posted on Nov, 7 2005 @ 01:07 AM
(and i don't know where to put this topic, i assume this is the safest place?)
“the sun’s not yellow... it’s chicken.” - Tombstone Blues by Bob Dylan
i saw this quote nearly fifteen years ago, written on the bathroom wall of a dingy bar, the hangout of those more progressive or less desirable in the
eyes of locals- the location has long since burned down, which has spawned many a conspiracy theory of its own, but the saying stayed with me very
many years and left me with thoughts and questions which i found myself unable to answer.
unaware of the source of the quote or its context, that very evening i returned home slightly inebriated and considered.... who’s to say that
the sun isn’t chicken?? why is it that the general populace, those of us who have never studied the stars, worked in an observatory or dealt
with matters of space, blindly accept the theories proposed regarding celestial bodies, our world, our solar system, our universe? why and
where along the way within my growth and development did i accept and integrate into my foundational beliefs the concept that the sun is a series
of nuclear fusions, hydrogen being converted into helium, producing light and extreme heat, when this is a fact that i could never personally
refute or confirm? so clearly, some drunk put it out there, albeit quoting bob dylan, that the sun is in fact... chicken.
i couldn’t argue.....
have i seen ‘photos’ that reinforced what i’d been taught as a youth? certainly.
had the explanations and theories been logical? certainly.
were the sources that provided the information authoritative and respected? you betcha.
but would i accept these statements when i could not personally touch, taste, experience, study or formulate my own hypothesis?
had anyone been there? nope.
scooped a bit of it for study? nope.
recreated the said ‘sun’ in a laboratory? .... well, then we’d have two in our solar system, i’d say ‘nope’.
of course by now you must realize this isn’t about the sun, or our dear feathered friends- this is about my personal struggle to
rectify traditional accepted thought with my own beliefs, when often there is no way to prove them. this is about the vast knowledge available to us,
as seekers, yet i haven’t the ability to recreate the results of others’ research in a laboratory of my own, i must simply read the results
and accept them. this is about seeing two or three varying opinions on the same topic, and walking away with no answer- because undoubtedly
others are in the same predicament. if the truth be known, we may never be privy to that knowledge, nor have the means to even scratch the surface.
this is about unlearning traditional thought and reeducating myself, yet finding it so difficult to do with any assurance that i can only fall
back on my original motivation to seek the truth- chicken.
say it ain’t so, and i’d likely believe you, but by all means, gimmee the facts- and then gimmee the facts that make it fact, and then i’d like
a fact or two to back even that up.... and at that point, i’d like the means to prove that any information i am expected to accept could be
‘recreated’ so that i could achieve the same ‘truth’ again and again.....
chicken?
i want to taste it... gimmee popeye’s, kfc, churches, chik-fil-a, or even kenny rogers!!
get me on down to the very farmers that work for tyson, pilgrim’s pride, and perdue...
or heck, let's talk to the chickens!!! ‘you worship the great chicken in the sky? where does that belief come from and what can you give me to
convince me of the same?’ feathers and fluff won’t convince me.... but i think i’ve driven that point into the ground...
later, within the same song, dylan says:
“ Now I wish I could write you a melody so plain
That could hold you dear lady from going insane
That could ease you and cool you and cease the pain
Of your useless and pointless knowledge.”
in envy his candor, and succinct precision, even down to the adjectives chosen to describe ‘knowledge’. the pursuit of it is not useless
or pointless by any standard, but much of what has come to be accepted as such...... IS!
i am relatively new here- and the amount of material submitted is overwhelming to say the least, but what i have seen over and over after days of
reading- and the image that keeps coming to mind, is an old memory of a dingy bar bathroom wall and drunken scrawls of more easily proved statements
that 'so and so has a ten inch...’ (well, i never tested any of that out) or more profound statements- even that which i knew held no truth or
scientific merit... that i could never attempt to dispel..... and while i can rest with some certainty that solar flares aren’t feathers, i cannot
and will not deny that at some point learning begins- and the root of it is questioning all that we have learned and considering
alternative points of view....
the most unusual diet on earth- gimmee chicken....and i’ll try not to call it ‘fowl’ *groan*
yes, i too can’t believe i just went there....
i’m not complaining. i am troubled by the lack of knowledge that i encompass, and even more disturbed that the more i dig, the more i understand
that what i seek is not readily available... in addition, i see that i am not alone in my feelings of defeat or inability to uncover answers.... i
appreciate that there is a place where within any topic that we choose, the issues can be discussed openly- but this? this is an online buffet!! and
it’s hard to make this illustration, being mostly vegetarian, but show me the meat!!! i’ll place no limits on what i’ll consume where
complete truth is concerned.... (but i’ll STILL question it... and then some!!)
‘thank you eastah bunny... bwok bwok!’
~amithyzt