Why We Stop Thinking
by Arthur M. Doweyko
1 Sep 2016
Why science fiction will be forever a genre that draws the creative spirit to its bosom — Do you remember how awesome the world was?
The mysterious and unending blue sky.
The first snow.
The ocean, waves and sand.
Then you began school.
You were taught how everything worked, more or less. You discovered that people die and nothing lasts forever. If it was a religious school, you were taught about God and your place in the world. You were educated so that you could find a job. You found a job, and were further taught how to behave in the workplace, and what was expected of you. Most of you raised a family and focused on children, and their education. Then you looked forward to retirement
All this time, from the eager student to the sage retiree, you have been distracted. From what?
From thinking.
The wonder that is existence should have been foremost on your mind. What is this place? Why are we here? How did we come to be? All great questions, but have accepted that they defy answering. We let them brush past, leaving but a slight trace across our conscious mind. We don't want to be bothered. There are more important things, like getting food on the table and a roof over our heads.
Who wants to keep thinking about such imponderables? It seems a fool's distraction. Leave it to the philosophers, those deep-thinkers who wander the halls of academia. Or, perhaps some of us have spent some time in the abyss, and have decided on the Albert Camus exit — Just don't think about it. Like Sisyphus pushing a ball of mud up a hill, and watching as it rolls down the other side, busy yourself with menial tasks, and you will be happier.
That conclusion presupposes that we cannot arrive at any meaningful answers. The universe will forever remain a mystery beyond what our little brains could ever comprehend. Are you sure of that?
Science has expanded our views from the dawn of humanity to the present. From inventing the wheel we're now splitting atoms and subatomic particles and learning a bit about the structure of existence itself. We have found that matter magically shows up out of nowhere, that separate particles can act as one, that the vast majority of the universe is made up of something we can't see. We can ask some pretty neat questions now … like why did matter take the form of atoms after the so-called Big Bang. Atoms have the peculiar ability to associate and make more complex structures…without which we would never exist. What the heck is matter, anyway? Giving it names is a Sisyphus copout.
One more thought: We have been expected to arise from the moment of the Big Bang.
As Wings Unfurl
By Arthur M. Doweyko
Genre: Science Fiction
Applegate Bogdanski returns from Vietnam with a missing leg, a Purple Heart, and an addiction to morphine. He stumbles through each day, looking forward to nothing and hoping it will arrive soon. When he attempts to thwart a crime, he is knocked unconscious and wakes up to discover that people are once again calling him a hero, though he feels undeserving of the praise.
Apple returns to work and meets Angela, a mysterious woman who claims to be his guardian. Immediately, he feels a connection to her, which morphs into an attraction. But he soon discovers that Angela is much more than she seems.
Apple and Angela are swept up in a conspiracy that stretches through time and space. Together, they must fight to save everything they hold dear from an alien race bent on destroying humanity.
Author Bio
After retiring in 2009, Arthur M. Doweyko took up writing fiction. His novel Algorithm garnered a 2010 Royal Palm Literary Award. He has also published a number of short stories, many of which have been selected as Finalists in the Royal Palm Literary Award contest, and two Honorable Mentions in the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest.
Arthur was awarded the 2008 Thomas Alva Edison Patent Award for his contribution to the discovery of Sprycel, a novel anti-cancer drug successfully brought to the marketplace in 2009. He has authored over one hundred publications (papers, abstracts, patents, book chapters) and has been an invited lecturer in a number of drug-discovery and computational venues.
Arthur lives in Florida with the love of his life, Lidia. When he’s not writing, he’s happily wandering the beaches.
On Twitter: https://twitter.com/@aweyken
Website: http://www.arthurmdoweyko.com/
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2c4vWlv
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