a little ship in the big cosmos
actually it’s not that little for a single family, it’s rather big just that in space, everything looks so small
but it is flying
it is boldly going
the ship looks like a lot of things
most of all like a house it is their house
warm light in the windows
here is the main entrance! it’s where the guests would arrive
towers, staiways, balconies flowers (cosmic species of flowers)
more windows some are open
inside, we see:
bookshelves beds sofas, chairs, pillows scattered socks a map of australia on the wall (sëbus made it for dad for christmas)
we can also see:
a big table
three captains sitting around the table first captain in the middle
they are having a captains’ meeting
there is new information
second captain speaking
“sëbus!”
second captain’s face is difficult to decode
“new information.”
captain one is surprised not scared, of course
he just presses the button that turns the table into a bed because new information is best taken in bed
just so you can, if needed, spring up and jump and if needed, wrap yourself in the blanket
“information re you, zë” dad and mom sit down at the edges of the bed
“important new information.”
suddenly, sëbus forgets that he’d resolved to not be scared, and gets scared
here’s what he was scared of: what if parents are about to tell him he’s virtual too!
but, phew they’re not he’s not
sëbus is real that wasn’t what the information was about
good thing dad guessed at once what was it with captain one
and mom hugged him: “see? we hug all the time, don’t we?”
“i’ll begin at the beginning” dad begins when sëbus is ready again
zë —
you know of course that we — humans — sentients of earth — are not the only sentients in the universe
there are other civilizations plenty
many of them are older than us
and more intelligent
so there’s this civilization
they have many names
some call them magi i prefer another name: knowers
not about who they are but what they do: they know
that much we know about them: that they know a lot
and we know little else the knowers are not really known
and they are really really old older than us by billions of years
they were sentient back when earth barely had bacteria and they’ve been getting smarter all this time
because you get smarter as you live whether you want it or not life is accummulation of intelligence
so now they know a lot they are knowers
they are just seven in total
probably, long ago, they numbered in billions like us
but as time went on, they had fewer and fewer kids [demographic transition]
of course, they are immortal too, since like forever
but immortal doesn’t mean you won’t ever want to die those who are immortal take dying easy
like when you go to sleep sleep when you want, wake up when you want
“and what if you don’t” nobody said but sëbus thought
so
billions of years passed most of them went to sleep
now, they are seven
and they yeah from our viewpoint, they know all they can do anything
right, you can’t know everything, not really but for us, it’s as good as everything
even if for them, it’s a drop in the ocean
no (dad responds to sëbus)
we’ve never seen a real knower neither me nor mom nor anyone i know
we know they exist everyone knows that but what they look like, are they big or small even no one knows
they are practically omnipontent, remember meaning, they can do anything be anything
can be like humans, sure can even live among us and most likely do
the knowers have been watching humans for a long time
it’s often claimed that ancient people called them gods that’s nonsense humans’ gods were always other humans
but they have been helping suggesting teaching, in a way
gave humans fire (the prometheus myth: had to fake stealing, otherwise people wouldn’t take it!)
suggested the idea of writing
all in all, stimilated our brains
earth’s humans made quick progress in some things in others, they lagged behind like, stone age behind
wars! just an example up until the 21st century at least
just couldn’t quit like those tweedle brothers
so, yeah, they’ve had a hard time with us our human knowers but they are human lovers too so they kept on
it’s not like we are the only ones they watch they have a whole kindergarten of civilizations
the knowers love those who want to know those who put an effort they help them
so here we are humans of earth
not the best in the class but not the worst either, i guess
and the knowers know us all of us
“you too, zë” dad says
Chapter 4: Knowers Not Known
a little ship in the big cosmos
actually it’s not that little
for a single family, it’s rather big
just that in space, everything looks so small
but it is flying
it is boldly going
the ship looks like a lot of things
most of all like a house
it is their house
warm light in the windows
here is the main entrance!
it’s where the guests would arrive
towers, staiways, balconies
flowers (cosmic species of flowers)
more windows
some are open
inside, we see:
bookshelves
beds
sofas, chairs, pillows
scattered socks
a map of australia on the wall (sëbus made it for dad for christmas)
we can also see:
a big table
three captains sitting around the table
first captain in the middle
they are having a captains’ meeting
there is new information
second captain speaking
“sëbus!”
second captain’s face is difficult to decode
“new information.”
captain one is surprised
not scared, of course
he just presses the button that turns the table into a bed
because new information is best taken in bed
just so you can, if needed, spring up and jump
and if needed, wrap yourself in the blanket
“information re you, zë” dad and mom sit down at the edges of the bed
“important new information.”
suddenly, sëbus forgets that he’d resolved to not be scared, and gets scared
here’s what he was scared of:
what if parents are about to tell him he’s virtual too!
but, phew
they’re not
he’s not
sëbus is real
that wasn’t what the information was about
good thing dad guessed at once what was it with captain one
and mom hugged him: “see? we hug all the time, don’t we?”
“i’ll begin at the beginning” dad begins when sëbus is ready again
zë —
you know of course that we — humans — sentients of earth —
are not the only sentients in the universe
there are other civilizations
plenty
many of them are older than us
and more intelligent
so
there’s this civilization
they have many names
some call them magi
i prefer another name: knowers
not about who they are but what they do:
they know
that much we know about them: that they know a lot
and we know little else
the knowers are not really known
and they are really really old
older than us by billions of years
they were sentient back when earth barely had bacteria
and they’ve been getting smarter all this time
because you get smarter as you live whether you want it or not
life is accummulation of intelligence
so now they know a lot
they are knowers
they are just seven in total
probably, long ago, they numbered in billions
like us
but
as time went on, they had fewer and fewer kids [demographic transition]
of course, they are immortal too, since like forever
but immortal doesn’t mean you won’t ever want to die
those who are immortal take dying easy
like when you go to sleep
sleep when you want, wake up when you want
“and what if you don’t” nobody said but sëbus thought
so
billions of years passed
most of them went to sleep
now, they are seven
and they yeah
from our viewpoint, they know all
they can do anything
right, you can’t know everything, not really
but for us, it’s as good as everything
even if for them, it’s a drop in the ocean
no (dad responds to sëbus)
we’ve never seen a real knower
neither me nor mom
nor anyone i know
we know they exist
everyone knows that
but what they look like, are they big or small even no one knows
they are practically omnipontent, remember
meaning, they can do anything
be anything
can be like humans, sure
can even live among us
and most likely do
the knowers have been watching humans for a long time
it’s often claimed that ancient people called them gods
that’s nonsense
humans’ gods were always other humans
but they have been helping
suggesting
teaching, in a way
gave humans fire (the prometheus myth: had to fake stealing, otherwise people wouldn’t take it!)
suggested the idea of writing
all in all, stimilated our brains
earth’s humans made quick progress in some things
in others, they lagged behind
like, stone age behind
wars! just an example
up until the 21st century at least
just couldn’t quit like those tweedle brothers
so, yeah, they’ve had a hard time with us our human knowers
but they are human lovers too
so they kept on
it’s not like we are the only ones they watch
they have a whole kindergarten of civilizations
the knowers love those who want to know
those who put an effort
they help them
so here we are
humans of earth
not the best in the class but not the worst either, i guess
and the knowers know us
all of us
“you too, zë” dad says