What bears preaching

I wrote this verse in 1968 when I was 19

“Had he never seen what’s real he would probably still feel
And would live, love and laugh with his fellows;
But, having seen beyond, he dares not disturb the pond
He has a sermon that never will bear preaching”

I had early exposure to archaeology and zoology. These supplied alternative views about ‘life, the universe and everything’. Our understanding of ‘Truth’ and ‘reality’ went through a few paradigm shifts in the minds of Newton, Galileo, Darwin, Freud, and Einstein etc

At Aberdeen University Professor Gimingham taught ecology with the fervour of a preacher. His text for one lecture was “change and decay in all around I see” But this was seen positively as a key aspect of biogeochemical cycles. Death is necessary and inevitable as the main driving force in evolution.

But the good people of my village were wired into the myths and magic that hung around as cultural cement. The ’good and great’ said they believed in the old Presbyterian stuff because it helped to legitimise life’s key stages (baptism, marriage and death); and legitimised peoples’ place in the local hierarchy.

I became convinced by the arguments and evidence for evolution; especially after seeing linkages with the existentialist contributions of Kierkegaard and Sartre. In the 70s and 80s I taught general science and biology in several different countries and I figured approaches to teaching about the evolution of plants and animals to people whose village culture was heavily animist.


And then there was the 90s and onwards where sociobiology morphed into multi-disciplinary consilience and where ideas from evolutionary psychology merged with the findings from brain science with its various scanning instruments.

AND there is marked consilience between the subjective findings of meditators and the objective links with mental activities that are scanned. The mind can change the brain and vice versa

SO times have moved on.

“But, having seen beyond, he must disturb the pond
He has a sermon that is shouting out for preaching”

The big history people are amassing digestible evidence about designerless evolution in its cosmic, biological and cultural forms. Once upon a time there was the big bang and life emerged out of the star dust. In another 4.5 million years our sun will explode and life as we know it will be no more.
Our understanding of the process of evolution is still evolving. I am happy to share my understanding of what is emerging. It grieves me that so many people still want to believe in the heavenly father myth and that they should die defending it.

I am now 69 and too old to romp about the world’s classrooms and pulpits but I still have an appetite for the meditation stool and for the emerging understanding of life the universe and everything. The Big History Project is an excellent, ongoing source of good stuff. It explains itself better than I can – have a look at
https://www.bighistoryproject.com/home

passing thought

I was up at 6:00 to take pills but then went back to bed with radio 4 that had a never ending flood of stories. Media distraction. It would be ‘better’ to ‘just sit’. 

Various mini projects vied for prominence and there was no worry about running dry- BUT – they were not suitable for the blog.

Aha – what makes for a suitable blog entry? Avoid the petty, personal and parochial, and focus on the new and cutting edge. I have read over 30 recent books and have listened to many talks dealing with hot topics. The roots are ‘consilence’ from E O Wilson. This calls for cross-disciplinary thinking.

I do not claim to originality. My  goal is to create plain-language versions of the new ideas. Thus in a very minor way I contribute to making the world a better place.

Remarkable days

I wanted to know if my cheque had arrived at the accountants. I therefore  >>>>>>

ANOTHER DAY – unremarkable?

ANOTHER DAY – unremarkable- surely not?

Not enough self discipline. 

Time frittering. Footering with phones. Snacking on stuffed olives and salted peanuts

.

Could be taking a shower, shopping, doodling (put them in protective folders.}

Go for a brisk walk in my new jacket. But check the email first.

Aha it is 07:00 and not 19:00 as I thought while making coriander pancakes (with Nutella spread)

John came and we made a new version of song 53.

Enter time and date stamp

 [08:54]

just sitting

.

don't just do sometning

sit there."

a short TED talk

genius

https://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius

“Elizabeth Gilbert muses on the impossible things we expect from artists and geniuses -- and shares the radical idea that, instead of the rare person "being" a genius, all of us "have" a genius. It's a funny, personal and surprisingly moving talk.”

Her story matches mine. There is mental churn which, in genii, gives the subjective impression of somebody who has got ‘it’ fixed. But there is too strong a flavour of magic. In essence the churn  rearranges the knowledge, feelings and moods (KFM) that are interactive in real time). 

The only constant thing is change. Fingernails need clipping, corpses need burying, mountains erode, galaxies flash in and out of ‘existence’.

It takes genius to see that the world is round, that heavier than air machines can fly, and that a woman’s place is in the home.

One of Shakespeare’s characters reckons “that man thinks too much, such men are dangerous”. This goes along with the idea of “keeping the peasants in ignorance”; because ignorance is “bliss”.