Some might say that supernovas are horrendous occurrences, others that they are phenomenal phenomenons.
Everyone agrees that the Great Oxidation Event was a huge catastrophy and also that we may all be thankful for this mass destruction of life.
Despite our opinions regarding catastrophic or subtle change in the unfolding of time - despite the fact that all the selves shall continue to suffer - Isn’t everything absolutely perfectly as it is?
With regards to the Anthropocene and the current catastrophy that we have provoked - Is anyone in charge of the controls?
Does humanity have a brain (not humans - the mass of cells that make up the human do seem to have a working brain)? Are we capable of communicating with each other? Can we make a decision as one?
You know i think we could if we saw that we actually are ‘all one’, and have never, not been ‘all one’. Some have. That’s what i think K. was getting at with his “you are the world”… not just what’s coming in through the senses currently but those whole hundreds of millions of ‘years’. We’ve been through it all and will be, to the very end .if there is an end. ‘Absolute perfection’!
But even if we see that - it still leaves the problem of “Is anyone at the helm?”
In order to be as one - even between just 2 individuals, the dropping of all barriers is obviously essential. Is this possible? Maybe if I open my heart to you, I am defenceless, I may be contaminated?
Love needs tremendous courage.
I doubt it. But my point is that we are ‘one’ in essence. That there is no division only difference. And yes this goes back as far as the ‘beginning’. To the first single celled organisms. The ‘essence’ behind the replication? The motive behind the sperm seeking the egg, etc. That is what we are. It includes everything…IMHO
One of my first earliest strong impressions from reading/listening to K. was his calling the family, “that ugly little unit”. That was sort of blasphemous. Using the word ‘ugly’ to describe the situation where there was the possibility of feeling closeness, affection, belonging, security, etc. To call that ‘ugly’ hinted at the possibility that the existence of these “units” was an impediment to feeling this closeness (love?) to all others. A left-over from our tribal past.
Just another form of exclusion. A more poweful self, based as usual on fear and the need for security.
Paradoxically, it can also lead to the giving up of the individual self - as in the group can become more important than the individual. Unfortunately, this is not usually accompanied by any exploration of the concept of pyschological freedom, nor any opportunity to recognise its arising.
I’m comparing the planet to a ship - and asking a silly question about “who’s in charge?”
The idea being that biology has always played an important part in our planet’s evolution - so much so that we now consider it to be a living organism. For the first time in Earth’s (Gaïa’s?) history, the species causing major (catastrophic?) change is self conscious. We are also conscious of our actions and their effects on the biosphere.
The only question is : are we able, as a species to steer the biosphere intentionally in order to survive?
Capitalism will save the day? That would be a great plot twist!
Although, as an amateur economist, I’ve always been impressed by Capitalism as a driving force - and am pretty sure that there are billions of “Green” dollars waiting to be scooped up.
I don’t know how, I, me, works. All I am doing is conforming to the practices of tradition, society, knowledge, etc. I acquire skills, abilities, preferences, loyalties, etc. and these play out. We have accumulated knowledge and built up intellectual constructions, logic, psychology, ideology, ideals, etc, and look at the world through this prism. None of this is actually observing my self closely, carefully, intimately, and deeply. What we have to be aware of is the way a self center is used to make choices, decisions, assumptions, assertions, and believes the action by self is the right action.
to be made by ‘steering’ such a course, then maybe.