Another busy day.........
From: Dan Smith
Date: February 20, 2013 3:07:22 PM EST
To: Michael Kavanaugh
Cc: .......
Subject: Re: Acting Clueless at Harvard about "ideas that matter"
(cont......6)
Right the Cartesian wrong........? Sure, simply by supposing that mind is not unnatural!
This is how vitalism becomes panpsychism, and how panpsychism becomes pantheism.
Which is also to say that you and I are not interlopers. We are not rogue agents.
Does this then mean that the Earth is our home? Well, yes and no.......!!
What it does mean is that you and I are not the passive mirrors of nature......
I would suggest something a 'little' bit more proactive.......
Yes, finally, you and I are co-Creators. Is that just a bit too much to swallow? Welcome to a brave new world.....! Welcome to the participatory universe...... welcome to my mentor's world...... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Archibald_Wheeler
If life is not an absurdity, then it is participatory. The essence of every existence is a self-organizing, bootstrap reality. This is the oldest wisdom, and the newest understanding.
We have climbed Mt Improbable, just to find the fount of all wisdom. The knowledge explosion becomes our knowledge implosion. We live in interesting times.
Dan
On Feb 20, 2013, at 2:32 PM, Dan Smith wrote:
(cont......5)
If a tree falls in the forest, does it make a sound. Does ecology have a meaning without ecologists? Does sentience have a meaning without sapience? And so it goes......
Are we the Mirror of Nature? Does nature need a mirror? Perhaps it doesn't.
Does vitalism make any sense without panpsychism? Does panpsychism make any sense without a psyche? Does life make any sense? Or, is your utility nothing more than an obstacle to my utility?
Has the Modern mind run off its rails? When did that happen? Did it not happen when Descartes suggested that there was a disconnect between us and Nature? Why would any sane person suggest such a thing? Well, the answer is excruciatingly obvious......
Descartes put our cart before our horse...... He supposed that Creation was fallen. If you read that last sentence very carefully, you will know more about our environmental crisis than almost everyone else. That historical fact is what I've been struggling with, for the past 35 years. How can we set that right? All the King's horses, and all the King's men......
There is only one way to right the Cartesian wrong.......
(cont.....6)
On Feb 20, 2013, at 2:07 PM, Dan Smith > wrote:
(cont......4)
Yes, vitalism is my spiritual foot in the door of Modernism.......
Vitalism is nothing without that even more 'dirty' word....... teleology. If Utility won't hack it, then what about teleology? Am I suggesting that evolution might, pace every (professional!) biologist, have a direction?
Yes and no! I only and humbly submit, that life might not be an absurdity, clearly not for you, and not for me, but, more importantly, not for homo sapiens.
I am only suggesting that ecology could not have been complete without ecologists! And where is the spirit of ecology without deep ecology? Are we afraid to admit that we have ever felt a real connection with Nature, or that 'nature' even has a meaning. Meaning for whom?
How can we be connected with each other, if we are not also connected to the world? If we are not connected with each other, then how can we possibly share our ultimate concerns? If we cannot share those concerns, then what is the point of our communication?
(cont.....5)
On Feb 20, 2013, at 1:44 PM, Dan Smith wrote:
(cont.....3)
Ok, here is where I throw my (BPWH) curve-ball........
If we ecologists are going to have to depart from Science, in order to breathe fire into the Environmental movement, then, in the eyes of many, we would be making a big mistake. In particular, I point the finger at Jack Alpert...... my good buddy, and my primary antagonist, in the matter of spirit.
Jack strongly believes that saving the world is all about mutual utility. Well, I humbly submit that 'mutual utility' is an oxymoron. I have my utility, and you have your utility. If your utility ever gets in the way of my utility, just watch out.....!
I'm not the only one on this list to question the political pragmatism of RPD. It is a beautiful theory that runs up against some very ugly facts. Unless we are ready and able to adopt a global dictatorship, it is very unclear where the RPD 'rubber' will meet the road. Even the Chicoms are having to back off. No?
If Utilitarianism is not the answer, then all we have left is Vitalism! Is that a weak sister, or what.....?!
(cont.......4)
On Feb 20, 2013, at 1:16 PM, Dan Smith wrote:
(cont......2)
It is precisely at this point that Modernism receives its comeuppance.......
How can everything be connected and disconnected at the same time? And, in particular, where do we, humans, fit into the scheme of Nature? If we don't fit, then nothing fits. It's just that simple.
But, if we somehow do fit, then we must be willing to entertain some form of Vitalism! If you don't know that vitalism is a dirty word in biology, then you have been hiding in a cave.
Look, if we are to coexist with Nature, then must there not be some mutual respect, something beyond the simplistic, reductionistic notion that Nature Bats Last, that nature is genocidal?
Yes, we can take a purely utilitarian view of Nature, but isn't that what got us into our present bind? Must we jump through logical utilitarian hoops, every time we stoop to rescue a snail-darter?
Where would ecology be, without Deep Ecology? I'll tell you where it would be..... it would be soulless. And you wonder why we are losing the Soul wars? Wonder no longer!
(cont.....3)
On Feb 20, 2013, at 12:49 PM, Dan Smith wrote:
(cont........)
You see, when science argues against human exceptionalism, it only goes half way.....
What science is actually saying is that you and I are just accidents of nature, and, in fact, everything we see is just one big accident. You know the drill...... life is an absurdity in a meaningless universe...... history is a tale, full of sound and fury, as told by an idiot......
Perhaps so, but where does that leave us and Nature?
Well, it leaves everything disconnected, if not discombobulated. But this is not the picture that is painted by the ecologists. They see everything as being connected. Ecology has been a difficult lesson for science. It is my thesis that this lesson is not quite finished. I aim at nothing less than finishing the lesson........ Well, someone will have to...... If not Sunday, then Monday....
(cont.......2)
On Feb 20, 2013, at 12:24 PM, Dan Smith wrote:
Mike,
[.......]
Yes, here is a new thought......
Ecologists quite naturally suppose that Nature was doing just fine, until we, humans, made the scene, and commenced to burn every (natural) bridge (at both ends!), as if there would be no tomorrow. And now we find ourselves twisting slowly, in the cosmic wind.
What is wrong with this picture....?
What is wrong is that it harkens back to that defining moment in the rise of Modernism...... the Cartesian dichotomy between humankind and nature, which is also expressed as the dichotomy between body and soul/mind.
Science has amply demonstrated that there is no such division. What then of human exceptionalism?
(cont......)
p.s. Sam, here begings the outline of my talk.......
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