"`The question is,' said Alice, `whether you CAN make words mean so many different things.' `The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, `which is to be master--that's all.'" ---Lewis Carroll (1832-1898) [Through the Looking Glass] Well, Mark, you once again have proven the pertinence of Dr. Dodgson's observation, above. I really admire your facility with language and composition. I'll bet you were among the best in your debate class. But taking a false premise and logically extrapolating it into a proposition is not, to my mind admirable in the context of this discussion. I wish I possessed the typing and compositional skills (and the time) to deconstruct your essay---a rewrite of the one you posted here in October, which I ignored rather than dissolve into paroxisms of apoplexy. "But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first." ---Matt.19 I enjoy bearding my "humanist" as well as my "Green" friends with this out-of-context caution from the bible. I enjoy the irony of observing that those who hold the human race as the pinnacle of creation (or evolution) are in fact placing it last. Conversely, those who respect the entire Earthsystem and acknowledge our place in it, could be considered anthropocentric by your logic. It is a reversal that would be appreciated by Coyote or Raven, spirits of our Native American ancestors who delight in irony. As does any species, we maximise our genetic inheritance and expand our niche through adaptation. But the advantage evolution has profferred on us --- our hypertrophied frontal lobes and Broca's area --- gives us an adaptational advantage most other species lack. Some of us feel this confers on us an obligation to take into consideration the rest of creation, which obligation might correctly foster a feeling of guilt when our activities seem to diminish or interupt the flow of evolution. Comet Sapiens I recognised this latest post by you as a repeat when I began looking for my Comet Sapiens rant. Here's a simplified version: Evolution, in general, tends toward complexity and diversity as a way of utilizing more niches more efficiently. Forces that tend to simplify are counter-evolutionary. The most dramatic of these might be an asteroid impact or major volcanic episode. As a result of our human enterprise we are currently experiencing an extinction rate unheard of for 65 million years. As is a comet, so is our influence on the Earth a natural event. But do we really want to be remembered, by whatever intelligence may inhabit this planet thousands of years hence, as that world-shattering cataclysm, Comet Sapiens? "The rule of no realm is mine, but all worthy things that are in peril as the world now stands, those are my care. And for my part, I shall not wholly fail in my task if anything passes through this night that can still grow fair or bear fruit and flower again in days to come. For I too am a steward. Did you not know." ---Gandalf (The Return of the King, J.R.R. Tolkien) I would love to agree wholeheartedly with this lovely sentiment and with the new-fangled Earth-awareness expressed by the Redwood Rabbi's, Christian Stewards and other faith-based environmental movements, as well as those hubristic humanists who a diddling with the levers. But, considering our track record, I frankly don't think we're smart enough. Furthermore, I don't think separating ourselves from the flow of evolution is a perspective that will lead down a sustainable path, either for ourselves or the rest of creation. So I hold in deepest suspicion genetic manipulation and other efforts to direct its course or its speed. As well am I beginning to look askance at Western science in general. >From other things that you've written, Mark, I have a hard time thinking that you actually believe all of what you've written here. I hope you're just engaging in a practice I've sometimes referred to as "tickling my ass with a feather." For Cox or Brown to posit that case would be understandable, but for you...? Anyway, we can each save ourselves a lot of typing by referring back to the archives. This circular discussion was amply covered long about last October. I see nothing new added here. And quite frankly, I'm getting a little bored with this merry-go-round. I think I've learned all I'm going to from the esteemed participants of the Crashlist, and I, certainly, have nothing to offer---as has been made clear to me on more than a few ocassions. I intend to stay subscribed, but will revert to my practice of reading only those digests which fit in my mail without attachments. Dear Tom Warren is on his own; he seems perfectly capable of expressing our position without my questionable help (or not, considering the misconstrued inferrences by those here assembled). Thanks for the use of the hall. Hallyx "A human being is a part of the whole called by us 'Universe', a part limited by time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. The delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty." -- Albert Einstein _______________________________________________ Crashlist resources: http://website.lineone.net/~resource_base To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.wwpublish.com/mailman/listinfo/crashlist
