The Lucifer Dialogues Part II

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So my fellow countrymen (and women), the debate between Adam and Lucifer continues..

'Hey, do you remember the question we used to ask during our fifth grade? Is fire solid, liquid or gas?'

'Yeah, yeah. to those who say its solid, we ask them how come we could pass a stick through it. To those who say it's a liquid we ask 'em, why doesn't it flow away. To those who say it's gas we ask 'em, why it being hot doesn't go up in the air?'

'Right. The thing is, fire is energy. It's just the heat and light as a result of the chemical reaction - burning of wood. Got the point?'

'Okay, the point is..'

'Don't you see the display that comes on your screen when you switch on your PC? It's the outcome of the electrical changes in the hardware. Cut off the power supply and off goes the display. Likewise the chemoelectrical changes in your brain gives rise to the mind. When you die your mind just shuts down. Period. No afterlife. No pearly gates. The mind cannot exist without the body - your brain!'

'Now that is scary. You're comparing us to some stupid machine.'

'Why don't we leave the mind part here and go back to the life part? Don't worry, we'll come back to finish this.'

'Okay.'

'Well then, what is life?'

'I tried answering that already.'

'Okay, we'll simplify it. Is a cat a living being?'

'Yes.'

'Is a phone a living being?'

'No, its inanimate.'

'Well then, what about an inanimate tree?'

'Pardon me. Yes, the tree is alive.'

'Excellent, how about a virus? It's on the border of the living and the non-living. Its inactive while not in contact. Once it comes into contact with another living organism, it infects it and multiplies. What do you say?'

'I would say its a living organism.'

'Would you say the same for a computer virus?'

'Are you kidding me? How can you call a strip of evil programming, life?'

'Any arguments?'

'It's a piece of malicious code..'

'..information stored in bits instead of DNA or RNA.'

'It doesn't exist. It's only in the computer..'

'..we live in our environment. It lives in its own.'

'A real virus behaves like other species: ensuring the survival of its kind.'

'A computer virus does the same: it replicates itself and destroys others.'

'Oh man, I'm not taking this. A computer virus - life?! Utter nonsense!!'

(To be continued)

The Highwayman and his Harley

Alive and free, I live fast, unchained
Holding unto nothing
Without a care to the world, fearing no judgment day,
I live a free man’s life.

You call me insane.

You live enslaved
Chained to your desk, caged in your cubicle.
Seeking mirages of better wages
And rations of your rights.

I chase my dream on an open highway
Braving desert storms and coyotes.
Dragging the scent of burning tires
Leaving nothing but tire tracks in the dust.

And you call me insane.

You torture your soul in monotony
In thirty years of purgatory
Then you retire into obscurity
Counting in coins your tithe-eaten leftovers
Knowing it won’t last many winters
Then one day you die in an effort to
remember who you were once.

I take my thirty pieces of silver
The fruit from the serpent’s mouth
I live like a legend
And one day I’ll become road kill.
Till that moment
I’ll live my life to the fullest.

But you’ll live long
To tell stories to your grandchildren
But listen well my friend
The story you’ll tell might be mine