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The Mysteries of the Universe
Nov. 21st, 2006 05:41 pmI was reading a post of ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sunfell's today and fell to wondering about the infinite mysteries. The pendulum of science and religion that continues to swing also came to mind.
Given the fact that every time mankind has been confronted by reason and logic, most especially that which displaces us as being the center of the universe and at the forefront of the consciousness of whatever possible creator(s) the universe has... that every time mankind is disrupted by this it goes through the throes of denial, whereupon whoever thought up this penultimate blasphemy is persecuted (or most likely killed) along with anyone who supports their idea. The sun does not revolve around us, neither does the galaxy our world resides in, nor the wider universe itself. Women are not made to revolve around men, and yes, we are descended from "lower forms of life" just like all the other life forms on this planet.
Each time a major breakthrough is made in science this backlash occurs. The Enlightenment was followed by Romanticism, was it not? Most people fear change and change is what will occur, sometimes in spades, when a new discovery is made that displaces us even further from that imagined center. We begin our lives as the (perceived) center of attention, the center of our mother's/parent's lives. Heck, if you think of gestation, we literally ARE existing at the center for a while. Displaced by birth, displaced over time to lonely individuality, displaced by the ever increasing dearth of knowledge about everything.
Cognitive dissonance. That is what we are faced with as a species. Every time change occurs in our lives, in our perception of that life and in everything else we experience the jarring jangle of dissonance. We are under the impression that we actually control anything, because by relating ourselves to the universe in some supreme way we think that we ourselves are supreme in some mystical way. Too much cognitive dissonance and you will get a backlash.
There will always exist a spectrum, however, it is the existence of too many people at the extremes of this spectrum where we encounter problems. Right now the spectrum is heavy on the fanatic religious belief side. Moreover, those religions are ruled by "laws" that say "if you aren't with us, you're against us" and those Others MUST be destroyed or converted. Fear of Others goes hand in hand with fear of change. And this fear of change is why people who feel they are backed into a proverbial corner will react viciously to any challenge to their beliefs, their perceived authority and anything else that they consider ordained or sacred.
Because this spectrum will always exist, railing against it and trying to expunge it will only increase the self-righteous defense of the extreme positions on that spectrum. There is also the built-up power structures that exist in support of the extremes... actually there are power structures existing across the spectrum but they too go through waning and waxing periods of strength in that power. That power is given willingly by people who only ask to be protected from any changes that they are terrified of.
Again, there is also our relatively short lifespans that come into play. This is why the pendulum can swing to either extreme within a couple of generations. We don't think long term enough to consider the full weight that change, that new innovations and new technologies and so forth represent. We only think of the immediate effects to our selves. Because we exist for such a short period of linear time, unless we have considered leadership that knows our weaknesses as a species and who hold the best interests of the species as a whole higher their own individual interests we will only progress in little spurts of back and forth movement where, hopefully, the net movement is forward.
Of course, watching five episodes of the BBC's Torchwood series is bound to start me thinking about the wider consequences of our collective actions.
Your thoughts? Opinions? Disagreements? Come forth and discuss!
sunfell's today and fell to wondering about the infinite mysteries. The pendulum of science and religion that continues to swing also came to mind. Given the fact that every time mankind has been confronted by reason and logic, most especially that which displaces us as being the center of the universe and at the forefront of the consciousness of whatever possible creator(s) the universe has... that every time mankind is disrupted by this it goes through the throes of denial, whereupon whoever thought up this penultimate blasphemy is persecuted (or most likely killed) along with anyone who supports their idea. The sun does not revolve around us, neither does the galaxy our world resides in, nor the wider universe itself. Women are not made to revolve around men, and yes, we are descended from "lower forms of life" just like all the other life forms on this planet.
Each time a major breakthrough is made in science this backlash occurs. The Enlightenment was followed by Romanticism, was it not? Most people fear change and change is what will occur, sometimes in spades, when a new discovery is made that displaces us even further from that imagined center. We begin our lives as the (perceived) center of attention, the center of our mother's/parent's lives. Heck, if you think of gestation, we literally ARE existing at the center for a while. Displaced by birth, displaced over time to lonely individuality, displaced by the ever increasing dearth of knowledge about everything.
Cognitive dissonance. That is what we are faced with as a species. Every time change occurs in our lives, in our perception of that life and in everything else we experience the jarring jangle of dissonance. We are under the impression that we actually control anything, because by relating ourselves to the universe in some supreme way we think that we ourselves are supreme in some mystical way. Too much cognitive dissonance and you will get a backlash.
There will always exist a spectrum, however, it is the existence of too many people at the extremes of this spectrum where we encounter problems. Right now the spectrum is heavy on the fanatic religious belief side. Moreover, those religions are ruled by "laws" that say "if you aren't with us, you're against us" and those Others MUST be destroyed or converted. Fear of Others goes hand in hand with fear of change. And this fear of change is why people who feel they are backed into a proverbial corner will react viciously to any challenge to their beliefs, their perceived authority and anything else that they consider ordained or sacred.
Because this spectrum will always exist, railing against it and trying to expunge it will only increase the self-righteous defense of the extreme positions on that spectrum. There is also the built-up power structures that exist in support of the extremes... actually there are power structures existing across the spectrum but they too go through waning and waxing periods of strength in that power. That power is given willingly by people who only ask to be protected from any changes that they are terrified of.
Again, there is also our relatively short lifespans that come into play. This is why the pendulum can swing to either extreme within a couple of generations. We don't think long term enough to consider the full weight that change, that new innovations and new technologies and so forth represent. We only think of the immediate effects to our selves. Because we exist for such a short period of linear time, unless we have considered leadership that knows our weaknesses as a species and who hold the best interests of the species as a whole higher their own individual interests we will only progress in little spurts of back and forth movement where, hopefully, the net movement is forward.
Of course, watching five episodes of the BBC's Torchwood series is bound to start me thinking about the wider consequences of our collective actions.
Your thoughts? Opinions? Disagreements? Come forth and discuss!
