Nick Herbert is the real deal. He wrote one of the seminal books about quantum mechanics. He got to play with the accelerators at Stanford. He thinks the only way out of this mess is to get inside the enemy.
Although goods and services based on quantum tantra now account for more than 60% of America's GNP, the primary import of The Brand New Science is the extraordinary revolution it has wrought in ordinary peoples' ways of conceptualizing, feeling and experiencing the natural world. Inner space is BIG, as most of you know, and full of surprises that its pioneers could never have imagined.
--Wall Street Journal, December 2033
Until he finds a way to directly experience the inner life of other beings, EACH MAN IS AN ISLAND.
Hence the goal of quantum tantra--to use our knowledge of quantum physics to build bridges between islands by directly connecting your mind to the minds of numerous other beings.
That is a painting I did eight years ago. I stumbled upon it again a couple weeks ago by googling around and landing with a plop into Nick Herbert's Quantum Tantra blog. Re-meme-bering the concept and application of the new science brought back a flood of expansion that reminded me of the time his cronies at Stanford nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize (true story) and I wondered if we could apply quantum tantra to the Daily Kos meta and politics in general. Hmmm.
The two most obvious applications of mind-merge are its use by scientists to experience the insides of physical objects and its use by friends and lovers to explore new states of deep human union. But as in all deep discoveries there is potential for abuse here as well. Abuse of 2 = 1 is what I call WeaponX. WeaponX means using mind-merge for quantum combat---uniting your mind not with a rock or a lover but with your most fiendish enemy, perhaps a treacherous Israeli or Palestinean.
Conventional war is by necessity inefficient. You are faced with a deadly enemy who wishes to do you harm. Since almost every enemy has talents or possessions that could benefit your side, what a smart warrior would do is reach inside his enemy's mind and convert him to his own side. But conventional warfare seeks to diminish the power of the enemy by destroying lots of enemy bodies and property and only indirectly changing enemy minds into friendly minds. In fact the destruction of enemies by conventional warfare usually results in making more enemies since many innocents are killed and their friends and relatives understandably seek justice and/or revenge. In its ability for multiplying enemies, conventional warfare remsembles the monstrous Hydra who grew back two heads for every one cut off.
The basis of quantum combat is the realization that true warfare is the battle for minds not bodies. The first maxim of Sun Tzu's classic "Art of War" was "Know thy enemy." Sun Tzu's maxim is the very heart of quantum combat. How could one know the mind of the enemy any better than to become the mind of the enemy? But the decision to intiate quantum combat---to actually choose to wield WeaponX---is a path that will appeal to only the bravest and noblest of beings. The risks are great, but the rewards are immense. Quantum combat is engagement without armor. "Who is the coward? The one with the greater armor," taunts the quantum warrior as he dares his enemy to risk attack at deeper and deeper levels of being. The naked combatants of the original Olympic Games were a pale anticipation of the deep psychic nakedness in which the quantum warrior invites his foe to compete.
Sounds scary, like all things worth doing are. If I were to actually become a maddening troll or a truly evil rethug, I might just off myself immediately.
Or I might understand them better.
It is the most radical solution I can think of, either way.
When Nick Herbert first discovered my paintings, he said they were a close approximation of the quantum tantra experience. He once told me that Mother Nature will give us the understanding neccesary to do anything we want, as long as we ask the right questions. Today's question is...
What do you think?