[ShiningLight]

Michael, good thoughts and questions. Let me see if I can input some valuable ideas into the mix:

at the end of the universe

What do you mean? The end of the physical universe - or the end of "existence" itself? The way I see it, when the physical universe ends, it just begins right back up. Existence, will always be, not bound or restricted to the physical universe.

My model of human relationships follows a similar path. While I have pointed out that knowledge is the most significant metric of all, my model distinguishes a secondary axis which I call "equality". On one end, you have "compassion" and on the other, you have "alienation". Knowledge splits itself between love (understanding + compassion) and discrimination (understanding + alienation).

I'm interesting in learning more about your "model." Can you share links to any relevant posts? Thanks. *edit* silly me should of saw the links on your sig.

...in the millenial future, we may merge into One.

Perhaps...I'm not sure.

The other perspective is the world without time: in which case, the question simply collapses into a simple yes or no: are we One?

Yes.

And why?

Now for the hard part. Lets see. Sometimes thinking about these things in such a "grand scale" can be extremely imposing. Why NOT think about this on a smaller scale, with something we're more familiar with - our own body? Ok, now imagine for a second the human body, or what I prefer - the female body. Think about every cell in that body as an individual. Imagine if the cells could talk (btw, cells can communicate with one another) and one cell, a blood cell asked another cell, a liver cell if they were different or if they were the same. How would you think their conversation would go........? ( I don't want to spoil the fun of thinking for yourself)

Here's a couple more questions for you to ponder. How can you relate disease in the body to "disease" in the "world?" How are the cells the same and how are they different? What is the purpose of the cell? What is the importance for cells to "work" together in order to become tissues, organs, systems? From the cells' perspective who is in actual control? Would the brain think it is in control? What would the cells think, or how would they feel about "consciousness?"

Have fun. And yes, I do come from a health background. Poor me.