IMAGINE THAT
Copyright (c) by Rick Yost

The truth may be within our reach- we just fail to reach for it.
Think for a moment. If it weren't for our clothing, shelters, and contrived amusements, we would all be standing barefoot on the dirt, shivering in the cold, and wondering where our next meal would come from. As much as we'd like to think of ourselves as the civilized, distant ancestors of the first humans that roamed the Earth, we are still no different than they were. Our mental capacity, our drives and survival instincts have not changed.
Now consider for a moment the only real difference between ourselves and other life on this planet- our intelligence. How much more intelligent are we?
Although we have learned to build shelter for ourselves on a grand scale, this is merely an instinctive activity which many other species do everyday with much less effort.
We have taken the simple need to protect our frail bodies from the elements to the self-indulgent art of fashion. Yet we’re still doing nothing that many animal species do every day.
Although man can survive without shelter and clothing it is a simple fact that we must feed ourselves or we will die. This being the one thing that every human who has ever lived has had to do, you’d think we’d have this down by now. Yet we, the intelligent species on the planet, are less successful at this than most of the animal world. Not only can we not agree on what we should or should not eat, we fail so miserably at communicating and coordinating our efforts, that a large percentage of the population dies from starvation everyday. This is all in spite of there being far more potential food sources available to us than we could ever possibly consume.
Why is it that after so many centuries of being the dominant species on this planet we still can do little more than house, clothe, and feed ourselves? Why are we still spending so much time, effort, and mental energy in doing these most basic chores? Will we ever put our mental powers to greater use? Will our intelligence ever do more for us than allow us to stand at the top of the food chain? Why after all this time are we still only surviving?

I say to you my fellow idiots that we’ve lost the whole point of possessing intelligence. Our minds are what make us special, not our ability to survive in the wild. Dogs can survive in the wild and they don’t even have thumbs. It is our ability to close our eyes and go to other places and planes of existence in our minds that separates us from the animals. Thinking is what we do best.
Why have we wasted so many centuries, so many great thinkers, so many opportunities to understand the mind? We've spent too much time dissecting, lobotomizing, and analyzing these slabs of meat we carry within our fragile skulls. We have examined, studied, weighed, and mapped them, but no great strides have been made in our ability to use them.
We should have been embracing the dream state, exploring our visions and learning what wonders are contained in the depths of thought. To use an automotive analogy-“We should stop looking under the hood to see what makes our brains work, and just get behind the wheel and go.” Instead of trying in vain to be “mechanics”, we should by now be “master drivers”. But alas, we’re still too busy just trying to survive.
There is not one achievement we have made as a species that is worthy of our great mental powers. Yes, we have gone into outer space, but we have ultimately found nothing more than what we could already see from the ground. We should be funding the exploration of inner space. Instead of searching the vast emptiness of the heavens, we should be looking deep into the human mind, where each and every one of us has seen for ourselves; there is definitely something there.
Using our minds is a very natural human activity, yet we will go out of our way to find something else to do. What is it we are so afraid of? The answers to all our questions may lie within our brains waiting to be discovered. But we’re way too busy developing new and improved laundry detergents, sleeker automobiles, wrinkle creams, high-resolution television, food processors, and quieter toilets.

Bear with me for a moment and I will conclude this mindless rambling. Imagine beings from another world coming to Earth. Imagine them making us reluctantly understand that they are the creators of life on this planet. Consider the following being the conversation of our first meeting:

Aliens: “Hello, we’re back. Did you miss us?”
US: “Miss you? Who are you?”
Aliens: “We are the folks that came here millions of years ago and planted the seeds of life that have evolved into the human race. Pretty cool eh? We meant to be back sooner, but the traffic was horrible.”
US: “Well then tell us why we are here? What is our purpose? What is our destiny?”

The Aliens all laughed and slapped each other on the back as if a funny joke had been told.

Aliens: “Well, you’ve developed a sense of humor haven’t you? But now tell us- we are all very anxious to hear the results, what have you done?”
US: “What do you mean?”
Aliens: “We mean, what have you done? What have you seen? How have you used the mental power we gave you?”

The humans looked at each other in confusion.

Aliens: “C’mon, show us your finest accomplishments.”

With that, the humans smiled and began to tell the history of man’s discoveries and inventions. The Aliens were shown pictures of our greatest structures and works of art.
They were told of our sciences, religions, space explorations and endeavors to harness nature. Upon finishing their presentation, the humans stood back and smiled proudly.

Aliens: “You’re kidding! No, really, you’re joking again, right? You’re telling us that after all this time, after all these thousands of years, this is all you’ve done?"
US: “We don’t understand Oh Great-Ones, what do you mean? What were we expected to do?”

The Aliens looked at each other in disbelief. The head Alien had to sit down, he was having a difficult time accepting the useless tragedy that had occurred here.

Aliens: “If we understand correctly, you have not made use of your minds in the way they were intended. We are just a little disappointed. We are a bit perplexed as well, for this has never happened before.
You see we came a very long way to see how our little project here had progressed, only to discover that it has been a complete waste of time. We think what has happened is you have misunderstood the most basic part of your intellect- the imagination. The imagination is a very simple tool. Apparently you have had so much fun playing with it, you failed to think any deeper to discover its true function."

At this point the humans cocked their heads like curious, wide-eyed puppies. The Aliens tried to explain.

Aliens: "Look, the way it works is you use your imagination as the key to open the door through which you escape your Earth-bound existence. Mental energy is your true state of being. Humanity is merely the vessel for your mind. Your imagination is the key to the door that sets you free like stepping out of your house to view the great outdoors. Your natural habitat is the universe itself.
Did you really think that the imagination was the main function of the mind? Did you really believe that you developed intelligence just so you could 'build’ and ‘invent’ and ‘create’? What would be the point? All fruits from these kinds of endeavors will eventually turn to dust.
Unfortunately after all this time you have nothing to show for your efforts but countless, wasted generations and a planet full of rusting and crumbling ‘things’. This is not much for an entire species to show for its existence.
The only thing of worth that can survive a race is its acquired knowledge, the knowledge that can only come from exploring the vast expanse of the universe through the mind. On other planets there are cultures much younger than your own who've traveled through the universe, communicating with other cultures in other galaxies, exploring other dimensions and taking their races to great heights of knowledge and understanding. All of this is the result of using the key to unlock the door. You have spent your time like children being fascinated by the key itself.
You’ve painted pictures, sculpted your heroes, and built huge structures. You’ve spent your existence playing with what you believed were the only five senses available to you. You have no idea what amazing things you missed because you looked no further. What a waste.
Please understand, we don’t blame you for this mistake. But without the full use of your minds, you are nothing more than a herd of cattle. Hence, we don’t consider you have done anything wrong- you’ve just done nothing. We will simply have to start over again. It is our responsibility to determine what went wrong and vow to achieve better results next time.”

US: “What do you mean start over? What‘next time’?”
Aliens: “Well we certainly can’t just leave this mess as it is. We will have to start a new life form here and commit ourselves to check in on it from time to time to see how it’s doing.”
US: “A new life form! We have no room here for a whole new life form. Where will it live? What will it eat?”

The Aliens laughed just as hard as they did before.

Aliens: “You poor, simple creatures. You are funny. Don’t you understand? You are like a fruit tree that bears no fruit. You are a failed experiment. You are a mistake. We are forced to start fresh and try again. But fear not, it will be an instant and painless end.
You never really began your true existence. You'll scarcely feel your demise."