Reality

I had a discussion with a young man
when the question of rules came up

and he wondered how valid it was to follow rules.

At his age he finds conventional rules
blind him to the future and he can't
do what he needs in the new paradigm.

Rules for games are an honored tradition
but have changed in time to accommodate
a growing awareness of what is possible.

He is playing in a virtual world
tries to model his ideas upon what was tired before
seeing some success but in this viral space

things can be done that were never imagined;
hacking into a program and changing the game,
getting cloaked and floating without a name.

He seeks control beyond coercion
needs to be smarter and faster
always thinking and acting one step ahead.

Some say the brain is actually changing
while interfacing with electronic technology,
others thinking it is becoming weak instead

losing the ability from oral customs
to remember stories and histories for centuries
taping into a dream world of memory

participating in telling group accounts of the day’s events
filling in details with each person’s experience
instead of trying to exist in isolation in an unreal world.

I pondered his question and realized I had little to say
my past did not give the answers he needed today
but I reminded him to use his own thinking

based on the lessons his parents have taught him
there are consequences for laws that shouldn't be broken
and others that need to be rewritten for future generations.