Thankyou for the link to this, Baird. An interesting read - and especially so when placed in the context of your interpretation. I like the discussion here about evolution. Yes - it has no end point. Yes - it is creation and diversity. It is also occurs in a context - the context of the environment, including other life. A life form may evolve in ways which affects other life - predators/prey, or symbiotic relationships, or simply "change in environment." I'm thinking here off the evolution of cyanobacteria - when life began creating free oxygen, resulting in "the great oxidation event" - which probably caused a massive extinction of anaerobic life forms, but which also led to the profusion of life as we know it now - including ourselves - and even changes in the geology of our planet. Knowledge itself is collaborative, as your dream also points out.
Thanks for picking out one of my favorite bits Michelle! I was happy with the sonorous chiming of the two words juxtaposed with their starkly opposite meaning. That's what makes writing fun, and of course you would see it clearly.
I relate to your interpretation of survival and creation being intertwined. It reminds me of what Rebecca Solnit once wrote about how hope lies in the spaces between certainties.
hahahah - You are very hard to ignore, Baird - First off, I really like you. Your articles are right up my alley and you are on my excel sheet. Some weeks I may be late, but I will always look for you :)
You could almost say, life is about paying forward - receiving the past and using our moment to create the future. I question Darwin's notion that we're an "end product" - evolution is a work in progress. But mostly, I wonder whether "meaning" and "purpose" are the same. I have a purpose, whether or not I know what it is, but the "meaning" of my life, and life generally, is much bigger, surely?
Darwin's paradigm is indeed all about "work in progress" with no end. We are the result (descendants) of what/who came before.
I also winced a bit when I merged meaning and purpose, but I was aiming for where they overlap like in a Venn diagram. Sometimes words can't quite get us where we're trying to go, right?
Thankyou for the link to this, Baird. An interesting read - and especially so when placed in the context of your interpretation. I like the discussion here about evolution. Yes - it has no end point. Yes - it is creation and diversity. It is also occurs in a context - the context of the environment, including other life. A life form may evolve in ways which affects other life - predators/prey, or symbiotic relationships, or simply "change in environment." I'm thinking here off the evolution of cyanobacteria - when life began creating free oxygen, resulting in "the great oxidation event" - which probably caused a massive extinction of anaerobic life forms, but which also led to the profusion of life as we know it now - including ourselves - and even changes in the geology of our planet. Knowledge itself is collaborative, as your dream also points out.
Thanks for sharing all those good evolutionary thoughts David!
Fabulous. That phrase magnificence and insignificance captures our life, our little, but oh so precious and miraculous life.
Thanks for picking out one of my favorite bits Michelle! I was happy with the sonorous chiming of the two words juxtaposed with their starkly opposite meaning. That's what makes writing fun, and of course you would see it clearly.
Have a great day! ☀️
I relate to your interpretation of survival and creation being intertwined. It reminds me of what Rebecca Solnit once wrote about how hope lies in the spaces between certainties.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/jul/15/rebecca-solnit-hope-in-the-dark-new-essay-embrace-unknown
Maybe that's what those townspeople at the end were celebrating—not an ending but the endless possibility of new beginnings.
Happy New Week, Baird.
Thanks for reading and commenting and recommending Solnit's article, Neela. I wish more people engaged here like you do! ✌️
hahahah - You are very hard to ignore, Baird - First off, I really like you. Your articles are right up my alley and you are on my excel sheet. Some weeks I may be late, but I will always look for you :)
Same back at you Neela. It's mutual!
You could almost say, life is about paying forward - receiving the past and using our moment to create the future. I question Darwin's notion that we're an "end product" - evolution is a work in progress. But mostly, I wonder whether "meaning" and "purpose" are the same. I have a purpose, whether or not I know what it is, but the "meaning" of my life, and life generally, is much bigger, surely?
Thanks for reading and commenting William!
Darwin's paradigm is indeed all about "work in progress" with no end. We are the result (descendants) of what/who came before.
I also winced a bit when I merged meaning and purpose, but I was aiming for where they overlap like in a Venn diagram. Sometimes words can't quite get us where we're trying to go, right?
This line I so appreciate - "the man was suffused with that sense of the boundarylessness of all things."
Thanks for reading and commenting Stacy!
"CREATION: the enemy of entropy and death.". That's a wonderful insight Baird. Truly profound.
Thanks Michael. Obvious point, but worthy of contemplation.