yet surrounding us. Many believe we are surrounded by angels, spiritual beings not perceived by the senses... and ultimately, God.

What if we could see all this unseen "stuff"? It might be interesting for a moment, but somehow I have to think if we could see all those sound waves and light waves, it would be a little challenging. I can envision my room here stuffed with a giant mass of shredded cottonball-like material, and myself absorbed in it. Maybe I wouldn't even be able to see this computer monitor because all that stuff was in the way.

I think I like it just as it is, the room an empty space with an easy chair where I can curl up and read a good book.

2 comments:

Terrill Welch said...

Fascinating to contemplate all the sounds and light waves and beings that we can neither hear nor see. What if we do though... on some level what if we can feel the difference when the electrical grid shuts down. We often say... that place has a strange feeling or it is peaceful there yet we can't explain exactly what it is that tells us this. A great thought provoking post!

Ed Newman said...

Thanks for the comments, and the seed thoughts contained therein. I have sometimes felt like I actually was hearing a radio station every now and then. Someone once said that your fillings (teeth) can cause your head to become a receiving device, but that seems kind of weird and kind of scary...

thanks for the visit.
e.

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