Something v. Nothing

Why are we here?

Why does anything exist?

How did matter win the war with antimatter?

The Qualitative Research Group at Northwestern University concludes, “the energy we encounter and use everyday has always been with us since the beginning of the universe and always will be with us. It just changes form all around us. That is called the law of conservation of energy.” The Big Bang Theory suggests that this energy began almost 14 billion years ago, so it had a beginning, we think, so why no ending? Why can’t energy fade and die out?

The US Energy Information Administration claims that “energy is neither created nor destroyed.” Then where did it ultimately come from? It exploded out of nothingness at the singularity we call The Big Bang? From what I can tell, quantum mechanics offers no better explanation. Looking at the subatomic scale we still see particles reacting to energy fields that seem a universal constant. 

I’ve followed Dr. Roger Penrose for years and I believe where he ends up is with infinite “big bangs,” claiming that the last one 13.8 billion years ago was the last in a series. Others conclude that we are merely one universe within a countless multiverse. Still, some philosophers assert that we are merely a dream of Universal Consciousness, questioning our physical existence at all. Is our physical reality even real? 

Where I see physics, math and science fall short is in the realm of the paranormal/supernatural/metaphysical/spiritual. Academia has yet failed to quantify anything beyond the boundaries of the physical realm. In other words, they have quantified through mathematics the so-called laws of nature, things that are measurable even subatomic particles. But, there again, all of these concepts, including astrophysics, are human constructs. Quantum mechanics is just a concept to help humankind explain what we can observe and measure at the subatomic level. But, there again, things beyond this physical realm seem to exist all around us, concepts like the fifth or sixth dimensions, consciousness or spirituality, that our science, our logic and reason fail to explain or even to prove. 

Does spirituality exist at all? What are souls? Where does consciousness reside? Science cannot tell us. Not yet, anyway. We live in a very exciting time with science stretching our understanding of the cosmos.

It started with with the Hubble space telescope, and what it found to be the “Hubble constant“ where the expansion of the universe appears to have happened faster near the Big Bang than we had previously thought. Currently, the James Webb space telescope has been shedding more light on the problem and has verified the Hubble constant. Scientists believe we may need to rethink physics altogether. We need to find new ways to explain what we are discovering at a very rapid rate.

That’s why I say it’s such an exciting time because of the new discoveries thanks to our technology. But we may never have the answer to the why questions that we are seeking. It could be that the answers are bigger than our intellect and ability to reason. Maybe it will take a higher evolved type of human in the distant future to gain the understanding or possibly create a new technology that explains the unexplainable. For now, humankind is left with questions that cannot be answered.

UPDATE: When I wrote this over two days, I had Euclid in my notes, but failed to mention it. This European Space Agency-led project has the audacious goal of mapping the known universe. The current mosaic of the night sky, impressive as it is, only covers a minuscule percentage of the whole, thus far. But the HD images, along with Hubble and JWST images, will help us gain new understanding of the cosmos.

10 Reasons Why I'm Moving to Belize - #1 BEACH PARADISE

OK, Sports Fans!!! WE'VE ARRIVED AT NUMBER ONE!!! In Top Ten Reasons Belize is on my "retirement radar."

It's like a postcard...every image you see when you Google "Belize Beach" or "Belizean Beaches." Take the above, for example, just three of the images that came up this morning.

IT LOOKS IDYLLIC!!!

Everything that I loved about Fort Myers Beach, FL, just without the hassle of beach traffic, local politics, high rises and all the things wrong with America!

I've known since 2011 I was meant to live at the beach. At my core, I'm a BONAFIDE BEACH BUM, meant to live at a slower pace, a higher frequency and very minimally. Belize offers all of that and more!

Just give me a hammock in the shade of a palm tree with some cold beverage and a book. I'll be content as a clam!

I didn't realize how badly I wanted to escape the toxic (and increasingly violent) political climate of the U.S. The divisive rhetoric reached a crescendo in January 2021 and it's devolved into threats of civil war. Is that what America has come to? Is this the fate of the 200+ year American Experiment? Then COUNT ME OUT!!! (The "American Dream" was never for me, anyway!)

As alluring as The Florida Keys are to me, I'd rather just escape our borders to the safety of a third-world Central American country. I can fly under the radar there, live in my happy place (THE BEACH!) and live as a minimalist in nature. 

There are only 400k people in the tiny country on the Caribbean! And Placencia residents DON'T EVEN HAVE ADDRESSES!!!

What we called "Snowbird Season" in Florida exists there, too. An influx of tourists during the winter months, then the calm after the storm all summer long!

I won't need as much to support myself, so finding work locally should suffice. I'll only be responsible for me, myself and I.

And I can breathe the fresh air of Placencia and fill my lungs with the life-giving sea breezes. I can get back to ME!

After the hellstorm of the last year, that sounds QUITE DIVINE!!!

It's not going to happen immediately. I don't even have a passport, yet. This will be my first adventure across the border...but I CANNOT WAIT!!!

In the near-term, you'll find me recuperating and saving up, getting my affairs in order (including my first-ever passport) and living the beach life in the familiar white sands along the Gulf. But the BEACH IS MY HAPPY PLACE and I intend to get back there.

Belize is a veritable BEACH PARADISE and that's REASON NUMBER ONE I'm moving there!

10 Reasons Why I'm Moving to Belize - #4 Climate

TWO WORDS: SUB TROPICAL

Okay, it's actually one word, but it means "perfection." If you can deal with humidity, bugs and rainy seasons, this climate is IDEAL! The mean temperature in the "cold" months is 74-degrees. There are two seasons--dry and rainy, no winter, summer, spring and fall. And that suits me just fine!

According to Encyclopedia Britannica, "Trade winds blow onshore most of the year, and from September to December northerly winds bring cooler, drier air." So it's not humid there ALL the time. Onshore breezes, consistently warm, pristine blue-green waters...need I say more??!? SIGN ME UP!!!

This place looks like paradise to me.

I mean every coastal scene I've found online looks like a postcard. I've watched videos--pros and cons of living there--from people who've made the move, and everyone is more enticement for me.

I've already written about nature and the birds, the sea life, the forests of Belize. It's location in the subtropics, it's coffee and it's food...these can all be attributed to the moderate climate of the region. This subtropical climate is not only amenable to birds, iguana and sea life, it's super amenable to humans who love warmth, humidity, sunshine and rain. Some people prefer mountainous terrains, snow, a change of seasons, and that's great. I've lived in those climates, too. I'm just one who likes a more temperate climate with less change and lots of sunshine.

It's proximity to the equator gives it an ideal climate--not far latitudinally from the Caymans or Jamaica, with the same Caribbean vibe. As a beach bum at heart, the climate of Belize and it's beautiful beaches make it my top destination!

Reality TV / Vlogs

Taking a break from beach dreaming in my Belize Countdown...to bring you something a little different, a slice of my life, I guess you could say...and other ways I've been spending my time.

It all started, I believe, with Martijn Doolard, the Dutchman who bought a rustic, century-old mountain cabin in the Italian Alps. I was looking for entertainment, for an escape, and YouTube was readily available on the TVs in the house, on my laptop and my iPad. I'd often take the latter to bed with me and watch as I trailed off to sleep. The mountain aesthetic and slow-pace of Doolard's solitude on a hillside, remodeling the quarried stone structures on his secluded property and cooking over a firepit gave me peace. It was a bit of social media escapism.

Here's Doolard's YouTube channel, in case you want to check it out: https://www.youtube.com/c/MartijnDoolaard

I'm not a very handy person, so watching all the DIY remodeling and construction was fascinating to me. He pays respect to both nature and Italian Alps culture and I was actually learning something as I watched. And like I said, the peaceful aesthetic would most nights help me wind down before sleep. I binged the first 20-plus episodes shot over the last year, and at some point last month, caught up to where he is currently. He vlogs every Monday, encapsulating a week-in-the-life of Martijn Doolard.

Following the YouTube/Social Media Algorithm, several similar vlogs were recommended for me to watch. The ones with scantily-clad young woman enjoying nature were natural clickbait, so I started watching vanwives (lesbians in Nova Scotian wilderness), the Cottage Fairy (single woman living simply in the Washington mountains), Isabel Paige (living "her best life" with a boyfriend, also WA), Stephi Lee (nomad artist living in a van) and Nikki Delventhal (single with dog in Prius). There are links to all their channels below, if you'd like to preview some of their content.

What these vloggers offered was escapism and maybe a little inspiration for my minimalist, live-off-the-land ideal. That's how I'd like to spend the remainder of my days. And yes, there was a little curious voyeurism.

But let's face it, at it's core, it's simple entertainment. It's like all the "reality" portrayed on voyeuristic televised shows on cable. I was just getting what I felt was a little closer to reality on YouTube. But to be honest, there's NOT a lot of difference here. These slickly-produced 20-30 minute day-in-the-life vlogs were a big commitment (and sometimes production, involving camera people, drones, scripts, etc.). They were hardly a slice of "real life," as they try so hard to portray.

Take for instance, shoots and reshoots. As an example, we'll consider a scene in Doolard's cabin build-out vlogs. He'll take his pull-behind trailer down the narrow mountain roads with his mini-SUV. There will inevitably be shots from behind the wheel, from his property as he departs, from the destination as he arrives. Now, Martijn doesn't have a film crew following him around. This isn't a documentary in the classic sense. It's a single YouTuber with a couple cameras and a drone and some tripods. So in order to get all those slice-of-life shots, he has to set up the camera, considering framing, lighting, sound, etc., then film himself driving, then stop the car and go back for his equipment. If the camera is out of focus, the tripod falls over or the clouds suddenly obscure the lighting, he's likely to reset and refilm the shot (like in the movies). And while he might be catching raw moments in his life, they are staged and filmed. They might not have been scripted, but a lot of time and effort goes into being a one-man film crew.

These are things that normal viewers may not consider. They've been lulled into believing what they see actually happened as they see it on-screen, forgetting there's sometimes "story boarding," reshooting and editing involved, like on a reality TV show.

I'm sometimes even lulled into forgetting that what I'm watching is mostly staged. These vloggers, or content creators, are "acting" for their own camera to produce "quality" content that they can then monetize. And many of them make a decent living, for minimalist type lifestyles.

Some of them even have an interesting back story. As Jasmine Cherry points out in this long-winded video (you can skip to 13:27 for relevant content), there is an element of privilege. These vloggers have the money, equipment and time to shoot and edit and upload these 20-30 minute videos, on average. For some, it becomes a full-time job with a livable income stream as a result. Others go so far as to hock wares, even their own creations, on their channels, while still others will grovel and beg for support--through Patreon, GoFundMe and other crowdfunding sources.

And let's remember, it's SOCIAL MEDIA on the Internet...everything is not exactly how it seems! (i.e. you can't trust everything you see on the Interwebz). Take everything, even these "reality" vlogs with a grain of salt (or a pitcher of Margaritas!). Again, content creators are, in a sense, actors putting up a perception of their reality. Take, for instance, Isabel Paige (not her real last name), who was outed by Ms. Cherry, as painting a very skewed picture of her reality--living in the wilderness in a tiny home she built. In reality, her family owns a farm where they once grew weed (legally, of course) and had an ON-GRID VACATION HOME. This was never shown, of course, or explained on Isabel's vlog until she was outed. She and her boyfriend had been living large in her parent's vacation home in the Washington wilderness, about 30 minutes (not an hour, as she claimed) from the nearest town. In fact, there were modern neighborhoods nearby in her river valley. They were not roughing it in a poorly-accommodated tiny house in relative seclusion. She's one of the privileged class who had no problem downplaying her financial situation and even groveling for money to sustain her simple lifestyle. Um, grifter much?

So much for the fantasy of living honestly and modestly off the grid and off the land...

Why did I take a break from the positivity of my Belize countdown to talk about this? Because people are being duped by these new reality stars. Nikki Delventhal was once a model, hairstylist and contestant on The Bachelor. She isn't homeless and surviving nature in her car because she HAS TO. But all of her vlogs center around her "roughing it." She's a little more transparent about her privilege and doesn't beg for money, but she does have a Patreon account with subscribers who support her channel. It's just a replacement for reality TV shows, like "Survivor" or "Big Brother," shows that I cannot believe are still going decades later!

Lowest common denominator entertainment is what I call it.

I turned to YouTube as a replacement for cable. I got sucked into the "real life" drama of these people living "off grid," or untraditionally. It vibrated on my frequency...and to be honest, I got tired of falling asleep to Eckhart Tolle, Mooji or hypnotic music videos that play all night. This was my relaxing, alternative escape.

When I learned yesterday of the "real life" drama between vloggers Cherry and Paige, I was knocked back to reality. Anyway, we'll get you back to the Belize Countdown here shortly. In the meantime, check out any of these vloggers' YouTube channels:

vanwives: https://www.youtube.com/c/Vanwives
The Cottage Fairy: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheCottageFairy
Isabel Paige: https://www.youtube.com/user/pinsandneedleswithme
Stephi Lee: https://www.youtube.com/c/StephiLee
Nikki Delventhal: https://www.youtube.com/c/NikkiDelventhal

Again, these are shared for entertainment purposes only...and yes, I'll admit, a couple of them were/are guilty pleasures. Enjoy!