Subcultural engagement for the 21st Century...
Barbelith is a new kind of community (find out more)...
You can login or register.

Underground > Conversation >

Blame Ganesh

13:42 / 08.10.03

Justified Ancient's theory on life, the universe, and everything...

Look at life through the eyes of a single cell, should it have any (OK, so it doesn't... pretend!). It's small, very very small and is aware only of things at roughly its own scale. It sees other cells similar to itself, millions of them perhaps exist, all very similar but not exactly the same, but it is aware only of those within close proximity. Many will be different to itself. Should this cell be part of a larger organism, a cow for instance, it will be neighboured by such things as blood cells, muscle cells, brain cells, virus cells, bone cells and so on. A variety of shapes, sizes and functions, some moving about, others fixed into place to form tubes or bones. Yet this cell has no concept of the cow that it constitutes a part of.

Look at life through your own eyes. Compared to the universe you are small, very very small and aware only of things at roughly your own scale. You see other people similar to yourself. Millions of us exist, all very similar but not exactly the same, physically aware only of others within close proximity. Many things in our environment are different to ourselves. We are neighboured by such things as animals, plants, soil, water and so on. A variety of shapes, sizes and functions, some moving about, others fixed into place to form mountains or television sets. Yet we also have no concept of whatever it is that we constitute a part of.

The cell is a part of a cow that is a part of a species that is a part of a foodchain that is a part of life on Earth that is a part of the Universe and so on. You are a part of a species that is a part of a foodchain that is a part of life on Earth that is a part of the Universe and so on.

The cell has no opinion about being a cell, it has no idea what it is a part of. The cow has no opinion about being a cow and similarly has no idea what it is a part of. We have lots of opinions on everything but still we have no idea what we are a part of. Some just think they do but they are wrong.

13:45 / 08.10.03

I'm imagining you reading this out loud while I pretend to be an acorn growwwing up into a taaall oak tree.

13:49 / 08.10.03

Are you trying to poke the whole Socratic/Platonic thing about the world being the some of ones senses here or are you on the 'we are one in a literal, energy can neither be created or destroyed' pyschihcs way' here?
Our are you simply being all 'eeek, the universe is big'.

To quote Wacko from the Animaniacs:

"It's a big, big universe, and we're all really puny,
we're just tiny little specks about the size of Micky Roonie.
It's a big and black and Inky,
and we are small and dinky,
it's a big universe and we're not...."

Oh and I blame Ganesh as well. For being Ganesh, mostly.

Tryphena Absent

13:51 / 08.10.03

I blame Canada.

.

13:58 / 08.10.03

The signal to noise ratio may have been well in favour of noise on the old 23 board, but the signal was definitely high quality. Thanks for the nostalgia JAMM.

14:01 / 08.10.03

THAT was originally posted within an environment determined by some mind nazis (alpha the main protagonist if you follow the link) who deemed to tell us how the world really is

Yeah Ganesh, it sounds like you describe when I read it to myself out loud too but I still LIKE it.

The responses here are a lot more realistic than the ones it got over there...
pretentious twentythree board

14:12 / 08.10.03

Well Yes, that's because the 23 projects Highlight I believe was them ritually sacrificing a birthday cake.

Tw@s

.

14:32 / 08.10.03

Mind Nazis? Yeah I guess it did get a bit serious towards the end of it's life. The problem was that something they'd started as a joke turned sour when they started to believe their own BS. Still, embarassing though it is to read my old posts on that board, I had fun...

So how many people here on the 'lith were involved in the old twentythree.co.uk phenonemon then? At it's peak it must have had over a hundred posters...

14:39 / 08.10.03

so who were you on 23 .?

.

14:46 / 08.10.03

I'd love to tell you I was Alostrael...

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

14:51 / 08.10.03

Am I the only person who giggles at the phrase "full member"?

15:03 / 08.10.03

I see the atmosphere of secrecy that the 23 board generated STILL lives on.
You'd LOVE to tell me... but then you'd have to kill me right?

"If you play it in the filter, people will think you know.
I know this much for sure: I do not know. But does anyone know?
I have found in my experience that the ones that claim they know do not. They are either pretentious or they are liars. Beware!
We are all in search of the gnosis.
The best masters are students themselves."

I giggled too Chairman Maominstoat but, as it's now 1.32am here, I'm off to bed so enough of this 23 nostalgia.

Goodnight!

23:35 / 08.10.03

I always wonder how we dont know we are a small part of a whole, for example, similar to a blood-cell in a huge cow. But I think we're turning cancerous.