Topic awaiting preservation: Organism's (Page 1 of 1)

I was just thinking how, in a way...we are just like all organisms that exist on this planet. If you will notice, all lifeforms can only exist in a limited range of temperature. Trees, bacteria, flues, animals, lions, plants, and what-not. Human are just like the rest of them. If our global average temperature were to say change by only about 20 degrees it would be a catastrophic event. Imagine if the temp. changed by 100 degrees, where would we be? Dead.

This just brings up for me the fact that we are all so similiar in nature. The clouds, the wind, the rain coming from the clouds. All inter-dependant on each other. And besides that we are all so insignificant. So tiny within this giant universe. So small, yet we think we are so smart. We are such smart-asses. We think we are always right, but what do we really know? We have not even traveled beyond Mars, yet we claim to know the inner-workings of the entire Universe.

Anyway, we are all, in a way, one giant organism which seems to constantly pull itself apart thru its destructive nature. Everything destructs. All creatures which create, also destroy.


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Well....yeah.

I've been trying to tell you that all along

The primary difference between most of those other organisms and humans is that we use other aspects of the environment to develop ways to shield ourselves from such problems. How do we survive in the cold? We made ourselves clothes and we figured out how to manipulate heat, energy, water, and so forth to our needs. No other organism known to us does this on the same degree as we do it.

And then again, this aspect of human-kind screws us over, too, because we overuse valuable world resources, like oil etc, to fuel our needs in society, and sooner or later (it's looking like it'll be a *lot* sooner, contrary to popular belief) it'll come to bite us back in the ass.

-Xel

GN, have you checked out the work of James Lovelock and the Gaia Theory? I found it to be a brilliant theory treating the whole planet as a complete organisim. It makes sense in a chaotic field of study, to me at least.




[This message has been edited by Taobaybee (edited 06-02-2003).]

Yup Yup Yup!!!


[edit]also if you think about other planets such as mars or whatever...it seems that either life has ended there or its simply developing, just like earth's life was developing billions of years ago...they claim to have found frozen water on the "north pole" of mars...umm I think it is frozen water with carbon dioxide....[/edit]


[This message has been edited by Ruski (edited 06-02-2003).]

Xel - Yea, that is true, but if the global temperature changed by 100 degrees, we would all be dead.

Taobaybee - Thanks for the link. I figured there was someone who had written something about this.

DL - yea. but this doesn't mean that there is not a spiritual power inbed in us that will allow us to continue on despite the absence of a habitable planet.

Which brings up an interesting point. Perhaps our souls keep reincarnating just because that is what they do. What I mean is, perhaps our souls are traveling spiritual beings that will live here on this planet until it is uninhabital, and then we will all collectively travel to another planet that is suitable for intelligent life, then we will take over that planet of monkeys. Perhaps this is some secret gaurded by groups like the Knights Templar, the Grand Medicine Society, and the Secret Society of Happy People.


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[This message has been edited by Gilbert Nolander (edited 06-02-2003).]

Taobaybee:
Good site and a fascinating theory. If the earth is a super-organism, a physiological system, then there could be some interesting interpretations to many current events. Global warming for instance. What does the human body do to combat an infection? Yep, we increase the temperature to cook the nasty little germs........

To take it even further. If the BigBang theory is "true" then there is a case for the whole universe being a regulated organisim. Uni being one. The interconnectetivity of each being with everything else in this (Omniverse)
My head hurts, I need cake.

I can't see my last post yet, but I don't think I included this link DaisyWorld As soon as I can i am going to try to make a similar model myself.



[edit] er,,that would be in about five years time by the look of the work involved

[This message has been edited by Taobaybee (edited 06-04-2003).]

GN: I think you might be a contender for the 'No Shit Sherlock' award at the Asylum's annual ceremony.

Also you said:

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Perhaps our souls keep reincarnating just because that is what they do.

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Perhaps they don't. Perhaps there is no such thing as a soul.

Xel: Birds build nests, hippos cover themselves with mud, chimps use tools, etc. we just do those things in bigger, 'better' ways.

___________________
Emps

FAQs: Emperor

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GN: I think you might be a contender for the 'No Shit Sherlock' award at the Asylum's annual ceremony.

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I already have a place on my wall for it.

And perhaps cows can fly also.

...but not before pigs!

Sure, we're all interconnected. I agree with a lot of your points too on this, GN. While I do think we are incredibly arrogant, I don't think we should discount just how "special" we are either. The reason we are the crown of creation is not just because of our physical abilities but of our cognitive abilities which in turn allow us to connect with transcendent powers.

. . : slicePuzzle

Bugimus:

Who says we are the 'crown of creation?' Must have been some human..... we know how arrogant they can be.

And as far as our cognitive abilities , I think Kurt Vonnegut may have been on to something in his book "Galapagos". So many of the problems in the world are because of our big brains....

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the reason we are the crown of creation

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WHoa there!

I know norm already said it but, but damn...
The whole point I've always tried to make is - in what way are *we* the crown of creation??

There are species that have existed since long before us, and will most likely exist long after us. There are species who have developed amazing capabilities to build and regulate their lives within their own bodies to do things that we need tools for.

Because we can sit in constant mental masturbation over self imposed images of how grand we are, does not mean that we are superior to other species.

Because we can create stories of gods tailored to place our own species at the center of the universe does not make it so. We have proven, as a species, that we are still nothing but an animal.

I know your point of view is there is nothing that transcends the physical meaningless world. But you know I think there is more to it than random processes. If that is in fact the case, then whether we think we are special or not does not change the reality that we are special.

It has always been my position that we are special because of our ability to do the very things you discount, DL-44. The fact that we can sit here and wonder about our existence is unique to any life form we are currently aware of. If we ever come into contact with others in this universe with those same abitlities, then I will include them in my description of sentient, human, higher order being... whatever we call it.

norm, as far as where it says this, well I'm a theist so it is just one of those accepted views of reality from that point of view. I suppose where I would be set apart from other groups who think we are the crown of creation is that I think that designation may not be limited to our particular species. In other words, if macroevolution actually happens, then given enough time I think it is possible for chimps or other species to be born with our abilities. But that would hardly be proven any time soon.

. . : slicePuzzle

Whether the process is random, divine or otherwise oriented is irrelevant. Whether or not there is something beyond the physical is irrelevant (please undersatnd though, to be spiritual does not by necessity imply "beyond" physical. There's nothing that says that the two aren't really just various aspects of the same thing...or that what you would call spiritual is not actually another physical part of our brain).

Point is, we weren't anywhere near the 1st species....it seems pretty certain we won't be the last.
Our species being the center of "god's plan" - assuming there is a god - just seems awfully silly. =)

Hmm...I dunno but what do you think of aliens? there have been alot of soviet documents and video tapes on witnesing the UFOs [I saw it on history channel] it also said that alot of soviet documents are still hidden.....


what could be those fast moving object in skys? maybe they are someone more superior to us?


just a suggestion

Yes, but superior how is the issue. Being more intelligent does not mean that a spirit is present necessarily. Take computers for instance. We will, actually have, created machines with far more complexity and ability in certain arenas than we can ever match yet we remain the only beings able to interface with the transcendent.

DL, it is entirely possible that the mechanism that allows us to be spiritual beings is dependent on our physical makeup. But that does not negate the existence of the supernatural. I am much more of the opinion that our physical makeup is such that it allows us the option of interfacing with the supernatural. This gets really confusing if you think about it too much and it relates to the other thread about what is a soul.

So, basically, Bugs, you don't think that any other animals besides humans
have the capability to interface with the transcendent? Why is it then that a
lot of shaman's interface with animals in the spiritual world? Animals must
therefore have access to the spiritual realm, which sort of goes along with
what DL was saying, that perhaps it is just a part of our physical brain. And
perhaps this part is present in every creature. Hum.


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How do you know shamans are able to interface with animals on a spiritual level? I'm not saying it's not possible, I'm just saying I am unaware of anything that would lead me to believe animals have the capacity to do this. It's not their fault, they just don't have the necessary equipment.

Also, please keep in mind that what you consider spirituality probably isn't the same as my understanding of it.

Here is a short description in case you didn't know what I was refering to,
I know this is not proof, but here you go --->LinK

As far as how do I know it works, well there have been many cases where
a sick person will go to visit a medicine person and then they contact their
animal helpers, and they get the answers to fix the problem that they know
nothing about, they just trust their animal helpers and pass along the message.
Like, for instance...some shamans are in contact with plants. They can actually
talk to the spirits of the plants and find out what plant will be most helpful in
certain situations, though they know nothing of the plant besides what the plant
spirit told them. Which goes against what DL said, since plants have no brain.
Hummmm.

Don't listen to me though, I am full of contradictions.


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Our species being the center of "god's plan" - assuming there is a god - just seems awfully silly. =)

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so now you know God has a sense of humor