Image [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons, "Future Fiction", 1941.
My Mom called for her weekly chat last Sunday and out of the sky blue she told me she read the most interesting article in the newspaper that posed the question, “Do we know when we are going to die?” My mother does not normally discuss things other than the sky being blue (or not), and I assumed she meant what actual time, as in, on the clock. Of course, I know I will die at 5:55, but I am not sure if its am or pm, I guess I’d rather not know.
There was a special on the Smithsonian Channel recently about one of the “Seven Wonders of the World”, called “Stonehenge Empire” which is about science utilizing todays innovative forensic technology to unearth the mysterious origins of its past and significance. In one segment the common assumption that the ancient civilization responsible for erecting and designing Stonehenge were somehow “cavemen” or lesser humans-since the wheel had not yet been discovered (I guess they know this for a fact) is completely a false notion. In fact one woman noted the accuracy of the adjacent culvert or large ditch near the circular icon successfully and arithmetically determined the seasons. This would have been important if not life or death for human who live off the land. It’s safe to assume that is true.
Image By Bkamprath (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Of course these people were not Neanderthals or cavemen and cavewomen. I am thinking we are less intelligent for not being able to figure out (for certain) its precise use(s) and service(s) even with with all of our fancy schmancy“modern technology and philosophy”, something obviously was lost in translation that will not be picked up by any roving piece of equipment. It may not sound like it, but I’m actually an optimistic person. Maybe someone, somehwere, someday will remember what it was for.
The compass is a miraculous invention. Like the wheel it works, if designed properly, every time- without batteries or electricity as if guided by some Divine force; hence the reference to its accuracy in revealing the four “cardinal” directions. Actually and factually, the compass was not initially used or invented for the purpose of navigation at all. The sun and moon (later the stars) being the biggest and most obvious heavenly bodies were divinely correct enough for civilizations in providing direction and time assistance.
Image from US War Dept. printing Office 1941, via Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain)
"Prismatic compass measuring azimuth in daylight"
The compass was invented by the Chinese around 1,000 BC and the sole function of the compass at that time was for fortune telling and in architecture. It became a tool for explorers, specifically for ocean travelers due to the lack of navigational reference points at sea not much later. Perhaps that's a little vague but there is much dispute about the actual date ranges, which for all intents and purposes is like poking “mysterious needles” at each other, it doesn’t change the point. Now that we’re on the topic of the point, what a magical, if not spiritually offensive gadget the compass is with its integral working magnet that will never lead a weary traveler astray! Even after all these years, if you stop to ponder how the core of the Earth, the poles are pulling on every magnet as you read this, and even though I am a “learned” mature adult, it’s still magical.
Our society has developed and unleashed so much power into our atmosphere since Tesla, with all of our devices today Electricity is not a luxury, but a necessity (along with Wi-fi, which Tesla would likely agree should be freely accessible too). Yet I wonder why we cannot develop clean energy still, or harness the power from our planets' greatest natural resource the ocean and say the tides (the moon and the sun) -they seem to always “work” and be full of “juice”. I guess our scientists are working on it and since I am an optimist I am hopeful I will live to see the evolution of how we use and make energy, and generate electricity.
Image By Ancient People from the Land of Aztec (Ancient Aztec Stone Compass) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Putting aside the ignoble task Nike has taken upon its R&D team to develop and manufacture the "self lacing shoe by 2015", I wish someone was working on a moral compass, it has been needed for far longer than laces were invented or even became a pain. Perhaps it would have to become trendy again like the analog watch or Google Glass. If Google put one of these in everyone home (or phone) it might save the world a lot of energy.
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