The Incorrigibles
So much in the world that is evil. So much to sadden one. I wondered what Ayn Rand would think of it and write about it. She had such a high regard for what was possible for humanity. Was she right? I was sitting in my car looking out at Spring Bayou right off of the Gulf of Mexico when I spotted a dolphin chasing a bunch of fish as young couples strolled by, hand in hand and another couple were smooching over at a picnic bench.People are a strange species. They could be drugged, battered, starved, everything but murdered , but something inside them was always striving to live, to struggle out out of darkness toward the light. They are utterly incorrigible.
And yet, they persist.
There is something so powerful about sitting still and observing. I have learned so much just sitting with my mouth shut...haha...
We might be most amazing, deserving of being chosen...if we can keep it.
Ref: "Life is common in creation but Conscious Life may very well be chosen".
The Fight for Conscious Human Life.
Consciousness is like an atom. We know it's there, but we don't know where or actually what it's doing or how it's doing it.
We are the only one's, that have the ability to modify behavior willfully because it's the right thing to do... other living animals May do so only out of fear of consequence. That is not willful, it's instinctive and still unaware of the process.
All life is aware of it's environment but not aware that it is aware.
Again, have no idea where that came from in relation to dolphins...maybe it was the new age left?!?!
Or maybe it was an almighty space alien probe that started to destroy the ocean in its frustration to find those wonderfully bright whales.
The Enterprise had to go back in time to fetch a couple and to scare the hell out of whalers in the process. Me dino really like that scare the crap out of whalers with your big giant space ship scene.
Excuse me while I go converse cuisine with some upwind stegosauri.
But, the young are the future, we are the past.
The ongoing attempt to create a reasoning world reminds me of an ancient Russian saying, "Struggle is our brother."
We are stubborn, determined survivors, but we're also arrogant, which is our biggest flaw. Humans have a natural strain of narcissism that blinds us to danger and our tendency to make stupid mistakes.
If we can learn to subordinate our overblown sense of self importance and superiority, we just might stand a chance of continuing to survive for a long time.
There may be a few self-aware species, but none that can go contrary to their instincts. No horse, for example, would run into a flaming barn to save its colt. Charity, regret, remorse? I find it difficult to attribute those to animals other than man. We are better at exhibiting those qualities because for the most part we're the only species that has them with the possible exception of certain apes and perhaps dolphins. But even those may just as easily be exhibiting instinct.
I have watched video of a mother grizzly defend her cubs from a male grizzly 50% larger risking her own life. We can build a barn and the plows, tractors and combines but an animal not so much.
Regards,
DOB
With evolution of microbial life developing to more advanced creatures and ultimately to a dominant species. Al Gore points to the proof of the destructive results of those Martian beings . Those ancient Martians who were building , producing , growing economies pursuing happiness. They destroyed the atmosphere of the planet and caused a volcano to soar 72000" Into the Martian sky and cover thousands of miles with lava.
Selfish Martians did it all to themselves.
I don't think any animal could make that stuff up.
Just thought of one the sheep that cried wolf.
Crows, wolves, elephants, and other social animals have been observed conducting what appear to be funeral rituals for the bodies of their dead. I've personally witnessed a dog showing signs of grief over the loss of a companion animal several times in my life. I've witnessed animals bringing food to other animals that were injured or ill.
For a long time we thought we were the only users of tools, until we witnessed chimps using twigs to dig out termites. Then we said were the only ones who made tools, until we witnessed crows fabricating twigs, stripping them and twisting the ends into hooks to pull grubs out of holes.
I'm not so insecure that I must cling to the notion that we simply have to be supremely superior to other animals. Are we at the top of the food chain? Unquestionably. Are we so elevated a species as to be near deities compared to the lesser beings? Definitely not. Like I said, arrogance is our biggest flaw.
The bottle nose dolphins self identify with names, and greet others by their names. There's tons more we're discovering about these small cetaceans, and if we can decipher their language, it will be a promising step that could enable us to one day decipher the language of alien species we might find on other planets.
There's a whole new world of discoveries for you, and don't limit yourself to the primate family.
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we are the dominant species here and have taken over,
albeit spastically. . we are creative, persistent, devious,
energetic, ruthless at survival and also magical with
rearranging reality. . we can be good, and very bad.
we are often beautiful, and also awful. . but we are
here and we have the potential to continue for a
long time to come!!! -- j
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