Natalie,Unfortunately we don't necessarily have the reality of any sort of "splendid and perfect job of things since the beginning of time" as you put it. We may have, if there's any sort of Designer-God behind the scene. But, otherwise, the best reality we have so far is of life starting in an opportunistic way just as soon as the earth cooled down and allowed certain sorts of chemical reactions involving carbon-based molecules to take place.
After then, once self-replicating molecules got going, every new mutation exploited what was available to its maximum possible extent -- no holds barred. All types of bacteria do this and all species of plants and animals do this. Each one expands either until it exploits its food supply to the maximum possible extent and then crashes, or it is moderated by the expansion of other types and species which compete directly and indirectly for food.
At any one instant of time all is finely in balance -- as a Designer-God might have intended -- but, in fact, the whole ecosystem is constantly changing with species going extinct and new species arising. The whole of evolution is a case of massive warfare of every type of DNA weapon going on between mutating entities. In our case, for example, now that sabre-toothed tigers are absent, our immune systems (if we're lucky) are constantly evolving barriers against viruses and bacteria (and passing on the safety features to our children) while the latter (particularly viruses, which mutate very quickly) are also constantly evolving in order to overcome our immune systems (or at least appropriate some of our food parasitically). Our "junk DNA" is littered with thousands of remnants of immobilized viruses. We've even re-incorporated some of these ex-viruses as working parts of new operational genes.
In short, it's all a dog-fight. And if, at some future date, we get into space before the sun expands in a few billion years and fries us all, and subsequently we might find another planet with life-sustaining potential, we'll undoubtedly find ourselves in another dog-fight.
Keith At 23:00 11/06/2010 -0700, you wrote:
Ed,The vision need not be anything but the stuff of reality, which still leaves us with what our minds will inevitably envision.Reality is the only vision that is guaranteed to work. So, perhaps you would agree that following the natural laws of the universe that have done a splendid and perfect job of things since the beginning of time, we can realistically hope to rejoin the natural stream of evolution.Any natural system such as that of our esteemed Earth, capable of forming and efficiently sustaining life and its necessary and interdependent ecosystems for approximately 8 million species, has got to be the most scientifically trustworthy model to implement, yet it continues to be ignored--at least since, say, humankind started cooking its food or the first economist started profiting from dismantling sustainable economies.We rely on natural law for every aspect of our being, from the most impressive of technologies to our constant heartbeat, yet because we have continued to violate these laws at almost every turn of modern living, we mis-create anxieties and render our children defenseless or defensive against a world fast losing touch with creativity and fulfillment.Nature's model is orderly, efficient, and essentially evolutionary. And its example can be applied to every aspect of civilized life to restore balance. A nation that follows natural laws would swiftly lead as an example to other nations, precluding any disputes about correct realities.This is a huge undertaking, yet the facility with which we could implement these laws would quickly unravel the complexities of existing governmental systems. The will to do so depends either on necessity or education. Hopefully the latter, by consensus, soon.Natalia Kuzmyn Ed Weick wrote:Iâm not so sure that we need another vision.  There have been thousands of them since humankind began.  Theyâve begun with beautiful inspirational thoughts.  Theyâve usually ended with repression and slaughter.  Christianity began with the simple words of Christ and became a vast, repressive and all controlling machine.  In its essence, communism is built on the simple and beautiful idea that the people who do the work should own the tools they work with.  Out of that came Stalinist Russia.  Instead of more visions, what we may need is a stronger sense of realities of the world we live in. Perhaps thatâs not possible.  It could lead to huge fights over which sense of reality is the correct one and should therefore prevail.Ed From: Arthur Cordell <mailto:[email protected]><[email protected]> To: <mailto:[email protected]>[email protected]Cc: Futurework <mailto:[email protected]><[email protected]>Sent: Thu, June 10, 2010 9:18:30 PM Subject: Re: [Futurework] [Ottawadissenters] Great foresightAgree. We really need a positive image for the future. Economic growth, development, regional expansion, etc. have all been seen to be wanting at the least and more often seen to be destructive. What positive images have people come across.  Arthur ÂFrom: <mailto:[email protected]>[email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Lawrence de BivortSent: Thursday, June 10, 2010 9:12 PM To: <mailto:[email protected]>[email protected] Cc: Futurework Subject: Re: [Ottawadissenters] Great foresight  Good catch, Steve.Yes, we have now become dependent and dominated by the very megasystems that we have ourselves created. And they are too complex to understand and too expensive to improve.ÂBut the game is not over, by a long shot, and we humans have many tools yet in our toolbox. The main threat comes, I think, from those sunk in despair because they lack the imagine to find solutions, and from those so swallowed in anger that they lack the energy for anything else. Cheers,  Lawry    On Jun 10, 2010, at 9:18 AM, Steve Kurtz wrote: Â"We have geared the machines and locked all together into interdependence; we have built the great cities; now there is no escape. We have gathered vast populations incapable of free survival, insulated From the strong earth, each person in himself helpless, on all dependent. 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Keith Hudson, Saltford, England
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