Greetings, readers! Today, Saturday, March 7, 2020 begins a new feature at Harry the Human, in which I post an original theory or meditative essay each morning. I will try to come up with lively essays that, even if you're having the worst day of your life, will give you a little something. I will post by 5am (West Coast time), so you can make Harry the Human's Theory of the Day part of your morning routine. Bookmark this page now and start the day right!
Live long and perspire! Harry the Human
Theory #1, posted 3/7/20
We often say that, "All power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely," as if it were a given, perhaps because the statement's author was John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton, aka Lord Acton, 1st Baron, 13th Marquess of Groppoli and Deputy Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order, and maybe also because the statement sounds true. It may be true, but my theory is that, in addition to corrupting, power enslaves the powerful, because in order to achieve power one must please some people- not everybody- but the right people. Absolute power would entail absolutely pleasing these people, with the result that the powerful person is in fact a slave. Corruption, then, can be defined as the subservience of the self to someone else. It is corrupt to deny yourself absolutely.
Theory #2, also posted 3/7/20
Our five senses of sight, smell, taste, hearing and touch are geared to our sense of time. Like lasers set to record the extremely fast events of photosynthesis, we record the fast events around us. But when we look at a mountain, nothing moves. Science works to extend our senses, but the quest is not usually described in terms of extending our sense of time; our searches are mostly conducted in and for human time. Physicists should note an analogue to human time when they smash particles together and observe resulting particles that don't last long, whose lifespan is measured in nanoseconds (billionths of a second). We call these particles virtual because they disappear so fast we don't feel comfortable calling them real. But we too are short-lived, focused on very fast events. In this sense humans are virtual. If we extend beyond our time setting we will see more, and be more.
Theory #3, posted 20 minutes later
This is an idea for the youth of Hong Kong, about what you should do now. It's clear you're on a binary course: either you will confront a dragon that will kill and eat you, or you will likely float like ghosts to future power havens, where, although you will be part ghost and less real than you are now, you will gain access to other time settings, and that will help you. By "float like ghosts" I mean drop your physical protests, suddenly, without warning, then float like ghosts into bureaucracies and civic organizations, as we did in the face of the Vietnam War, so that now we float like ghosts in our huddled power havens, wondering how long the power will stay on. I'm just saying, you'll last longer.
Theory #4, posted 3/8/20, at what would have been 4:29am, but is instead 5:29am
I apologize to readers: I have no theories this morning. My head is empty of content, even after reading the news, drinking coffee, letting Franklin (a Rhodesian ridgeback) out, feeding him, letting him in, walking out front in the almost full moon and chill and picking up the paper, scowling at its cover as Franklin monitors me for signs of life. At times like this I rely on the dictionary for wisdom; I found this: "Theory derives from Greek theoria: 'contemplation,' 'speculation,' from theoros, 'spectator.'" So if you have a theory, then you are a spectator witnessing something happen, suggesting that a theory is not only a concept; it is an event, which suggests that if you don't have any theories, it's because nothing is happening. A blurb just flashed across my screen, "Kamala Harris endorses Biden," a non-event and the first story so far this morning that isn't restated from yesterday's news. It could be that Sunday, March 8, 2020 is itself not happening; it might just be a reflection of yesterday, with a yearning towards tomorrow. This will have to do as today's theory.
Theory #5, posted 3/9/20
Tonight is full moon, considered the most powerful moon phase of each month, when the moon, in most conceptions, enhances animal urges in humans. Police activity is said to go up, and many people "feel" things during full moon. Today's theory is inspired by a maternity room nurse's comment, made to my associate D.L. 26 years ago on the night his youngest son was born, which happened to be a new moon (also called "dark of the moon"). The nurse told D.L. that her experience was that more women go into labor on new moon than full moon, though she, like everyone else, could not say why. Let's test the theory that moon phases affect us. Keep note of feelings (not necessarily of going into labor) you have today that may possibly be connected to tonight's full moon. I will do the same and note my observations. Then on the next new moon- Tuesday, March 24- let's compare notes on new moon vs full moon. Of course, if the apocalypse has started by then, we'll need to be careful not to attribute it entirely to one new and/or full moon.
Observation this morning, 3/10/20:
The major force of the hour- the coronavirus- moves without reference to the moon. Let's see if that holds true as March 24 approaches. Horoscope for Capricorn: Shut up and go back to sleep.
This ends my attempt to write inspired prose every morning at 4am.
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