Art of War once Moore by Sander R.B.E. Beals (classic romance novels TXT) 📖

felt Amy Lee singing about a planet-wide computer system, which after a long time again allows humans in her halls and passages. I know this may mean nothing at all to you, and it may not have been what Evanescence put into the lyrics, but it was quite convincing to me. And then, after few years I tried again, having convinced myself that I must have been deluded at the time. It took me only ten lines of source code and one compile command to light up my screen with the most unusual error message I'd ever seen! By all rights, those ten lines should have been flawless, even for a guy like me. But the computer simply told me that the error was in the compiler. Well, if it had been, then that compiler wouldn't have been able to compile any program, and my experience with it was quite the contrary. Some things just don't compute, but if they don't, they intrigue, and stick...

Now, over time the power and the frequency of the EM-field around us has risen, in several ways which suggest further reflection (now there's a word we could also ponder): During High School, I did a course in radio technology simply because it felt like fun, and I was aiming for a license as a radio amateur. Never did anything with it, being a generalist. Basically though, that gave me essential knowledge of stuff needed to write today: back then, Kilohertz's and Megahertz's were the main part of the course, but at the end of it our teacher added a few lessons on Centimeter waves, and the very peculiar treatment they required in handling. Where the lower bandwidths used coaxial cable and antennae that were meters in length, centimeter waves or as they called them Gigahertz's had to be handled by so-called wave guides, and had horns and dishes for their transition from transmission equipment into the free atmosphere. To me they were future music, because I'd never see myself setting up a system like that, way to complicated!

Still, the concept of a 'Wave Guide' seemed linguistically intriguing: it was as if the EM-energy needed something to help guide it out there. But we all know where that led to very quickly! No? OK, the image on the right is three segments of waveguide, each substantially larger than today's tiny cell phones. Now the cell phone towers may well still use waveguides, but that is mainly because they have more power to handle. Their hand-held brethren of today fit in any purse or pocket, and their transmission capability, though way less than the cell phone towers, is adequate to assure global communication. But the physical dimensions are way beyond those of their ancient predecessors, who were lovingly called 'luggables'.

So we are faced with more intensity, more frequencies, and more devices that actually use both of them. If you ever thought your brain and mind were electromagnetically shielded from the environment, think again! Not only is your brain specifically geared towards more interfacing surface on the outside, but your mind is said to even expand at least three feet from your skull. So yes, interaction with the phone grid is no possibility, but more an inevitability. Same goes for the WiFi routers in our homes, and countless other pieces of electronics. Mind you though, I'm not trying to scare you for there is no fear on my part, just like there wasn't any in Buckminster Fuller's mind back when I was born. It is more a neutral 'making aware of', or even a 'looking on in awe' as this unfolds around us.....

At the same time, our dependency on machines grows further because of the miniaturization over time: where I could solder my own electronics together as a kid, we are no longer in that position: over 99% of our electronics has been packaged in such miniature packages, that the distances between the leads make machines essential to put them together. We humans are only handy for module-based repairs, where me and my mentor used to repair televisions at the single transistor level!

And all this unfolds while we enjoy our lives. Which of course meant that I stopped for dinner and a movie called Training Day, which left me with a profound new insight into the Art of War, and what leads one into it. Basically, most of us are non-warring types, but we're driven into the nasty situations by those that tend to stretch our feelings of ease outside their comfortable limits. Or should I say: “inside limits not present in our state of Ease”?

Jake Hoyt, the rookie in Training Day has one of those days: dyed in the wool veteran Alonzo Harris is there to determine if Jake can make the narc squad, but his methods are questionable to say the least! I'll not spoil the full story for you, but rest assured that Jake is taken outside his comfort zone time and time again. Were I in his case, then the end would have had me doubting whether to commit suicide just to be rid of being doomed, or to put a cap in Alonzo's skull and damn the consequences! Still though, Jake played it to the end, as did his corrupt mentor. What did get me though, was the remark that one of the homey's made, right in the middle of a confrontation: “Hey, it's all business, right?” Hmm, is that why business has such a shady reputation? Nah, just kiddin', or at least leading into the movie that is my audiovisual wallpaper at the moment: Paycheck!

I watched that one at least seven times already, so I need not pay attention, but still the mind will pick up on details not previously noticed: When Rethrick and Jennings discuss the latter ones next job, there is a portrait of Albert Einstein in his wild hair years there, leaned against a couch as if it still needed to find its place there. Couldn't help but smile when I just noticed that one, since Paycheck is very much about Einstein's work (and his love for women).

But back to the train of thought for this book, because the goddess of Ben Affleck's story may have arrived, but he'll still have to materialize her outside the illusion that pays his bills, just as I hope to do next Friday, the 11th of the 11th of the 11th. “Just business” is however the idea that warring people use to make sure that the bare necessities and the collateral damage of their warring does not impinge on the infinity of their 'Ease' as given in the earlier diagram. Yes, you may not be a warrior, but even the warriors have their own 'My Position' diagram, just like yours. It's just the center of their sphere that's somewhere other than right alongside yours.

That's what it's all about ain't it? If we all mind our own business, there is no problem, but humans are relational animals, and only few of them can actually feel comfortable with no or just a few relationships of the more or less intimate kind. OK, so I am one of those who appreciates one-on-one relationships above the one-on-many kind. I avoid the groups in the hope of still running into that One and Only. Hey, it worked once, and gave me two darling daughters, so why not try for the Ultimate One this time? But enough of that, I'm getting carried away by the ending of the Paycheck movie. Right now I'm writing, and that's a bit about different things....

Or is it? On the TV to my right, Jennings just got a heads up: apparently he barely escaped sudden death by sending himself a bunch of seemingly meaningless objects. Now that's the kind of warning you should be ready for, not in the least when the bank that handled the business was called Reddy-Grant! In essence, this is not a declaration of War, but the grant of allegiance of your greatest ally, your subconscious or what some people call Source or God.

Where Training Day had Jake confused because his mentor apparently tried to force him into allegiance by making him cross the line he'd sworn to uphold time and time again, that ended up making Jake hang onto his higher allegiance, and sidestepping his opponent. Jennings does something similar, but he has to work backwards, against the flow of time, and the seemingly impervious barrier of his amnesia. It is all in there, but he'll have to work it out!

Now Jennings knows where his allegiance lies: he's always been a guy that went by his own feelings rather than those of somebody else. His drawback isn't that conflict of loyalty, but rather the not knowing of his relationship to his enemy, because believe it or not, Paycheck is an All Out War, no holds barred!

3. Moore Position

“To beat the enemy, you have to become him or her”, is often voiced when describing any possibly hostile relationship. Well, there are gradations of this becoming, but let's just try to get to know the enemy in the first place. We know he or she has a similar positional stance, but we don't know which aspect of their personality will surface in their dealings with us first. Well, time for another doodling session, to come up with something similar to 'Their Position'.... (from our point of view)

It took me the better half of Paycheck, where Jennings and his goddess are now fighting off their pursuers with extreme prejudice. But it's there, on the right: the breakdown of our enemy! Well actually, it is more than that, because it also covers Peace of Mind, and State of Independence. Hey, the first triangle was a singe! Aggressive, Defensive and Neutral are the open ends to this formula. The concealed bits took a bit more work, but enjoying the movie I finally also pieced together deceptive, evasive and on the level. Mind you though, there is a duplicity in all this: our opponents may well display multiple personality traits in one! One might very well have to go up against an opponent who is fiercely aggressive, but at the same time provokes the deepest feelings of honor merely by the way they yield their sword. And I just now remember that that concept has already traveled my mind when I wrote this poem:

the Merciless Mercenary

Killing's my trade, I master it well.

Use blades, spears, knives, sometimes even a spell

I do not for once think my chosen profession

is anything loathsome, but I have a confession :

I thrive on the Energy stolen in battle,

it gives me distinction, lets me rise from the cattle

that calls itself human, yet barely is

I contemplate Living, and know that it is.....

undeniably more than your chosen profession.

be it warrior, prostitute, preacher with passion.

Your Life gives you lessons, and you have to learn,

to cope with the troubles, yet not to get burnt....

By the intricate flames of hidden desire,

the blazing inferno of being a liar.

the flames licking slowly the trail of your actions,

or get caught by the blast of human imperfections!

Yet do not despair, or surrender your Self,

The mission is doable, not by yourself,

but by carelessly flaunting your every talent,

Show off to the world and be forever hell-bent....

On doing the right thing, as you truly perceive

the unwav'ring Truthfulness that you believe,

No, know to be true, and ever so lightly,

try making it Real, without even slightly ...

...disturbing All Others, no matter how far.

True Love's not possession, yet merely the strength

to let others be like you, yet wholly diff'rent.

If all of us would, for one moment believe....

These words written purposeful down to relieve,

the aching desire to be better still,

Then I, from now on, believe that we will...

Succeed to save Nature and Techno alike.

No need for more battle, united we stride

to make the bleak ravage that we call our Earth,

the Splendid ParAdise of which we All Heard...

Now that was back in 2003, during a time where from one day to the next, I suddenly became an artist at rhyming. It was as if the neural net inside my mind had suddenly become aware of the intricacies of rhyme, which had thus far evaded me. I'd accompany this with the Hajime Sorayama airbrush masterpiece that then