Swimming through a sea of black matter, mysterious chasms separate our world from places known only in whispers of rumor and speculation. Lodged between knowledge and belief lies a minefield of beautiful and dangerous singularities. You come to a place where unfounded belief carries you to passionate pursuits driven by dark forces beyond understanding or control and you’re standing at the edge. The time has come to explore new perspectives. Step back from what you believe with an objective eye and seek out knowledge and truth.

What is real? What is true? Answer these questions and you will know what you believe. But the rapidly expanding volume of information that is freely published without peer-review is like a tide that rises, submerging the truth in muddy waters.

Social media has exploded with a never-ending stream of self-proclaimed experts, influencers and political instigators. Whistle blowers expose fraud, deception and corruption. Differing points of view become flashpoints on which to build a following, leaving a deeply divided society. And now AI is going to sort it all out?

Romance, mystery and fantasy dominate bookstores, movie theaters and streaming services. People love to see an improbable couple overcome countless obstacles to be together. Mystery taunts the natural curiosity driving people to grow and succeed. And fantasy allows people to go beyond the world as we know it.

Gene Roddenberry gave us a “Wagon Train to the stars,” then used his vessel to mirror human flaws disguised in the skins of alien worlds. If and when our fallen race crosses the great expanse to find new civilizations, will we carry with us the moral convictions living on Starship Enterprise? Or will a darkness in our souls pollute the cultures we find?

About

The Gulch Gazette exists as a call for introspection and a home for speculative fiction. As humans our capacity to think, reason and act is finite. Science does its best to explore the depths of cosmology and the puzzles of quantum physics. Theologians point to ancient writings and history as guides to faith, “the evidence of things unseen.”

Human endeavors in trades, finance and social interaction are dependent largely on what we believe. In an increasingly divided country and a hostile world, it is important that we take time to evaluate the truth of principles we cling to.

Gulch Gazette has been a presence online since 1998 in some form or another. That it has not garnered a wide following is probably a consequence of marketing, or more accurately, the complete absence of such efforts. The amount of work involved in maintaining a site, soliciting and monitoring discussion and building a mailing list is far too much for this old man. At any rate, I will continue to build and revise this site with the hope that one day, someone beyond my inner circle may stumble across this maze and enjoy their time inside.