[UUPoly-L] 1,000 made the Renaissance happen

[alan7388@comcast.net]

Eric,

What a wonderful thought and quote! I hope we can be such a catalyst -- and I'm going to hold onto that Paul Tillich quote. There does seem to be growing interest in "what we're up to," as Nan Wise put it at the Poly Living conference. (I think I saw you there but didn't introduce myself -- wish I had.)

If you're feeling jumped on about using the term "more evolved," here's why. Misuse of the concept of evolution is a hot-button issue for biologists (my wife is one) -- it's about like calling an astronomer an astrologer.  Evolution is purposeless and undirected. It is a random walk up, down, sideways, and back again, hither and yon, with even "up" and "down" meaning very little in nature -- only in human value judgments.

For instance, bacteria are the most "highly evolved" creatures on the planet -- by the *objective* standard of having gone through the *most evolution.* This is because bacteria have generations measured in hours or minutes rather than years or decades, so populations of them can evolve in months or years rather than millennia. This has been going on nonstop for billions of years. So why are they still bacteria? Because being a bacterium is a successful way to live! In their random evolutionary walks, most of them end up being nudged by conditions toward where they started, because being a bacterium works so well. The only direction in evolution is, "whatever works."

Advancement of human society has nothing to do with this. What you really mean by a "more evolved" society is "more advanced," or "improved," or "more highly developed," or "more humane," or just "better." These words carry the value judgments you mean to imply.

Cheers till we next get a chance to meet--

Alan

>>>>>>>>>>


Paul Tillich, Ph.D., a reknowned theologian of 50 years ago, once
commented,

     "What we call the  Renaissance was
                        participated in by about one thousand people."

        The Renaissance was an influential cultural movement which
brought about a period of scientific revolution, religious reform and
artistic transformation, at the dawn of modern European history. What a
jolting thought .... only a 1000 people out of several million, but
evolutionary endeavors often start in exactly that fashion, with a small
number of evolved souls exploring new territories of culture and
consciousness.........

If this interests you with the evolution of poly considerations and
possibilities also, check out this web site link of ours:
http://www.mariposagroup.org/current.htm

Cheers,  Eric