Time

Take me away from the television! I'm becoming obsessed. I watched the new episode of Doctor Who last night, followed by Doctor Who Confidential. I watched them both again tonight on BBC3.

Then I went out for a fag before watching Genesis Of The Daleks. I bought it on DVD last week and have only just got round to watching the actual story, having spent the first few hours watching all the extras. It's all gripping stuff. Anyone can see why it was voted the best Dr Who story ever.

If time travel were possible, would you go into the past and prevent the birth of Napoleon? Adolf Hitler? Sadam Hussein? Surely, someone would. It's never happened. Does that mean there's no such thing as time travel?

More evidence for the impossibility of time travel: there would be time travellers all around us - right now. That is, of course, unless the methods of time travel disabled a function to travel in space at the same time. This could get complicated, but, that's all very well... Nothing could stop time travellers from travelling in space once they'd travelled in time...!?!?

Does it exist?

Is it possible?

I'd like to think so, but I doubt it.

I'd like to believe God exists, but I doubt it.

That's not to say I don't believe in life after death; but God? I just don't know.

God and science are inextricably linked. Don't you think? Answers on a postcard please.

Scientists debate the existance of God, but do theologists debate the existance of science? I don't think they do. Of course, cutting things down to the bare bones, science depends on fact. Religion depends on faith. If religion depended on fact and science depended on faith, neither would exist. Would that make for a better world? I often wonder.

Would Davros have faith in his Daleks?

Could the Pope prove God's existance as an absolute fact?

Does Pi have anything to do with this?

And if it did, what would that mean for humanity?

Could we exist without Pi?

Remove Pi from history, and would we still be living in caves, eating raw meat?

The answer to that will never be known as there's no such thing as time travel. Or is there? I can't see how it's possible. Proof: is it such a big deal? I love my Mother, but can I prove it?

One thing I can prove: we drifting in time and space, not making much progress. At least we're going back to the moon... We should have had colonies on there by now and be establishing bases on Mars! Numbers of humans should be scattered amongst the stars? But no, we're not. We can't even feed ourselves properly yet. How can we explore the universe when we can't even get the basics right? Ok, so we're going into space as a matter of course these days, conducting tests, finding cures and the like, but after doing it for over half a century we still haven't managed to cure world hunger.

The world will one day find a cure. I hope. My only worry is that for one half of the world to be rich enough to ride out into space, the other half must be poor, poor enough to starve to death.

Read the lyrics to What Keeps Mankind Alive? (Pet Shop Boys did a fabulous cover of it):

(Brecht/Weill)
--------------
You gentlemen who think you have a mission
To purge us of the seven deadly sins
Should first sort out the basic food position
Then start your preaching, that's where it begins
You lot, who preach restraint and watch your waist as well
Should learn for all time how the world is run
However much you twist, whatever lies you tell
Food is the first thing, morals follow on
So first make sure that those, who now are starving
Get proper helpings, when we all start carving
What keeps mankind alive, the fact that millions
Are daily tortured, stifled, punished, silenced, oppressed
Mankind can keep alive, thanks to its brilliance
At keeping its humanity repressed
For once, you must not try to shirk the facts:
Mankind is kept alive by bestial acts.
You say the girls may strip with your permission (whoa!)
You draw the line dividing art from sin
So first sort out the basic food position
Then start your preaching, that's where it begins
You lot, who bank on your desires and our disgust
Should learn for all time how the world is run
Whatever lies you tell, however much you twist
Food is the first thing, morals follow on
So first make sure that those, who now are starving
Get proper helpings, when we all start carving
What keeps mankind alive, the fact that millions
Are daily tortured, stifled, punished, silenced, oppressed
Mankind can keep alive, thanks to its brilliance
At keeping its humanity repressed
For once, you must not try to shirk the facts
Mankind is kept alive by bestial acts
Mankind can keep alive, thanks to its brilliance
At keeping its humanity repressed
For once, you must not try to shirk the facts:
Mankind is kept alive by bestial acts