Whoa

Damn, just like that, ive gone from a kid with people to look after me and tell me what to do, to an adult. For all my pondering about what adulthood will feel like and when it will come, maybe its just starts when you realize how much of a bitch all this paperwork is. Responsibilities man, responsibilities.
Whoa.

2 Possible Views of Nature

There are two distinct views one may take in regard to the vast majesty, the amazing, consuming, unfathomable hugeness of nature in comparison to us. There are two distinct ways of dealing with gazing over the unending miles of ocean or the continues bloom of a forest's trees. There are two distinct conceptions of our place in the seemingly incalculable expanses we see everyday if we but look out the window.




They are:


1. Nature is big and we are small. Humans can but only pitifully hope to churn up a few meters of dirt  in a few places on earth and otherwise have little impact on the Earth or Nature as a gigantic whole. Any conception that we are important in the grand scheme of things is a delusion: we are but tiny tiny boats in a sea larger and deeper than we can imagine. As such, we have little impact on the environment and thus little responsibility for its well being.


2. We have power over nature in ways cloaked a thousand fold by our relative size. The choices we make impact Earth more than seems apparent. As the dominate species on the planet, we have deep responsibility to ensure the continuance of the beauty that engulfs us. Not only for our children, but for the other species of the planet who make  up this so called Nature. While we sometimes cannot hold all of Nature in our minds, it is clear that we do hold all of Nature in our hands.









So step back and consider these two world views. Ask yourself what you believe: are we a spec floating in the wind or are we masters of our domain? If this exercise seems a little silly, that is because your mind is so made up about your view; remember that there are many many people out there with the opposite viewpoint.


More to come on this soon, but for now, take some time to figure out where you stand.

A Quick Word on Protests in the Middle East and Then a Joke

I'm not saying i understand the political situation there fully, but it is pretty cool to see people taking their lives and their freedom into there own hands. How interesting that a powerful semi-dictator is being taken down without 1 US troop involved. Revolutions and changes in power in the name of democracy are sometimes violent but don't necessarily have to come at the end of a American's gun. Maybe this would have been good to know 10 years ago.


I understand that I really have no way to effect the situation at all and there is a serene calm that comes with such a realization even though it is obvious that violence is part of the process. I don't particularly care if the new ways of life forged by these social uprisings are more friendly to the US, I only hope that the new system, after the riots are over, is more just than the current one. Tzedek Tzedek Tirdof. 

And now, for the unrelated Joke Of The Day: 

I was walking across a bridge one day, and I saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump off. I immediately ran over and said "Stop! Don't do it!"

"Why shouldn't I?" he said. I said, "Well, there's so much to live for!"

"Like what?" "Well ... are you religious or atheist?" "Religious."

"Me too! Are you Christian or Jewish?"

"Christian." "Me too! Are you Catholic or Protestant?" "Protestant."

"Me too! Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?" "Baptist."

"Wow! Me too! Are you Baptist Church of God or Baptist Church of the Lord?" "Baptist Church of God."

"Me too! Are you Original Baptist Church of God, or are you Reformed Baptist Church of God?" "Reformed Baptist Church of God."

"Me too! Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915?" "Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915!"

To which I said, "Die, heretic scum!" and pushed him off.