Elessar
New
In this thread, Someone made the curious point that we are "nothing special" as a species. A viewpoint which I've seen before (usually from yes diehard materialists), and one which has utterly astonished me anytime I have seen it. [And deeply puzzled me too, in the same way that seeing "Take Our Country Back!" on someone's bumper does. From who, again?]
If I deeply consider the breadth of what we have created as a species, it utterly amazes me. Not only in terms of science and technology, but also in terms of arts, music, philosophy, culture, etc. etc. And if we bring in how refined our consciousness & awareness has become, well, that counts, too. Yes, we've also caused a lot of suffering and destruction as well, but for good or bad that has to be included also.
To say then that we are "nothing special" would fly in the face of a span of accomplishments which is utterly staggering. I thus have no undestanding of why someone would make such a statement, or the (ostensibly hidden) point they are trying to make by saying something like that. Seems like there are lot of unstated (or perhaps even unconscious) assumptions upon which said statement is apparently based (as appears to be the case with my bumper sticker example)...
[The "Rare Earth" hypothesis, although I alluded to it in said thread, is rather beside the point. Whether there is another technological civilization 100 ly away, or 100 million, wouldn't really diminish all of our accomplishments-they in the end stand on their own. Perhaps our most incredible accomplishment is to be nothing more than the luckiest species within X ly. But Rare Earth is a topic for another thread...]
If I deeply consider the breadth of what we have created as a species, it utterly amazes me. Not only in terms of science and technology, but also in terms of arts, music, philosophy, culture, etc. etc. And if we bring in how refined our consciousness & awareness has become, well, that counts, too. Yes, we've also caused a lot of suffering and destruction as well, but for good or bad that has to be included also.
To say then that we are "nothing special" would fly in the face of a span of accomplishments which is utterly staggering. I thus have no undestanding of why someone would make such a statement, or the (ostensibly hidden) point they are trying to make by saying something like that. Seems like there are lot of unstated (or perhaps even unconscious) assumptions upon which said statement is apparently based (as appears to be the case with my bumper sticker example)...
[The "Rare Earth" hypothesis, although I alluded to it in said thread, is rather beside the point. Whether there is another technological civilization 100 ly away, or 100 million, wouldn't really diminish all of our accomplishments-they in the end stand on their own. Perhaps our most incredible accomplishment is to be nothing more than the luckiest species within X ly. But Rare Earth is a topic for another thread...]