As I'm meandering through this Memes an"temes" lecture by Susan Blackmore on TEDtalks.com, I'm suddenly revisited by a thought from earlier this afternoon.
Overview of her talk
The basis for her talk is Darwin. She says that his theory --if it could be ranked (I imagine on some sort of game show, red rickter scale of impact)-- would be the all-time greatest idea of human history. Why? Because of its simplicity and yet wide-arching applicability of the theory on the way we think about a variety of systems. That's quite verbose. She said it better, mind you.
How Blackmore's idea relates to mine, if at all
Through the course of her speech, she fell into a digression of universal Darwinism and the like. The content of her speech didn't exactly link arms with my idea well, but she asked the supersonic question--'think it's possible? The greatest idea of a species...?' What a wild idea! The greatest thought in what, a few thousand years...
My idea
Mine is certainly not and I wouldn't want it to be the pan-ultimate thought. I'm not a humanist. I don't want to self-actualize anything.
But I wonder--How would the course of life be altered if the knowledge that this journey comes to an end, that people die, was never discovered (passive sentence structure, sorry I don't feel like altering it). Would daily life be any different? Would we ebb-and-flow without our mid-life what have you?
I wouldn't break this hypothetical down into a question like, 'Would I feel less bad about eating that cherry pie that's not on my weight-watchers list of tubular foods?', but as I think more and more about this weird organic idea, I do formulate some questions.
Perhaps I'd have more unanswered questions at the end of life if I thought being on Earth was an immortal experience. What if humans are driven to reach some kind of intellectual summit by the time they die? I do think a lot of people have this belief that they'll come to some conclusions by the end of life. But is that out of some necessity? Is that what drives some people?
What a strange product this blog has been. I hope you think so too. Essentially this is why I love the way my mind works when I'm in the woods. I don't get songs like "This is Why I'm Hot" stuck in my head when traveling out of the urban interfaces. I get ideas, and probably bad ones at that, but at least there's hope.
In conclusion, ProU blogger Mirandarae09 uses the phrase --"Why do you fear what is nothing more than you? Do you not know that you could never fail?"-- as a signature. I like that.
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While I don't really agree with Darwinism, I think it's an amazing concept. And I do think this is a very odd and interesting blog.
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Do you find it odd that you are not as strong as you once thought?
Do you mean that you don't agree that Darwinism explains the origin of all life, or that you don't agree that species adapt over time? I think disagreeing with the latter would be foolish, as it has been pretty well documented. On the former, there's a little more wiggle room.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
The origin of life part...yes it would be ridiculous to think species don't adapt
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Do you find it odd that you are not as strong as you once thought?
What if you peak too early?
:)X
I kid, of course.
I do agree with you on the human drive for answers. I think this drive is what some people call a soul. It certainly separates us from the animals. I'm pretty sure my assy cat (pictured editing my writing above) does not worry about finding the answers. He worries only about finding the next screen to climb.
Meanwhile, I sit and ponder the deeper meaning behind his screen climbing obsession...is it a metaphor for escape? Does he seek a wider world? What is the role of this one cat in the universe?
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
Didn't you know? Cats rule the universe. The screen climbing is a metaphor for the feline climb to the top of the universal pecking order. In his own way, he's communicating to you that he ranks higher than you do, so you should never try to bathe him and should always spoil him. ^-^
And that's comin' at ya' from yer local redneck hippie.
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Ooh, ooh, pick me, pick me!!!
Wow, what an interesting idea. I think that we really would have a much different idea about life and the way we should live it if we never knew we would die. So many people do things in order to leave a legacy, or for there to be something of them left when they die. Would we still build skyscrapers and amass large amounts of little green paper? Would we be in such a hurry all the time? Not knowing we could die could potentially alter all life as we know it!
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Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress. --Mahatma Gandhi
My Blog: http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/kablock
My PhotoBlog: http://takingpictures.wordpress.com
Among our gifts as humans are observation and synthesis of ideas and analysis of our experiences. We observe both life and death in our existence, in such a way as we can talk about it, remember it, plan for it, grieve when it is lost, etc. If we did not know we (and everyone we have ever known or loved) are subject to death, I submit we wouldn't be human.
What humans seem to have the most investment in is the drive to know whether there is some underlying "why" for our existence. I like your question, G.U. yet I wonder if another important thing to speculate about is, "would humans behave differently if they knew there was no life after death?" John Lennon's song, "Imagine" touches on this.. Taylorbad
"The person who defines Reality wins."
Rest in peace
yourfuneralguy
http://www.lowercostfuneral.com/rbrianblog
Imagine there is no heaven...John Lennon
Sorry but the reality is the bullet took him out of this world fast.
Tim Russert went fast--. Death Happens.