There are mind leaps and there are mind leaps. Everybody's mind can leap, given the right circumstances, but there are some mind leaps which sometimes amaze one's mind with their inherent simplicity and power.

Two weeks ago there was a BBC documentary about the solar system. The documentary explained in sufficient detail the external and internal structure of the major planets and it allowed one a quick glimpse at some planetary photos taken by voyager, while always stressing how important the current stage of the sun was.

Thinking about it after the documentary's conclusion, the same question was popping in my mind, over and over: Why 10 planets and why on earth? The documentary's data was shuffling through in my mind, but was not giving me any clues.

Mercury, scorched by the sun's radiation. Venus not so bad, but still too hot. Mars just a bit too far. Perhaps water on Mars, but no cigar. Jupiter and Saturn, too far off. Same for Uranus and Neptune.

My mind here took a 180. Think of Jupiter. Another possible star? No. It has insufficient mass by a factor of 27. So the Arthur Clark stuff was baloney? Not quite. At least not in the conventional sense of what "another star" is supposed to mean.

So I kept asking: Why on earth? What's so special about earth? The answer to this is somewhat obvious: Earth is at the right distance, as a function of sun's position (and thus temperature) in the HR diagram.

So what happens when the sun burns up its hydrogen, that is when it approaches the stages of a red giant? Anybody with some elementary amateur astronomy knowledge knows this. The radius of the star will increase and although its temperature will drop, earth will be scorched to death because of the decreased distance between sun and earth. Not because of the increased sun temperature.

The above is simple enough as a fact. It really depends on what one wants to do with this fact. Most minds stop here: Earth will be destroyed and along with it humans...

Not if we have managed to escape. Ah, what does escape mean in this case? Most of us insert here our favorite sci-fi scenario of our first colony trips to Alpha Centauri or Barnard or whatever. Cool. Except that we will never be able to go there. Never.

I can hear some people here objecting, offering all sort of alternatives for efficient extraterrestrial travel.

I have no problems with sci-fi scenarios. Not even with ludicrous scenarios. One fact, however, remains obvious and retains its gripping power over us with regard to this kind of travel: There will be no way to ever reach the closest star systems, and note, I said closest star "systems", not just stars, without resorting to some sort of time-space bending.

Ah, and if time-space bending enters into the game, then the really scary shit begins. We get into the paradoxical side of it, with time loops, travel in time, etc.

I don't know if we ever manage to reach andromeda, say, in 56 years by giving a plasma propelled spaceship a constant acceleration of one g. Perhaps. Perhaps we will be able to one day do it. But I tell you, those travellers aboard this spaceship better be able to find some other earth where they go, because there won't be a place to call home if they decide to head back.

With such a consideration out of the picture or at least out of the picture for a relatively long time span, the image of a sad and disappointed traveller reemerges. One traveller who disparately needs to escape from the prison called earth.

Escape, not because he doesn't like it here. Not because it's sad or lonely here. Escape because one day the sun or earth will lose their fuel fuel. And this day is coming soon. Sooner than you think.

Ok, if you don't like this reason, escape because he is also sad and lonely. Because he feels that amidst the godly beauty on this planet, the godly natural beauty, his very essence, has warned him that he is basically a parasite which consumes the natural resources faster and faster, without the environment any more being able to have a chance to replenish.

The earth cannot keep up anymore with our stupidity. Ok, so we have come to partially realize that. This last march, here in Athens, has been the hottest in the last century. The minute I am writing this, it's 24 degrees Celsius outside and it's 5:28 am.

Not to mention that he has felt the disgust from the corruption of this race that's called human. This race of parasites. We have infested this beautiful planet, we have destroyed so many resources, we have multiplied and filled the entire planet and what have we given back in return? What do we give back in return? Our shit. No, really. Our excrement is the only thing that we offer consistently and abundantly in exchange. Be it our natural waste or our biomechanical waste.

We are worse than rats. Even rats have a purpose. Even they, when they multiply uncontrollably, are able to be used for some sort of useful purpose, like feed hungry hordes of stray cats.

The proof that we are a bunch of useless parasites, is more than obvious now than ever, because our own mind has naturally expanded into realms which include scenarios that naturally try to bring a balance to this madness.

Movies like Alien or Predator are not a coincidence. They are the naturally borne fruit of a distressed subconscious mind, which tries to disparately balance its own uncontrollable growth by creating a tangential reality, in subconscious hopes of it manifesting and clearing this reality of rot.

The fucking rot. The stink of the parasite called human. The disgust from seeing everything collapsing and depending on money. The disgust from seeing the entire population needing more and more. More resources. More money. More money. More money...

And here, a sudden mind cusp makes its reappearance. An idea, which essentially follows just by using the argument of analogy and which proves not only that there was a creator, not only an intelligent creator, not only a wise creator, but a sad and disappointed creator, who saw our greed and need for more and arranged for us to even have this:

It's not a coincidence there are ten planets. It never was. But why? The reason is simple: So we can transfer to the next one, when we finally have destroyed the resources of the given planet we are on or when this planet becomes unlivable because of the sun moving into a different position in the HR diagram.

Think about it: What do you think will happen to Jupiter when the sun increases its radius by a factor of 20? 30, I don't care. Details don't matter here. What matters is that there is this horrendous realization that the planets of the solar system have been a "ladder" of sorts.

A ladder that we go up to when a given planet gets destroyed. One would think that this is a happy event. However, I assure you that it is not. Why not you ask?

I will tell you why. History tells you why. Why is it that you don't recall anything prior to 6,000 - 10,000? 100,000? 1,000,000? Why? Because you were a Homo Erectus back then. Or Homo Habilis. Or Australopithecus Africanus. Or Afarensis. Or Boisei. Or a Ramapethicus. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter because you are not supposed to remember.

Can you see it now? Can you see that you are an animal whose dna was altered in order to accommodate some sort of alien entity? I sure hope you can see it, otherwise you are stupid. Look at your hands: They are the hands of an ape. But you are not an ape.

What are we? All together now: "WE ARE HUMAN!!". Like fuck we are. We are all extraterrestrial entities from Venus, who have been using the pithecines of this planet to host us, since time immemorial, 2,000,000 years ago, when the brain of the Africanus species suffered this unexplained increase in brain capacity.

Jesus fucking Christ. Do you realize it? Or am I the only one who just has? We are an alien species. There is no need for alien invasion scenarios. We are them. And we have invaded the planet back then.

And we will do the same going to other planets when this one is dealt with or destroyed. That is, if some really useful species like predator Predator or Alien doesn't manage to come here and balance this rotten species, which I sure as hell hope happens soon.

Man, it's good to be alive.