Friday, September 30, 2011

A Question of Existence

I seem to be on a rather philosophic bend at the current moment.  I have been playing around with the idea of trying to discover an essential ingredient that is the hallmark of reality.  I am well aware that this is a rather preposterous idea and can be filled with the unsightly evidence of hubris.  Nonetheless, I will proceed.

 

I attempted to strip away those "qualities" that are often associated with reality, but that I feel are essentially delusional.  There include:

·         The relegation of the creation, running and maintenance of the universe to some supernatural deity or deities if you prefer – a convenient device to evade further discourse entirely

·         The supposition that all events are somehow predetermined, or that things happen as, "their supposed to"

·         The belief in the absolute existence of good and evil and the inevitable conflict that occasionally erupts between these polar opposites.  So much of human literature both ancient and modern is driven by this underlying supposition.

·         The idea that biological evolution is somehow directed and that human beings are being "perfected."  I think that reality speaks an entirely different language.

 

Once I discarded these notions, I was left with what I believe is the essential ingredient of existence – the irrepressible unfolding of time.  All that we know and understand operates within this context whether it be the life and death of stars, the rise and fall of mountains, the collision of galaxies, the ephemeral existence of a may fly or the duration of a single human lifetime.  This seems obvious enough; precisely, for that is my point.    

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