the Land of Nod:

big bang. Eden. great mystery: human life on earth

I enjoy, in a backwards kind of way, touching some of the primal orientations to human life: for example, Eden, the big bang, the great mystery. I should be clear that, for me, these deep and immense orientations are not on equal and secure footings. As one might say, I am a post-17th century human thinker – yea verily, even post-20th.^1.below Despite the gazillion questions I have pertaining to the big bang and its wonderfully obscure precursor, I take it as a profound and somewhat new construction made moderately reasonable/thinkable through the complex and diverse world of scientific investigations, new thoughts and theorizing—akin to a mooring line! (are we attached? unclear! do the ‘laws’ of physics apply/not apply to the deepest early—that infinitely small point-singularity), (hmmm, oh, for heaven’s sake—oops.) In a different vein, however, I see the Eden and great mystery notions as god/spirit-grounded mythic structures of earlier humans, generated to place themselves (and us by extension) in the god-created and managed world: existence as a whole in itself—under god’s plan/world. In this case, the mystery is, well, a mystery, not without fascination and wonder, but…! Eden is the god-world on earth, as one might say. Being east of Eden—the Land of Nod—is to be ostracized from Eden (we all know why), therewith from god in its entirety—new rules (if any), new life, new being: the entry of humanity into its current and transforming mode of existence. (Midway upon the journey of our life, I found myself within a forest dark, For the straightforward pathway had been lost).^2. What are the tools, methods, devices, synoptic sense and world within which we currently find ourselves as we try to sort our place, our existence, our nature and our relevance—in all there is? Pray, tell…

For me, there is a richness to many of the early mythic pictures and tales and they do provide us with images, emotions, values and perspectives that are deeply lodged in many contemporary societies. They thereby offer creative/imaginative and metaphorical ways to portray divergent ideas and questions about primordial being, which is one of my major interests. It is imprudent to denigrate metaphor, given its illuminating influence. Although I do not think there is one simple and straightforward device called the ‘scientific method’, I think that right now it’s the most coherent approach we humans have for advancing our common knowledge of the material (natural?) world, and we do so by undertaking the various methodologies and practices in the full range of the scientific world—want to know, go check! A sophisticated common sense! Myriad issues to be sure, not always tightly or well-packaged, but the most useful we have so far. We are presently in need of new concepts and thought frameworks to enrich and enhance our advancing grasp of human life in nature (a traditional word for everything). There is no going back, and mostly, a fog run, going forward.

^{* Sean Carroll, The Big Picture (on the origins of…), 2016: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Picture_(book)#Poetic_naturalism} : ^{2. Inferno: canto 1 (Dante Alighieri) https://www.owleyes.org/text/dantes-inferno/read/canto-1#root-422360-1}