Earth Centrism ~ Geocentrism.  Seriously !?!

MARCH 14, 2020
Earth Centrism ~ Geocentrism. Seriously ?

Since you still sound confused about what I’m trying to enunciate, allow me to review what the term “Earth Centrism” actually means.

That video is almost a year old, the following post started over at the Center For Inquiry discussion Forum but since it provides me such a splendid opportunity to try and get through, I’m using it as a seed for the following clarification. If you’re still confused please leave a question or serious comment, I’ll be happy to respond.


Quoting me:

CC-v.3 said; “What’s my problem? Guess it’s the pompousness of that title that got under my skin: “Physicality” "
{ That is, totally climbing into his mindscape believing he’s a genius mathematician. His bellybutton gazing irritates me and I lashed out. Why? Because it’s long past time to get real and focus on the physicality of this planet that provides our life support systems.
The physicality that we are destroying just a fast as our little hands will allow.}

Guess that’s what comes from being an ardent Earth Centrist.

W4U responds with: “You may want to be careful with that analogy. I’m not certain what you mean by that. And here is the reason why. “Geocentrism - Crackpot Theory?” ”

{Playing Devil’s Advocate my long time CFI pal offers up this bizarre YouTube video, “Geocentrism - Crackpot Theory?” between a fatima.org guy, Chris Ferrara interviewing Robert Sungenis, whom I had to look up. He’s known for being into “Catholic apologetics”. In others, words a god fearing religious guy - ergo, someone consumed within his Mindscape.

I couldn’t listen to them, but I could copy the transcript and read through it. The term “Evolution” was used 6 times, yet not a once did he give a clue that he had any conception of Evolution.

Nope, “Evolution” was more like a target label rather that a term that stood for something. Instead he was all rhetorical fancy dancing, the realm of religion and our Mindscape.
Don’t misunderstand me, religion is fine for what it is.

I believe religion is as essential as sober science,

but we should never forget that religions can never ever be more than shadow plays we create for ourselves while striving to understand the Unknowable God of Time and Light, Life and Love.}

W4U, you knocked me off my chair with that one and made me wonder if you’ve ever actually taken the time to read and think about those links I’ve shared and what I’ve written here regarding Earth Centrism.

Since it sounds like you’re still confused about what I’m trying to convey, I need to review the whole thing again.

The term “Earth Centrism” was literally born out of writing the following essay. Since then I’ve spend more time absorbing the concept and fleshing out it’s implications.

SEPTEMBER 1, 2018
Missing Key to Stephen Gould’s “Nonoverlapping Magisteria”

… In the years since I’ve kept learning more about Earth’s amazing evolution and geophysics and also the scientific process itself. A process that’s basically a set of rules for gathering and assessing our observations in as honest, open and disciplined manner possible, in a language that all who understand science can trust.
Recently it occurred to me that what Stephen Gould was missing was a much more fundamental divide that is crying out for recognition.
Specifically, the Magisteria of Physical Reality vs the Magisteria of our Human Mindscape.
In this perspective we acknowledge that Earth and her physical processes and the pageant of evolution are the fundamental timeless touchstones of our reality.
Part of Earth’s physical reality is that we humans were created by Earth out of her processes.
Science shows us that we belong to the mammalian branch of Earth’s animal kingdom.  Yet, it’s undeniable that something quite unique happened about six million years ago when certain apes took a wild improbable evolutionary turn. …

As a matter of fact, Geocentrism is the opposite of Earth Centrism,

in that Geocentrism is purely a mental construct

whereas Earth Centrism is simply acknowledging the central role Earth and Evolution had in creating us.

Do you deny that “Earth provides the fundamental touchstone of physical reality for humans”?

Earth Centrism says nothing about Earth’s origins, or being born out of star dust, or the cosmic circumstance that makes Earth possible! It doesn’t need to because it’s not about that. It’s about our human perceptions.

It certainly doesn’t say Earth is the center of the universe.
It says Earth is the center of human existence.

The only possibly connections between Geocentrism and Earth Centrism would be dishonest ones - claims dependent on intentionally misrepresenting what I’ve written about Earth Centrism and the fundamental divide between our Mindscapes and Physical Reality.

=====================================

DECEMBER 11, 2019
Bringing it back to Earth Centrism
https://confrontingsciencecontrarians.blogspot.com

JUNE 1, 2019
Earth Centrist. Why it matters to me.

SEPTEMBER 1, 2018
Missing Key to Stephen Gould’s “Nonoverlapping Magisteria”


FEBRUARY 22, 2020
Diary - Musing on a half Century of Climate Science Awareness, 2020-02-22


DECEMBER 7, 2019
Introduction to Cc’s Pageant of Evolution project.

DECEMBER 6, 2019
Pageant of Earth’s Evolution (in 24hr) part one

DECEMBER 7, 2019
Pageant of Earth’s Evolution (in 24hr) part two

CC-v.3 said; As a matter of fact, Geocentrism is the opposite of Earth Centrism,
Lol...I know the difference. Just a play on words which are linguistically interchangeable. Geo = Earth, Centrism = Centrism.

Sorry, I know this is a serious subject. Just couldn’t resist…

 

 

Oh no, quit alright. I was hoping you were playing the devils advocate.

I also hope you have a little deeper appreciation for what I’ve been trying to spit out here.

Cheers.

 

I appreciate the opportunity to reassess and defend my thoughts - sure beats the sound of one hand clapping.

You can tell them to put that on my tomb stone!

Since there’s a lot of clutter in my OP, here’s the key, for anyone interested:

 

As a matter of fact, Geocentrism is the opposite of Earth Centrism,

in that Geocentrism is purely a mental construct

whereas Earth Centrism is simply acknowledging the central role Earth and Evolution had in creating us.

Do you deny that “Earth provides the fundamental touchstone of physical reality for humans”?

Earth Centrism says nothing about Earth’s origins, or being born out of star dust, or the cosmic circumstance that makes Earth possible! It doesn’t need to because it’s not about that. It’s about our human perceptions.

It certainly doesn’t say Earth is the center of the universe.
It says Earth is the center of human existence.

The only possibly connections between Geocentrism and Earth Centrism would be dishonest ones – claims dependent on intentionally misrepresenting what I’ve written about Earth Centrism and the fundamental divide between our Mindscapes and Physical Reality.

I would agree that Mother Earth is the womb from which earthly life was spawned.

However, what about panspermia? It is clear that life can originate in the most hostile places. We have even some extremophiles here on earth. These critters are so tough they can only live in pure acid or in 300 F. How many planets in the universe are composed of that stuff?

How about water bears, those cute little tardigrades that can survive in space (for awhile) or be dormant like some plant seeds when there is no water.

IMO, if there is any chance that some form of life can exist, nature will find a way to create it. This ability of abiogenesis of living things from non-living chrmicals is remarkable and there is no reason why that process should not be possible on many chemically rich planets in the universe.

However, what about panspermia?
I did a little research on that for my sci-fi book. Yes, it's possible that life on earth could have come from somewhere else in the galaxy. There is even a remote possibility that it could have come from another galaxy.

I mention panspermia only to draw attention that while life on earth and especially its incredible variety is rare and therfore precious (especially to us), we should not assume a superior status in the grander scheme of things. Respect for nature is essential for good health of the planet.

But as it stands, the Earth is all we have and it is up to us to be good stewards to all life because it appears that every living thing has a some kind of function that enables other life to thrive.

Our own human biomes depend on symbiotic bacteria, the wondrous symbiosis of bees and flowers. The entire food chain which provides abundant food for all species. The cycle of life is a marvel of self-regulating mathematical functions and interactions. Only humans can screw it up!

what about panspermia?
What about panspermia?

What difference would that make to the concept I’m trying to express?

Can you explain?

Or are we playing sock puppet now?

we should not assume a superior status in the grander scheme of things
Who is doing that pray tell?

Actually what the heck does that even mean. Our human brain certainly is a superior natural concoction of unprecedented complexity and computing power - won’t find anything close to it in star cloud or black hole. Or?

 

Oh and let me head of the next sock-puppet,

Sure perhaps there’s another few planets out there somewhere with a similar story - but that’s totally irrelevant to this planet, in our time and place, since we have absolutely zero knowledge or evidence of it/them.

I am not disagreeing with you at all. The earth is the incubator of all earthly life on earth as far as we can tell. Thus the concept and term of Earth Centrism is perfectly acceptable to me.

I just want to draw attention that human intelligence is by no means the only direction animal sentience has taken and evolved . Many animals have superior abilities in certain specializations than humans… Bloodhound’s smell is hundreds of time more sensitive than humans.

It's true! Meet the bloodhound. Bloodhounds have a very, very good sense of smell. Researchers estimate that their sense of smell is at least 1,000 times stronger than a human's.
Eagle's eye-sight is much keener than human eye-sight
Eagle eyes Eagles and other birds of prey can see four to five times farther than the average human can, meaning they have 20/5 or 20/4 vision under ideal viewing conditions.Feb 24, 2012
Cat's whiskers can detect the slightest airdisturbance,
The whiskers are so sensitive they can aid the cat in detecting changes in air currents. ... By determining changes in air currents, the cat can avoid walking into an object. This ability to detect air currents also helps when hunting because the cat can detect the potential swift movement of prey.Feb 7, 2014
Octopus' (an evolved sea slug) may be one of the most intelligent ocean creatures, probably due to their physical frailty. They are as naked as humans.
"They are very smart creatures." Octopuses, some 300 species of which inhabit tropical waters around the world, can change colors, squirt out poison, and exert a force greater than their own body weight. ... Mather has been studying octopuses for 35 years in an effort to gain insight into the evolution of intelligence.Feb 27, 2009
Human intelligence has evolved in the direction of general abstract thought abilities. Primarily due to our physical limitations as far as brute survival strenghts are concerned. We're not strong, but we're clever and we can plan ahead.
Originally, large brains were thought to be essential for the making of stone tools, and this is why Homo habilis (skillful man) was thought to be the start of our Homo genus some 2.5 million years ago. But we now know that many other animals make and use tools. We also know hominins living 3.3 million years ago were already using stone tools half a million years before Homo evolved.

p.s. CC, over the years I have read all your post and applaud your efforts in the advancement of the desirability of an Earth Centric attitude . You have my deep respect on the time and effort you have invested in this worthy cause. The Earth is a jewel in the universe and should be treated with the respect it deserves as our ancestral home for some 4.5 billion years and our human home for some 3.6 million.

Just learned about this link.

Interesting link, as for your previous comment, you do appreciate that I familiar those various facts regarding the amazing intelligence of other species - I don’t denigrate any of that. I dare say having an appreciation for the fundamental difference between our Mindscape and the Natural world (Physical Reality), gets us a bit closer to appreciating that we are related to all those other animal in a way that an EGO-Centric attitude blinds us to.

 

Cheers,

 

Oh and keep in mind what I’m writing about is all about better appreciating our perceptions - more than any vainglorious attempt to describe the world.

I am in perfect harmony with your perspective…platonic

 

I love you too - and honestly I appreciate your challenges since I do feel I can defend what I’ve written pretty well.

And I want to defend and explain it, because it’s important.

 

It’s funny, for a long I figured once I started getting my shit together would be just about the time our society goes to shit.

Never though Social Security would be there for me, now I’m three months away from signing up, and it turns out I could be right. I mean the government can only print money for so long.

Well, I lost all trust in the future during the Bush/Cheney Administration and sadly the Democratic and liberal ineptness only reinforced it over years.

 

and then the phone rings . . .

Speaking of Physical Reality and Earth Centrism: I am a fish.

:slight_smile:

Here’s a great super short talk that may help put evolution into a better perspective.

Four billion years of evolution in six minutes | Prosanta Chakrabarty