Astro Morality
I once thought that Science did not try to answer the questions of religion and visa versa. However, now I think that science has broadened my "spiritual" awareness and deepened my humanity and compassion. I understand that this may not be true for everyone, but allow me to demonstrate how my understanding of the universe, how ever feeble and tiny, has influenced my morality.
IN THE BEGINNING...
...As the astrophysicists tell us, billions of years ago high mass stars erupted. In this astro-evisceration their rich entrails charged forth from the fantastically brilliant supernovae. The very act of unfathomable cosmic disembowelment, through nuclear fusion and nucleosynthesis, gave birth to the elements themselves. The irony is almost poetic. So intricate a creation came from such a tremendous act of celestial violence. The most abundant elements born from the fury of the stars were the inert gas Helium, its periodic neighbor Hydrogen; as well as Carbon, Nitrogen and Oxygen.
These latter four elements form the basis of the ever rare and fragile phenomenon known as life. Every minuscule protozoa and every massive blue whale are made, mostly, of these same four elements that were conceived in the fiery death of those stars. As much as Homo Sapiens proclaim their uniqueness, they too are elementally composed of Hydrogen, Carbon, Nitrogen and Oxygen.
The other astounding fact is that the Universe itself is composed of mostly those elements In the exact same proportion as living beings. This means that not only are man, beast and plants part of the same elemental family, but also asteroids, planets, nebulae and stars. We literally are celestial beings, and we came from stars and share an atomic lineage. We are the cosmos, simply a more complex manifestation of its natural phenomena. Or as Carl Sagan so eloquently said " We are the way the cosmos can know itself."
On a slightly higher level of complexity, the DNA that spirals in our genetic codes can be traced in a fantastic unbroken line back to the most simple and primitive forms of life. The genetic similarities between Man and beast are abundant, very little separates us. Humans and Chimps, for example are 96% genetically similar.
Beyond our common genes, we share the vessel in which we collectively spin at tremendous velocity though the empty expanse of space. Most living things dwell in a tight net of interconnected symbiosis, bees do not live without the flowers nor the flowers without the bees. Furthermore, in spite of the lurching cosmic perils which beset the proliferation of life beyond our tiny blue marble, we maintain a precarious hold on this existence.
In the vastness of the cosmic plane which expands in all directions for millions of light years, physical matter as we comprehend it is the exception, and not the rule. Most of the universe is nothing at all, even on an atomic level, if an atom where the size of a football stadium, you could place the nucleus in the middle of the field and the first electron cloud would, roughly be at the first row of seats. Emptiness pervades all. Furthermore life is the exception within the exception. Not only is physical comprehensible matter rare, but finding life upon that all too rare bit of element is fantastically and astronomically exceptional.
To observe our relationship to the stars, our familial atomic ties to the earth, our common ancestry with plants, our bonded genetic brotherhood with animals, and our exponential rarity within the universe, is astounding. One understands the words of Marcus Aurelius when he said "Everything is interconnected and the web is holy. "
Within this perspective, isn't human divisiveness slightly juvenile? The programmed response to process difference rather than observe similarity seems ridiculous. Barring certain evolutionary benefits of seeing difference as a tool for survival, we have developed a certain level of competence in the mean time. Shouldn't this make us want to cling to fantastically abundant similarity rather than trivial difference.
When I make even feeble ruminations about the rarity and precious nature of life from a scientific perspective I am appalled at the thought of causing pain or undo suffering to any organism, human or otherwise. Though, understanding that creation rises from destruction , as in the case of supernovae and elemental genesis, I understand death is necessary for the proliferation of life. So, I call this my astro-morality, an ethic based on the knowledge that we come from the stars.
Posted by Marcus
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8:45 PM
4 comments:
What a beautiful approach to the human condition. Science says "we are rare, we ought to hold life sacred". Religions (or governments?) break us into tribes based on arbitrary gods in the sky (or lines in the dirt) and encourage us to treat 'them' as sub-human.
Yes, As the Biologist E. O. Wilson said, tribalism is the one of the greatest danger to the human race. Whether that tribalism manifests itself though religion, nationalism, socioeconomic caste, or whatever differing veneer we might have. It becomes the us versus them emphasizing our differences and discarding similarity. Naturally this leads to a great deal of discord, as is evidenced by man's endless history of war and violence.
Only Marcus could take the words evisceration, entrails, and disembowelment, put them together and make it sound all poetic and inspirational. Great stuff.
lol, thanks my dark wooly friend, I do try.
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