The Unknown

     With such an unusual prompt I decided to talk about an unusual topic.

     I recently stumbled across a really fascinating quote that goes something like this: "There exists two possibilities; either we are alone in the universe, or we are not. Both are equally terrifying." This quote is by Arthur C. Clarke and it made me start thinking. Thinking about what another race/being/life form/species (I list here because I pause at what the correct term would be) would be like. Not only how different they would be - they could be - but more importantly, how similar they could be. I digress briefly here to return to the quote that sparked this thought.

     I stand behind the thought that there ARE other forms of life out there, other species, because the universe is infinitely huge and just by looking at the night sky , we see countless stars in the heavens and just like our star, the Sun, each could have several if not dozens of planets orbiting them. Some believe there are more stars in the sky than grains of sand on earth and by the way things are looking, I think they're right. Now, if there are an infinitely large number of stars and each star has, on average 9 planets (like our solar system [Pluto is a planet, albeit a rather small planet]) then there would be an enormous sum of planets that intelligent life could  take place on. Now we also have to take into account the 'sweet spot' of planets - planets that are just the right distance from their sun so they are neither too hot or too cold, this makes it ideal for life to occur - this factor would greatly reduce the number of planets that satisfy the requirements for life but the number is still quiet huge. There ARE other life forms, we just haven't had contact with them yet.

     Of course this is just going off Carbon-based life forms that are extremely similar to us. Any variation, ANY, would vastly change the planets possible for them. But getting back to the point, how would are cultures be similar/different. Would they share the pursuit of knowledge that we experience? Would they have schools and places of learning. Maybe they would have a hive mind or knowledge that is passed down from generation to generation. Maybe they would experience colors differently then us or hearing. The possibilities are endless. Maybe their society would be a simple reflection of our own in almost every possible way. Just something to think about...

Link to the Historic Past

      SO our Mission (should we choose to accept) was to do some research about historic Reno and then do some in-person visitation along with some imaginary time travel. I decided to travel a little further than our other walks and visit the Court House, just past the river.

      Alright, history time! So the original courthouse was built in 1871-1873 in an attempt for Reno to take the County seat from Washoe City (20 miles south). In 1909, Frederic DeLongchamps redesigned the courthouse and built it how it is today (same thing as over 100 years ago). DeLongchamps used a type classical revival and Beaux art influence that is seen in a majority of legal buildings all across the nation.

     When I arrived on the spot, I visioned what it would be like 100 years ago in this spot, and like most people, I imagined the Wild West, which I realized is probably too far back so I imaginarily fast-forwarded to 1912. The area was more built up, less horse and more buildings; I had to see the area differently, what it would have been 100 years ago and yet this building in front of me would have still been here, probably looking really close to what it looks like today. Certain things would have been the same as they are now, the bridge over the river, several of the really old hotels and casinos, but I think the roads would be almost exactly the same, well all the main roads that is. It was truly fascinating to think that the building right in front of me had been there for close to 100 years (waaaaaay older than I am, easily). It changed my perspective; made me think and realize that we have tons of historic things around in Reno and everyone takes them for granted. We never really appreciate what we have, probably because we don't take the time to learn about them. But if we did, I am sure others would be just as impressed as I am about our history.

The Structure of the Neighborhood

     So this prompt was in consider the architecture in our neighborhood. Since the majority of us live on campus we have a mixture of two different types of architecture, casino/gambling and university, but its a bit more deep than just that, because each of those categories is made up of several different groups of past architecture.
   
     I'll start with the architecture of the university. First, I thought about the architecture of our university and then I started noticing patterns between our current university architecture as well as the architecture of ancient Greece and Rome - which is to be expected because that is what we think about when prompted with questions of philosophy and higher thinking. This effort to strive to be like the great philosophers of old has leeched into everything about our campus, the buildings, the way professors teach, maybe even into home we structure our day. It's all been done before in the time of Aristotle and Socrates. The architecture of our neighborhood is just a modern reflection of ancient Greece.

     The other hand being the Casino's and their architecture. I thought the casino's architecture slightly difficult to understand. Each on is different and yet same in some way. They're all unique and all similar. Its weird because where the university pulled some design from The Ancients, casinos usually set up a theme and pull from that, take The Atlantis for example. One thing they do all have in common though is usually their height; huge structure that tower over the other settlements nearby, minus other casinos that is. Well, all the big name brand casinos that is. I suppose a lot of the casinos pull from the average architecture of a skyscraper and then just make the first couple of floors all casino-y and tourist attractions.

     The way these separate types of architecture reflect our town and neighborhood is an interesting one, especially because of the close proximity to each other. I would have to say that these two architectures are two sides of the same coin. They are both similar but opposite. One is the knowledge we strive to achieve and the other is an escape from past troubles, also a place to pretty much throw money away. It is interesting that these things come together in such a close space they way they do

Houseless but not Homeless

     So our prompt was to retake one of our previous walks but look specifically for difference between homelessness and houselessness.

      While walking the streets we did see many houseless people and it was a bit weird in the sense because I didn't notice it before but they tended to be nicer than the people walking around on the streets. Some greeted us while others nodded and didn't say anything at all, but overall they were nicer than other people we ran across on the walk.

     The other people, those that are homeless in the sense that they are not connected to the community, were very rude to us and others around them. Some completely ignored us to the point of us having to walk way out of our way to get around them, some would yell back and forth to each other (and not nice things either), but in general they always had some place to be and not a lot of time to get there. They were zipping around going from point A to point B without really experiencing the in between.

     For the Honors program, we are required to do X amount of community service and my volunteer location is Good Shepard's Clothing Closet. While I am there I do see a lot of houseless people there but reflecting back on my experience, I don't think any of them are homeless because they have found a way to connect to the community. They are connected through GSCC even if they don't mean it and I am sure they are connected in more ways than just that. Whereas, the homeless people, who do have homes but are not involved in the community, lack in this sense of connectedness. They aren't truly experiencing everything Reno has to offer, or if they are they aren't really getting what they should from it.

Lesson learned: be connected to the community you are a part of.