tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7007270577478474724.post5729716340839612711..comments2019-08-14T13:05:16.713-07:00Comments on Voice of the Mountain: Kicking it at the Top of the J-CurveShawn Inlowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14394081528177227841noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7007270577478474724.post-91463503510894862012012-12-17T16:01:39.786-08:002012-12-17T16:01:39.786-08:00Another must read is Jared Diamond's "Gun...Another must read is Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs, and Steel." I believe that's the one he got the Pulitzer Prize for.Doug Wardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05404503583056292318noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7007270577478474724.post-23061163798984969262012-12-17T14:14:54.259-08:002012-12-17T14:14:54.259-08:00A human being has a natural desire to have more of...A human being has a natural desire to have more of a good thing than he needs. <br />-Mark Twain<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11105635742845585168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7007270577478474724.post-29552789850324941342012-12-17T13:12:05.495-08:002012-12-17T13:12:05.495-08:00Well, Matt. Great minds. I thoroughly enjoyed yo...Well, Matt. Great minds. I thoroughly enjoyed your response. See, it's conversations like these that just get me going and I thank you for chatting back like that. From the Permian Extinction to Jesus of Nazareth and the bottom of MY heart, thanks.<br /><br />siShawn Inlowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14394081528177227841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7007270577478474724.post-43968103778499913272012-12-17T12:52:08.963-08:002012-12-17T12:52:08.963-08:00Ah, dear wit, you've beat me to it!
After rea...Ah, dear wit, you've beat me to it!<br /><br />After reading your original reflection this AM before trodding off to work, my mind was racing. I felt a strange reaction in that, on one hand, I agreed with your views wholeheartedly (especially that about being torn between murdering and helping others), yet on the other hand, feeling the uncomfortable pang of a "Big Picture" blog not truly taking in the Big Picture. I thought to myself, can it really be so simple as a few "Big Men" ruining things for everyone else? I couldn't square myself with that. I couldn't accept that I did not bear some responsibility for the state of such things, or my friends, or family, or culture, or society in general.<br /><br />It got me thinking of some truly "Big Picture" stuff, like the Permian Extinction, for example. I thought about unavoidable circumstances, such as asteroids or volcanoes, coming out of seemingly nowhere and changing the course of life on earth. I thought about the fall of the Roman Empire, and how greed, overpopulation, religion, and corruption set humanity back hundreds of years once it collapsed. I thought about circumstances, natural and man-made, that impact our every day lives.<br /><br />I thought about how plant life millions of years ago pumped oxygen into the air, which at that time was poisonous to life, and ended up destroying itself, only to be replaced by something that had adapted to breathe the toxic fume. The oxygen-producers didn't know they were creating their own demise, they were just doing their thing, and it cost them.<br /><br />I thought about Rome, and how constant expansion was the goal of the Empire itself. The whole point of Rome was to get bigger, expand influence, create wealth, bring "civilization" to the world. And, it got so big it couldn't sustain itself (you know, like a housing bubble or a constantly soaring DOW Jones market), and it died. The Romans weren't intending on destroying themselves, but it was in their nature.<br /><br />Then I thought about us. Today. Maybe, we're the first life on the planet capable of understanding the fragile and complex ecosystems necessary for our survival. We were given the gift by our creator to master our environments, alter them to suit our needs and enrich our lives, but unfortunately we weren't given the wisdom to moderate ourselves. Moderation is just not in our nature. We're conquerors, controllers, manipulators. We're competitive, because we needed to be to survive, but we don't know when to stop!<br /><br />I rushed home after work to point out these "Bigger Picture" pictures, but before I could start I read about your "Ant Colony". That pretty much summed it up. And I think that's really the root of our problems. The difference being, of course, the ants in a colony don't know or care that they're in a colony. They only care about themselves, their colony, and their existence. My fear is the only difference between us and the ants is that we know we're in this colony, but we're still unwilling to do anything that isn't wholly self-serving.<br /><br />As you said, all we can do is go about and be kind. Cause hope wherever we go. It's a great philosophy, and one with which I couldn't agree more. Not exactly an original idea, though. Some guy from Nazareth told us about it over 2000 years ago, and it doesn't seem to have sunk in yet....Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03831502324139896080noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7007270577478474724.post-62227380974329825082012-12-17T12:50:06.447-08:002012-12-17T12:50:06.447-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03831502324139896080noreply@blogger.com