verklingen

"we are a way for the cosmos to know itself"

-carl sagan

all the wonders we find when we look out and seek explanation adhere to a function of unification. relations among disparate parts are tuned to accommodate novel forms that yield a greater depth of versatility, and this template echoes through all observational scales. poised precariously atop eons of development both cosmic and local, we are the most advanced structure this function has created-- here, at least. the heavier elements that make us up were forged in ancient stars. round after round of accretion, cataclysm and redistribution unified our universe's primordial hydrogen atoms into helium, and these into still heavier elements such as carbon, yielding new properties to allow novel unity potentials. eventually they ended up here and embodied the more contemporary but still many billions of years old solar system we're familiar with. some of those formed the actual planet we inhabit, others formed comets and asteroids that would one day collide with earth. by the time earth's heavy metals sank into her molten mass and began rotating to create a protective magnetic field, she had collected a menagerie of exotic elements with promising properties.

this was the stage where these atoms and molecules withstood various conditions such as violent weather and lightning coupled with intense volcanism. the steam from such eruptions -- perhaps aided by bombardment of icy comets -- condensed to cover much of earth's surface with water. this provided a viscous environment wherein earth's increasingly complex molecules -- driven at the surface by radiation from the sun or at the bottom by the heat of sub-oceanic vents -- developed arrangements capable of self-replication. over time these adopted new behaviors to sustain themselves in different conditions: ways of absorbing energy; locomotion; etc. this yielded a great variety of single-celled lifeforms and eventually, some of these cells unified to satisfy mutual needs. this event ushered in the cambrian explosion: the era which began the great variety of complex life found in the fossil record.

obviously, the universe grants opportunity consistent with the level of unity. and some 580 million years thence, homo sapiens achieved a refinement of unity above and beyond multicellular life. armed with a brain that was slowly increasing in complexity and size since the death of the dinosaurs, we began using the foresight this brain enabled to band together and sustain ourselves through conditions any single human would not survive. this is the level of unity that sprang technology and civilization: hallmarks of the naked ape. today that ape is dispersed across the globe, clinging to local factions, seemingly oblivious to the universal function which served to create this promising circumstance and how it can serve him further. there's no limit to what we can accomplish, but no longer are we inert particles or cells fumbling blindly amidst changing conditions. at this level, there is conscious choice involved in the elaboration of unity. how long will we choose to fight against our true nature; our true cosmic legacy? we have to know it first. we must look, and find it.

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“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”

msicidron

well put

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Canuck Wisdom

Yup.


Puts an interesting spin on international relations doesn't it? When you step back and look at it in the macro sense like that eh?

Don't even have to go that macro, and its like; why is it that without some sort of strong incentive structure, like economic organization, can conscious observing and acting beings not manage top organize themselves for the mutual benefit of the whole.

I just wrote two international development essays its on the mind.

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-Knowitall A&P type-

verklingen

^ i feel like it's a wisdom that comes only with experience, and that threshold is unique for each of us. i see it like this: eventually, disregard for unity will create an organization that works toward mutual destruction of the whole. this provides strong incentive to unify for mutual benefit, though for most humans complacency, apathy and obstacles of belief are the general rule. we are slow to react, and therefor the incentive must be very severe indeed. but the bias toward unification cannot be out-stepped long without consequence. if we do so much longer our genetic legacy will have been a failed cosmic experiment, and some earthly cousin will branch out to fill our place and try anew. . . for all things are equal to the cosmos. ours is a stint no more ripe for greatness than any other place, any other creature. what can make us special is WHAT WE DO WITH IT!!!

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“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”

hijabihippie

Check out Richard Feynman, too.