I'd get them to go look at the stars. To impress upon them that stars died in cataclysms unimaginable to produce every atom of calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium in their bodies. That fusion furnaces ripped apart atoms, even subatomic particles, so that individual photons could travel hundreds, even millions of light years through the vast darkness of the Cosmos, just so they could see them, here, now, this second. To impress upon them that life, any life, any intelligence, is so rare and precious, and above all so fleeting, that every scintilla is beyond price.
Intermittent postings from Canberra, Australia on Software Development, Space, Politics, and Interesting URLs.
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Monday 28 June 2010
A Thought for those feeling defeated
Some advice to those helping others who feel like giving up:
4 comments:
Anonymous commenters - please add a signature (doesn't have to be your real name) on each post of yours. Anne O'Namus, Norm D. Ploom, Angry from Kent, Demosthenes, or even your real initials, it doesn't matter.
Commenters are expected to be polite to each other, but the same standard doesn't apply to comments regarding me.
Australian commenters are very very strongly advised to publish anonymously. Sydney alone has more defamation actions than the entire USA and UK. Nearly double that of the UK in fact.
As Google does not reliably inform me that a comment has been posted, and I have no control over first publication, I assert that all comments are innocently disseminated under the NSW DEFAMATION ACT 2005 - SECT 32 and similar acts.
;)
ReplyDeleteVery well said, Zoe :)
ReplyDeleteVery nice thought, and it made my day!
ReplyDeleteI see things a little differently: stars don't actually die; they change state. Our Sun will one day become a white dwarf (it's not massive enough to go supernova). More massive stars will go supernova - spreading chemical elements throughout the universe, which may eventually lead to the formation of other stars. These massive stars will end up as neutron stars or black holes (which are really still stars). What happens when we "die"? That's the eternal question. Certainly our bodies will change state as they decompose and provide nutrients to the soil which will provide sustenance for other life.... etc. We're all a part of the cosmos - whether we're humble bacteria or massive stars or even more massive spiral galaxies.
just remember that ur standing on a planet thats evolving and revolving at 900 miles an hour
ReplyDeleteits orbiting at 90 miles a second so its reckoned ....
reading this and the last comment just got me thinking monty python a bit.
first comment by me but back off to lurking i will go
chelle