The Whole Shebang

By Mort Greer

This is a valuable, much-needed book that explores how to successfully achieve a reasonable state of happiness throughout our lifetimes while managing the dire challenges we all are certain to face. As Woody Allen would say, “It’s the shit happens phenomenon, it’s only a question of how much and when!”

The importance of laughter is captured through a descriptive narrative providing the reader with a “word picture” and the ability to share the many real-life, truly funny situations presented.

The book also addresses the most important questions man can ask—namely, “What’s it all about?” “Why are we here?” and “Is there an afterlife?” Input from several of the most brilliant minds, past and present, along with indisputable scientific facts regarding those questions, are cited for the reader’s consideration and personal evaluation.

Mort Greer

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu Publishing Services
• Release date: Oct 18, 2016
• ISBN: 9781483457406

Book preview

purpose.

CHAPTER I

WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT?

This book is about the monumental struggle to achieve a state of reasonable happiness and contentment throughout one’s lifetime. An open acknowledgement and testimonial to all those who with perseverance and skill succeeded, and how they made it happen against all odds.

The book highlights in anecdotal form, important incidences, which brought me many moments of joy and laughter, as well as the inevitable dire challenges, I and others have faced and addressed successfully. These life altering experiences, selected from a cross section of classes of people, have been analyzed and commented upon, so that we can productively learn from them.

The groundbreaking thoughts and conclusions of highly regarded subject matter experts, including philosophers, astrologers, quantum physicists, and health care experts, have been identified, regarding a variety of startling life impacting phenomenon related to our quest for happiness. Hopefully, for the reader’s pleasure and mind provoking consideration.

As a logical prerequisite for a discussion of Big Picture type questions, current day scientific facts and premises which focus on the natural forces driving our lives, and our dynamic still evolving Universe, are also presented. All of the above mentioned input was considered in developing a credible response to the most important question man has pondered, since his early appearance on Planet Earth, namely: WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT?"

The dictionary definition of the word Shebang is everything involved in what is being considered. Given the subject matter under review, it is felt that the selected title of the book – The Whole Shebang, is an excellent descriptive fit.

CHAPTER II

THE WISE MAN SAITH"

I believe that being 81 years old and having already experienced a multitude of life’s varied challenges provides me with objective insight to the question of What’s It All About? My most prevalent thoughts about life at this stage, is that once it starts, it’s inconceivably over in an absolute flash, leaving one amazed that it’s actually happened to you, becoming old, while asking the familiar rhetorical question, How did all these years go by so fast? Accompanying emotions which are shared by many of chronologically old friends are: I feel like my young mind, which is the essence of me, is trapped in an old body.

Additionally, I struggle with acceptance that the beautiful museum quality art and sculpture pieces my wife and I have collected over thirty years and savor on a daily basis, we really no longer own. At the old age stage of life, they are merely on loan for a relatively short period of remaining time. Then the collection will be passed on to my children as part of their inheritance, or worst case to strangers through the estate auction process.

This is also true of all our other worldly possessions including a multi-million-dollar apartment on the 19th floor on East End Avenue, with a large setback terrace featuring unobstructed views of the East River and the skyscrapers of New York City.

What is important for the reader to understand is that I have referenced my material success, not to flaunt my accomplishments, but rather to provide insights into my intense feelings that possession of beautiful objects, and life itself is only a temporary condition. This hits at my core, and I think about it daily for a matter of seconds, and then move on!

Despite the fact that I am constantly concerned about remaining healthy and the unrelenting ticking lifespan clock, I accept the reality, admittedly reluctantly, that we all die, some sooner than later, some wiser, others not. How some individuals develop a positive mindset and a state of relative contentment, despite the numerous inevitable common downers associated with aging, will be explored in depth.

Perhaps the two understatements of all time regarding a somber aspect of life’s experiences, is fully captured in the simplicity and certainty of two related satirical observations, attributable to Woody Allen, the first being: Life At Its Best is a Bitch and second: Shit Happens!--It’s only a question of how much and when! I feel confident that the majority of those reading this will smile knowingly, and nod their head in silent agreement.

The critically important and intriguing question, one that I believe is essential for each of us to answer in order to achieve a reasonable level of sustained happiness is: What can we do, throughout our lifetime to minimize the impact of the Shit Happens phenomenon, while creatively maximizing the moments of love and joy, which gives our life purpose and makes it all worthwhile?

At this juncture, I am again referencing Woody Allen, and introducing a classic joke in which he immortalized Sammy the Sperm. It presents several poignant analogous human conditions that we are certain to experience.

Sammy’s dream was to be the sperm that actually inseminated the egg, and thereby start the process of life. Sammy was highly motivated and fanatically devoted to realizing his goal. To enhance his chances, he practiced for many hours daily and perfected his swimming stroke to a world class level. On the anointed day and at the height of passion the alarms sounded with a loud heads-up blast. All the millions of sperm dove into the vaginal canal and started swimming for all they were worth, knowing their lives were at stake.

But alas, they were no match for Sammy. Using his superior swimming stroke, in a matter of seconds, he moved to the head of the pack, then created a significant lead and was near the goal line - - the egg. Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks, looked straight ahead with his eyes wide open and a horrified expression on his face. He quickly turned facing the hoard fanatically swimming toward him and screamed at the top of his lungs Go Back, Go Back,--It’s Only a Blow Job"!

Woody Allen’s Sammy the Sperm story, while being funny is poignant, when one considers that in a way life is a form of never ending competition with a large number of contestants, who inevitably wind up as either winners or losers. My interpretation of the primary lesson to be learned is that we must quickly and effectively react to sudden life challenges by developing and implementing customized action plans which enable us to both cope with dire situations and to realize specific goals. Woody Allen has the amazing ability to make us laugh or perhaps cry, while sharing his insight, on a gamut of real life issues that we are reluctant to openly discuss. We often feel better about ourselves after viewing characters in his movies that are portrayed as constantly struggling with life’s never-ending series of problems and calamities, with some succeeding and others not, often the determining factor is perseverance.

An incident was recently described to my wife and I, by our housekeeper, who on days she does not work for us, started caring for a ninety-one year old woman. She volunteered that the woman in question was very heavy, bordering on obese, ate large quantities of food throughout the day, and was deeply depressed about being old, a condition of the mind and body, which cannot be controlled without fortitude. Her statement hit with resounding impact. It reinforced our understanding of how important it is to have a positive attitude, particularly in the latter stages of life.

It struck me that the one sure way to avoid periods of depression associated with being old, is to die early. This is obviously, not a great option, and another prime example of one of life’s unpleasant realities. Also, it further emphasizes the importance of the issues associated with mortality to the psyche of both the young old and the old old.

A logical progression of thought, leads to the introduction of the readily accepted phenomenon that Youth Is Wasted on the Young. This phrase is undeniably true and often a precious waste of what could be among the most pleasurable period of one’s life. Who would be better qualified to fully understand the significance of this statement than all the people of advanced age, many of whom at this very moment are collectively, reflectively saying: If only I could live my life over again.

On that note, I am not remotely suggesting that I subscribe to religious belief, including divine intervention as being the singular creative force in the universe. I state with conviction, I do not, but rather believe in a natural order of all things that routinely occur throughout the Cosmos, driven by "Infinite Random Chance," which is the subject of the next chapter. Be reassured that I am not taking on the incredibly difficult task of addressing numerous Big Picture type questions, without heavy reliance on the research, observations and opinions of some of today’s top scientists, as well as the brilliant minds of others in related fields. With that said, let’s embark on an informed and open minded exploration of how it all relates to the successful pursuit of happiness.

CHAPTER III

INFINITE RANDOM CHANCE

The generally accepted definition of the word Universe is – All existing matter and space considered as a whole, also referred to as the Cosmos. It is where everyone and everything exists".

The Universe is germane to all Big Picture type questions, and therefore, deserving of my effort to capture the wonder of its composition, vastness, incomprehensible powers at play, and yet untold secrets.

It is believed that the universe is 13 billion years old, 10 billion light years in diameter, and was created by the Big Bang, a cataclysmic event whereby a relatively small, primeval ball of highly compressed matter suddenly exploded. Within fractions of a second, vast amounts of this material was propelled into near and outer space.

The Universe is still expanding at an accelerating rate. Scientists generally support the theory that at some unknown point, the Universe will start to contract, until over eons of time this transformative process will reduce its size to that of its original starting point, a relative small ball of highly compressed matter.

Our galaxy, the Milky Way, is a system of millions of billions of stars, with gas and dust held together by gravitational attraction. This incredibly massive collection still represents only a small portion of the total contents of the Universe.

Under the Quantum Theory, empty space is actually full of temporary virtual particles that can form or appear and then disappear. Stated differently, is that something can come from nothing – a mind boggling concept. It struck me that if this theory is correct, it would negate the need for a divine power’s involvement in the creation of the world and all living things – obviously the implications of which would have enormous unsettling impact on religious belief.

Another particularly startling phenomenon which is observed in the Universe is Supernova, a star that suddenly greatly increases in brightness, because of a catastrophic explosion that ejects most of its mass at incredible speeds into limitless space.

Multi-Universes – is a hypothetical set of infinite possible universes that together compromise everything that exists or can exist, the entirety of space, time, matter, energy, and all physical laws describing them".

Physicists and astronomers point to the idea that our universe may be one of many universes, populating a grander Multi-Universe. More simply stated – it’s the Whole Shebang of everything we can conceivably ever imagine.

Evolution of life -- Somewhere on Earth, billions of years ago, a set of molecular reactions spontaneously flipped a switch and became life. Mutations of some organisms occurred by random chance. Those type mutations which were beneficial, providing a positive effect and competitive advantage, were passed on to other creatures of their species through inbreeding, which resulted in the exchange of genes and genetic imprinting. Stated simply, it’s Natural Selection in a Nutshell, which is the heart of virtually all versions of evolutionary theory, starting with early living things and up to and including the emergence of man.

The passage of millions of years of evolutionary process witnessed increases in brain size and improved cognitive function, at an ever accelerating rate. Overtime, this gave rise to the appearance of a numerous variety of human species. The latest advancement in the evolutionary chain to date is titled, Modern Man, which is none other than the species you and I are members of, namely: Homo Sapiens. I will use this monumentally important evolutionary event, as an opportunity to segue to a discussion of an overall perspective of major questions and life impacting issues.

CHAPTER IV

THE IRONY OF IT ALL

A brief synopsis of the major natural forces at play in the Universe, including: its origin, the inception of life on Planet Earth, and its continuing evolutionary process up through the emergence of man, was presented in the previous chapter. My purpose for doing so was to first assemble a template consisting of verifiable scientific facts, garnered through telescope sightings and field testing on the moon and other planets, both in our galaxy and beyond. Then to use that template of data, to support my key premises regarding many of life’s most intriguing questions, including: Why are we here? And what are the factors contributing to the many serious challenges we are certain to face in our lifetime?

Using both the Hubble Space and land based highly powerful telescopes; astrologists recently identified an ever growing number of stars, accompanied by their own planetary systems. Related research discovered incontrovertible evidence, that both the essential building block matter, and conditions required to create life, are abundant in the Universe. This leads to the statistically valid assumption that the Universe is teaming with all forms of life in different stages of development. Alien species living on other intergalactic planets, would range in development from a primitive single cell, to highly complex near perfect life forms. The degree of development would be driven by infinite random chance over eons of time."

Admittedly, the existence of life elsewhere is yet unproven, however we know with certainty, it occurred on our own planet Earth. Given that all heavenly bodies are exposed to the transformative power of nature, it is with virtual certainty that we can conclude -- we are not alone, but rather, just one form of life -- on one planet -- in a Universe of countless planets.

This series of observations regarding the Universe, serves as a logical way to transition to my lynchpin premise. It is my strong belief that man’s basic design and genetic imprint was flawed from the very start, producing a highly imperfect species. During Earth’s evolutionary process, something went amiss, and we were endowed with a defective genetic imprint and set of instincts. These genetic traits gave rise to a cannibalistic condition, whereby on planet earth many living animals kill and eat each other. It is an endless progression of larger, more powerful predators hunting, killing, and eating smaller defenseless animal forms, in order to provide the nutrition required to sustain life. As a direct consequence of inheriting these traits, and not surprisingly, our historical performance has been marked by continuous warfare. Man has relentlessly moved up the food chain, culminating in Early Man, with club in hand, and over eons of time, he was replaced by Modern Man, with his Atomic Bomb.

It is ironical that our species has developed a mindset that accommodates almost casually, that war is inevitable and mass killing on a global scale is the norm, the natural way of things, the way it has to be. My strong belief is unequivocally that this is a fallacious premise, and that a dramatically better and infinitely more humane system that can support life without all the carnage, most probably exists on a multitude of other planets, somewhere in space in our Universe, and perhaps beyond in one of the other Multi-Universes. A review of mankind’s historical performance, conclusively reveals that it has been marked by extreme suffering and a poor overall quality of life for the masses inhabiting our planet.

Most of us reading this, accept my description of quality of life conditions as they exist today, which raises the question of why I expended the effort to document it all. My intent was to capitalize on the shock value that the assimilation of the hard facts presented in this summary would elicit, to gain acceptance that: something is terribly wrong with our basic genetic design.

Through sheer happenstance, I recently encountered an unexpected source of support for my prime premise, while reading a highly regarded monthly magazine, famous for its provocative cartoons.

HAVING GOD ON YOUR SIDE HELPS

The cartoon in question featured a tasteful depiction of God wearing a regal robe, sitting on a large fluffy white cloud. His chin was resting on a clenched fist in a thoughtful pose, very similar to that captured in the world renowned Rodin sculpture entitled The Thinker. The expression on God’s face was one of deep concern and puzzlement as he looked intently down towards Planet Earth.

Immediately below the cartoon was a four-word blunt question that God was obviously pondering, regarding the aftermath of divine intervention. The four words formed a simply stated hard hitting sentence: WHAT WAS I THINKING?

Upon seeing the cartoon I immediately thought there is no better endorsement that I could possibly get for my primary premise, than one that is directly from God. The next chapter is appropriately entitled, No Rave Reviews for Life’s Play.

CHAPTER V

NO RAVE REVIEWS FOR LIFE’S PLAY

Life’s Play, has been long running and up through the present was comprised of curtain call, after curtain call of primitive and barbaric acts. Many of these cruel deeds were initiated by the leaders reigning in specific time periods, which, through the use of abusive dictatorial power, initiated an endless series of wars to conquer nations and confiscate their land and resources, or to impose various forms of religious fanaticism.

The above scenario is frequently coupled with many other overlays of tragic unsettling experiences, such as natural disasters, serious life threatening health conditions, divorce which adversely impacts upwards of 50% of all people who get married, the growing inequality between the rich and poor, as evidenced by the sharp rise in the percentage of the population living at or near poverty level conditions, and more and more of our nation’s assets, being owned by the ultra rich.

At this point, I felt it important for me to reassure those reading this book, that bad news and pessimism will not be the general rule. My book, while not evading life’s reality factors, also shows that it is within our power to successfully address this litany of inevitable challenges.

The following is a brief review of man’s overall historical performance record, which highlights mankind’s inherited warlike nature. Overwhelmingly, throughout history, the end result was untold suffering by the masses.

By Googling various websites, I’ve encountered a profusion of data in chronological order by century, page after page in exquisite detail. In light of this, I culled out of this overload of reference material offered, only those highly important Transformative Events, including a brief listing of wars, shown on pages 17 and 18, which documented an astonishing number of wars from the start of man’s earliest appearance on earth. Also identified, are some of the infamous and dictatorial leaders who unfortunately wielded the power to shape world history to the detriment of mankind. The irony is that many leaders were placed in positions of power by the populace who were hypnotized by their superior speech making ability, which promised a better economic life and transformation of their second class country to one of undisputed prominence. A short list includes: Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Saddam Hussein, Bin Laden, Mao Tse Tung, MoamarKhadaffi, Bashar al-Assad, and Kim Yong-nam.

CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORICAL LISTING OF MAJOR WARS

HISTORICAL TRANSFORMATIVE EVENTS:

• Cognitive Revolution–Homo Sapiens evolved with superior cognitive skills which enabled them to conquer the world as it existed at that time.

• Agricultural Revolution – with the passage of tens of thousands of years, Homo Sapiens domesticated a variety of plants and animals. When early humans first appeared on our planet, they lived in intimate bands of no more than a dozen individuals. Shortly after the Agricultural Revolution they established villages, towns and ultimately cities.

• Unification of Humankind – with the formation of cities, hundreds of thousands of strangers were suddenly required to agree on shared laws, norms and values. The relationship between direct societies was highly complex and involved.

The major forces that shaped the process of unification were money and trade. Money is the most universal system of trust" ever devised by humans. People who believed in different gods and rival kings were nevertheless willing to share the same money systems.

• Technological Evolution – a plethora of new advanced weaponry emerged, such as spears, bows and arrows, chariots, shields, swords, bayonets, cavalry, ships, guns, cannons, rockets, machine guns, tanks, planes, atom bombs, nuclear submarines, poison gas, and most recently, drone missiles. Man did not hesitate to put these weapons to exquisite use in all manner of warfare.

• Warfare – War is an organized and often prolonged conflict that is carried out by one state against other states. Its characteristics are extreme violence, social disruption and widespread devastation and killing. Bloody rulers would gain control of the population and the land of the attacked country. The sun never sets on the British Empire, or the fanatically driven religious. Crusade mentality, frequently resulted in great carnage. The deadliest war in all history was World War II. A staggering 60 to 85 million estimated deaths resulted from the systemic murder of six million Jews, combat, starvation, and war related disease.

All one has to do is to pick up a daily newspaper or turn on the T.V., to know that mass chaos still rules the day, exemplified by the accelerating instances of worldwide terrorist attacks on the innocent by Muslim fanatical terrorists, who are insanely killing in the name of their Prophet.

I take pleasure in ending this less than inspirational chapter on a highly positive note - There is a Better Way! Abundant scientific evidence pertaining to Planet Earth, supports the theory that the natural evolutionary process, strongly influenced by infinite random chance, could eventually give rise to a profusion of various types of life forms. It logically follows that some would evolve with dramatically enhanced cognitive skills, and absent major genetic flaws, thus enabling them to live harmoniously in peace. Also, one could reasonably speculate that the superior species would produce wise compassionate leaders, in juxtaposition to the psychopaths named in the historical summary.

CHAPTER VI

PROOF OF A BETTER WAY

I felt the following What If, was an imaginative way to stimulate creative thinking as we explore the premise that There Is A Better Way.

If any event in our evolutionary process had turned out slightly differently, we might exist in a dramatically altered way, or not at all. My interpretation is that statement proposes that a virtually limitless range of poor species design, to near perfection, could emerge depending on evolutionary conditions. The following analogy, which some may view as being a little imaginative is – If you put an infinite number of monkeys on an infinite number of typewriters through infinity, one of them will eventually write the classic novel War and Peace." Although somewhat exaggerated, the point made in this analogy is valid, and certainly applicable to the issues being considered. If we simply look around, there is ample evidence to strongly support the premise that there are a wide variety of animal and plant species have evolved in a beneficial way.

Noteworthy, is the fact that many of our miracle type drugs, which prevent worldwide epidemics that could literally wipe out mankind, were derived from chemical compositions obtained from a variety of exotic plant life found in jungles and rainforests. Indisputably, nature has produced many plant species which possess superior attributes, which are highly beneficial to man.

Thinking out of the box, I can identify a superior life form that exists on Planet Earth today that qualifies as a prime example of A Better Way. That example is majestic and beautiful, lives a very long time, and