Oh f@ck me....
All I need to say is :
The universe was made on purpose, the circle said. In whatever galaxy
you happen to find yourself, you take the circumference of a circle,
divide it by its diameter, measure closely enough, and uncover a miracle
-- another circle, drawn kilometers downstream of the decimal point. There
would be richer messages farther in. It doesn't matter what you look like,
or what you're made of, or where you come from. As long as you live in
this universe, and have a modest talent for mathematics, sooner or later
you'll find it. It's already here. It's inside everything. You don't have
to leave your planet to find it. In the fabric of space and in the nature
of matter, as in a great work of art, there is, written small, the
artist's signature. Standing over humans, gods, and demons, subsuming
Caretakers and Tunnel builders, there is an intelligence that antedates
the universe. The circle had closed. She found what she had been searching
for."
Nothing more is needed!
The universe was made on purpose, the circle said. In whatever galaxy
you happen to find yourself, you take the circumference of a circle,
divide it by its diameter, measure closely enough, and uncover a miracle
-- another circle, drawn kilometers downstream of the decimal point. There
would be richer messages farther in. It doesn't matter what you look like,
or what you're made of, or where you come from. As long as you live in
this universe, and have a modest talent for mathematics, sooner or later
you'll find it. It's already here. It's inside everything. You don't have
to leave your planet to find it. In the fabric of space and in the nature
of matter, as in a great work of art, there is, written small, the
artist's signature. Standing over humans, gods, and demons, subsuming
Caretakers and Tunnel builders, there is an intelligence that antedates
the universe. The circle had closed. She found what she had been searching
for."
Nothing more is needed!
posted by Tatiana | 4:53 pm
7 Comments:
I wonder if Carl really believed that... I can't imagine him being a proponent of the intelligent design theory even at a more abstract level.
Maybe that last part of Contact is there to show us what kind of evidence would take for a scientist to accept intelligent design and creationism as real theories.
Well he couldn't have believed something that isn't proven:-) However even in his other books, lets not forget Contact was his only novel, he did hint on a grand design, in the Pale Blue Dot and Science as a candle in the dark.
Nevertheless since nothing is proven nothing can be believed and in the end of Billions and Billions Annie Druyan says that when Carl died they looked at each other with the full knowledge that their love was dying dorever there and then.
It is not a nice thought, but then again the end of Contact is perhaps wishful thinking.
I wish the same as he does and it takes one hell of a mind to conceive such a brilliant design, human as it still is.
If there is such a design I am not sure we can comprehend it. On the other hand maybe if there is such a design it took steps to allow us to comprehend it.
I don't know:) And neither did he apparently but (let me quote Mulder here) I want to believe.....spiritual agnostic and all.....I find Ellie the closest I have ever found to myself and everytime I read the end of Contact I am in tears....for is such a design did exist.....and for if it does not.
Well, I am not so sure that I would like to meet the designer of this universe if he really exists! But let me explain myself...
The universe we live in is magnificent and beautiful in many ways. However what always bothered me was the manifestation of "evil" in the forms of death and decay. Death is one of the most awe inspiring forces in this world: the image of a dying star as seen through a telescope, the way a predator hunts and kills its prey, the way a virus can bring down an organism million times larger than itself. Death is a powerful force and you can even call it necessary because usually through death new life thrives. But this question must be asked: is this the best of all possible worlds? The great Leibniz certainly believed so but I think that the sheer terror a human being feels when confronted with death is solid evidence to the contrary.
So what would be the implications of the above if there is in fact a designer?
Gnostics believed that this world was created by an evil god and such a view certainly explains a lot of what we observe although it is most disturbing as a thought and really hard to accept. Maybe I prefer Woody Allen's take on this: "You know, if it turns out that there is a God, I don't think that he's evil. I think the worst you can say about him is that basically he's an underachiever."
I guess nothing can be too terrible if we can still laugh about it. :D
Well one cannot laugh at death....it is.....larger than us it is so sckogingly painful and impossible to accept without the hope of an after life....
We live our lives with this burden and never will we know the answer, it is awe inspiring what people have achieved even though they are aware of their death.
Death though is not evil. Better yet evil is something morally definable , death is not morally definable in its existence but only in its execution (murder for instance)
Death is ...the way the universe works and I don't think that evil is what defines it but necessity.
For us, beings with intelligence and awareness, this necessity can be perceived as evil, however it is not.
I too am afraid of death and cannot deny it. But the universe is so not-morally defined that I can only marvel at its amazing ways of existence and not bring it down to the criticism of the human condition.
But still it is hard. I never liked the gnostics btw they were soimething like believers on LSD in my book :-)
Well, of course death is not a moral evil, that's why I used quotation marks ;-)
In relevant literature death is referred to as a "natural evil" as opposed to "moral evil".
In a godless non-moral universe, death is not a problem, just like you said it is a necessity which you have to accept and learn to live with it, a hard task indeed.
However if you want to discuss the possibility of a creator then you must also discuss death and its meaning. The only reason I like the gnostics is because out of all religious people, they were the only ones who addressed the problem with some adequacy. Typical monotheists pretend that natural evil doesn't exist because it is incompatible with their all powerful - all loving god.
Well that depends on what you mean natural evil.....besidsw gnostics were monotheists they just didn't think (which I agree in principle) that they needed a go-between to communicate with their god.
However all this denial of pleasure and flesh and body etc etc...yikes....didn't like that....
I cannot perceive natural evil....then again I cannot perceive something greater than the universe so I thinki its natural:)
But how can you live with the reality of your passing and of those you love? I am still in search of that...
I think the passing of those around us is the most difficult to handle, I am at loss with that too.
However, there are some ways to try and cope with your own passing and the most effective seems to be religion since it is so popular for thousands of years.
Personally though I don't like the idea of an eternal afterlife... even if you are in heaven I can't imagine not getting tired eventually of your own existence. Knowing that I will have to endure myself forever and ever is just too much to handle. I prefer to deal with death in a more philosophical way... death is what gives life its meaning, if we had eternity in our hands why do anything? We would have all the time in the world to do everything an infinite amount of times so what would be the point?
What concerns me more is not death but aging and the gradual loss of mental and physical powers. When death finally comes I agree with Epicurus: "When we exist death is not, and when death exists we are not."
I also posted an interesting text about dealing with death here, have a look if you like :-)
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