Signs: "Is it possible there are no coincidences?"

I catch a lot of flak for my favorite movies. I list my favorite three movies, in no particular order, as Jaws, Lord of the Rings, and Signs. Most people understand Lord of the Rings; a few people smile at Jaws; and everyone says "What the Heck" when I say Signs.

But I really love that movie. It's terrifying but it's also thoughtful and inspiring. If you never seen it, put it on your netflix queue. Rent it from Blockbuster. It's a great story.

This movie is why I named this little blog series "Signs." I hope you've enjoyed the thoughts and I hope that they've stimulated you to think about life and God and luck in new and different ways. To end this little series, I thought it was appropriate to end with this quote, from one of the best moments of Signs. It sums it up - we have a choice between Group number 1 and Group number 2. Which group are you in?

"People break down into two groups. When they experience something lucky, group number one sees it as more than luck, more than coincidence. They see it as a sign, evidence, that there is someone up there, watching out for them. Group number two sees it as just pure luck. Just a happy turn of chance. I'm sure the people in group number two are looking at those fourteen lights in a very suspicious way. For them, the situation is a fifty-fifty. Could be bad, could be good. But deep down, they feel that whatever happens, they're on their own. And that fills them with fear. Yeah, there are those people. But there's a whole lot of people in group number one. When they see those fourteen lights, they're looking at a miracle. And deep down, they feel that whatever's going to happen, there will be someone there to help them. And that fills them with hope. See what you have to ask yourself is what kind of person are you? Are you the kind that sees signs, that sees miracles? Or do you believe that people just get lucky? Or, look at the question this way: Is it possible that there are no coincidences?"

Signs: "There are other forces at work in this world besides the will of evil."

So how do we reconcile some of what I've talked about with the Biblical presentation of God?

How can we use quantum physics to learn about Jesus?

Let's start by talking about Dimensions.

You and I operate in three and a half dimensions. We can move forward/backward and left/right and up/down. Obviously, there are constraints in that - we are bound by gravity and by the objects surrounding us. But we exert limited control over three dimensions.

We also experience a fourth dimension - time. Time is different because we exert no control over it. It happens to us.

Superstring theory posits that there may be as many as 11 dimensions. That means there are seven other dimensions that we do not experience. This is pretty impossible to wrap our heads around - scientists can't even begin to imagine what a new dimension is like. Let's try an exercise to imagine the difference.

Take your everyday world and subtract one dimension, width. You can still move forward and backwards, you can still jump up and down, but you can't move left or right. In fact, you have no concept of left and right. Everything is flat. You are Mario, before the N64. Your world is flat; it could balance on a razor blade.

How could Mario-You and Real3D-You interact? You have width; which means that Mario-You would never be able to see all of you. Mario-You would only be able to experience the tiniest sliver of your person at a time - they could see a razor's width of you at a time. It's like the old joke about 3 blind beggars feeling an elephant, but to an even greater extreme.

If you interacted with a 2 dimensional character, you would, for all intents and purposes, be a god to them. They could never harm you because they can barely interact with you. They could never really know you. You would have to become a 2 dimensional figure to interact and to be really known.

So that's the experience we have when we subtract a single dimension. Imagine adding seven. What if God operates in 11 dimensions? We could never really interact with God. He would be ultimately powerful and beyond our plane of understanding.

Read Hyperion by Dan Simmons to understand just how powerful you would be if you simply had control over the fourth dimension, time. That power, used for evil, would be catastrophic.

So my thought is that God operates in 11 dimensions (with the 11th dimension being perhaps Love?). And to interact and be fully known, he took on a persona of 3 dimensions...

As a being that is beyond our understanding, God created this world - in the same sort of way, perhaps, that we've created Mario and Minesweeper. And he built in certain mechanisms that work on a dimension that we don't understand.

One of those mechanisms is that of Affirmations, which we already discussed. I'm sure there are others.

This post is probably the most speculative of any in this series so far. It's entirely what I think. What do you think of my crackpot ideas?

Tune in Monday for a wrap up of the series.

Signs: "To Infinity and Beyond"

I wrote the other day that Gamblers Fallacy and Infinite Monkey Theorem can be used to prove that the Earth had a beginning. I meant that the Universe had a beginning, and here's how:

If the Universe had no beginning, it would be infinitely old. And given infinite reactions and infinite time, there is a 100% probability that something would happen to destroy the Universe. Infinite monkeys, etc.

Possibly the universe is indestructible and timeless; but then the universe becomes a Deity and thats a whole different can of worms.

Also, if the universe is infinite, everything that you are doing has already happened an infinite number of times. Because everything would replay itself, again and again.

Ergo, if the universe isn't infinite because of the above absurdities, it must have a beginning. If all of this sounds like I'm talking crazy, it's not my idea. If I can remember the source, I'll let you know.

No one got points though. Shame on you for not commenting.

In Honor of: Jaws 35 Year Anniversary

35 years ago (yesterday), Jaws was released into cinemas. It was the first summer blockbuster; an instant classic. It was a perfect movie.

And it changed film. Without Jaws, Alan Ladd doesn't take a risk on George Lucas, and you have no Star Wars. Ridley Scott never makes Alien. Spielberg never makes Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, Schindlers List. Cameron (because of no Scott) never makes Aliens, Terminator 2, Titanic, Avatar.

So this one movie is responsible for some of the best movies of all time.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about how CGI ruined monster movies. I used a few examples of really bad monster movies - Primeval, Anaconda, Deep Blue Sea.

Jaws is a perfect monster movie. There isn't a scene in Jaws that could be cut. I have watched Jaws more than any other movie in my life; and I've even watched all the sequels (ranging from okay to horrible) more than most any other movies.

Here's a few of my favorite Jaws links:

Quints 35 year Celebration

Jabootu's Review

Vern's Review

The best film ever.

Signs: "Don't mistake coincidence for fate."

All is good now, right? Our hero's change the world by their conscious choices. But wait, why then is the Terminator back rescuing John Connor as an adult? (Money, actually. Terminator 3 was a cash grab).

But nevertheless, it does happen. And then the nuclear war does happen. Because John didn't change anything. It was his destiny to lead the resistance.

A couple of days ago, we looked at the role that choice and consciousness plays in fate/luck/destiny. But is there such a thing as actual fate? True destiny? Irish luck? Or do we mistake coincidences for fate?

Let's start with the infinite monkey theorem. Basically, it's the theory that infinite monkeys with infinite typewriters and infinite time will eventually type a perfect copy of Hamlet. This ignores the actuality that monkeys don't type, and that no one cares about Hamlet.

In real terms, if the sample pool is large enough, it is actually reasonable and possible for there to be such a large difference between results and average, although the average will hold out over time. It's why Gamblers always bust.

Here's the kicker. The reason it seems like fate is because our mind is designed to look for deviations from normal. The probability of flipping 20 coins in a row "heads" is astronomically low - but it's not impossible. And on the 19th flip, the odds are still just 50/50. But our brain doesn't realize that - we talk ourselves into thinking that the odds are stacked because 20 in a row deviates from normal.

Our brains are hardwired to notice things that go together and try to find a reasoning for them. Look at earthquakes in the news. We had one very bad earthquake where hundreds of thousands of people died (Haiti) and one moderate earthquake where hundreds of people died (Chili). But for two months, every other day we were hearing about earthquakes, and the top article on CNN every other day was about whether they were connected. Here's the truth - we had an average earthquake "season." But our minds were attuned, and we started to see a pattern that wasn't there. It's called the clustering illusion.

The same thing, I believe, happens in our life. We attune ourselves to things, and become convinced its our fate or destiny for this to happen. If you're looking for meaning, you can find it. Our lives are filled with infinite moments, and thus there are bound to be crazy coincidences in them.

This took a bit of a turn from where I expected it would go. Next time, we'll talk about the possibility that there are no coincidences.

P.S. The Gamblers Fallacy and Infinite Monkey Theorem can also be used to prove, in a philosophical manner, that the Earth had a beginning. If you can tell me how, I'll give you five bonus points.

Signs: "No Fate but what we make..."

In a conversation about coincidences and fate and destiny and luck, there always seems to be two sides.

Today, I think we should look at the "Terminator 2" version of that idea - there is no fate, but what we make. The future isn't set - we can change it. In another pop culture reference, Daniel Faraday decides that people are variables, and with a large enough rock, one can change fate. This is Back to the Future - you can create an alternate world, where the reality you came from is not the same as the reality you are in.

Now all that makes for some fun and cool sci-fi storytelling, but what difference does it make right here and now? Sci-Fi is afterall, Fiction.

So let me introduce you a concept called affirmations. This concept comes from a book called "The Dilbert Future" by Scott Adams. The first 90% of the book is a classic Dilbert and Scott Adams - making fun of corporate excess and stupidity (while still showing a scary ability to actually predict the future), while the last 10% of the book turns metaphysical.

In the last 10% of the book, Adams wanders into some very deep thinking - Shrodingers Cat, the Double Slit Experiment, and the Monte Hall Problem. After and during all of that, we start talking about Affirmations.

Affirmations, in Adams' experience, is a process wherein you write down something you want twenty five times. Do this for a few months, and what you want comes true. Adams' reveals several outlandish times he used this method to success - including using it to become a world famous cartoonist. These stories are of course anecdotal and from Adam's own life, so take them with a grain of salt.

This does seem to correspond, in some way, with the way that prayers can actually positively impact health - even when the person being prayed for has no idea. It seems the act of thinking positively (praying) can actually influence events beyond our control.

We can actually control our fate. There is no fate - but what we make. It's not 100% effective, of course, and it does take time, but in some way, thinking and praying is like putting a steering wheel (or even better, a rudder) in our lives. Adam's theory is that the universe consists of infinite numbers of realities, where every decision and choice we make creates a new universe. By the process of Affirmations, we can steer our consciousness towards the reality that we want - we can choose our reality. Every little step and choice we make lets our consciousness attempt to guide us to the reality that we choose for ourselves.

This helps explains phenomenon like luck - people who believe they are lucky are lucky because they believe it. It's circular, but works. In my case, I (twice) recently entered into a contest to win a painted army (a few hundred dollars worth of merchandise each time). I went to the store because I knew I would win. And I won. Both times. My wife got exasperated the second time I came home with a bunch of merchandise - because it's flatly ridiculous. The odds are so low... yet it happened. Perhaps because I believed it would.

Of course, there's always the possibility that I won because it was fated that I would. That would be the sequel - Terminator 3. Check back later this week for more on that.

Thoughts on College Football

Two huge topics have happened in college football in the last week, and I wanted to weigh in on them and think through the U of M season.

1. USC is found guilty of cheating.

Basically, USC (University of Southern California) was found to have provided compensation to players for playing in their College football program - a huge no-no. NCAA does not allow colleges to do anything of monetary value for their students, ostensibly in order to keep the colleges from paying for students. As a result, USC has to vacate all their wins from 2004 (including a national championship) and loses a bunch of scholarships.

I must admit I like this story, simply because I have never liked USC. They've always seemed cocky and arrogant, and Pete Carroll was the best figurehead of that. I don't like Carroll, and there are a lot of people here in Seattle that don't like him either - for those reasons. I'm interested to see how this catches up with Carroll... My guess is that he is on a a super short leash now with the Seahawks. If some of the bets he made this year don't play out (Charlie Whitehurst?), he's gone. The Seahawks (from what I know) are a classy organization (for real, unlike Pittsburgh which just pretends), and they won't stand for an arrogant cheater - he'll be gone faster than Mora.

The other element I like about this story? One of the largest weasels in college football just got majorly screwed. Lane Kiffin, who has never won much of anything, promised his players he would be in Tennessee. Then he bolted to USC after a year. A very weasel move - and now he's stuck at USC without the ability to play in a bowl game for two years. Good luck recruiting for a team that legally can't win.

2. Big 12 Shakeup

Nebraska leaves the Big 12 for the Big 10, Colorado leaves Big 12 for the Pac 10. Besides the confusion of now severely misnumbered conferences (Big 10 has 12 members, Big 12 has 10, Pac 10 has 11), there leaves the possibility that Texas will leave the Big 12 and the whole thing evaporates.

Here's my dream for College Football: Texas and it's little gang join the Pac 10, creating a Pac 16. Notre Dame and a couple of other sensible teams round out the Big 10 to a Big 16. SEC picks up some leftovers to go to 16. And another conference gets to 16, and then we have four equal conferences, and we can start... a playoff!!!

Why it takes so long to make this happen, I don't know.

3. Michigan Season Preview

I haven't been able to watch a U of M game in a couple of years, but my opinion is that I like what they've been trying to do with Rich Rodriguez. The Big 10 needs to catch up with the 20th century, or we'll keep getting blown out in Bowl Games by teams that are so crazy they dare try to "pass."

And while I like what they attempted to do with Rodriguez, I think he's a weasel, just like Kiffin. He left WVU just like Kiffin left UT.

And with the allegations coming out about how he's tried to make players practice more than they are legally allowed, I think Rodriguez knows that he needs to improve the squad this year, and is desperate. He either needs a decent winning record, and a big bowl win or a big OSU win. I think if he went 1-11 but beat OSU, they might keep him.

Realistically? I think an 8 win season is reachable, maybe even 9 or 10. I think they're going to roll through the start of the season (possible exception: Notre Dame) and have a 5-1 or 6-0 start going into the Iowa game. And then it's going to be a rough season...

Signs: Introduction

Three conversations (unrelated) that I've had recently:

Conversation last week: "Of course you won, you always do."

Conversation yesterday: "Do you think this could be? And if not, why do I keep thinking it could be?"

Conversation today: "Why would this happen to me three times?

Three conversations about coincidences, which (ironically?) is a coincidence.

So let's have a conversation about coincidences. I'll tell you some of what I believe. You tell me what you believe.

We'll take a tour of pop culture, quantum physics, faith, and all things in between, and see where we end up.

So lets start this with a springboard. What do you think, and why?

Silly Christianity - 3

Just like the rest of the world, we Christians have realized that we can run up a tab, and it's only when we look at our credit score that we realize that there isn't anything free under the sun.

And so, just like the rest of America, we're obsessed with how to fix that, so that we can ring up a bigger (and better) tab.

So we have self help gurus and books that help us learn how to not use credit cards. It was only inevitable that someone would figure out that if you stamp the name of Jesus on it, all the Christians will buy that self help guru/book rather than those heathen ones.

So now we have Dave Ramsey and the Financial Peace University. FPU costs around 100 dollars to attend...

So to get that straight... Spend 100 dollars to learn how to not spend money on dumb things.

Don't get me wrong. Ramsey's ideas have helped many people - but there is such a radical disconnect here, that it startles me when I see it.

If people were really in financial stress, do you think that Jesus would charge them to get out of it?