| good thinking |
| humbly marking a new year for humanity
gary e. davis |
January 11, 2023 |
We grow up, achieve a lot (at best), pay forward (better angels do), and move on: Still alive, maybe some “great”—well-contributing—work is completed; yet, only to cause desire to do the next thing (maybe contributing well again). We die maybe having left a lasting mark in others’ lives. In a sense, all that really, really matters is paying forward to chances for being well which we inherited from family, neighborhood, education, community, “history,” which is really the cultural efficacy of social evolution—educationally (enculturally narrated and relayed), as if In The Beginning was The Word. Our era is darkened by the conflict between democratic trends and autocratic trends, in which we all share “Hot Earth” dangers “willed” to unborn generations: heirs who will unwittingly inherit need for degrees of coping with their inheritance which might have been lessened by historical modernity, i.e., our ancesters to which we are to be so thankful (but no reason for our generations to reproduce dirty opportunism). So it goes for Our pale blue dot in the Unfathomable, becoming somewhat intelligible by Us merely during the last few seconds of The Day of Earth, having (to continue the trope) less than one Day before the Sun consumes whatever humanity became. Behold!: In one human generation now (since 1997), humanity has discovered thousands of other planets (relative to thousands of stars in a galaxy of billions). And this week, a possibly-habitable planet was found “nearby” (i.e., a “mere” hundred light years away). So, children, there’s room for ultimate hope—even that intelligent planets millions of years older will someday, out of the Great Silence, be revealed, as if to say: “You are now advanced enough to understand What Is To Be Shared Among Us.” Meanwhile, We can, We must not only survive, not only thrive (being healthy), but flourish —highly so, as highly as humanistic leading minds can conceive; then, teach, which is not mainly instructing; rather, being a partnership in learning. So, authentic orientation to being involves caring for the future of Earth, of course, through caring for the future of our humanty. Persons who exemplify that admirably—leading virtue—deserve to be models for under-standing what being “human” can be. After all, We are Earth’s gravity: the appeal of intelligence emergent from the Unfathomable Itself, evincing stars and all. So, We be well. I—one among many, many others—am thankful for the chances I’ve had, especially for higher education, which early years made so appealing (evincing aspiration), which launched so many later years of joy—conceptual joy, especially, which can feel as singular as a mountain man in wilderness, because so few love to stay on novel paths (I guess)—important ones?, I can’t really know. But the view is gorgeous here (and not hermetic, thank you). Time tells all—which is one of those profound cliches, like my motto “Learning Never Ends” (which pertains also to failing well). There are superior beings on this planet: The better angels love educating themselves (protean appeal) to think well (but never well enough—so much pathmaking calls), autonmously, creatively, and critically. Obviously, doing the best we can is what We’re about: what’s vital for good lives all around: family, community, and more genuine public life (honoring the importance of advancing True community and more genuine instances of democracy). I continue my very practical obsession with advocating for humanistic thinking (humanity of thinking), cohering humanities in the university, voting for humanitarian care, and futuring intelligently, relative to leading minds and idealization of potential for realistic individuation of ever open-ended conceiving. |
| relevant links | |||
“…for higher education…” |
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