What is important is the moment of opening a life and feeling it touch--with an electric hiss and cry--this speckled mineral sphere, our present world.
Annie DillardRead
The universe that suckled us is a monster that does not care if we live or die--it does not care if it itself grinds to a halt. It is a beast running on chance and death, careening from nowhere to nowhere. It is fixed and blind, a robot programmed to kill. We are free and seeing; we can only try to outwit it at every turn to save our lives.
Interpretation
The universe is indifferent to human existence, and we must navigate it wisely to survive.
Annie Dillard's quote reflects on the inherent indifference of the universe towards human life and existence. It portrays the universe as a mechanical, unfeeling entity that operates on randomness and fatalism, suggesting that while we are conscious beings with the ability to perceive and understand our reality, we must actively engage with the unpredictable nature of life to ensure our survival and well-being.
In practice
Opening a philosophical discussion on the nature of the universe in a classroom.
What is important is the moment of opening a life and feeling it touch--with an electric hiss and cry--this speckled mineral sphere, our present world.
Geography is the key, the crucial accident of birth. A piece of protein could be a snail, a sea lion, or a systems analyst, but it had to start somewhere. This is not science; it is merely metaphor. And the landscape in which the protein "starts" shapes its end as surely as bowls shape water.
Buddhism notes that it is always a mistake to think your soul can go it alone.
Similarly, the impulse to keep to yourself what you have learned is not only shameful, it is destructive. Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you. You open your safe and find ashes.
It is difficult to undo our own damage, and to recall to our presence that which we have asked to leave. It is hard to desecrate a grove and change your mind. The very holy mountains are keeping mum. We doused the burning bush and cannot rekindle it; we are lighting matches in vain under every green tree.
To crank myself up I stood on a jack and ran myself up. I tightened myself like a bolt. I inserted myself in a vise-clamp and wound the handle till the pressure built. I drank coffee in titrated doses. It was a tricky business, requiring the finely tuned judgment of a skilled anesthesiologist. There was a tiny range within which coffee was effective, short of which it was useless, and beyond which, fatal.
America touts itself as the land of the free, but the number one freedom that you and I have is the freedom to enter into a subservient role in the workplace. Once you exercise this freedom you’ve lost all control over what you do, what is produced, and how it is produced. And in the end, the product doesn’t belong to you. The only way you can avoid bosses and jobs is if you don’t care about making a living. Which leads to the second freedom: the freedom to starve.
A condition of complete simplicity (Costing not less than everything)
Our lives can only be lived forward and understood backwards. Living a life and understanding it occupy different dimensions.
God is the ultimate source of all power. All human power is therefore derived, limited, unstable and transient.
...But listen, there will be more joy in heaven over the tears of a repentant sinner than over the white robes of a hundred just men.
We have to be careful that in throwing out the devil, we don't throw out the best part of ourselves.
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