Who Do We Think We Are?

“We shall not cease from exploration

         And the end of all our exploring

         Will be to arrive where we started

         And know the place for the first time.

         Through the unknown, remembered gate

         When the last of earth left to discover

         Is that which was the beginning –

         And all shall be well and

         All manner of things shall be well

         When the tongues of flame are in-folded

         Into the crowned knot of fire

         And the fire and the rose are one.

                  T.S. Eliot, Little Gidding V

 

         Five percent of all the world’s wildlife lives on the island of Madagascar. Eighty percent of that wildlife is unique to this island that was separated from Africa and India hundreds of millions of years ago. Many of these most beautiful, exotic, wonderful, colorful creatures -- mammals, insects, reptiles, and birds   -- may become extinct in the next ten or twenty years because of human encroachment of their precious and equally rare habitat.

We humans, uniquely self-referential, so sophisticated and self-important, feel justified in over-running and over-consuming, causing other species to become extinct; we do it repeatedly without a second thought. In reality, we have no more intelligence and ability to achieve great things than the graceful fish who find their way back to their  river spawning grounds after years at sea, or the tiny hummingbirds that winter thousands of miles away from their summer homes, then return again and again.

         As I search for the answer to why we, the human species, are here, I have come to a realization: we humans are a biological anomaly.        

We humans think that we were created by a God in his own image, destined to have dominion over all the earth. And look at the mess we have made of it!

          This forces a thinking person to realize that no omniscient God would be so thoughtless to put humans in charge of this earth, and observe them doing such a terrible job of caring for it. In my adventure to learn who I am and why I am here, I  am forced to realize that not only is there no God, but also humans are not any more intelligent than any other creature. What animal would mess up its own nest to the point of bringing on its own extinction? Perhaps that extinction would be a great relief to the remaining creatures on this tortured planet, who have still managed to survive our self-absorbed, drunken, brainless, trashing of our Earth.

         We are indeed a biological anomaly. We have evolved by growing a large, very sophisticated brain which allows us to do many mechanical tasks, but we have not evolved one whit from our most ancient beginnings in regard to morality, compassion and sharing.

All I can do in my advanced age is to try to not make a bigger mess than I already have. I pledge, in my final years, to do as little harm as possible. 

6/2/08 Diary of a Dying Man

The Existential Alternative?

Existentialism, as defined by Bertrand Russell, philosopher and mathematician, postulates “That Man is the product of causes which had no provision of the end they were achieving … the whole temple of Man’s achievement must inevitably be buried beneath debris of a universe in ruins … only on the firm foundation of unyielding despair, can the soul’s habitation henceforth be safely built.”

Can I find reasons in my own life to create an opposing philosophy to this very popular existential stance – a philosophy not of despair, but of hope; not a dead end of resignation, but an avenue for a new adventure in life and death? The God-based myths of Christianity and other major world religions, and the pantheons of ancient Greece and even present day India, hold little value in our modern scientifically intelligent world.

So, what else can there be in our history of myths and revelations that can try to explain who we are and why we’re here?

In my explorations, I have recently discovered the beginning of a new myth system, a myth created not by story-teller historians and desert-crazed prophets, but by modern-day scientists. A book, “The View from the Center of the Universe,” by Joel R. Primack and Nancy Ellen Abrams, propose a new way to find our own heaven, right here, right now.

Their definition of the concept of “God” is represented by our physical universe, which is ever-expanding; we, and everything else, are in the inside, in the middle of it all, expanding with it. “God” represents the dynamic directions of our earthly wonder, not the ancient destination of a fragile hope and fear-based heaven.

As our universal “God” expands, our understanding also deepens at all levels, just as we understand gravity though Einstein’s discoveries. Therefore, “God” is nothing less than the process of opening up our personal lives into developing lines of contact with the unknown potential of the universe. We, as humans, now have evolved into the understanding that we can, and must, find harmony with the real universe of which we are an integral part.

We must create a philosophy opposing the philosophy of existentialism; not registering futility, but knowing hope; not accepting pre-ordained suffering, but expecting excitement and promise.

By beginning to celebrate the reality of ourselves and our expanding universe, and by resetting our mental focus into harmony with it, we may realize the greatest opportunity of our time and all time. The choice between existential woe and a meaningful world view is open to us. We owe it to those who come after us to protect our own fragile environment, our little part of the universe, where everything is interconnected, where it is a fact of life and death that we are all dependent upon each other. We are made of the same stardust as is every star and planet in this amazing expanding universe. We either expand our thinking, our sense of morality and responsibility to everyone and everything, or by the laws of chaos and evolution, we die and the universe continues without us.

In the ever-lessening moments I have left on this wonderful earth, I vow to work at creating within myself and, acting in accordance with, this new myth of “God” as universe. This is an authentic spiritual imperative –- a new, renewing myth created by the proven facts of science which I intend to nurture and support – a universal heritage which is within myself and every person, creature, plant and planet that surrounds me.