Being, Embodying, Becoming
Here, Now, This
Beher Emno Beth
Here, Now, This
Beher Emno Beth
HE VISIBLE UNIVERSE
There is an edge to what we are able to see and could ever possibly seein the universe. Light travels at 300,000 kilometers per second (186,000 miles per second). That's top speed in this universe—nothing can go faster—but it's relatively slow compared to the distances to be traveled. The nearest big galaxy to our Milky Way, the Andromeda galaxy, is two million light-years away. The most distant galaxies we can now see are 10 or 12 billion light-years away. We could never see a galaxy that is farther away in light travel time than the universe is old—an estimated 14 billion or so years. Thus, we are surrounded by a "horizon" that we cannot look beyond—a horizon set by the distance that light can travel over the age of the universe.
This horizon describes the visible universe—a region some 28 billion light years in diameter. But what are the horizons of a civilization that inhabits the most distant galaxies we see? And what about galaxies at the limits of their vision? There is every reason to think that the universe extends a long way beyond the part of the universe we can see. In fact, a variety of observations suggest that our visible patch may be a small fraction—maybe an infinitely small fraction—of the whole universe. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/space/how-big-universe.html
I have lived with the prospect of an early death for the last 49 years. I'm not afraid of death, but I'm in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first," he said."I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark," he added.
Hawking's latest comments go beyond those laid out in his 2010 book, The Grand Design, in which he asserted that there is no need for a creator to explain the existence of the universe. The book provoked a backlash from some religious leaders, including the chief rabbi, Lord Sacks, who accused Hawking of committing an "elementary fallacy" of logic.. https://amp.theguardian.com/science/2011/may/15/stephen-hawking-interview-there-is-no-heaven?__twitter_impression=trueStephen Hawking died today.
And borrowed from the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard (1813–55) and others –Alienation: Cutting oneself off from the (ontologically) true, unified self. (—from, Introducing Heidegger, A Graphic Guide, by Collins and Selina)The notion of racial purity, apologists for Heidegger point out, is not singular to Nazism. A similar pattern of thought, they say, can be found in Jewish history about relations with non-Jewish peoples. The effort to retain Heidegger’s contribution to philosophy travels this route:
"Philosophy is about learning to be aware of problems in your own thinking where you might not have suspected them," said the British philosopher Jonathan Rée about the black notebooks.
"The best of what Heidegger wrote – indeed the best of philosophy in general – is not an injunction to agree with a proffered opinion, but a plea to all of us to make our thinking more thoughtful." https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/mar/13/martin-heidegger-black-notebooks-reveal-nazi-ideology-antisemitismWhen notions or ideology tumble into severe political or military activity, there is much both to decide and deride. The deficient and detestable efforts to eliminate those not fitting into your ideology is unjust, cruel, and horrifying. Hitler’s attempts to cleanse Germany, like the attempts in “other” places, is terrifying.
In the past 150 years, tens of millions of men, women and children have lost their lives in genocide or mass atrocities. Millions have been tortured, raped or forced from their homes.The past genocides and mass atrocities described below represent just some of the historic examples that serve to remind us what’s at stake if we let genocide happen again. We must learn, remember and take action to end genocide once and for all. (Cf. http://endgenocide.org/learn/past-genocides)“Cutting oneself off from the (ontologically) true, unified self,” is the beginning of fear and hatred and killing of the other.