think about the largest thing you've ever personally seen (other than the moon, sun, stars or planetary body). what is it? a skyscraper? maybe one of those gigantic hangars used for zeppelins? a sports stadium? a mountain?
now, compare that to the size of the earth. it's miniscule in comparison, right? i mean, the earth is humongous.
yet, we all know that the earth is dwarfed by Jupiter and Saturn and, of couse, the Sun. but, HOW dwarfed are we talking?
this should help with the scale. now, just imagine that there are stars out there that dwarf our own. and imagine the size of a galaxy. and imagine the immensities involved in a cluster of galaxies. or in a supercluster.
now, think about the size of our universe. there is no word in any language that can describe it's largeness. nothing even comes close (except MAYBE infinity, but that is a meaningless concept).
now, after all this thinking, how big do you feel? pretty damn small, huh? fairly insignificant? THIS is why art and science are necessary. both use different means towards the same end: shrinking the universe -- or at least our concept of it.
12 comments:
metaphor is the only way to understand that which we cannot grasp. such is the case with the 'god concept' and so forth. "jupiter is a golf ball compared to...."
it's the only way to place ourselves with meaning in such a vast inscrutable place as our universe.
nice post my man. shrinking the universe one poem at a time.
thanks, man. and you're right. i should've said that science and art use metaphor as the tool for shrinking it.
it's impossible for the brain to understand concepts outside of our earth. we really CANNOT grasp something like a galaxy. even the solar system is beyond our scope.
but, it is important to keep trying. i firmly feel we were NOT put here for a purpose. we are but a cosmic "mistake". i also feel we have no DUTY to create. no DUTY to understand. i feel we should because we can and because it DOES lead to a better life (knowledge is key), but it is not mandatory.
however, for some of us, it feels as if it is. art and science, for me, are mandatory. the thought of my life without either is impossible to realize. my life would be meaningless.
anyway, glad you liked the post and thanks for your comments. we are doing what we feel we need to do to further the human race. to shrink the savage heavens into something manageable. to make this life appear to have some meaning before we succumb to entropy.
and boy does it smell.
testing once again ...
fine post j.b.
"The most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible." Einstein quote.
great quote. i have bookmarked numerous quotes by Einstein. a brilliant human being. not just a physicist...a brilliant philosopher and could've been a genius of a poet.
thanks, Luis!
What was it that Wittgenstein said? "Every particle in the universe contains the whole of the universe"? I like that idea.
and like Ogre said in Revenge of the Nerds, was it II or III?
"What if dog was cat?" or vice versa
Glenn how about Australia?
They're doing well in the World Cup. Good luck on their next game.
good stuff...cat is dog, dog is god.
Glenn...good to have you one here, finally! and you and i've talked before about that quote. it's a great one. thanks for sharing it with us all!
“God does not play dice with the universe.”
wonderful Einstein quote,
like Bohr’s response though,
“Einstein, don't tell God what to do.”
another Bohr one I like is:
“The poet, too, is not nearly so concerned with describing facts as with creating images.”
It’s lifted from a larger quote from him explaining something about physics – or as I refer to it – that other maths subject I haven’t a feckin notion about.
funny...those are great quotes.
there is intelligent and then there are these polymathic scientists who have a fundamental understanding about the world that is beyond what most can even fathom, and it's not just physics or whatnot, it's the whole of human experience.
good stuff...thanks for sharing, buddy.
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