Technology and civilization

 Month, Day: 178, Splendour, Might (Perfection)

While browsing posts on FB (Group titled "Stories of the Hands of the Cause"), Dorothy Baker was mentioned. The post was dated 3 Nov 2020 and included three images: a portrait of Dorothy, a photo of a plane, and a snapshot at Akka's view of the Mediterranean. 

Per usual, I went to look for information as I do when I learn about a person. One can find information in various places, such as a FindAGrave profile: Dorothy Beecher Baker (1898-1954). Then I saw that there had been a plane crash (more below). Before going further, I followed some links, such as this profile on Bahaipedia: Dorothy Beecher Baker. There we have a brief look at her family history plus there is a reference to the infamous crash (again, below). However, there is also a quote from Dorothy: “If I could really have my choice, I would be buried at sea. “And if I could choose the sea, then it would be the Mediterranean, whose waves will lap eternally on the shores of ‘Akká.” 

The significance still didn't ring. So, I continued looking and found out that her grandmother (Ellen Tuller Beecher) had an OBE when she was younger in which she saw the Master Who she met when He was in the U.S. in 1912. I like that the site that reported on the 100th celebration of this momentous occasion, by blogging back, in 2012 (centenary.bahai.us), is still around. 

Of particular interest, at the time, was the New England ancestry/history of many of the folks in the area (such as Thornton Chase). Too, it was interesting to see a Quaker influence which was quite influential in the area, starting a few centuries earlier. 

That brief overview is full of potential future research which overlaps the interest related to the start of the U.S. from the beginning 400 years ago. Pertinent will be studies related to families 250 years ago when there was a split between the patriots and the loyalists both of which groups have modern descendants. However, an area of rich mining potential would be the western expansion of 200 years ago when remnants of New England, New Spain, and New France meet up and when the country fills in. 

The theme? Civilization requires people to advance both from the station control and guidance and from that of those upon whose back things get done. A reminder in this regard is the letter sent by the Master to Alfred Eastman Lunt (Crush the mind). And progress in Civilization requires technology, which again has various stations involved.  

Myself, I have seen all of the levels, personally, hence my viewpoints on various matters. Some of those have been expressed in this blog; albeit, on-going research is the mode that is imperative. 

Dorothy was on the plane that demonstrated the new requirements for air travel. Some talk, test by death. Of late, we might have seen spiritual death from the propagation of those silly devices that are so addictive to people without anyone, that I can see, trying to understand. But, that's the responsibility fo the station that drives things awry, eventually.  Much to discuss there. 

Speaking of engineering, though, Boeing had made another decision through their analysis. In fact, the company had several decades of success with one model not having any performance failures of the major catastrophic type which is phenomenally important. Mostly, this is due to the processes put into place through a collaborative effort across stations. 

Why use stations? Good point. We'll get to that, eventually. But, about a decade later, I had a high-school friend go down in the Mediterranean on a U.S. Navy fighter jet. Not knowing the specifics, I can surmise that some parameter set was exceeded due to our always having limited understanding. This has to do, in part, with the Science and Religion dynamic which is of such difficulty. We can observe things being pushed out earlier than they ought with the people bearing the consequences. Too, we can observe a more conservative approach, yet even with that our control is not absolute. And, those of the BWF will be influential, some day. I have not seen this, yet. 

Given that the post mentioned dreams, I can talk of one type that I have had over the years that relate to my friend. Two things come to mind beyond the fact that these instances occur: 1) there seems to be some parallel development, 2) they have it better than do we. 

Be that as it may, we can say that it's too bad that DeHavilland was the one; it went defunct in 1963. Plenty of other companies have been responsible for much worse and are still around. Wait, that type of economic/ethical surmising is out of line? 

Well, recently, we had two instances much like we saw with that 1954 crash. These two resulted in the plane being grounded for a long while during a period of analysis, fixing and testing. It is about to go back to the sky. Methinks that people just take for granted the little miracles that are required for a flight to go to and arrive at some destination. Perhaps, we might find appropriate metaphors in the Quran that would help us paint a picture that really needs some attention. 

In any case, one of our tasks might be a taming of STEM which can present us with beasts of various natures, such as we might be seeing with types of AI presentations. My role? These are very hard issues that we face, as the Master alluded to with His counsel to Alfred. 

Remarks: 03/29/2021 

03/29/2021 --