Mental superpowers

This will begin as a departure from my usual theme(s) - quite a bit more nerdy - but bear with me as I am building toward a point that has relevance.

Last year I came up with a final exam question for my high school physics students that I thought might help them put all the complicated ideas associated with electromagnetism together to form a big picture. It's a tough and abstract topic, and my idea was to inject some fun and imagination into their studies (because imagination is required to think about something so abstract in the first place). Here is the question:

If you had absolute control over the electromagnetic force, what sorts of things could you do with your superpower? Justify your answer(s) based on your knowledge of electromagnetism.

That's a pretty hard question. I've been thinking about the answer for about 6 months (off and on). Here's a portion of what I came up with:

I could move objects at will by aligning or increasing the magnitude of like charges on objects' surfaces near one another. Air is such an object, which could be used to continue the propulsion if you don't want to fiddle with the fairly complicated task of increasing the repulsive force properly as the objects move apart from one another. The air trick would be tough, as with such low mass air particles would tend to be the things moving, but if an object were bombarded with sufficient air particles the conservation of momentum would continue the propulsion (though there would be a sort of "exhaust" wind that would result).
I could also change the physical structure of things by altering the positions and/or motions of electrons on and in those objects.
I could change the appearance of anything by altering the frequency and/or amplitude of the electromagnetic waves entering the eye (or emanating from an object(s)). This includes invisibility - from either mimicing the light from behind the object in front if it or by bending the light from the object around the viewer's eyes.
I could create super-dense projectiles by either: a) pressing the adjacent electron clouds of atoms together to create "electron degeneracy" such as is found in white dwarves, or b) crashing electrons of atoms into the protons to create chunks of neutrons and pressing the resulting nuclei together. The problem with the latter is that I couldn't propel a ball of neutrons with my power. It would just fall through the earth with this crazy density.
I could create powerful laser beams spontaneously (harmonized and directed electromagnetic waves)
I could produce nuclear explosions/radiation by increasing the positive charge on protons within a piece of very "heavy" matter flying the nuclei apart and potentially causing a chain reaction (if the nuclei are unstable enough to begin with).
I could fly apart anything at will by increasing the same type of charge on its various particles causing them to repel.
There's more, including tons with magnetic fields and electric currents, but I'll stop there to keep from boring you. Feel free to try to add to the list - I would very much enjoy that.

But there's a problem. All of these changes would require an input of energy, as they would work against the natural condition of things. In other words, you'd have to create oppositional situations from relatively balanced situations, or work against the tendencies of nature. In most cases, since we're talking about visible effects, we're dealing with macroscopic scales here, which means that a tremendous amount of energy would be required indeed. Where would this energy come from? I think you'd be pretty much impotent in the face of the conservation of energy unless you wanted to consume your body or something to perform one or two "amazing" acts.

Ok, this conclusion got me thinking about something more relevant for everyone. It seems like the problem is that making these things happen requires that aspects of nature be shifted into an oppositional arrangement. That is, you'd be altering nature's tendency to balance. This reminds me of one of my primary operating principles: conflict is universally destructive and draining. Nature is not designed for conflict, it is all about flow. Flow is collective action - cooperation.

This makes me think about what we currently do with our minds; our existing 'superpowers.' They are super, by the way. Think about it. We can conjure up thoughts and ideas, and even project them out into the universe, we can manipulate large objects (our bodies, and other things that our bodies interact with), we can imagine things that we've never experienced, we can even love.

What are the energy consequences of these things that we can do with our minds? Certainly, the motion stuff requires energy (just as it would with psychokinesis). We've all felt sweaty and exhausted after a hard day's labor. But what about thoughts and ideas? Does the generation of thoughts always require an input of energy, or are there some which seem to bring energy into us, to feed us? In my experience, there are certain mental exercises which seem to 'charge' me. I'm no expert, but it seems like the principles that govern the external world must apply internally: that energy is expended when thoughts are oppositional in nature, whereas when they're congruent with the flow - cooperative - they draw energy into us. Here's my hypothesis: conflict-oriented thoughts drain us, while mutualistic thoughts feed us. This applies to thoughts about the external world as well as about the internal world (both of which are really the same thing, if you ask me, but I won't get into that here). When we seek conflict, we are sapped of energy. When we attack or defend, we are drained. This is particularly true when we attack ourselves, as we must then defend at the same time.

Thoughts?

Parallel realities and 'the way'

Today, as Americans, and as humans, we negotiate 2 differing realities. First, there is the reality that we're all born into, that which operates independent of any premeditated construct: the reality of our nature. We, like everything else on earth, are evolved as components in a biological system that functions so long as all parts are synchronous. Physically inferior to most everything else, we are fundamentally social creatures. We've been ever so successful because we work together. We give and take, like everything else, and the balance sheet remains in the black because of the near-endless shower of energy from space that is collected by our selfless green companions - plants.

And then there is the reality of our social order. Entirely the brain-child of we humans, our daily grind mandates that we compete for resources, gathering for our own what we can amidst the myriad legislative controls designed to maintain a certain level of equality and social justice. And over the decades and centuries skilled entrepreneurs have whittled away at the soft spots in that legal perimeter, finding loop-holes and entry points through which to navigate toward bountiful seas. It is the fool who enters the business world of our economy with any mindset but that of the plunderer. His loss is of his own accord, as my success is my own, and damn it to everyone else if they suffer in turn.

But the seas are finite, and the bounty has thinned. In time we'll be picking through the scavenged carcases of our fellows to find morsels of limited value... If we're not careful. Many have already chosen the life of the scavenger.

Why adhere to such a destructive paradigm, when our very nature compels us elsewhere? My answer is fear. Fear of the loss of control that comes with dependence upon others. Perhaps it wasn't the motivation for our system's initial design, but it must certainly motivate the players in today's economic reality.

But together we are so much more. Together we are thoughtful. We will always have some fear, but our modern body of knowledge is adequate armament to stave off much of what plagued our distant ancestors, and the faculty of our current population, largely untapped as it is, far transcends that of those who came before. There is no reason why we shouldn't be able to find unity and empowerment through our connection (to one another and to the world around us); to reclaim the beauty that lies in our very nature, as a reflection of all of nature's beauty. Our souls know the way.

It's all about connection

We've all heard that it's more important who you know than what you know. The idea being that networking is one of the most important skills for life. I agree wholeheartedly. I take it a step further and say that I basically live for connections with others. It's just a rhetorical thought experiment, but in my mind's eye I would always trade every one of my possessions for a genuine connection with someone. You see, it has been my experience that powerful connections preclude any need to seek other things, as through connections everything that one needs can and will materialize. There's this hokey film out called "the secret," that proposes that by simply honestly willing the universe to grant you something, it will come to be. It actually works, though they don't explain the mechanism - connections (surprise, surprise). By seeking genuinely, by finding things that you want passionately, from your core, you will draw others to your cause, as people inherently enjoy a sense of purpose, and if you invite them, they will join. All of this happens quite unconsciously, of course. The interesting thing is that you cannot MAKE it so, though all things that should be will come to be, in some way, through connections. What I'm suggesting is that an effective fundamental mode of operating, one that will bring absolute fulfillment, is to seek connection in all people, indeed, all things. It is certainly my primary objective as a teacher to connect with my students, with parents, and colleagues too. I do it for selfish benevolent reasons; they are wonderful people, all of them, and our lives are mutually enriched through those relationships. I never have everything that I need. Generally, I don't even know what I need.

Interestingly, even in absolute solitude, I find myself feeling grateful for others who have allowed me to connect with them. Once I spent roughly a month living, three or four days at a time, out of a bivy sack in the mountains of central Idaho. Awaking before dawn, dusting off the frost and taking in the rich colors, smells, and vistas, I often found myself feeling deeply connected to those who weren't present. Perhaps it was because I was immersed in a very functional natural system, one in which all things are intimately connected to one another. Maybe it was the reminder of my own tendency to function like the rest of the natural world.

There are these fantastic moments when many things come together. When beliefs, or portions of them, converge to reveal a more fundamental truth. It has been clear for some time that we are (most of us) operating with deep dysfunction. I have known for many years that most of the sickening or despicable acts that I see around me are carried out by folks who see no better option for themselves. That is, I have known that people are fundamentally good, though vulnerable to fear and desperation. I have also seen how capable we are of surviving, changing our take on things in order to live with ourselves. There was a time when I was working for people who had collected empires of things in order to stack them into a wall that shut most everyone out. I didn't fully understand at the time why, but I referred to them as "disconnected." Even with their helicopters and mansions, I felt sad for many of them. They didn't seem very happy. I now believe that they share one thing with those at the other end of the spectrum, those who engage in petty crime in order to survive day to day; they are all lacking in connection. In fact, I'm starting to believe that a vast majority of those around me have a sense of isolation, at least at times, and that makes me sad. They say that loneliness is the only true sorrow. We are parts of a whole, and cut off from the others, we can not fully live. Oh, we can pacify ourselves with drugs and other...things--addictions, all, when they medicate--but genuine satisfaction will always elude us so long as we fail to invest sufficiently in connections. And as a teacher, I see students walking away from school for a lack of interest. When your only connections are with your peers, why sit in a sterile, punitive environment in lieu of developing the much more enriching connections that exist elsewhere? Perhaps worse, I see students conforming to the rigidity, building themselves up fact by fact into a fortress of knowledge. Then, they enter the world and wield the mighty machine in their head recklessly; without connection, we have no stop-gap for our own bad judgment. Without connections, we live for a selfish identity.

Consider this an invitation.

More evidence?:
http://www.ted.com/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight.html