I dont even have a title for my book yet. I have tried a dozen times to write this, from many different angles, but I figure that if I “publish” it as I write it, it will force me to continue.

When I first started writing, some 20+ years ago, I was this staccato storyteller, with questionable material. These days, my thinking feels a bit more fluid. I am not grasping for some major story line, but am happy to weave the tale in front of my eyes. ChatGPT does not feature in this tale. Glad I could clear that up in case anyone was wondering – the reason for the story is as much about me describing things from my angle as well as…. no, that is all. The book is free and whilst I am endlessly fascinated with science and now these days to some degree artificial intelligence, the real fun is in weaving a tale that someone may want to read. I did previously write a foreword for this book that I posted to Facebook – that is real, and relevant here. My life has been shades of Hunter S Thompson, shades of endless hard work as an engineer, but underlying it all, shades of the heavy burden of a religious upbringing that I brought completely on myself. Religion as I have found out to my horror shaped my life, but that came as a key lesson in the very first thing I wanted to convey in this story. Don’t get me wrong, I will take great delight in telling the Hunter S tales, they will be undiluted too, and my friends may start to hate me – stay tuned there. But remember, this story treats those tales as side shows. They’re fun to tell, but ultimately not really of much importance. So back on topic, the very first tale is one of how we cannot escape religion – whether its right or wrong – it is stuck in our heads like Eiffel 65 (if you don’t know it, don’t Google it to find out – you have been warned).

Most people think of religion as something to go to on a Friday/Saturday/Sunday (depending on your favourite flavour) and gawk at the bum of the hottest girl in the pew in front of you. Listening to what is actually going on – totally optional. I was one of those weirdos who actually listened to what was being said. I do remember a girl with an amazing bum however. I am a bum person. Another time… we’ll get to that. I got to thinking just where on earth religion came from. What the hell made all of us think of God? Break this down – cultures that have nothing to do with each other, no contact, came up with some of their religious ideas about the same time as each other. Many cultures have the concept of Noah’s Ark (Google it – it is pervasive amongst many unrelated civilisations) – why? Why indeed. I don’t know. But it is there. Religion is about relationships – it defines some of how we relate to each other, but also tries to define how we relate to some unknowable being. Probably lesser of the former and more of the latter. Humanity is defined by our unending quest to relate to “other” and our place with that other. Human relations dictate our relationship amongst ourselves, whereas religion tries to define (and this is where I diverge from the pack) our relationship within ourself. I dont believe in any God. But I certainly believe in religion. And do I believe in a fundamental force behind the universe – very much so. I hate the word spirituality – it reminds me of cults, and weirdos, and people who don’t wash themselves. Hygiene is kindof important. If you take all of the ethnic differences out of religion, basically boil all religions in a pot, take the bones out and sieve out the remains, in effect you’re trying to identify the common aspects, and remember how different some religions can be to others – Buddhism for example is almost a silicon based lifeform compared to the carbon based religions of the near east. They are so different. But they contain the same thread. And that thread is from us, not to the things we dont understand, science has firmly put that in its place – those are just questions for another day, for someone clever to answer. No, this thread is about how we relate to life, it is about how we understand our place, and not about how we dominate. It is about a reverence for the world, our people, and what we need to survive. No one thinks of religion much in those terms. But if you take all the names of the gods away, take their turbulent stories away, and try and understand the essence of “why” and “what” religion is – (and remove Satanism, its not really real except in the minds of the truly weird), my understanding at least is this is probably where you might get to.

Ok, back out of the rabbit hole.