Up@dawn 2.0

Thursday, August 25, 2016

Stars and Philosophy

At the end of our last class session we had a short discussion about the implications of Copernican Astronomy on our lives, out look on life, and our personal philosophy.  My opinion was that it didn't have very much bearing for me.  Yes, we are one tiny speck in a vast universe that may be teaming or almost devoid of life.  Inevitably though that has very little to do with our day to day lives or how we should live or envision the world until such a time when we could reach out to some of the other distant heavenly bodies of our universe and touch them, allowing them to their by have some bearing on us.  The time is undoubtedly still a ways off, but maybe it is closer than we might think.  This BBC article made me readjust my view of things a bit and maybe it will for you.  it talks about the recent discovery of a planet that could potential resemble earth,  discovered in a relatively close piece of the galaxy.

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-37167390

7 comments:

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  2. H2
    After reading "Gymnasiums of the Mind," I took an amble around the James E. Walker Library. Last semester I was encouraged by a friend to walk roughly every hour between studying to keep from waking up to a drool covered book. He has since graduated and is living in another hemisphere pursuing his dreams. It is easy to lose interest when one is overloading there self with information that does not have time to resonate within them. I read this article at the perfect time as it reminded me why I was attending University, the significance of education, and to pace myself through this process. Here's to another semester of delightful strolls at MTSU.

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  3. H3
    I agree wuth you, Bryce, on how we are just one tiny speck in the universe and that revelation does not affect our day to day lives, but that same revelation has resonated with me and it has raised the questions of what else exists in our universe that we have no clue of and how vast our universe truly is. These questions have sparked an interest in astronomy for me and have made me want to study about our universe. While the revelation that we are a tiny speck does not effect our day to day lives, it can effect our lives overall in our proffesions we study and our decision to explore the entirety of the universe, which i believe humanity will be capable of one day. We just have to set the milestones for that today.

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  5. Kaite Berry H0111:36 AM CDT

    I am so torn when it comes to this subject. I understand that we are just one millisecond in the age of the universe, yet I still feel that everything we do, every choice we make has an affect. I have somewhat come to terms with my mix of beliefs to think that while our choices as individuals changes our world and our environment immensely that the choices we make as nations and societies affect the universe. So that we are all some piece of the changes that we see in the world and that's something I'd like to believe is true.

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    1. Personally I believe in more of a ripple effect, but not like the one you might be thinking of. We are one tiny dot, so we are like one peck of dirt landing in a lake. We make ripples yes, but imperceptible inconsequential ripple that neither an observer in the lake or outside of it would register. However, as our mass increases. Say we colonize mars, now were to specks, the whole solar system, we are a cluster of specks, so on and so on until we are a pebble, now you notice, eventually a stone. Now you hear it and not just see it. Given enough time we might even become like a massive boulder that. Is seen, heard, and felt in all corners of the lake. Right now we are just one little speck.

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    2. Kaite Berry H013:36 PM CDT

      So, my philosophy on our impact is almost synonymous to what you said. I prefer the ripples turning into waves in the ocean analogy better �� nonetheless, I agree with you but that's why I feel each individual is important and that is where I think we differ. Even though we are simple and small alone, in numbers we can cause huge impacts on our world. Without possibly one individual, those numbers would crumble, which in my opinion emphasizes the power of each individual in our society.

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