Such an Innocent Question
by Mama V Promise
[Submission to the 2023 EU Life/Nature Essay Contest, whose subject was a "Utopia Institute of Research."]
“Congratulations, Cohort of 2063! We are approaching Planet Earth!”
A wave of intense but politely restrained audation erupted from the assembly—the tickings, tappings, twitterings, and chatterings—of 100 adolescent female humanoids.
“Let’s take a minute to re-align ourselves with our mission,” continued the presenter, whose daughters were among the number. “Although primary principles are obvious to us in times of calm and flow, they are so quick to evaporate in times of stress or confusion.
“While you have been meeting with your Earth friends over GalaxaNet all your lives, the fullness of the chemistry of life in a shared space—especially in a new shared space—puts a person on very precarious footing indeed. Our simulations can take us only so far! This is true for our Earthling friends and for us mamas as well as for you interns. Physical and social disorientation may be significant.
“So, no pressure, but the future of the galactic community depends on how you finesse these critical moments.
“And that’s a good place to start,” she said, shifting to quiz mode. “Every moment of choice is…?”
“Equal to every other moment of choice,” said the first, being pointed to.
“And the choice is always between?”
“Living Source and the sink of dead programming,” said the second. “Choosing to identify with Source revitalizes us, and choosing to identify with information splits our view into self versus not-self.”
“So therefore Life is…?”
“A signal from Source to sink,” said the third.
“And Self is…?”
“Likewise a signal from Source to sink, a free-will fractal instance of the Original” said the fourth.
“Earthlings finally came to understand this in the year…?"
“2023,” said the fifth. “Based on the Promise Premise.”
“And thus the 40 years since then…?”
“Makes one generation that has grown up on the Truth,” said the sixth.
“Yes, this has given Earthlings time to work out their new identity as cosmic co-creators before jumping into more formal commitments. So, one generation compared to…?”
“120 generations for us on Planet A, with B being the oldest known in our galaxy at 1140 generations and C being the newest known before Earth at only 17 generations,” said the seventh.
“So what does this mean—if anything—for our neighborly relationships?”
“It means that, while some planets may be more advanced than others, that we should both learn and teach as needed, *and also, at the same time,* live life one moment at a time as if we’re inventing reality,” said the eighth. That it’s good to keep a balance between structure and novelty.”
“And,” the presenter summed up,“the 100 of you and your counterparts from other worlds other than Earth are enrolling as the first integrated intergalactic class at Earth’s global-scale Oneness-First Research Institute. Again, congratulations to the new students, our first interplanetary citizens, and to us mamas alike!
“And now, as a formality, I will read OFRI’s mission statement into the record. And then a few more specifics.
The Oneness-First Research Institute was founded as an international and virtual organization on Planet Earth in 2023.
We are pleased at our 40-year anniversary to welcome our first cohort of galactic neighbors, who have been keeping us company from afar as we’ve incubated our first generation of self-aware humans.
OFRI is founded on the Promise Premise, the Mind-first metaphysic that understands reality as Mind projecting ItSelf into matter/information, and doing so in a way that can be apprehended and optimized by each individuated mind and digitally processed by the WorldWide Mind.
Humanity has distilled the ALL-gorithm, the primary principle of universal cognition, as indicated by the Promise Premise, and have built our new system of science and technology upon it. This has resulted in a planet restored to its pristine purity and inhabitants who do our best to live in accord with Spirit, Nature and each other.
It has also resulted in our reclaiming the realms of the subjective, the paranormal, the supernatural, and the non-reproducible as proper provinces for inquiry. A major task for the upcoming phase is to reintegrate those pre-material aspects of our reality with the traditional dynamics of objective science, to optimize and enrich the quality of our experience at every level—to have life and to have it more abundantly, to quote our most famous Earthling.
OFRI, in recognition that information is the end of the road for Spirit, takes every opportunity to practice Mind Over Machine, to celebrate and amplify that which is truly alive within and between us. With arts, music, interpersonal connectivity, traditional spiritual practices, and serious silliness, we continue to nourish the more abstract and objective modes of expression.
In clarifying the role of Science as a primarily mental activity, OFRI has demonstrated that real Science needs no financial support. Resources for experimental work are manifested as needed.
While OFRI continues our practice of keeping formal education in the hands of mothers, we also continue to welcome males of all ages and walks of life to our campus for extracurricular collaborations.
We look forward to joyful teamwork with our galactic neighbors as we pause at this threshold.
“As powerful now as it was in 2023,” commented one of the mamas on stage.
“I’m glad we’re all in on that,” said the presenter. “Now let’s go over the boy-girl business.
“Remember, it’s been only one generation that Earthlings have been practicing authentic gender relations. They labored in ignorance of female centrality for six millennia, so it’s not surprising that they sometimes cling to familiar ways. But once they understood that cultivating the process of motherhood was essential to their survival and further development, they were quick to change course.
“So we should not be surprised if we find that female humans sometimes fail to be decisive at times that seem right to us, and that the males might try to be decisive when it’s not called for. For instance. Question?” she asked, pointing at a hand.
“Are we allowed to pet them?”