Currency of Life contains a discussion of complicated physics, which leads to a mind bending theory about the nature of time, and reviews how these complicated theories could answer basic questions of life. Parts of the book aggravated me, but I also find that I cannot argue with at least one of his conclusions. And that, of course, aggravated me all the more.
Mark E Klein has been practicing medicine for twenty-five years and is a nationally recognized expert in Diagnostic Radiology. After observing patients over those decades and delving into the research of Elizabeth Kubler-Ross (a foremost authority in the field of death and dying and identifier of the grief cycle), Albert Einstein and other physicists, Klein decided to write a book on the purpose of life. He called it The Currency of Life: Uncovering the Clues to Why We're Here.
Right away I wanted to know what he meant by "currency." It is a money metaphor. We collect and spend currency in the form of money. Is that pursuit the whole purpose to life? Or is there some other form of currency, possibly intangible, that we should earn, invest, spend?
Most of us will quickly agree that seeking money and other material things is not the purpose of life. Indeed, that often leads to a disastrous and empty life, not the fulfilled one we all desire. Despite that belief and an economic downturn on a global scale, I would venture to say that there are still many people who still seek money, or maybe fame and power, feeling this will give meaning to their life. This is an error. So, what is it we should be seeking? I won't spoil the book by telling you now (it is related to the dandelion on the cover).
In Part One of his book, Klein begins telling us that the world is not what we think. He begins with Einstein's relativity theory and then moves into further discoveries in quantum mechanics – notably quantum entanglement, which is bizarre. Essentially, entanglement means that once two particles — say, of light — are linked they can then be separated by any distance and a change in one particle will be reflected in the other particle. The two particles become one linked entity, as it were. Apparently, the distance between the two could be as far as from this galaxy to the next, and they will instantaneously communicate with each other, far exceeding the speed of light.
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