Aphelion Editorial 047
May 2001
The Senior Editor's usual drivel about whatever...
by Dan L. Hollifield
Hello and welcome!
This month's thrilling installment is loosely based onthe
concept of futility. As in; don't bother to plan a vacation and
expect the weather to co-operate, don't wash your car unless you want
it to rain, don't spend your last cash on seed to plant unless you want
a drought, and don't buy a machine and expect it to remain in good
repair.
The invading aliens always say "resistance is
futile..." Why is that? Our species has proved time and time again that
resistance wins, but it takes time. We don't know how to give up. How
can we lose?
I was presented with a couple of seemingly unsolvable
mechanical problems last week, and the concept of futility was brought
to the forefront of my mind as I struggled to decypher what was then a
perplexing set of problems. I had the right parts, I knew that beyond
the shadow of a doubt-- I just couldn't get them to fit. I pushed and
tugged, pounded and twisted, hammered and tapped... To no avail.
Until-- I looked again and saw that I had two of the pieces backwards.
Within minutes, the futility was gone... Everything fit.
That's the way it always goes. First there is a
problem, then there is no problem, then there is... Um, sorry. I was
channeling Donovan there for a minute. Where was I? Oh yes, the
frustration factor of things that seem futile. Don't let it get to you.
Plain bull-headedness has solved more problems than any other human
effort. The human ability to never give up, never accept defeat, to die
if necessary, but to win-- above all, to win!
"Resistance is futile!" Oh yeah? Come here Bub, I
wanna show you something...
Thanks for your time.
Dan
THE END
© 2001 Dan L. Hollifield
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