I’ve been thinking a lot about space lately.
As I sometimes do, I’m taking a critical eye to my home of nearly nine years, not only asking myself what I use, but how I use it, and making tweaks accordingly. A USB hub behind the couch, a newly alphabetized record collection, a subtle shift of the garbage can to allow me access to a long-blocked cabinet. The thing I’ve learned about these 635 square feet over the years is that they’re actually far more if utilized properly, if you put shelves high in the entry hall and slide storage tubs under the bed. But an efficient use of space means an efficient analysis of utility, of asking yourself if things are worth having purely for having.
The list of things people actually need is frequently shorter than they think.
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I’ve been thinking a lot about space lately.
The road calls to me in a way it hasn’t in years, as though the toll those 9,500.7 miles took on me seven years ago has finally worn off. I’ve poked around the Internet, looking for windows for a baseball road trip, hitting all five California stadiums in a matter of days. There are options, several stretches this summer that seem feasible, but the practicality of it feels almost off-putting.
So instead, I haggle with myself over details. Do I drive all the way, spending two days each way on what could be a two-hour flight? Do I fly to the Bay Area and rent a car there, sacrificing the option of the 101, of finally driving across the Golden Gate Bridge, as I’ve always wanted? Do I really want to spend the necessary multiple days in Los Angeles, a city I once described as “the largest vapid cesspool on America’s west coast”?
On the other hand, Clayton Kershaw is doing historically great things. And Dodger Stadium is a gem, or so I hear.
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I’ve been thinking a lot about space lately.
The concept of zero is a relatively recent human invention, the idea of a tracking an absence being one of those things that distinguishes us from animals. Learning object permanence is a key moment in human development. And yet, I wonder.
The concept of an infinite universe is even newer, but I wonder how accurate it really is. For human purposes, sure, the universe is functionally infinite. Is it, though? Is there some edge, some endpoint?
A few years ago, I was given multiple speeches by various people about how the universe is full of infinite possibility. These speeches were given in a certain context, for a certain purpose, and even then, I knew those speeches to be untrue. There are only so many bars on the Hill, only so many denizens of Seattle, only so many people in the world. Infinity is the largest numerical concept mankind can think of, and so we use it to describe existence.
One day, our descendants will look back and laugh at us. Our concept of math isn’t nearly as advanced as we think.