We are a part of this chaos, not its masters, nor its caretakers. To say we are the only creatures capable of compassion is to elevate ourselves on a pedestal Nature does not recognize. The crocodile may carry its young gently in its jaws, and the antelope may pause to nuzzle its dying calf, but these acts, too, are not born of some selfless ethos but of impulses evolved to ensure survival. Compassion, even in us, is no purer than the physics of a falling tree crushing the undergrowth beneath it. It is Nature's practicality dressed in the robes of morality.
This notion that by choosing compassion we align ourselves with some grand system of interconnected beauty—this is human hubris disguised as virtue. When we care for each other, we do not rise above Nature; we merely enact one of its many mechanisms, one more strategy for persistence in the face of inevitable decay. The Earth does not need our care. She has endured extinction events that wiped out almost all life and reshaped her surface with volcanic fire and freezing ice. She will endure us, too, with the same impassive grandeur.
To truly perceive Nature is not to grok some intricate beauty but to confront the void, the merciless indifference, and to marvel at how, against all odds, life writhes and endures within it. Compassion, then, is not a gift we bestow upon the world—it is a small defiance, a trembling candle held aloft in the endless darkness. We do not save Nature; we survive it. And that is enough.
You are truly eloquent at speaking for yourself and your cohort's stubborn insistence on your ignorance.
For you, all these things are true, because you have chosen that perspective, and that is your inalienable right.
You can't explain the Placebo Effect, while you are proving the Nocebo Effect every time you try to argue against the truth.
The fact is that the last time you tried this, I addressed every single word you conjured up, so much so that it took a two-part reply. (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42330991)
In the words of Eugene Parker, "We'll see who falls flat."
And, in case you weren't aware, the "void" of the vacuum of space is actually filled with potential energy. That's because we're all one in this creation, all of which was created for us, the only beings here that can appreciate the sublime laws that interrelate space, time, matter, energy, and more still.
No, we are not its masters, just its caretakers, if we so choose.
You seem to be a religious fanatic. I didn't respond before because it seemed like just lunatic ravings.
You seem to argue against any natural order, against science, that 'nature' is ordered by the grace of god.
But then you quote a physicist?
What is the deal? How do you square this? It seems like someone that has read a lot of pop-science, and then use scientific terms to form some world description about how god is doing it all.??
Loving God means appreciating, at least to some extent, God's wonderful design of this mathematical universe, its mystery and grandeur, and the scientific structures of nature, which includes ourselves, and so much more.
I am not "Frustrated" my friend, and I'm not a "Monkey"; I'm a human being with a body whose body plan is based upon the mammals, specifically the primates, but with important differences. And I am happy because I understand how to live life and have done a fair job at living it.
I am open-minded and open-hearted and love you and everyone I encounter, and this is the result of decisions I have made and practices I have performed. And I share this with you all in love and respect and service, but it's only my responsibility to lead you to the water. I cannot make you drink, so my duty ends there, where also ends my concern.
What I am saying to you is that you cannot understand my perspective until you enter the Path of Love. I offer you this out of no desire for myself, only for your happiness and the happiness of those around you.
There's a reason you can not provide one cogent argument to any of my detailed responses to you, and Occam's Razor suggests why, and it has nothing whatsoever to do with me. Dunning-Kruger is instructive, my friend, very instructive, indeed.
I need a great deal of help. This world is overrun by a combination of the cruel and those indifferent to its cruelty. We need as many people as possible to learn how selfless compassion is the solution to all our problems.
As to help, I get it every day from a place you deny exists. And I spend all my time on this site helping others.
And you are deliberately misquoting me, please don't.
Once the ad hominems begin, I know the contest is over, the opponent's resignation has been signaled, and my hand is raised. If you don't like the bitter taste of your defeat, you can learn from what I've written here, and become a winner.
The key to the Dunning-Kruger true-experts is their humility. You should learn from that, too. We love you.
I repeat. Strictly speaking you haven't actually taken a position, or made a point, to argue against. I quoted back to you, your positions, just summarized. As I said, they are thousands of years old, and re-hashing them isn't going to convince anyone, otherwise why would people still be arguing about them.
The mishmash of science and Christian ideas isn't very coherent, and does not come off very well. You really do sound crazy. But, you do sound sincere.
So.
Let's give the benefit of the doubt to a crazy sounding person on the internet.
Let's assume you have had some mystical experiences. You've read some science, you've had some mystical experiences. Now, you are trying to grasp it, or deal with this experience. The struggle is real. To figure out what is going on in the universe and where you fit in, with this experience you've had. I'm assuming you are in the US, so grew up inundated with pop-Christian Dogma and propaganda that has very little relations back to the bible. You took that mishmash of US-Christian non-bible ideas, mixed it with some science, and now sound crazy.
All I can say is, Christianity will lead you down the wrong paths. It is a waste of time at best, damaging at worst. If you do need a Spiritual guide, or help, look to the East. Maybe Buddhism (not pure land), or Advaita Vedanta (hindu influenced by buddhism). Or even some William James (The Varieties of Religious Experience).
Technically, they are also wrong, because no religion/philosophy can explain reality to our little monkey brain, but will at least get you in the right direction. I repeat, they are also wrong, everyone is wrong. But, they at least have some non-damaging ideas. Try some meditation, focus on your breathing, go for a run, eat more vegetables.
This notion that by choosing compassion we align ourselves with some grand system of interconnected beauty—this is human hubris disguised as virtue. When we care for each other, we do not rise above Nature; we merely enact one of its many mechanisms, one more strategy for persistence in the face of inevitable decay. The Earth does not need our care. She has endured extinction events that wiped out almost all life and reshaped her surface with volcanic fire and freezing ice. She will endure us, too, with the same impassive grandeur.
To truly perceive Nature is not to grok some intricate beauty but to confront the void, the merciless indifference, and to marvel at how, against all odds, life writhes and endures within it. Compassion, then, is not a gift we bestow upon the world—it is a small defiance, a trembling candle held aloft in the endless darkness. We do not save Nature; we survive it. And that is enough.