David

Happy Holidays!

Friday, December 26, 2008 8:15:50 PM

May your body be warm and dry, your belly full, and your heart filled with joy and love this holiday season.

It is a time of year when we traditionally reflect on past, present, and future outcomes for ourselves and for the rest of humanity. In these troubled times, it is all too easy to get so caught up in the tragedies and horrors going on worldwide, that we lose our perspective. Remember that peace is not the natural state of things in a world of ‘survival of the fittest’. It is a construct of our imaginations, and is one of the things that are unique to humans among the organisms that inhabit planet earth. To help you keep things in focus, take a minute to view the following film clip. It has an artifact in a few frames, but is well worth your time:

Graduation dayA Forecast?

Comments

Dacotah # Friday, December 26, 2008 8:44:13 PM

Hope you had a Merry Christmas David.
Happy New Year.

Stardancer # Friday, December 26, 2008 9:12:23 PM

Happy Holidays!

Angelikiellinidata # Friday, December 26, 2008 9:54:03 PM

Merry Xmas David,
Best wishes to Mrs Ravo too!

no mater how many times I watch this video,
I still feel that deep responsibility as a parent
to teach my two kids
right,
for them
to be the parents of a generation that will experience a 0 Civilization become an 1 and not the parents of an arrogant group that will turn an 1 civilization to zero....

Technology it's wonderful and if it is used right the future of our grandkids it will be right too!

thanks for sharing
and I love you

Anonymous # Saturday, December 27, 2008 2:49:44 PM

MotherNature writes: Reminds me of this burning question: Would the natural world be better off without man?

DavidRavo # Saturday, December 27, 2008 5:03:08 PM

Hi Anonymous,
Thanks for visiting my blog. Only 'Natural Man' fits into the 'Natural World'. We left that stage after the ice ages, and now we should consider leaving the planet as well, and let life and the evolution of its lifeforms proceed as normal.

Hi Angeliki,
Thanks for the visit! Only through our children can the needed advances occur. Our generation will waste itself dealing with one catastrophe after another...

Happy Holidays Carol and Stardancer. I hope next year is the best one yet for you!

Angelikiellinidata # Saturday, December 27, 2008 7:18:48 PM

I know it might sound silly to many,
but when my kids were small I was teaching them the alphabet,
now I teach them how to tend a garden....

Dacotah # Saturday, December 27, 2008 7:53:35 PM

Thank you David.

Anonymous # Saturday, December 27, 2008 8:41:21 PM

East vs West writes: It is my opinion that mankind (whose actual time on this planet is miniscule compared to other species that have gone extinct) is on his way out. And some of our egoists want to do a little damage on their way out ie., Man's dominion over the earth B.S. The Western mind cannot comprehend this actually happening. The Eastern mind only has to look at nature to see all is cyclical. But don't tell that to our Christian, one-shot deal types. They are stuck in that beginning and ending nonsense.

Angelikiellinidata # Saturday, December 27, 2008 10:36:00 PM

"ego" has no Nationality,religion or gender... we are all guilty,and when I say "we" I really mean all of us !

DavidRavo # Saturday, December 27, 2008 10:36:50 PM

Hi, East vs West,
Well, for every yin there is a yang, I guess.

Who's to say we are the first pass at this by Mother Nature here on Earth? We may be the second or third iteration. In any event, we are the iteration that counts.....

DavidRavo # Saturday, December 27, 2008 10:45:03 PM

Hi Angeliki,
Every morning, I leap out of bed, landing lightly on the tips of my toes, and commence to preen my ego in front of the mirror. (I have mirrors on all of the walls and ceiling). Then I wake my wife by saying, "Aren't you glad to see me this morning?". As she chases me around the house, I get my aerobic workout. Life is good!

Angelikiellinidata # Saturday, December 27, 2008 11:01:28 PM

David,
I admire your wife for putting up with all these s@@@! my best regards and hugs to an behind the scenes hero, Mrs Ravo

yes, life is good David,
and you are precious too!!!
" she chases me around the house "
just watch the corners of the furniture,they can do some serious damage to ones toes ...

Anonymous # Saturday, December 27, 2008 11:18:17 PM

The way it is writes: Man is the only animal that poisons its own drinking water. And this plus perpetual warfare is the reason why man is on his way out.

DavidRavo # Sunday, December 28, 2008 12:30:09 AM

Hi, The way it is.

"I teach you the Superman. Man is something that should be overcome. What have you done to overcome him?

All creatures hitherto have created something beyond themselves: and do you want to be the ebb of the great tide, and return to the animals rather than overcome man?

What is the ape to men? A laughing stock or a painful embarassment. And just so shall man be to the Superman: a laughing stock or a painful embarassment"
---Thus Spake Zarathustra, Friedrich Nietzsche.

Hi again, A. I am very adept at dodging my wife!

Angelikiellinidata # Sunday, December 28, 2008 3:42:20 AM

I am sure the side effects from the wine will pass soon!

Anonymous # Sunday, December 28, 2008 2:59:57 PM

Internal enemy writes: "If you meet the Buddha on the road - kill him!" - Zen Master to his disciples.

DavidRavo # Sunday, December 28, 2008 3:38:11 PM

Hi Internal enemy,

Conflicts abound, don't they? The only way to avoid them is to have a common, agreed-upon view of reality. A perception based on all of the knowledge of science combined with all of the wisdom of religion, philosophy, and most importantly, experience. This leads to a common morality. A commitment to a set of principles, a synthesis of the spiritual and the rational natures of 'Modern Man' into a code of conduct that is embraced by all.

I think the Internet holds great potential as filter of all of the discouse on these issues. Like cream rising to the surface of the milk, the truth of things will emerge.

Anonymous # Sunday, December 28, 2008 7:06:35 PM

Going within writes: "We have met the enemy ... and he is us!" - Walt Kelly