*****
Hmmm,
I guess I find this sort of thinking...distasteful. I say that to begin with
because everything that follows is kind of an expression of my gut feeling that
saying "things are the way they are" is a cop out.
What is conciousness for, if not to change the environment?
Meaning = Effect.
Perhaps it is futile to save ourselves from "the final plop" but I would argue
that evolution requires a dynamic equilibrium, a "pressure". If one does not
strive for SOMETHING then stagnation is the result, and stagnant systems become
less stable and less compeditive. I will entertian the idea that science may
not be the best way to apply this required selection manifold, but to apply
none at all is folly.
Homo Sapiens are so phenomenally successful at surviving that many selection
presures on us have been removed. If evolution is to continue; if we are to
build more complex, adaptable, and better "fit" systems of culture we cannot
accept the world "as it is". We must strive to change it, even ephemerally,
temporarily...within the context of art and science.
We are what we do, and what we think. If we do and think nothing then that is
our meaning.
Reed
konsler@ascat.harvard.edu