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| The Eagle Nebula |
“Again and again across the centuries, cosmic discoveries have demoted our self-image. Earth was once assumed to be astronomically unique, until astronomers learned that Earth is just another planet orbiting the Sun. Then we presumed the Sun was unique, until we learned that the countless stars of the night sky are suns themselves. Then we presumed our galaxy, the Milky Way, was the entire known universe, until we established that the countless fuzzy things in the sky are other galaxies, dotting the landscape of our known universe.
Today, how easy it is to presume that one universe is all there is. Yet emerging theories of modern cosmology, as well as the continually reaffirmed improbability that anything is unique, require that we remain open to the latest assault on our plea for distinctiveness: multiple universes, otherwise known as the “multiverse,” in which ours is just one of countless bubbles bursting forth from the fabric of the cosmos.” ― Neil deGrasse Tyson, Cosmic Horizons: Astronomy at the Cutting Edge
I am never in fear of the great unknown, only that in our desperate need to cling to superstitions or comforting fables we may be too ignorant to recognize it once it is revealed to us.
These are the thoughts which trouble me and create concern for the future of our planet, and the future of our species.Yet if we can allow our minds to open, and welcome new information in, then there are no limits to what we can achieve.
Namaste my friends.
Gryphen, I know you view this as evidence of no higher power and I view it as a masterpiece wrought by a higher power, but it's nice to know we can both enjoy the breathtaking, inescapable, glorious beauty which surrounds us all.
ReplyDeleteGryphen, I echo Nyah. When you blog these things to us in my mind I see just how really limitless our God is in the multiverse around us. How sad it is that the "so called Christian elite" have limited the power of God or a higher power to their superstitious and dis-empowering mindset. How sad it is! I love it when you quote Neil deGrasse Tyson; what a brilliant man. Keep up the good work by keeping science alive as the ignorant in our country are destroying it and taking us into the dark ages again.
DeleteAnd this too:
ReplyDeleteA Beautiful Day….
http://theobamadiary.com/2012/08/08/a-beautiful-day-3/
and the beautiful people who know a SHINING HUMAN STAR when they see one.
Nice.
ReplyDeleteBut, why does man, who comes from this great universe, rely on comforting fables or clings to superstitions? One thing we can't deny is that mankind has sought purpose; spiritual quests are part of man's inner need; and when the slow drip drip drip of evolution gives little answers, men crave a force, a creator, that gives them a reason to exist.
The photo of the Eagle Nebula gives me goosebumps; and it goes on and on, one maybe two or three or millions of universes are out there.....it really hurts my brain, anyway, I am thankful we all share this tiny planet together, G. and the commenters here.
I still believe in God too.
But the universe - Who started it? Did it always exist? All we know is beginning and end, and the universe just won't disclose where it started or IF it started. OK, now I'm going to slip into slumber and pray (hopefully I'll get heard) that we get answers and that the creator of that great awesome universe reveals more of Himself to us all. Nighty night!
Anyone who has felt love has felt something immeasurable. It cannot be quantified yet no one seems to doubt that love exists. Sound familiar?
DeleteAnd I officially nominate the always awesome Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson to be the first Secretary of Space Exploration in President Obama's second term. This new cabinet-level department will be funded solely from Defense Department funds redirected from wasteful and unnecessary weapons systems.
ReplyDeleteYessir, Beldar, I like that thought. It bears merit on many levels!
DeleteLet us remember though, as we drift off into the realm of dreams, that whatever we believe doesn't make a bit of difference to the multiverses.
No matter how we may want to hold onto permanence, the only constant is Change.
Gute Nacht fromthediagonal
O/T
ReplyDeleteSusan G. Komen Founder Nancy Brinker To Leave CEO Role
I call this a day late and mega-millions of dollars short. That she's still keeping her 'hand in the pie' still means the mega salaries and expense wastage will exist. The continuation of 'Pink Stink for Profits' continue. Therefore -- nothing has changed. She and the others will continue to use the foundation as their gravy train.
The best comment I read:
"By stepping down as CEO she is just re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/08/susan-g-komen-nancy-brinker_n_1758344.html
Pink is a fav color of mine but I have not bought one item with tags attached stating contributions to the Foundation in that you'd be lucky if 5% was donated. It was exposed as you recall, that most items were produced by corporations for profit with the appearance of caring.
I will continue to make my donation direct to Planned Parenthood! As in the words of the Romney Etch-A-Sketch Man -- Komen Foundation can 'Kiss my Ass'!!!
I am feeling so much love and positive thoughts. Thank you Gryph. There IS life out and about. We may or may not achieve our greatest potential,but perhaps someones other may do better. How exciting and encouraging. Mucho Gusto! Michele/mermaid
ReplyDeleteI like to think I can keep my consciousness through all eternity, improving my knowledge and refining my soul. But, I will accept whatever comes.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Gryph, your comments always give me hope that there are more people who think the way you do than I ever have the temerity to believe.
ReplyDeleteNamaste my friend. Thank you.
Well said, Annie. Thanks, Gryphen, as always.
Deletedirty deeds joan jetthttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-312lVPnhY&feature=related
ReplyDeleteWonderful way to end the day. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful way to end a day!
ReplyDeleteMy dad used to teach us about the mysteries in the night sky and the wonders of the endless universe. We followed the Hubble project and were floored by the images. I find it mind boggling, awe inspiring and very comforting.
Two of my favorite things, combined
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsuSCwTdxOo
Though now it might need to be updated from "universe" to "Omniverse".
Namaste and Jai Guru Deva. Om.
Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup,
ReplyDeleteThey slither while they pass, they slip away across the universe
Pools of sorrow, waves of joy are drifting through my open mind,
Possessing and caressing me.
Jai guru de va om
Nothing's gonna change my world,
Nothing's gonna change my world.
Images of broken light which dance before me like a million eyes,
That call me on and on across the universe,
Thoughts meander like a restless wind inside a letter box they
Tumble blindly as they make their way
Across the universe
Jai guru de va om
Nothing's gonna change my world,
Nothing's gonna change my world.
Sounds of laughter shades of earth are ringing
Through my open views inviting and inciting me
Limitless undying love which shines around me like a
Million suns, it calls me on and on
Across the universe
Jai guru de va om
Nothing's gonna change my world,
Nothing's gonna change my world.
A beautiful nursery of stars! On dark winter nights we can enjoy viewing a "star nursery" even from Alaska. Go outside and look for the middle "star" in Orion's belt; that is the Orion Nebula where many stars are being formed. The Pleiades is another example to be viewed by naked eye or better yet with binoculars from AK. It looks like a "tiny dipper" and with binoculars you can see many more stars and some of the gas that is still present in this star nursery.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you posted this, Gryphen! I was feeling so nebu-less!
ReplyDelete[I'll be here all week :-)]
I'll be back for the 10 o'clock show!
DeleteYour arrogance is beyond insulting to people of faith. You are completely intolerant, and yet you infer we are closed minded. Huh?
ReplyDeleteNo, arrogance is telling innocent young children that you have discovered the one true faith, and that if they want to live forever they must do exactly as you tell them, and if they do not they will be punished for all eternity.
DeleteArrogance was coming to Alaska and determining that the native communities religion was nothing more than an inferior primitive superstition. And then blaming their inability to fight off the diseases brought by white men on their lack of Christian faith,and then using that to pry their children away from them to be sent to Christian schools in the lower forty eight, where they were beaten for speaking their native tongue and raised in hot climates with no access to their culture or traditional way of life, until they comported themselves like good little Christian boys and girls. After which they were allowed to return to their villages with absolutely no ability to communicate with their people nor survive in the harsh Alaskan climate. (http://tinyurl.com/9t3eldo)
All I stated was my concern that our need to cling to comforting fables and time honored superstitions might make us hesitant to accept new and important revelations about our universe and our place within it, which history has demonstrated we are prone to do time and time again.
You tell me again how I'm the arrogant one.
Oh, Gryphen thank you so much for putting into words what harm religion has actually done to "native cultures" all around this beautiful world. Just as "christian missionaries" continue to travel the world and spread "the word of god" without taking into account what time tested traditions that other cultures may enjoy. This is one of your best explanations of the dangers of christianity ever! Cultures all have their own faiths and it is the highest example of hubris for christians to think that theirs is the one and only faith.
DeleteHi, I am a different but equally irritated reader. You are clearly referring to our faith as one that to your mind is based on fables and superstition.
DeletePlease. Get. Over. Yourself.
As a Christian, I am awed by the magnificence of our universe and its boundless frontier, as well as disgusted by horrific repression done in the name of religion, so stop acting like you are the only one with those views. Or you and your non-religious friends... You don't have a monopoly on these ideas. Many people of faith share them with you.
I will tell you again - you are arrogant. Sorry you and your daughter were traumatized by local churches. They sound like bad ones. Stop generalizing based on your own personal experience.
Like people keep telling you, you need to get out of AK more. It may be beautiful, but there's a lot of ugly too.
Hey, if god took into account ALL of his children, in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres when he put forth his word to be written into the christian bible then why do biblical tales such as Easter (time of christ's resurrection and coinciding with the Northern Hemisphere Spring) and jesus's birth (time of the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere) always correspond to seasonal events in the Northern Hemisphere? Oh wait, what am I saying? Most christian allegories are tied to Pagan rituals that are based in the Northern Hemisphere because the christians tried to tie in those Pagan rituals in order to bring over the Pagan folks. Suffice it to say, all of those tales are Northern Hemispheric in nature because when these tales were written, both Pagan and christian, no one knew that the world was round and there was an entire Antipodean world south of the Equator that had reverse seasons. Wouldn't you think if there was a god he would have taken this into account? Nope, all tales of bible are based on the Northern world and never consider anything South. God should have know if he made the Earth and us, right?
DeleteGryphen,
DeleteThe problem in your arrogance is that you see all people of faith as the same, and we are not. For instance, and I am not unique, my children have been encouraged to find their own path from a point of knowledge about many beliefs. Your constant inference that people of faith are close-minded and anti-science is very wrong. Just because those things are incompatible in your mind, it doesn't mean everyone thinks the same way as you.
Again I say, namaste my ass. You are totally intolerant of differing views from people of faith. At least that is how you come across.
Wakeup - Gryphen is not denying your right to believe what you want to believe.
DeleteBut since the first caveman (not named Adam, by the way) discovered he could bash his neighbor's head in with a rock, the cumulative tally of people killed for not converting to an established religion versus people killed for not converting to atheism is millions to zero and rising every day.
Seems like a pretty a pretty good argument for non-belief all by itself.
May Zeus bless you.
Beldar,
DeleteNo he is not denying my right to believe what I want to believe. He is ridiculing and misrepresenting my beliefs. That's where the arrogance and intolerance comes in. He paints all of us as religious zealots who would poison children's souls and kill non believers.
Aurora season is here! Nice photo from Fbx last night on Spaceweather.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.spaceweather.com/
This is the Perseids season, and it is suppose to be spectacular this year with about 80 meteors per hour on the 11th and 12th. I watched three meteors tonight as I filled the horses water troughs. They're viewed best after the moon sets.
ReplyDeleteReligiosity Plummets In Ireland And Declines Worldwide; Atheism On The Rise
ReplyDeleteAccording to the poll released by WIN-Gallup International, the traditionally Catholic country has seen one of the steepest drops worldwide in religiosity.
The poll -- which was based on interviews with more than 50,000 people selected from 57 countries -- asked participants, "irrespective of whether they attended a place of worship, if they considered themselves to be religious, not religious, or an atheist."
In Ireland, only 47 percent of those polled said they considered themselves religious -- a 22-point drop from the 69 percent recorded in a similar poll conducted in 2005. In addition, 10 percent self-identified as atheist.
The only country that registered a steeper decline in religiosity was Vietnam, which saw a 23-point drop from 53 percent to 30 percent.
However, Ireland and Vietnam were not unique in this dip in faith, Reuters notes.
According to the global index, there has been a notable decline in religiosity worldwide.
Across the globe, religiosity fell by 9 points. The number of people worldwide who call themselves religious is now 59 percent, while those who identify as atheist rose from 4 percent in 2005 to 7 percent.
The U.S., France and Canada joined Ireland on the top-10 list of countries to have experienced a "notable decline in religiosity" since 2005.
The number of people in the U.S. who self-identify as religious dropped 13 points to 60 percent. In addition, 5 percent of Americans declared themselves atheists, an increase of 4 points since 2005.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/08/religiosity-plummets-ireland-declines-worldwide-atheism_n_1757453.html
This is beautiful and I agree with most except I don't find it comforting! I find it really terrifying. Fables would be so much easier to swallow.
ReplyDeleteI agree but I find it all so terrifying! I wish I believed in fables.
ReplyDeleteGruphen, I have posted on your blog a belief that the scientific method is the path toward a better future for humanity. I was attacked by the same regular poster who attacked you. That poster has often posted opinions I have agreed with. But when it comes to this subject, goes all batshit crazy. Why is WUA so threatened by discussions of this type? There is absolutely nothing arrogant about what you expressed here.
ReplyDeleteI'm batshit crazy? Oh my!
DeleteBecause I object to the intolerance and belittling of people of faith, I'm batshit crazy? Because I object to all people of faith being painted with the same broad brush, I'm batshit crazy? Wow. Just wow.
Have you ever heard me belittle someone for being an atheist? No, I believe everyone should be given room to explore their own paths in life as long as they don't harm others. There is a big difference between the Christo-nazis and the rest of us. I try to follow Christ's teaching as best as I can. I don't impose my beliefs on others or oppress non-believers. I don't think I am better than an atheist. I recognize the good in others whether they are atheists, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists etc.
Batshit crazy. (eyeroll)
Anonymous 10:05 PM wrote:
ReplyDeleteSuffice it to say, all of those tales are Northern Hemispheric in nature because when these tales were written, both Pagan and christian, no one knew that the world was round.
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No one knew the world was round? Sounds as if you've bought into the flat earth myth. A little checking on the internet can tell you when various cultures understood the earth was spherical. It was earlier than you seem to think.
Just in case we all get too enthralled with the beauty of space beyond space, I read that Grover Norquist, who has never held an elective office but who seems to dictate the opinions of the GOP, has announced that the landing on Mars is basically a waste of time and money. NASA should have put him on board and dropped him off - maybe he could reactionary-ize the Martians. I'd love to know what the GOP would do to any private citizen Democrat who tried to control the entire national debate the way this kook has.
ReplyDeleteBeaglemom