Accepting the most fundamental Cosmic Truth,

Science and Technology
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There is Physical Reality following the Arrow of Time.
We can clearly see that expressed in Evolution’s pageant upon this most unique planet.

Evolution has, when taken as a whole, been an unrelenting drive towards ever greater cognition and manipulatory abilities, every setback it has crawled back from and adapted to.

This Evolutionary drive created humans during this particular Era in Earth’s ever evolving biosphere.

Emergence is Inherent in Evolution

Four limbs forced the creation of new areas of the brain and new awarenesses. All the way up to a brain that could observe, learn, remember, reflect and mull over observations combined with memories. Then communicate those personal thoughts to other brains, then pass those memories onto generations long after it dies and goes away.

In humans, the most spectacular emergent property, the crown jewel of Life’s long striving, was our Mindscape. Our mind’s increasing ability to focus on observations; watching, cataloguing, listening to that something constantly chattering away to whatever part of our brain is listening. All the while striving to make sense of itself, it’s own inevitable death, its place in the world, and the world in general.

This emergent something, the brain creating our self-aware mind, or more accurately, our Mindscape. The home of all our thoughts and feelings, fears and convictions. Something totally unique in Earth’s Evolution.

Ergo, we can break down human reality into two fundamentals:

The realm of Physical Reality and the realm of our Human Mindscape

I also believe, none of us can really understand the rest of our world without first coming to terms with and absorbing that simple fundamental “Truth” in one way or other.


reaching back to my essay:

…  Science was so successful that today most people believe we are the masters of our world and too many have fallen into the hubristic trap of believing our ever fertile mindscape is reality itself.  Thus the endless reams of fruitless dialogue, where learning is the last thing too many care about.

Which brings me back to Gould’s missing key.

The missing key is appreciating the fundamental “Magisteria of Physical Reality,” - and recognizing that both science and religion are products of the “Magisteria of Our Human Mindscape.”
<blockquote>Science seeks to objectively learn about our physical world, but we should still recognize all our understanding is embedded within and constrained by our brain's mindscape.

Religion is all about the human mindscape itself, with its wonderful struggles, fears, spiritual undercurrents, needs and stories we create to give our live’s meaning and make it worth living, or at least bearable.

What’s the point?  I think it’s about better appreciating our ‘frame of reference’ - and especially recognizing that we aren’t the center of creation.

This is important today because some have convinced themselves that they actually have a personal Almighty God in their back pockets, when in fact our Gods are as transient as governments and the human species itself.</blockquote>
Religions, heaven, hell, science, political beliefs, even God, they are all products of the human mindscape, generations of imaginings built upon previous generations of imaginings, all the way down.

That is not to say they are the same thing, they are not!

Science is dedicated to honestly and objectively understanding physical reality - while religion is concerned with the human imagination and our soul and spirit and our struggles through short life.  They are different, but both are necessary human inventions.

Still,  both are destined to be swept away by the hands of time, while Earth and life will continue its dance.

Here we are, <del>2019</del> 2020, history and sober assessment of physical facts is out of fashion and self-destructive fantasy thinking in the service of ruthless avarice is in.

Now it literally threatening to topple USA’s government Of The People, By The People, and For The People, in favor of a Me First, profits are more important than people, and biological/geophysical reality, oligarch run machine.

All the while the actual Physical Creation outside of our conceited petty minds keeps on unfolding, following well understood geophysical rules regardless.

Ignore at our own peril.
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Speaking of the Arrow of Time, what do you think happened here?

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CC: "Speaking of the Arrow of Time, what do you think happened here?"
My guess is an owl silently snagged supper while a mouse lost it's life.

Both species played their tiny roles in the process of evolution.

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CC: "Ergo, we can break down human reality into two fundamentals: The realm of Physical Reality and the realm of our Human Mindscape

I also believe, none of us can really understand the rest of our world without first coming to terms with and absorbing that simple fundamental “Truth” in one way or other."


Here’s a great topic that Widdershins both loves and hates. One can wax poetic on it for ages and say nothing, or one can stay grounded and try to communicate solid ideas in understandable ways that facilitate communication. I’m glad he feels the same way I do when talking about philosophical things.

This reminds me of “The Medium is the Message”. [The Wikipedia page is pretty lame. Just do an internet search for that phrase and you’ll get lots more.] It’s the idea that the medium by which a message is conveyed is as important (some say more important, but not me) as the message itself. In this case, the mind is the medium by which reality is understood and communicated, so the mind is itself an important form of message.

In other words, we interpret and communicate our ideas of reality through our minds. Therefore, it is critical to consider how the mind (the medium) deals with the input of reality, processes it, and then has an output (the message).

Hopefully this reply isn’t too out in left field. I don’t think this is exactly what you’re looking for in a reply, but it’s what popped into my head.

 

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A rabbit, and an example of the finality of the arrow of time. Pretty sure it was an Eagle that lives in the area. One time actually saw it flying off with one. Although stumbling onto this out of the blue, was pretty cool, as the evidence congealed into a understanding of what happened.

In other words, we interpret and communicate our ideas of reality through our minds. Therefore, it is critical to consider how the mind (the medium) deals with the input of reality, processes it, and then has an output (the message).
Sure as far as it goes. I guess. But, I'm more concerned with our attitude towards this reality (yeah Earth) that created us. What you say there sounds like simply digging in deeper to our own mind, which I think might simply get us further from appreciating the reality around us, and that created us.
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There are a few bald eagles around here in winter, but owls are far more common. My parents have lots of mice under the snow in the field out back and they see signs of feeding owls all winter.

I thought digging into the mind was your point. Most people here are science lovers who are unlikely to have an attitude problem regarding reality, so you’re not going to get much more than agreement to your points.

As for the hoi polloi, there’s a broad spectrum of beliefs and ideas and positions out there. I’d love to paint the people who worship capitalism and have a me-first mentality, as selfish idiots, but they are my neighbors and are often smart, hard-working folks who earned every penny they have. So my heart hates their attitude but my head knows they are only living and preaching what they’ve been taught since birth.

The ones I truly hate are the politicians and others who are in control of the levers of power who abuse that power by feeding false information to the masses in order to strengthen their grip on the levers. Blaming the public for either not knowing what they are not told, or thinking they know when in fact they’ve been lied to, is wrong.

Also, I have an innate love of certain things that causes me to think and read about them far more than most people. I don’t fault my friends for not knowing the Latin name for some animals or not knowing the scale of the solar system or not knowing how evolution works, because they know about and are fascinated by lots of other stuff I’m indifferent to.

CC: "All the while the actual Physical Creation outside of our conceited petty minds keeps on unfolding, following well understood geophysical rules regardless.

Ignore at our own peril."


Humans are brilliant morons - they can go to the moon while most of them still do not understand basic logic. We can and will save our species from ourselves, but unfortunately it will be too late for a lot of people. It’s the ones with hands on the levers who ignore reality to all our peril.

Sorry for the rambling post, but I’m jumping in and out while at work, so it’s not a very coherent whole. I’m posting before I go off on another tangent.

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I thought digging into the mind was your point. Most people here are science lovers who are unlikely to have an attitude problem regarding reality, so you’re not going to get much more than agreement to your points.
Ironically the rest of your post then goes on in a way that makes my point for me. Well, at least to me it does.

Even with a cherry on top,

We can and will save our species from ourselves
I'm talking about stepping back and appreciating the 'out there' of the natural world, that it is what created us and sustains us. An entity apart, one that continues following it's own rules regardless of how well, or poorly, we have drawn our mental maps.

Internalizing an awareness of Deep Time and being comprised of bits and pieces accumulated over billions of years. Saying it, and appreciating it, are two very different things. Our actions speak louder than words.

Your words up there, immediately jumped back into how people think, this and that, which is all Mindscape. While I’m trying to make a big deal about the Physical Reality of the world around us, independent of what any of us is thinking. The separateness of that life sustaining biosphere, not from our bodies, but from what’s going on inside of our minds.

I’m not talking about how many scientists have a tendency to treat Earth as a specimen and not much more.

Of course, this sort of thing takes a long time to percolate into one’s awareness. I’ve enjoyed being outdoors my whole life, I’ve been chewing on understanding Earth, nature, people and our evolving understanding my whole life, soon to be 65 years worth, and this perspective is only now jelling into a decent effort. That essay a year ago, that was a sort of matriculation for me. But like they say, the project is never finished we just meet deadlines, and then we die. Still trying to figure out how to better organize and enunciate this concept and some other items into a coherent whole.

 

cheers, thanks for the conversation.

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Citizenschallenge-v.3: “Four limbs forced the creation of new areas of the brain and new awarenesses.”

So that’s how the millipedes got so smart! Wow, who would have thought it!

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"I’m talking about stepping back and appreciating the ‘out there’ of the natural world, that it is what created us and sustains us. An entity apart, one that continues following it’s own rules regardless of how well, or poorly, we have drawn our mental maps."
I agree with you 101%. Our species needs to appreciate the grandeur and wonder of... everything. It's impossible to overstate, or even describe fully, the size, scope and intricacies surrounding us, so I won't bother trying.

That said, it looks like you and I see this topic in similar but different ways: you seem to think that it’s possible to separate the wonders of the universe from our minds, while I don’t. In my way of thinking, since it’s our minds that interpret what we experience, there’s no separating the two. Physical reality exists as it is and each one of us experiences it with our individually unique minds.

An oscilloscope or measuring tape or thermometer can take measurements and we can collect all sorts of data about everything, but collecting data is not ‘experiencing’ nature in the way you are talking about. You want all people to experience the powerful emotions that you and many CFI forum members feel when contemplating reality, but not every mind has the same ability to feel the wonder we feel. It sucks and might spell disaster for much of life on earth, but that’s the sad sad truth.

Fortunately, you and I and all the other folks who are emotionally attached to physical reality can have an influence on that other part of the population, by simply being vocal supporters of it. If we continue talking about how amazing it is and advocate for it, we can educate many who simply haven’t had the right kind of exposure to it, and give them the ability to feel the wonder we feel.

CC, You are a leader in getting the word out about this, so feel proud and keep up the good work.

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Bob you so clever. I’m in awe.

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Of course, that you think a millipede’s segmentation is analogous to a tetrapods four limbs reveals what you know about it.

Nothing.

But when has that ever stopped you or your ilk?

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CC, You are a leader in getting the word out about this, so feel proud and keep up the good work.
Cute, I appreciate the thought. Some leader I am, me, myself and I - and writings that offend more than touch.

 

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CC: "Cute, I appreciate the thought. Some leader I am, me, myself and I – and writings that offend more than touch."
'Cute' is being discussed (?!) elsewhere on this forum. I don't think it applies to my comment, but I'm not really following that other thread, so it might apply in some way to the people taking part in that thread.

As for influence, you have kids and grandchildren, so there’s no way on earth they aren’t all going to be affected by your words and when they go out into the world, their influence is your influence. And when I come on here and see your posts, it makes me feel great seeing someone who not only feels the way I do but is willing to talk about it too. That’s totally inspirational to me, not to mention how it keeps me sane after listening to the news and hearing how crazy other people are. Chances are I’m not the only one who feels that way. To me, that makes you a leader.

I doubt anyone’s offended by anything you write, either here or on your blog. Disagree (maybe even vehemently), yes. Offend, unlikely.

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A cosmic truth about life is found in the Biome.

A biome /ˈbaɪoʊm/ is a community of plants and animals that have common characteristics for the environment they exist in. They can be found over a range of continents. Biomes are distinct biological communities that have formed in response to a shared physical climate.[1][2] Biome is a broader term than habitat; any biome can comprise a variety of habitats.

While a biome can cover large areas, a microbiome is a mix of organisms that coexist in a defined space on a much smaller scale. For example, the human microbiome is the collection of bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms that are present on or in a human body.[3]

A ‘biota’ is the total collection of organisms of a geographic region or a time period, from local geographic scales and instantaneous temporal scales all the way up to whole-planet and whole-timescale spatiotemporal scales. The biotas of the Earth make up the biosphere.

Vegetation.png1385×622 35.8 KB

Complex patterns are almost always collections of several compatible patterns. Except for Chaos (Planck scale?), from which patterns emerge by chance.

One Cosmic truth is that universe and all physical things in it are collections of mathematical patterns, each reinforcing the overall pattern integrity.

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The universe does not need to be magical to inspire awe. “Let there be light” was discovered by simple creature long before man arrived on the scene.

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The universe does not need to be magical to inspire awe

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3point14rat -<i> thank you. This self-destructive trumpsterism mentality that seems to be sweeping the nation, while the left seems to be as inept as a deer caught in headlights, has me truly scared and down. The Democrats string of appalling failures to communicate, to inform and engage, to take advantage of key moments to explain the situation. The normalization of this horrendous vandalism towards America’s fabric of society - vandalism is what trump promised us and it sure looks like we are letting him get away with every atrocity. It feels crushing sometimes. Still thanks for ‘chin up’ π.</i>

W4U, so true, lots of Cosmic Truths out there. I’m not denying them.

L, nothing in anything I’ve written says anything about the Earth needing magic to be awe inspiring.

 

I’m simply pointing out that we have/are collectively overlooking a very important, and yes a most fundamental truth. An oversight that blinds most people to the importance of this planet and her systems. Not to mention encouraging hubris.

As evidenced by our collective peddle-to-the-metal self-destruction. Denying it, or minimizing the drum beat of impacts, do nothing to change what we have witnessed unfolding these past irretrievable decades - when every f’n single thinking person could not help but learn what manmade global warming is about. But collectively we turned our backs and chose denial, or lip-service then avoidance. Talk, talk, talk, while kicking the actual changes down the road long enough until it doesn’t matter anymore.

It’s very depressing sometimes, it would have been so much more satisfying being part of a positive change that.

But that required a rethinking, Greed Is Good, God - NEVER. Never, was our collective choice.

‘Yeah buts’, are just a reflex to justify not spending a little time digesting this particular fundamental truth. :slight_smile:

 

As for other fundamental truths,

 

Earth a System of Systems

Credits: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

Amy Moran (GST): Lead Animator

Marit Jentoft-Nilsen: Visualizer

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L, nothing in anything I’ve written says anything about the Earth needing magic to be awe inspiring.
I thought Write4U was agreeing with you by his comment CC.
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Perhaps he was. Perhaps I’m just too sensitive. Seemed more like changing the subject to me.