On the shared genetic memories between us, the cat and the fly | Aeon Essays
David Waltner-Toewsaeon.co
On the shared genetic memories between us, the cat and the fly | Aeon Essays
The teeming hordes of living things on Earth, not only in space but in time, are actually all one massive, single organism just as certainly as each one of us (in our own minds) seems to be a distinct human being throughout our limited lifetime... Each of us is, equally, an independent living human and also just one utterly minute, utterly brief un... See more
Maria Popova • Notes on Complexity: A Buddhist Scientist on the Murmuration of Being
Adam named all the mammals and the birds—so forging a connection with them that went to the root of what both they and he were. His very first words were the names. We are shaped by the things we say and the labels we give. So Adam was shaped by his interactions with the animals. That interaction, and that shaping, are simple historical facts. We’v
... See moreHuman beings are a part of the animal kingdom, not apart from it. The separation of ‘us’ from ‘them’ creates a false picture and is responsible for much suffering.It is part of the in-group/out-group mentality that leads to human oppression of the weak by the strong as in ethnic, religious, political, and social conflicts. Let us open our hearts to... See more
Human dominance is a fact, not a debate | Aeon Essays
“It would not be good news to learn that we are all roped together intellectually, droning away at some featureless, genetically driven collective work, building something so immense that we can never see the outlines,” biologist Lewis Thomas writes in The Lives of a Cell (1974). Humans understandably prefer to believe in their own agency, even if ... See more