[at-l] 15 billion light yrs.

[brian@patriot.net (Brian C Merrell)]

On Mon, 21 Jan 2002, Amy Friends Stone wrote:

> David and Goliath syndrome, eh?  Why do these two see
> "feeling small" as such a bad thing?  It's a literal
> sensation of the sheer difference in size, in
> magnitude of power.  It's a recognition of the reality
> of the relationship.  Those skylines and tunnels can
> be obliterated in moments by a force greater than
> man's.  It is man's spirit (and some bit of arrogance)
> that tackles nature in the first place, and
> eventually, man will suffer even more greatly because
> he changes too much with too little knowledge of the
> long term effects.
>

I have read a good amount of Rand's stuff, and while it is not "complete"
or flawless in a philosophical sense, one of the things that I took from
it was that many of the "limitations" of man are self-placed.  It is not
difficult to abstract from her writing that "feeling small", or rather any
sense of fear or awe relative to a non-intelligent thing, is useless and
stupid and does more harm than good.

You said it yourself; it is man's spirit that tackles nature.  Often this
*does* lead to destruction, but that's because many people don't think
about their actions.  This isn't to say that they should feel small in
comparison to it.

If you feel that you are nothing, then congratulations, you just made it
true.  (Not an attack against you, just a statement in general)

-brian

-- 
Brian C. Merrell               | "All that glitters is not gold,
brian@patriot.net              |  All who wander are not lost."
ICBM address: 38.845 N, 77.3 W |                -J.R.R. Tolkien