............ Al Jolson, The Jazz Singer
Most humans cannot grasp huge concepts; the size of the universe, the number of people on the planet, the speed of light. Humans are self-centered creatures, wired for permanence, but incredibly fragile.
I spent an hour this morning looking through YouTube at videos of micro to macro views of the cosmos and quarks, and I recommend you do the same when you have time to play. There is one particular clip I remember seeing when I was in HS that I cannot find yet. It started as a view through an electron microscope at quarks (maybe it wasn’t quarks; now that I think about it, quarks may be too small for that 1967 technology. Let’s move on saying they must have started by viewing stuff bigger than quarks).
OK, back to what I actually do remember about this clip we saw in science class. It started as a microscopic view of cell structure and began pulling back through the microscope to see neutrons, protons, atoms, then through the larger parts of a human cell until it reaches the surface of the skin. As the video continues to pull back, it views the arm, the whole person it belongs to, the room he is in, his house, his neighborhood and eventually all the way back into space viewing the entire planet Earth. The camera then flips to viewing space through ever more powerful telescopes, the solar systems and beyond.
The one thing that sticks in mind about these images is that at one point in the microscope the atomic size particles look exactly like the telescopic view of a solar system. For all you scientists out there who know this is absolutely incorrect, keep it too yourself. My point is there is much that we are made of that looks exactly like the universe we live in. And that is remarkable to me.
Being startled, amazed, and awakened to new information is a major part of what keeps me going. And recently I have been going good. A chance to write more, express, share ideas with new friends, has been a transfusion of life juice. Yes, there are some givens that I accept and appreciate being exposed to, that keep me sane and help me get through this maze of life that I have to navigate with all these other 7 billion humans. (The truth that "the only constant in life is change" comes to mind).
Certainly I have been happiest when I have lived in rural environs. Frenchtown, NJ in 1979 was rural farm country. Sedona, AZ in 1982 was a small town going through the process of realizing its population might explode. South Whidbey Island, WA is still a wonderful paradise of rural Earth. Borrego Springs, San Diego County, California is an incredibly vibrant small desert town with less than 3,000 permanent peoples. Oh, do I long for living in these places in their (and my) prime. The interesting key element of this joy was that these small places contained more people I could relate to then any suburban or quasi-urban environment I have lived in.
I saw a piece on CBS Sunday Morning today that confirmed why I have longed for something different.
CBS reports: "Consider this: Today, worldwide, more than half of us live in cities. By 2050, the United Nations projects nearly 75% of us will."
And then 5 minutes later I heard a more disheartening reality:
"Today, about 250 million Americans choose to live in or around urban areas. That means more than three-quarters of our population shares just about three percent of our land area."
The lesson for me today is that I am not like those 250 million people, nor will I be part of that 75%. The words spoken by Rosalind Russell in Auntie Mame come to mind: "Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death!"
The sad truth for humans is that continuing to follow this path will lead to a world jammed with those poor suckers and they will one day have a revelation similar to Charleton Heston in the movie Soylent Green: "Soylent Green is people!"
I'm with you in spirit, XOQ, but no further, I'm afraid.
ReplyDeleteAs far as a growing population goes, it is more efficient to have people living closer together. While living in an urban setting is not my thing, I do not think it is an inherently BAD thing.
I've read/heard discussions recently that the human population is likely to top out somewhere between 9 and 10 billion before the end of this century. That the growth of human population is slowing is a good thing and suggests a possible future with a decreasing population (at least on planet earth) with more focus on the value and importance of individual lives.
"Soylent Green is people!" is a great line, but it never made sense--a population based upon cannibalism will not be able to maintain its own numbers.
There are problems with hunger in the world but I think those can be met if population growth tops out this century and we continue to inform ourselves about those that have too little and those of us who waste too much.
Is it perhaps in your banquet, XOQ, that most people are starving, not for food, but for something more on a human level? That is eroded or abraded when too many live too close together?
I like the feel of open space and small communities, but I also like easy access to well-stocked grocery stores and high-speed internet connections. Maybe I'll be lucky enough in the future to have both.
PhilosophicalWaiter - Thanks for pulling out the underlying theme of this piece. Your keen observation "that most people are starving, not for food, but for something more on a human level" is ever present in the mind of Xoq. Between a truth that most people cannot grasp the big picture, mixed in with the lack of smiles and simple hellos in big city elevators, and the potential future that corporate greed manufacturers so much pollution that the only food source left are the poor souls who don't have access to enough nourishment to survive, lies the fear of no control. When the masses learn enough awareness to accept their mortality, embrace the awesome-ness of creation as the magic of the universe, and stop giving over their souls to religious manipulation and false advertising of corporations, the sooner Xoq will relax and feel this is home.
ReplyDeleteI've gained a new appreciation for big, less populated spaces since I spent 17 years in the Rockies.
ReplyDeleteThe summit of Mt. Evans at midnight under a full moon, cold and a level of quiet you cannot reach in a city.
The Garden of the Gods park at 5:30 am as the sun comes up and both I and the mule deer faun next to me eat breakfast.
Boulder Canyon has more people (the insanely fit bikers and rock climbers jolting by) but is still a place where you can find quiet and a piece of river if you look hard enough.
Lookout Mountain, Lake Dillon...other places and sights I learned to enjoy before I became homebound and too infirm to go to them.
After being homebound for two years, (recovering a little now) though my best thoughts and conversations are still shared with sharp, intelligent people [thank goodness I still know so many...I can't afford not to impose a pleasant comment on someone not expecting a conversation...you get the odd look, but if they do respond you are struck with the truth that it is good for them to take a moment to engage, just as it is for yourself.
Now, I'm living in my home state, in a rapidly changing exurb that used to be rural. I have the misfortune of living backed up against a new high end subdivision. I wonder if the white tailed deer who live next door to me will continue to peer out at me as I roll by from what's left of their woods when cul de sacs and SUV's get noisy.
Sigh.