I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had an underlying truth.
Umberto Eco
********************
"Life's perhaps the only riddle that we shrink from giving up."
(W. S. Gilbert)
Umberto Eco is a great novelist in my opinion. I've read "The Name of the Rose" and "Foucault's Pendulum" (twice). I don't read many novels. But I do read a lot of philosophy, history, psychology and science. Novelists can invent the universe to suit themselves. Philosophers and historians can't. They can only engage in the "mad attempt" to interpret the universe. It is those attempts that make life interesting for me.,
One philosopher attempts to describe the history of the human race through etymology, another through the growth and search for food, another from the perspective of religious beliefs. The future of mankind is perceived in the test tube, or the telescope. Destiny, tautology, or transfiguration. Is the next era defined by robotics or the development of nutrition, or both?
Hanging over the head of all this scholarship is a dilemma. Is there a final answer? Is there a universal law, a universal panacea, a universal equation that explains everything and makes it go away?
It may be a futile search for that "underlying truth" but it is also a "riddle that we shrink from giving up." As long as the search goes on there will be those who write about it, and they are the ones who keep me up at night.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
Never Give Up
*********************
This invitation is still open for anyone and everyone to post an entry of their own on my journal, Vagabond Journeys http://vagabondjourneys.blogspot.com/.
The new year is upon us and since it is a time for celebrations, remembrances, resolutions and plans for the future I think people have things to say.
Not to take away from the postings on your own journals, but to add to the joy of my own is why I invite you to write for mine.
I want to read what your thoughts are about this magical time of the year. This invitation is open to everyone: Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Pagans, Agnostics, Atheists and the Uncertain.
Tell me your thoughts on any subject you wish or associate with this new year.
There are no limits in regard to length. The only limitation is that, for reasons so far unexplained to me, my blog does not take photographs, animations, videos or pictures of any kind. I deal in words.
Please accept my invitation. Send your entry to my email address dbdacoba@aol.com I will copy and paste it into my journal and it will be displayed promptly. You may sign your name or not as you wish, and you may leave a link to your blog or your email or not, as you wish. I will do NO editing or censoring. Eloquence is not necessary, mind or heart or both is all.
I have 12 Guest Authors so far. Check them out.
All are welcome. Admission is free.
DB - The Vagabond
***************************
Showing posts with label science. Show all posts
Showing posts with label science. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Crackpots Beware
I happen to believe that Science is not on the dark side of the moon. Maybe not Science as most of us are used to thinking about it: technology, engineering or medicine. A scientific fact is a fact that can be proved, it's a fact for which there is natural evidence.. That the Rapture did not happen means the methodology was wrong. Even the idea of ascending into the clouds, although the Bible puts it that way, is a crack pot idea if taken literally. Either God created the Universe or It did not. And one thing we know from being in outer space is that the Creator doesn't know anything about left and right, up and down, or maybe even in and out. I think any true scientist who gets beyond peering into microscopes or telescopes, playing around with test tubes or poking around in fields and forests, is probably capable of knowing more about an apocalyptic experience than any fundamentalist bible thumper. There's many a slip between the cup of the Holy Grail and the lip of the pastor who thinks he preaches it.
God did not visit Hurricane Irene on the East Coast to punish us for our wrongs. In the overall cosmic scheme of things wrongs punish themselves, they don't need a hurricane to do it. What are we to do? Lie back and let the ocean surge wash over us, destroy our homes and our lives, because it is God's will? Nuts!
The best, the most sacred way to worship any divine creator is to live, to conquer the dangerous forces, natural and human, that would destroy creation. We must exercise our endemic rights to survival and safety, to peace, health and prosperity.
We must fight against the forces that burn down forests, topple homes and flood farms. And we can win because we are creations and we have true science to help us. The meteorologists claim they were correct at predicting Irene's path but incorrect at predicting it's speed. So they are back in their laboratories learning more. Their correct predictions probably saved a lot of lives.
We must fight against the forces that hoard wealth, push people from their homes and pass laws that deprive people of their rights because of some bible thumping politicians who never look into the Holy Grail. We must rid our governments of the notion that they can legislate social and human behavior based on any particular religion's tradition. And we will win because we are human beings and we have true rationality to help us. And because, no matter how long it takes, we never give up.
DB - The Vagabond
*************************
SUMMER QUESTION
Summer is moving along, people.
It's a long, hot, sticky summer, so here's a hot, sticky question for you.
Same sex marriage. Should it be legal or not? If so, why? If not, why not?
dbdacoba@aol.com
19 answers so far.
You have until the last day of summer, but don't dally.
I eagerly await your answer.
DB
************************
God did not visit Hurricane Irene on the East Coast to punish us for our wrongs. In the overall cosmic scheme of things wrongs punish themselves, they don't need a hurricane to do it. What are we to do? Lie back and let the ocean surge wash over us, destroy our homes and our lives, because it is God's will? Nuts!
The best, the most sacred way to worship any divine creator is to live, to conquer the dangerous forces, natural and human, that would destroy creation. We must exercise our endemic rights to survival and safety, to peace, health and prosperity.
We must fight against the forces that burn down forests, topple homes and flood farms. And we can win because we are creations and we have true science to help us. The meteorologists claim they were correct at predicting Irene's path but incorrect at predicting it's speed. So they are back in their laboratories learning more. Their correct predictions probably saved a lot of lives.
We must fight against the forces that hoard wealth, push people from their homes and pass laws that deprive people of their rights because of some bible thumping politicians who never look into the Holy Grail. We must rid our governments of the notion that they can legislate social and human behavior based on any particular religion's tradition. And we will win because we are human beings and we have true rationality to help us. And because, no matter how long it takes, we never give up.
DB - The Vagabond
*************************
SUMMER QUESTION
Summer is moving along, people.
It's a long, hot, sticky summer, so here's a hot, sticky question for you.
Same sex marriage. Should it be legal or not? If so, why? If not, why not?
dbdacoba@aol.com
19 answers so far.
You have until the last day of summer, but don't dally.
I eagerly await your answer.
DB
************************
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
dumped
Today I spent several hours writing a piece about facing the future without regrets. When I went to post it the screen went blank. Back on again the entire piece was gone. The computer took all my work away with one click. It's too late to write it over. But I will live to write another day.
In the meantime here is a reprint from the summer of 2009.
Daring Do
Greatness is a road leading towards the unknown.
Charles de Gaulle
**********************
Star Trek
"The bear went over the mountain to see what he could see."
-----------------------------------------
Those who are given the opportunity and freedom to follow a line of study as far as it can take them are blessed with the possibility of discovering areas of unrevealed knowledge and understanding, what no one has ever encountered before, where no one has ever been. Mathematicians, astronomers, physicists, anthropologists, those practicing on the esoteric edges of science, architects, composers of music and, yes, also poets, when engaged to their utmost, may reach the end of the traveled path, step into an unknown territory of discovery, put down a marker for the future and try to describe what they find.
I don't know much about science, but I know something about art. The first and every time I see "The Piano Lesson" by Matisse I am taken gently by the hand and led into a world of painting I know little about yet.
I have heard Beethoven's "Grosse Fugue" for string quartet many times and it is still a mystery to me. What was it that Beethoven saw in his deafness and what was he trying to tell us about it?
On what obscure mountain top was Shakespeare when he wrote "The mightiest space in fortune nature brings to join like likes and kiss like native things."? And what was he saying when he wrote to lead us there "Impossible be strange attempts to those who weigh their pains in sense and do suppose what hath been cannot be."?
The challenge has been made, the door has been left open for others to follow, for you and I to approach the mystery, to go one step beyond, to find another treasure, another magic stone on which is written a new name no one knows.
The air is thin and hard to breathe, the way is treacherous and the terrain frustratingly difficult to describe, but, though we may be standing on the shoulders of the great ones who went before us, the experience of our own genius can only be won by moving off of the shoulders and placing a foot carefully but steadily down onto a step we cannot see.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
Never give up.
****************************
SUMMER QUESTION
Summer is moving along, people.
It's a long, hot, sticky summer, so here's a hot, sticky question for you. Don't let the recent New York State decision rob you of your thunder.
Same sex marriage. Should it be legal or not? If so, why? If not, why not?
dbdacoba@aol.com
Only 14 answers so far.
You have until the last day of summer, but don't dally.
I eagerly await your answer.
DB
************************
In the meantime here is a reprint from the summer of 2009.
Daring Do
Greatness is a road leading towards the unknown.
Charles de Gaulle
**********************
Star Trek
"The bear went over the mountain to see what he could see."
-----------------------------------------
Those who are given the opportunity and freedom to follow a line of study as far as it can take them are blessed with the possibility of discovering areas of unrevealed knowledge and understanding, what no one has ever encountered before, where no one has ever been. Mathematicians, astronomers, physicists, anthropologists, those practicing on the esoteric edges of science, architects, composers of music and, yes, also poets, when engaged to their utmost, may reach the end of the traveled path, step into an unknown territory of discovery, put down a marker for the future and try to describe what they find.
I don't know much about science, but I know something about art. The first and every time I see "The Piano Lesson" by Matisse I am taken gently by the hand and led into a world of painting I know little about yet.
I have heard Beethoven's "Grosse Fugue" for string quartet many times and it is still a mystery to me. What was it that Beethoven saw in his deafness and what was he trying to tell us about it?
On what obscure mountain top was Shakespeare when he wrote "The mightiest space in fortune nature brings to join like likes and kiss like native things."? And what was he saying when he wrote to lead us there "Impossible be strange attempts to those who weigh their pains in sense and do suppose what hath been cannot be."?
The challenge has been made, the door has been left open for others to follow, for you and I to approach the mystery, to go one step beyond, to find another treasure, another magic stone on which is written a new name no one knows.
The air is thin and hard to breathe, the way is treacherous and the terrain frustratingly difficult to describe, but, though we may be standing on the shoulders of the great ones who went before us, the experience of our own genius can only be won by moving off of the shoulders and placing a foot carefully but steadily down onto a step we cannot see.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
Never give up.
****************************
SUMMER QUESTION
Summer is moving along, people.
It's a long, hot, sticky summer, so here's a hot, sticky question for you. Don't let the recent New York State decision rob you of your thunder.
Same sex marriage. Should it be legal or not? If so, why? If not, why not?
dbdacoba@aol.com
Only 14 answers so far.
You have until the last day of summer, but don't dally.
I eagerly await your answer.
DB
************************
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
What Is Art?
A concept is stronger than a fact.
Charlotte Gilman
*********************
I'm an artist who reads philosophy. Thus I'm faced with a complex dilemma, a group of questions that spray out and point in several directions like an open hand.
There is a branch of philosophy called Aesthetics, the study of Art in all its functions. I wouldn't want to see a philosopher or any thinker forced into the position of having to define Art. What is Art? That question is harder to answer, perhaps, than What is Science? Although there are similarities. To observe nature, make discoveries and articulate what you find could just as easily describe a poet as a scientist. The concept is the difference. That's all.
A fact is a simple thing, a goad to push us to discover more facts. A concept it a carrot dangling temptingly in front of us. It's a scientific theory, an artistic dream, an unanswered question, the source and fuel of all creative thinking.
So philosophers address themselves to questions such as, When is it art and when is it not art? or What is the proper process for observing and enjoying a work of art and how does that relate to the overall human experience? or How well does the work of art convey it's message? or How well has the artist conceived and articulated his ideas? This last question inevitably causes the philosopher to slip on the unseen banana peel and fall into the nasty world of criticism.
There are art critics, music critics, dance critics, restaurant critics, drama critics, even architecture critics and, of course, literary critics. That last is the only legitimate form of criticism is my opinion. A person who doesn't dance has no business being a dance critic. In my own experience I have had to groan through drama reviews written by critics who had no idea what they were writing about. Every respectable philosopher does well to stay out of the pit of criticism. Most philosophers tend to spend a lot of time criticizing each other, which is fine. That's exactly where they should be. It is in the statement, rebuttal and exchange of ideas that the vigor of philosophy exists.
The purpose of philosophy is to pursue and discover the truth, as it is with art and science, and should be but, alas, is not with other important human endeavors. Socrates considered philosophy to be the greatest of the arts. From that perspective then isn't the study of philosophy the same as the artistic experience, which brings me back to the beginning? Isn't Aesthetics truthfully the process of philosophy defining, describing and criticizing itself?
It is. And that's what makes it so interesting to me.
DB - The Vagabond
(Never give up.)
**************************
It's Summer. Time to give over the answers to the SPRING QUESTION.
SPRING QUESTION
(This is not a contest)
NASA has planned to send a two man mission on an 18 month trip to the planet Mars. It would take 6 months for the astronauts to get there and after 6 months of exploration another 6 months to return.
Should they do it and why, and if not, why not?
---------------------------------------------
12 diverse and interesting answers.
-----------------------------------------
Do I think that NASA should send a two person mission to Mars. Absolutely not. It would serve no useful purpose and it would put the lives of those two people in unnecessary jeopardy.
I would think that a mission like this would cost many millions of dollars and at a time when many states are going broke, there are deep cuts to infrastructure, education, health, and community programs. The taxpayers are already on the hook to the tune of about 250 million dollars a day to fund the war in Iraq. All of that money has been siphoned away from funds that might have been available to create jobs, house and feed the homeless, stabilize towns and cities across America and provide a better future for both young and old.
We are not good stewards of our own earth and we have caused more problems here than we have fixed. There is absolutely no need to be spending money we don’t have in order to be exploring other planets. We need to get our priorities back in order.
-------------------------------
When it comes to Mars, I think that it is innate for man to explore and want to extend his reach. I am all in favor of the project and they could get the money by stopping the useless wars and invest in NASA.
-------------------------------------------------------
Good question! Since a year on Mars is nearly twice ours --and
elliptical-- the two planets get within 7-month's journey only every 2
Earth-years. So our astronauts would have to stay a year longer on
Mars. On top of this protraction, they would run out of food and have
to eat each other up, which would probably strain their relationship
afterward. I don't think they should do it.
--------------------------------------------
An unpopular view I'm sure.
Trip to Mars is wrong on so many levels, even, perhaps immoral.
We need the expertise, money, dedication, time, here on Earth. Fix things here, make Earth a better place. Don't go chasing waterfalls.
------------------------------------
Sure! Why not?
The travel time will reek havoc in their lives but the six months there will give them a ton of information to share..and perhaps experiments can be performed! :)
I have heard that people accomplish a lot in scientific experiments out in space!thanks! Interesting topic DB!
-------------------------------------
I think man has screwed up earth enough that he should leave the other planets alone and use the time and money spent going to Mars fixing all the damage he's done here on earth.
------------------------------------
Yes, because the highest mountain in the solar system is THERE.
---------------------------------------------
why go to mars when you can grow squash in your back yard, or at least
some chives in a window pot. All you can plant on mars is a flag.
Unless to go from Mars to `=7,./[]}#2 where all will be virgin
---------------------------------------------------
The human race, if it wants to continue to exist, has to solve its housing problem. In several million years our sun will go supernova and incinerate, during its expansion, the planet Earth. Then, when it cools down to a grey dwarf, what was planet Earth will be a cold rock of ice. Not a good place to live or vacation. We have to start flying around the Universe a la Star Trek and find other inhabitable planets if we wish to continue our future existence as a race. They better find a better propulsion system and more sophisticated means to harness energy, hopefully without hardware and make use of Warp Space (which are only time tunnels or Worms) for getting around more easily. It’s all in Star Trek, we’re just catching up.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Spring Question: Yes. Our greatest advances have come from pure science and discovery missions. We need to keep the ball rolling.
----------------------------------------------------------------
I'm going to respond to this purely from a "seems right" standpoint; that is, I know nothing more about the situation than what you've told me.
Anyway, I suppose traveling to Mars could be an utter waste of resources--time, money and energy that could be channeled toward solving some of our own planets problems instead of involving another. But, to be honest, even if we relocated the time, money and energy it may take to send two men to Mars, I can't bring myself to believe that it would certainly go to something like, for example, improving hospitals in Dhaka. So with all of that aside, every part of my being is screaming, "Why the hell not?! Go to Mars!"
But none of that is what I've really wanted to say to you. What truthfully came to mind when I read your question was this whole concept of mystery and wonderment, and all of these cliche ideas that still make me feel brave and strange and beautiful, regardless of their tendency to be overused in cheap literary settings. Visiting a different planet entirely, a place that authors and dreamers and children have fantasized about; a place that's so unknown, sometimes I feel as though its mass is more daydream than it is anything else.
Given not only the ability but the willingness and eagerness to explore, it would be a grand opportunity to waste. And not just for the intellectual gain either, which is, of course, very important... but for the experiences of the astronauts, the engineers and the planners, the people tracking the progress the whole year and a half it's happening, and for the people who tune in right at the end. These could be the kind of experiences, I think, that lead to understanding, empathy, introspection and perspective... not that experiences like that are necessarily farther away than the backyard garden, but they're valuable nonetheless, and, I think, are well worth a trip to Mars.
The potential there, the possibility, all of it reminds me quite a bit of how I felt when I finished reading A Wrinkle In Time in third grade. Childishly excited, maybe, but sincerely so.
--------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------
Thank you all. Take a breath. SUMMER QUESTION is coming.
DB
******************
Charlotte Gilman
*********************
I'm an artist who reads philosophy. Thus I'm faced with a complex dilemma, a group of questions that spray out and point in several directions like an open hand.
There is a branch of philosophy called Aesthetics, the study of Art in all its functions. I wouldn't want to see a philosopher or any thinker forced into the position of having to define Art. What is Art? That question is harder to answer, perhaps, than What is Science? Although there are similarities. To observe nature, make discoveries and articulate what you find could just as easily describe a poet as a scientist. The concept is the difference. That's all.
A fact is a simple thing, a goad to push us to discover more facts. A concept it a carrot dangling temptingly in front of us. It's a scientific theory, an artistic dream, an unanswered question, the source and fuel of all creative thinking.
So philosophers address themselves to questions such as, When is it art and when is it not art? or What is the proper process for observing and enjoying a work of art and how does that relate to the overall human experience? or How well does the work of art convey it's message? or How well has the artist conceived and articulated his ideas? This last question inevitably causes the philosopher to slip on the unseen banana peel and fall into the nasty world of criticism.
There are art critics, music critics, dance critics, restaurant critics, drama critics, even architecture critics and, of course, literary critics. That last is the only legitimate form of criticism is my opinion. A person who doesn't dance has no business being a dance critic. In my own experience I have had to groan through drama reviews written by critics who had no idea what they were writing about. Every respectable philosopher does well to stay out of the pit of criticism. Most philosophers tend to spend a lot of time criticizing each other, which is fine. That's exactly where they should be. It is in the statement, rebuttal and exchange of ideas that the vigor of philosophy exists.
The purpose of philosophy is to pursue and discover the truth, as it is with art and science, and should be but, alas, is not with other important human endeavors. Socrates considered philosophy to be the greatest of the arts. From that perspective then isn't the study of philosophy the same as the artistic experience, which brings me back to the beginning? Isn't Aesthetics truthfully the process of philosophy defining, describing and criticizing itself?
It is. And that's what makes it so interesting to me.
DB - The Vagabond
(Never give up.)
**************************
It's Summer. Time to give over the answers to the SPRING QUESTION.
SPRING QUESTION
(This is not a contest)
NASA has planned to send a two man mission on an 18 month trip to the planet Mars. It would take 6 months for the astronauts to get there and after 6 months of exploration another 6 months to return.
Should they do it and why, and if not, why not?
---------------------------------------------
12 diverse and interesting answers.
-----------------------------------------
Do I think that NASA should send a two person mission to Mars. Absolutely not. It would serve no useful purpose and it would put the lives of those two people in unnecessary jeopardy.
I would think that a mission like this would cost many millions of dollars and at a time when many states are going broke, there are deep cuts to infrastructure, education, health, and community programs. The taxpayers are already on the hook to the tune of about 250 million dollars a day to fund the war in Iraq. All of that money has been siphoned away from funds that might have been available to create jobs, house and feed the homeless, stabilize towns and cities across America and provide a better future for both young and old.
We are not good stewards of our own earth and we have caused more problems here than we have fixed. There is absolutely no need to be spending money we don’t have in order to be exploring other planets. We need to get our priorities back in order.
-------------------------------
When it comes to Mars, I think that it is innate for man to explore and want to extend his reach. I am all in favor of the project and they could get the money by stopping the useless wars and invest in NASA.
-------------------------------------------------------
Good question! Since a year on Mars is nearly twice ours --and
elliptical-- the two planets get within 7-month's journey only every 2
Earth-years. So our astronauts would have to stay a year longer on
Mars. On top of this protraction, they would run out of food and have
to eat each other up, which would probably strain their relationship
afterward. I don't think they should do it.
--------------------------------------------
An unpopular view I'm sure.
Trip to Mars is wrong on so many levels, even, perhaps immoral.
We need the expertise, money, dedication, time, here on Earth. Fix things here, make Earth a better place. Don't go chasing waterfalls.
------------------------------------
Sure! Why not?
The travel time will reek havoc in their lives but the six months there will give them a ton of information to share..and perhaps experiments can be performed! :)
I have heard that people accomplish a lot in scientific experiments out in space!thanks! Interesting topic DB!
-------------------------------------
I think man has screwed up earth enough that he should leave the other planets alone and use the time and money spent going to Mars fixing all the damage he's done here on earth.
------------------------------------
Yes, because the highest mountain in the solar system is THERE.
---------------------------------------------
why go to mars when you can grow squash in your back yard, or at least
some chives in a window pot. All you can plant on mars is a flag.
Unless to go from Mars to `=7,./[]}#2 where all will be virgin
---------------------------------------------------
The human race, if it wants to continue to exist, has to solve its housing problem. In several million years our sun will go supernova and incinerate, during its expansion, the planet Earth. Then, when it cools down to a grey dwarf, what was planet Earth will be a cold rock of ice. Not a good place to live or vacation. We have to start flying around the Universe a la Star Trek and find other inhabitable planets if we wish to continue our future existence as a race. They better find a better propulsion system and more sophisticated means to harness energy, hopefully without hardware and make use of Warp Space (which are only time tunnels or Worms) for getting around more easily. It’s all in Star Trek, we’re just catching up.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Spring Question: Yes. Our greatest advances have come from pure science and discovery missions. We need to keep the ball rolling.
----------------------------------------------------------------
I'm going to respond to this purely from a "seems right" standpoint; that is, I know nothing more about the situation than what you've told me.
Anyway, I suppose traveling to Mars could be an utter waste of resources--time, money and energy that could be channeled toward solving some of our own planets problems instead of involving another. But, to be honest, even if we relocated the time, money and energy it may take to send two men to Mars, I can't bring myself to believe that it would certainly go to something like, for example, improving hospitals in Dhaka. So with all of that aside, every part of my being is screaming, "Why the hell not?! Go to Mars!"
But none of that is what I've really wanted to say to you. What truthfully came to mind when I read your question was this whole concept of mystery and wonderment, and all of these cliche ideas that still make me feel brave and strange and beautiful, regardless of their tendency to be overused in cheap literary settings. Visiting a different planet entirely, a place that authors and dreamers and children have fantasized about; a place that's so unknown, sometimes I feel as though its mass is more daydream than it is anything else.
Given not only the ability but the willingness and eagerness to explore, it would be a grand opportunity to waste. And not just for the intellectual gain either, which is, of course, very important... but for the experiences of the astronauts, the engineers and the planners, the people tracking the progress the whole year and a half it's happening, and for the people who tune in right at the end. These could be the kind of experiences, I think, that lead to understanding, empathy, introspection and perspective... not that experiences like that are necessarily farther away than the backyard garden, but they're valuable nonetheless, and, I think, are well worth a trip to Mars.
The potential there, the possibility, all of it reminds me quite a bit of how I felt when I finished reading A Wrinkle In Time in third grade. Childishly excited, maybe, but sincerely so.
--------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------
Thank you all. Take a breath. SUMMER QUESTION is coming.
DB
******************
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Wake Up Call
A myth is something which is not true on the outside, but is true on the inside.
Anonymous 4 year old girl.
****************************
Life is a journey through the jungle of the senses. I think the two most important activities of the human race are art and science. In fact, viewed in their essence, everything we do is a combination of those two things. There are many great, young ideas lurking in the corners wanting to be found. But how can humanity survive and reach it's full potential of perfection by accepting only the appearance of things?
The senses don't give us anything except closed doors. The poet knows that. Every flower is a prayer of desire and exaltation, pleading to the earth and the sun for life and embracing it. And the earth and the sun, globes like millions of others in the vast universe all circling around the invisible idea of existence.
Our lives are filled with myths. There are ancient and modern myths, all wanting to be understood and yet we stare at the myth instead of what it tells us. There are people today trying to figure out just what body of water Moses and the Israelites crossed on their way out of Egypt. Others are trying to locate the remains of Noah's ark. Still others are searching for the stones that once were the tower of Babel and the original Garden of Eden. To me that's like counting the beans in a pot instead of cooking and eating them.
Some people say that we never went to the moon. Did Neil Armstrong make his "one small step" on it's surface? Sure. But it was more than the achievement of centuries of science and technology and more than the culmination of centuries of poetic wonder. It was a mythic act, and it's real meaning is still lurking and wanting to be understood.
John Adams wrote "Politics are the divine science, after all." And yet when we look to politics what do we find? People yelling and insulting each other, fist fights, corruption, people grappling in a pit over issues that should unite us but that are dividing us, rage, hatred, fear. Where is the divinity? Why has it become impossible for anyone to see the moon walk of inspired human government? Here we are, like the flower, pleading for life and trying to embrace it but ignoring our own human spirit. We have become so enamored and confused by the hissing beasts and tangled vines of the jungle of our senses we forgot we were trying to go through it. We have accepted as true only the outside of the myth and discarded the inner truth.
There are those who cannot accept that time and space are human concepts and therefore malleable. What will be left when the doors of our senses finally open and the great waking up occurs, and where will we be?
DB - The Vagabond
**********************
WEEKEND PUZZLE
You're at the end of a dark tunnel.. There is no turning back. The way out is through one of three doors. Behind the first door is a pack of fierce hungry tigers that haven't been fed in a month. Behind the second door is a raging fire. In front of the door is a large bucket of clear liquid which is either water or gasoline. Behind the third door are a bunch of assassins with daggers, swoon to kill anyone who opens the door but they are all blindfolded. Once you open one of the doors you can't close it and change your mind.
Which door do you choose? Why?
2 good solutions so far.
dbdacoba@aol.com
DB
****************
Anonymous 4 year old girl.
****************************
Life is a journey through the jungle of the senses. I think the two most important activities of the human race are art and science. In fact, viewed in their essence, everything we do is a combination of those two things. There are many great, young ideas lurking in the corners wanting to be found. But how can humanity survive and reach it's full potential of perfection by accepting only the appearance of things?
The senses don't give us anything except closed doors. The poet knows that. Every flower is a prayer of desire and exaltation, pleading to the earth and the sun for life and embracing it. And the earth and the sun, globes like millions of others in the vast universe all circling around the invisible idea of existence.
Our lives are filled with myths. There are ancient and modern myths, all wanting to be understood and yet we stare at the myth instead of what it tells us. There are people today trying to figure out just what body of water Moses and the Israelites crossed on their way out of Egypt. Others are trying to locate the remains of Noah's ark. Still others are searching for the stones that once were the tower of Babel and the original Garden of Eden. To me that's like counting the beans in a pot instead of cooking and eating them.
Some people say that we never went to the moon. Did Neil Armstrong make his "one small step" on it's surface? Sure. But it was more than the achievement of centuries of science and technology and more than the culmination of centuries of poetic wonder. It was a mythic act, and it's real meaning is still lurking and wanting to be understood.
John Adams wrote "Politics are the divine science, after all." And yet when we look to politics what do we find? People yelling and insulting each other, fist fights, corruption, people grappling in a pit over issues that should unite us but that are dividing us, rage, hatred, fear. Where is the divinity? Why has it become impossible for anyone to see the moon walk of inspired human government? Here we are, like the flower, pleading for life and trying to embrace it but ignoring our own human spirit. We have become so enamored and confused by the hissing beasts and tangled vines of the jungle of our senses we forgot we were trying to go through it. We have accepted as true only the outside of the myth and discarded the inner truth.
There are those who cannot accept that time and space are human concepts and therefore malleable. What will be left when the doors of our senses finally open and the great waking up occurs, and where will we be?
DB - The Vagabond
**********************
WEEKEND PUZZLE
You're at the end of a dark tunnel.. There is no turning back. The way out is through one of three doors. Behind the first door is a pack of fierce hungry tigers that haven't been fed in a month. Behind the second door is a raging fire. In front of the door is a large bucket of clear liquid which is either water or gasoline. Behind the third door are a bunch of assassins with daggers, swoon to kill anyone who opens the door but they are all blindfolded. Once you open one of the doors you can't close it and change your mind.
Which door do you choose? Why?
2 good solutions so far.
dbdacoba@aol.com
DB
****************
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
What Is Life?
The ways of the world are weird.
Walter Kaufmann
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
There have been great thinkers in the fields of Science. So why doesn't Science have all the answers? Our museums are filled with great works of art. So why are people still painting? We have been given inspired music. So why are people still composing? We have wonderful poetry to grace our lives. So why do poets still sing? The world is full of great books. So why do people still write?
While Science is still searching at the bottom of every cave or at the vast galaxies of the universe for a law that will explain everything, artists are looking into the same caves and at the same stars through the lens of imagination for the same law.
Why things are, is the big question. As irritating as it is the child will eventually get over the bad habit of peppering your life with the inane repetition of the word "why" but the question remains on the table nevertheless. That the answer to the question is "I don't know" is what sends people to the cave, the cosmos and the easel.
But there's another question lurking in the cave. A question with facets of wonder and dooubt: "What if?" What if there is no fundamental law of nature which explains everything? What if there is no ultimate achievement of wisdom from the exercise of rationality? What if there is no absolute beauty to be found by any artist? Does that mean there is no point to life, no meaning to our hopes, dreams, plans and actions, no value to anything we are or do? It's a question to be seriously considered by those who have the courage to think about it.
That brings me to another question. If it is true that life has fundamentally no meaning to it will that stop me from hoping, dreaming, planning and doing? Kaufmann also says "It does not follow that nothing is worthwhile if the world is not governed by a purpose."
It isn't enough to say that I do what I do because I want to. It's a step better to say I do what I do because I feel like it. The best answer is that I do what I do because I have to. A personal obligation, a personal duty, is the best justification for doing anything worthwhile. Think of the geologist who has a bit of moon rock under his microscope for the first time. Is there any doubt in his mind about the value of what he is doing? Or think of the ballet dancer who will undergo enormous physical effort to tell a mythic story of human legend by describing it in space with his own body.
Without negating anyone's perception and faith in deity, I keep returning to a humanistic philosophy in my thinking. We are capable of some of the most extremes forms of stupidity and destruction. But we are also capable of amazing beauty, greatness and genius.
Maybe there is no fundamental law of existence, but life is there to experience and to fashion for ourselves and others in the best way we can.
What is life? Who knows? I like this quote from Grandma Moses “Life is what we make it, always has been, always will be.”
DB - The Vagabond
*********************
ONE MORE DAY
SUMMER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Who are the 2 (two) most important people alive today? Why?
Only 8 responses so far. Summer is about to close her gates. Get with it.
dbdacoba@aol.com
Thank you.
DB
********************
Walter Kaufmann
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
There have been great thinkers in the fields of Science. So why doesn't Science have all the answers? Our museums are filled with great works of art. So why are people still painting? We have been given inspired music. So why are people still composing? We have wonderful poetry to grace our lives. So why do poets still sing? The world is full of great books. So why do people still write?
While Science is still searching at the bottom of every cave or at the vast galaxies of the universe for a law that will explain everything, artists are looking into the same caves and at the same stars through the lens of imagination for the same law.
Why things are, is the big question. As irritating as it is the child will eventually get over the bad habit of peppering your life with the inane repetition of the word "why" but the question remains on the table nevertheless. That the answer to the question is "I don't know" is what sends people to the cave, the cosmos and the easel.
But there's another question lurking in the cave. A question with facets of wonder and dooubt: "What if?" What if there is no fundamental law of nature which explains everything? What if there is no ultimate achievement of wisdom from the exercise of rationality? What if there is no absolute beauty to be found by any artist? Does that mean there is no point to life, no meaning to our hopes, dreams, plans and actions, no value to anything we are or do? It's a question to be seriously considered by those who have the courage to think about it.
That brings me to another question. If it is true that life has fundamentally no meaning to it will that stop me from hoping, dreaming, planning and doing? Kaufmann also says "It does not follow that nothing is worthwhile if the world is not governed by a purpose."
It isn't enough to say that I do what I do because I want to. It's a step better to say I do what I do because I feel like it. The best answer is that I do what I do because I have to. A personal obligation, a personal duty, is the best justification for doing anything worthwhile. Think of the geologist who has a bit of moon rock under his microscope for the first time. Is there any doubt in his mind about the value of what he is doing? Or think of the ballet dancer who will undergo enormous physical effort to tell a mythic story of human legend by describing it in space with his own body.
Without negating anyone's perception and faith in deity, I keep returning to a humanistic philosophy in my thinking. We are capable of some of the most extremes forms of stupidity and destruction. But we are also capable of amazing beauty, greatness and genius.
Maybe there is no fundamental law of existence, but life is there to experience and to fashion for ourselves and others in the best way we can.
What is life? Who knows? I like this quote from Grandma Moses “Life is what we make it, always has been, always will be.”
DB - The Vagabond
*********************
ONE MORE DAY
SUMMER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Who are the 2 (two) most important people alive today? Why?
Only 8 responses so far. Summer is about to close her gates. Get with it.
dbdacoba@aol.com
Thank you.
DB
********************
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Deep Drinking
A little learning is a dangerous thing;
Drink deep or taste not the Pierian spring:
There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,
And drinking deeply sobers it again.
Alexander Pope
**********************
The Pierian spring, according to ancient Greek legend, was a fountain near Mount Olympus. Its waters gave knowledge of the arts and sciences. Pope barrows the phrase "Drink deep or taste not the Pierian spring" from Petronius, a Roman writer and friend of Emperor Nero.
If there was ever a time in which we needed to drink deep it is these days. We are constantly intoxicated to the point of addiction with the shallow draughts of sound bites, flimsy interviews and shallow opinions. The average citizen of any nation hardly knows what his government is up to and it is impossible to find out in some cases and extremely difficult in others. Americans don't know what the Congress is doing and neither it seems do some Congress people.
When I first became aware of the fact that we were only told what the new laws were after the fact I started to subscribe to the Congressional Record, a large volume published daily by the U.S. Government Printing Office. It tells of everything that goes on there, all the legislation, debates and special papers submitted by the various members. It's so thick nobody reads it, but anyone has the right to. If you think you know what's going on in Washington reading the Congressional Record is quite a shock. There are juicy parts but you have to wade into deep waters to get there.
I have been guilty of "a little learning" in the past. Everyone is. But a couple of the good rules for life are: 1) Don't carelessly express an opinion about anything without sufficient knowledge of it, and 2) If you don't know what you're talking about, keep your mouth shut.
The reason for these two rules is that what we say impresses and affects other people's thinking. We see so much evidence of that today when people stand up for one side of an issue or another, without really knowing what the issue is. We are given a label and a brief description, usually geared toward one side or the other and on that basis we are expected to decide what we think. It's a joke. It's a disgrace.
It is even more hideous when we come to describing other people. "Oh, they're all alike." "They're homeless because they refuse to work." "You can't trust anyone over 30" they used to say. (Those who said that are now all over 30.) "Illegal immigrants are steeling our jobs." "There's no homosexuality in the Boy Scouts." "All Jews want to move to Israel." It's unsubstantial remarks like those that influence people to not see things clearly or find out the truth for themselves. As I have said before: Most of the authorities in the world aren't.
When I began to see my own shallow places I felt the need to sober up and fill them with some real learning. That's when I began to read everything I could find of interest about subjects I felt were important. I became a reading addict. About politics and social issues I wanted to know what people with some knowledge thought from the most liberal to the most conservative. As I learned what the real thinkers had to say I soon realized that the TV pundits don't know what they are talking about.
About the arts, I had tunnel vision because I was so involved in my own career as an actor I wasn't seeing and understanding what people in the other arts were doing. So I spent more time at galleries and museums, dance and music concerts. I talked with the artists and got to hear so many different points of view about their art. I was amazed.
I didn't realized how ignorant and biased I was about science until I began reading some scientific journals and meeting scientists who were passionate about their work. Now I read books on scientific subjects, particularly math and astronomy. Some of my actor friends think I'm nuts.
Having eschewed the esoteric world of philosophy as a dull, dry, boring subject, with a slightly snide sneer on my face I bought a book by Martin Heidegger and read it. That changed everything. I plunged into that Pierian spring of philosophy head first and since then have swallowed large sobering draughts of one of the world's most fascinating subjects.
I finally opened the seventh seal of religion. There I find a subject that is both catastrophically limiting and inexhaustibly cosmic. There is hardly any subject on earth with more shallow thinking and simplistic sound bites, things taken as truth and reality with nothing to back them up and yet with ideas and possibilities that range beyond human understanding and transcend the limitations of our mortal lives.
Now my life is deep drinking. The more I drink the less I talk.
DB - The Vagabond
***************************
Weekend Survey
There is a big birthday party for Janice and her friends and family.
A lot of people have come to it. The list includes Alice, Bob, Cathy and Charlie, Donna, Eugene, George and Janet, Lucinda, Mark, Nancy, Olivia, Rose, Ruth and Sam, Terry and good old Will.
Many of them have brought gifts.
1. A small package wrapped in white with a silver bow, Looks like it might have come from a jewelry store.
2. A medium sized rectangular box, wrapped in blue with a red ribbon, might be a book.
3. A large flat package in simple brown wrapping with a strings tied around it and a card stuck under the string. Some important documents maybe.
4 A large box wrapped in a many colored paper with a flower design on it. I wonder what that is.
5. Another rectangular box, thicker than the other one, beautifully wrapped in a gold paper with a black ribbon finished off in a perfect bow. Another book? Or a few books?
6. Hard to hide the plant sitting on the floor with green paper wrapped around it and some circular object at the base with a green plastic thing peeking out.
7. A larger rectangular box, fairly thick and light, looks like it might be clothes.
8 A square box in a striped blue and yellow paper wrapping, on top is a pretty red bow.
9. One very large box, apart from the rest, big enough to hold any number of electronic things. It's wrapped in Muslin.
10. A medium sized circular package, inside a bag, with a store name on it, which has been taped shut.
11. Another very large package, not in a box, but completely covered over with a wrapper left over from Christmas. A card is taped to the side of it.
Your assignment is to decide, in your opinion, which package Janet should open up first. Please leave the number of your choice on my email dbdacoba@aol.com
Thank you
DB
Drink deep or taste not the Pierian spring:
There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,
And drinking deeply sobers it again.
Alexander Pope
**********************
The Pierian spring, according to ancient Greek legend, was a fountain near Mount Olympus. Its waters gave knowledge of the arts and sciences. Pope barrows the phrase "Drink deep or taste not the Pierian spring" from Petronius, a Roman writer and friend of Emperor Nero.
If there was ever a time in which we needed to drink deep it is these days. We are constantly intoxicated to the point of addiction with the shallow draughts of sound bites, flimsy interviews and shallow opinions. The average citizen of any nation hardly knows what his government is up to and it is impossible to find out in some cases and extremely difficult in others. Americans don't know what the Congress is doing and neither it seems do some Congress people.
When I first became aware of the fact that we were only told what the new laws were after the fact I started to subscribe to the Congressional Record, a large volume published daily by the U.S. Government Printing Office. It tells of everything that goes on there, all the legislation, debates and special papers submitted by the various members. It's so thick nobody reads it, but anyone has the right to. If you think you know what's going on in Washington reading the Congressional Record is quite a shock. There are juicy parts but you have to wade into deep waters to get there.
I have been guilty of "a little learning" in the past. Everyone is. But a couple of the good rules for life are: 1) Don't carelessly express an opinion about anything without sufficient knowledge of it, and 2) If you don't know what you're talking about, keep your mouth shut.
The reason for these two rules is that what we say impresses and affects other people's thinking. We see so much evidence of that today when people stand up for one side of an issue or another, without really knowing what the issue is. We are given a label and a brief description, usually geared toward one side or the other and on that basis we are expected to decide what we think. It's a joke. It's a disgrace.
It is even more hideous when we come to describing other people. "Oh, they're all alike." "They're homeless because they refuse to work." "You can't trust anyone over 30" they used to say. (Those who said that are now all over 30.) "Illegal immigrants are steeling our jobs." "There's no homosexuality in the Boy Scouts." "All Jews want to move to Israel." It's unsubstantial remarks like those that influence people to not see things clearly or find out the truth for themselves. As I have said before: Most of the authorities in the world aren't.
When I began to see my own shallow places I felt the need to sober up and fill them with some real learning. That's when I began to read everything I could find of interest about subjects I felt were important. I became a reading addict. About politics and social issues I wanted to know what people with some knowledge thought from the most liberal to the most conservative. As I learned what the real thinkers had to say I soon realized that the TV pundits don't know what they are talking about.
About the arts, I had tunnel vision because I was so involved in my own career as an actor I wasn't seeing and understanding what people in the other arts were doing. So I spent more time at galleries and museums, dance and music concerts. I talked with the artists and got to hear so many different points of view about their art. I was amazed.
I didn't realized how ignorant and biased I was about science until I began reading some scientific journals and meeting scientists who were passionate about their work. Now I read books on scientific subjects, particularly math and astronomy. Some of my actor friends think I'm nuts.
Having eschewed the esoteric world of philosophy as a dull, dry, boring subject, with a slightly snide sneer on my face I bought a book by Martin Heidegger and read it. That changed everything. I plunged into that Pierian spring of philosophy head first and since then have swallowed large sobering draughts of one of the world's most fascinating subjects.
I finally opened the seventh seal of religion. There I find a subject that is both catastrophically limiting and inexhaustibly cosmic. There is hardly any subject on earth with more shallow thinking and simplistic sound bites, things taken as truth and reality with nothing to back them up and yet with ideas and possibilities that range beyond human understanding and transcend the limitations of our mortal lives.
Now my life is deep drinking. The more I drink the less I talk.
DB - The Vagabond
***************************
Weekend Survey
There is a big birthday party for Janice and her friends and family.
A lot of people have come to it. The list includes Alice, Bob, Cathy and Charlie, Donna, Eugene, George and Janet, Lucinda, Mark, Nancy, Olivia, Rose, Ruth and Sam, Terry and good old Will.
Many of them have brought gifts.
1. A small package wrapped in white with a silver bow, Looks like it might have come from a jewelry store.
2. A medium sized rectangular box, wrapped in blue with a red ribbon, might be a book.
3. A large flat package in simple brown wrapping with a strings tied around it and a card stuck under the string. Some important documents maybe.
4 A large box wrapped in a many colored paper with a flower design on it. I wonder what that is.
5. Another rectangular box, thicker than the other one, beautifully wrapped in a gold paper with a black ribbon finished off in a perfect bow. Another book? Or a few books?
6. Hard to hide the plant sitting on the floor with green paper wrapped around it and some circular object at the base with a green plastic thing peeking out.
7. A larger rectangular box, fairly thick and light, looks like it might be clothes.
8 A square box in a striped blue and yellow paper wrapping, on top is a pretty red bow.
9. One very large box, apart from the rest, big enough to hold any number of electronic things. It's wrapped in Muslin.
10. A medium sized circular package, inside a bag, with a store name on it, which has been taped shut.
11. Another very large package, not in a box, but completely covered over with a wrapper left over from Christmas. A card is taped to the side of it.
Your assignment is to decide, in your opinion, which package Janet should open up first. Please leave the number of your choice on my email dbdacoba@aol.com
Thank you
DB
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Look unto the hills.
Miracles are not contrary to nature, but only contrary to what we know about nature.
Saint Augustine
**************************
It’s amazing that the world didn’t end on New Years Eve 2000 as many had predicted. It also didn’t end on any of the other dates the false prophets were sure of. It’s not going to end next year, or in 2012, or 2020 as they are predicting now. No doubt there will be some apocalyptic changes as time goes by but they probably won’t be rapid. In fact they might be going on right now.
The earth may flip over again as some say once happened, making north south and south north. We may be growing crops for ourselves on some other planet, or growing crops here for some other planet. The natural cycles of existence may change forms but they are not going away.
It’s also amazing, considering the enormous amount of scientific exploration and examination that has gone on over the centuries how little we really know about things. I find that an encouraging and comforting thing. It means there is so much still to be learned and inquiring minds will still be busy learning it in centuries to come.
With each new advance and discovery in science the supernatural folds up another of its cherished gossamer fantasies. Ancients used to consider many things mysteries and miracles which we take for granted today because we now have explanations and principles for them.
Augustine lived in the 4th Century AD, a pagan who converted to Christianity. Even at that early time, when superstition ruled and the supernatural was esteemed, he was able to see that the great unknowns were simply that, unknowns, and not miracles. And yet, here we are 17 centuries later and there are otherwise intelligent people who still blame God instead of Nature for hurricanes and tornados, who believe in myths and call them human history.
I wonder what has brought the human race to such a recidivistic, spiritual blockade.
A person of Faith should be encouraged and comforted to know there is as much, if not more, to learn about their God as there is about Nature.
DB - The Vagabond
-----------------------------
Don't get into that egg nog too early now, you hear me?
Saint Augustine
**************************
It’s amazing that the world didn’t end on New Years Eve 2000 as many had predicted. It also didn’t end on any of the other dates the false prophets were sure of. It’s not going to end next year, or in 2012, or 2020 as they are predicting now. No doubt there will be some apocalyptic changes as time goes by but they probably won’t be rapid. In fact they might be going on right now.
The earth may flip over again as some say once happened, making north south and south north. We may be growing crops for ourselves on some other planet, or growing crops here for some other planet. The natural cycles of existence may change forms but they are not going away.
It’s also amazing, considering the enormous amount of scientific exploration and examination that has gone on over the centuries how little we really know about things. I find that an encouraging and comforting thing. It means there is so much still to be learned and inquiring minds will still be busy learning it in centuries to come.
With each new advance and discovery in science the supernatural folds up another of its cherished gossamer fantasies. Ancients used to consider many things mysteries and miracles which we take for granted today because we now have explanations and principles for them.
Augustine lived in the 4th Century AD, a pagan who converted to Christianity. Even at that early time, when superstition ruled and the supernatural was esteemed, he was able to see that the great unknowns were simply that, unknowns, and not miracles. And yet, here we are 17 centuries later and there are otherwise intelligent people who still blame God instead of Nature for hurricanes and tornados, who believe in myths and call them human history.
I wonder what has brought the human race to such a recidivistic, spiritual blockade.
A person of Faith should be encouraged and comforted to know there is as much, if not more, to learn about their God as there is about Nature.
DB - The Vagabond
-----------------------------
Don't get into that egg nog too early now, you hear me?
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Quantity Quest 7/09/09
Healthy is the conflict between the limits of our understanding and the need to gain more.
DB - The Vagabond
----------------------
Come with me.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
One day, some years ago, I went into the Museum of Natural History on West 79th Street in New York City, a place I enjoyed visiting frequently since I was a boy. On that day, just inside the door, there was a table draped in black cloth with two armed guards next to it. On the table was a box made out of bullet proof glass on all four sides and the top. Inside the box there was a pedestal. On the pedestal was a small tripod. And sitting on the tripod was an object about the size of the end of your thumb. It was well lit from all directions. It sparkled innocently.
What was it? A fabulously valuable diamond? The key to paradise? A winning lottery ticket?
It was none of those, or all of those. It was a gift to the Museum from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. It was a piece of the precious cargo brought back to earth by the Apollo 11 astronauts.
MOON ROCK
I stared at that wee pebble for quite a while. "It's just a rock. What's the big deal?" Imagine what Socrates, Copernicus or Galileo would say if they could have looked that stone in the eye. They could tell you what the big deal is.
NASA has a TV program about the Apollo 11 mission which they show occasionally on their TV channel. In it there's a picture of a scientist studying a moon rock. Is he a geologist, a chemist, a physicist? Seeing that picture I hear the rumblings of centuries of scientific curiosity, investigation and discovery. I hear the silent high tide waves of everything that scientist knows as he peers in awe at a bit of the universe he has never seen before and ponders it's secrets.
We can never understand enough. How exciting it is to discover some new knowledge, to have the freedom to discover. There are those who would clamp down a lid on investigation and innovation. We may even do that ourselves. What a shame.
But as long as we exist we will walk on the starscapes of the mind, pick up the rocks and discover their secrets. We have only just begun.
DB
______________________
May joy fall on your head.
*************************
DB - The Vagabond
----------------------
Come with me.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
One day, some years ago, I went into the Museum of Natural History on West 79th Street in New York City, a place I enjoyed visiting frequently since I was a boy. On that day, just inside the door, there was a table draped in black cloth with two armed guards next to it. On the table was a box made out of bullet proof glass on all four sides and the top. Inside the box there was a pedestal. On the pedestal was a small tripod. And sitting on the tripod was an object about the size of the end of your thumb. It was well lit from all directions. It sparkled innocently.
What was it? A fabulously valuable diamond? The key to paradise? A winning lottery ticket?
It was none of those, or all of those. It was a gift to the Museum from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. It was a piece of the precious cargo brought back to earth by the Apollo 11 astronauts.
MOON ROCK
I stared at that wee pebble for quite a while. "It's just a rock. What's the big deal?" Imagine what Socrates, Copernicus or Galileo would say if they could have looked that stone in the eye. They could tell you what the big deal is.
NASA has a TV program about the Apollo 11 mission which they show occasionally on their TV channel. In it there's a picture of a scientist studying a moon rock. Is he a geologist, a chemist, a physicist? Seeing that picture I hear the rumblings of centuries of scientific curiosity, investigation and discovery. I hear the silent high tide waves of everything that scientist knows as he peers in awe at a bit of the universe he has never seen before and ponders it's secrets.
We can never understand enough. How exciting it is to discover some new knowledge, to have the freedom to discover. There are those who would clamp down a lid on investigation and innovation. We may even do that ourselves. What a shame.
But as long as we exist we will walk on the starscapes of the mind, pick up the rocks and discover their secrets. We have only just begun.
DB
______________________
May joy fall on your head.
*************************
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Terrifying Technology 5/21/09
The cloning of humans is on most of the lists of things to worry about from Science along with behavior control, genetic engineering, transplanted heads, computer poetry and the unrestrained growth of plastic flowers.
Lewis Thomas
****************
Welcome to my lab.
--------------------
What do I think about human cloning? The fact is I don't think about it. I have a lot of things to worry about without spending any time with that or other such matters. I'll give you a list. No, on second thought, I won't.
When confronted with such topics, some people go into a state of shock or outrage, as if the idea itself was somehow an evil, Satan's tool to destroy the human race. But the fact is that Science is not in a position to take an ethical stand on anything, although many scientists do. Science doesn't make moral choices. It gives us the Hubble space telescope and the hydrogen bomb. That's also true about Nature, which gives us the butterfly and the rattle snake.
The moral choice has to be made by humankind. And that can only be done by putting aside shock and outrage and thinking through in a reasonable manner the implications of what Science can do and what scientists are contemplating doing with it. Along with our other gifts, we humans have been given the ability to reason, to think, to ponder and to imagine. Predicting the future of anything is difficult, one might say impossible, and it may be pointless. History teaches that if a thing can be done, it will be done. And to quote the old saying from Napoleon Hill, "What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve." So nothing is outside the grasp of the scientist with imagination and the tools to employ in making the impossible a reality, good or evil.
So who's watching the scientist? Not the hot headed bomber of abortion clinics, not the fanatical temperance smasher of stills, not the Luddite destroying the machinery, nor the Congressman who refuses to vote for appropriations to keep the space program functioning. Is anyone watching? Is anyone calmly considering the possibilities and ramifications of every scientific intent, research and development, then letting the world know about them in a manner that gains the ear of the scientific community and others?
These are questions that ought to be considered while the scalpels, scuds and space shuttles fly.
DB
_______________
May the spring breeze mess up your hair.
******************
Lewis Thomas
****************
Welcome to my lab.
--------------------
What do I think about human cloning? The fact is I don't think about it. I have a lot of things to worry about without spending any time with that or other such matters. I'll give you a list. No, on second thought, I won't.
When confronted with such topics, some people go into a state of shock or outrage, as if the idea itself was somehow an evil, Satan's tool to destroy the human race. But the fact is that Science is not in a position to take an ethical stand on anything, although many scientists do. Science doesn't make moral choices. It gives us the Hubble space telescope and the hydrogen bomb. That's also true about Nature, which gives us the butterfly and the rattle snake.
The moral choice has to be made by humankind. And that can only be done by putting aside shock and outrage and thinking through in a reasonable manner the implications of what Science can do and what scientists are contemplating doing with it. Along with our other gifts, we humans have been given the ability to reason, to think, to ponder and to imagine. Predicting the future of anything is difficult, one might say impossible, and it may be pointless. History teaches that if a thing can be done, it will be done. And to quote the old saying from Napoleon Hill, "What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve." So nothing is outside the grasp of the scientist with imagination and the tools to employ in making the impossible a reality, good or evil.
So who's watching the scientist? Not the hot headed bomber of abortion clinics, not the fanatical temperance smasher of stills, not the Luddite destroying the machinery, nor the Congressman who refuses to vote for appropriations to keep the space program functioning. Is anyone watching? Is anyone calmly considering the possibilities and ramifications of every scientific intent, research and development, then letting the world know about them in a manner that gains the ear of the scientific community and others?
These are questions that ought to be considered while the scalpels, scuds and space shuttles fly.
DB
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May the spring breeze mess up your hair.
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