Natural selection
Dear Monty,
My friend Charles Hawes in his excellent blog : charleshawes.veddw.com wrote in reply to a comment on a post; that God is good with planting but not with people.
Maybe the issue is that people are not good with God ?
Nature is beautiful but can also be ruthless and cruel (if humanistic values are applied). We think that death for us is somehow unjust, but we see that in nature it is part of the cycle of this living planet. We can accept the science of natural selection for flora and fauna but seem unable or perhaps unwilling to see that it also applies to us.
We strive to find ways of living longer, despite the fact that the earth is beginning to groan under the burden. Horizon on the BBC this week explored how technology will allow us to monitor all aspects of our health, one scientist even suggested that we all be chipped, this suggestion seems to have been put forward in the belief it would be for our 'good' !
The trouble with rigorous scientific knowledge and know how is that it can be empty of the beautiful flaws that make us human - and nature natural.
Mary Keen, the garden writer illustrated this divide between the acceptance of flaws and the desire for control and order in her response to a blogpost that criticised her garden for not having year-round interest and a 'perfect' lawn.
I suppose we are all so different, but there is something of an unsettling undercurrent in our inability to be comfortable with imperfection.
I am in the midst of a form of natural selection, I am trying to select some paintings for www.monmouthshow.co.uk. It is getting ever closer, the anxiety rises...will people like and even buy my fresco's ?
I will just accept what comes.
Paul
My friend Charles Hawes in his excellent blog : charleshawes.veddw.com wrote in reply to a comment on a post; that God is good with planting but not with people.
Maybe the issue is that people are not good with God ?
Nature is beautiful but can also be ruthless and cruel (if humanistic values are applied). We think that death for us is somehow unjust, but we see that in nature it is part of the cycle of this living planet. We can accept the science of natural selection for flora and fauna but seem unable or perhaps unwilling to see that it also applies to us.
We strive to find ways of living longer, despite the fact that the earth is beginning to groan under the burden. Horizon on the BBC this week explored how technology will allow us to monitor all aspects of our health, one scientist even suggested that we all be chipped, this suggestion seems to have been put forward in the belief it would be for our 'good' !
The trouble with rigorous scientific knowledge and know how is that it can be empty of the beautiful flaws that make us human - and nature natural.
Mary Keen, the garden writer illustrated this divide between the acceptance of flaws and the desire for control and order in her response to a blogpost that criticised her garden for not having year-round interest and a 'perfect' lawn.
I suppose we are all so different, but there is something of an unsettling undercurrent in our inability to be comfortable with imperfection.
I am in the midst of a form of natural selection, I am trying to select some paintings for www.monmouthshow.co.uk. It is getting ever closer, the anxiety rises...will people like and even buy my fresco's ?
I will just accept what comes.
Paul
Do these comments I write from my phone ever get through? I am always touched and surprised when you make reference to my blog. I bet Monty is pleased, too. I think there is a power imbalance between god and man. I don't think we should anthropormorize the earth. We live here, breed, do stuff. Where's the problem? I have spelling problems but I've lots of o levels and 2 degrees.
ReplyDeleteWell that puts me in my place ...2 degrees !? No problem with your comment getting through Charles, just that I only do this blogging lark on one of them old fashioned laptop contraptions.
DeleteDo these comments I write from my phone ever get through? I am always touched and surprised when you make reference to my blog. I bet Monty is pleased, too. I think there is a power imbalance between god and man. I don't think we should anthropormorize the earth. We live here, breed, do stuff. Where's the problem? I have spelling problems but I've lots of o levels and 2 degrees.
ReplyDeleteHaha. I haven't decided what your place is. Have you?
ReplyDeleteNo I haven't, I just exist today and that is as much as I know !
DeleteWell they liked a lot, but unfortunately didn't translate that into buying, which means an ever increasing collection of paintings at home. Sue was pleased though as she missed some of them and was glad to see them back on the wall.
ReplyDelete