Sea Animals

"The situation that faced the sea animals when they were compelled to become land animals or perish was the same as that which faced these semi-animals, well adapted to the wilderness, to war, to prowling, to adventure: suddenly all their instincts were disvalued and "suspended." From now on they had to walk on their feet and "bear themselves" whereas hitherto they had been borne by the water: a dreadful heaviness lay upon them." pg 84

I really like this quote. It's very sad. Nietzsche has evoked emotion - the "dreadful heaviness." It is very effective in describing the negative effects of society upon the instinct of humans.

Nietzsche 2 - Sudden Occurence or Gradual

I found the passage on page 84 and 85 very interesting. At first, I thought that Nietzsche was trying to go against Darwin. Instead of supporting gradual adaptation in response to a change in environment, it seemed like Nietzsche was supporting a sudden, instantaneous change. But then again, it seems sudden to the individual; the change seems sudden because records of the first civilization appear quite suddenly and out of the blue.

BUT. For some reason I was reminded of this article that I'd read a while ago - Now, as opposed to when Nietzsche wrote these essays, there is research and archaeological findings on Lucy, a preserved Stone Age human. Lucy was found to have a bone disease that advanced slowly and gradually over time and induced a lot of pain and suffering.

However, Lucy lived with this disease for an extremely extended period of time, which went against the idea that humans during this time period were isolationist and didn't really associate with one another. Scientists concluded that Lucy must have been cared for by another human in order for her to live as long as she did with such a disease.

So, perhaps Nietzsche is wrong. Perhaps, as Lucy demonstrates, the beginnings of society started sooner than he thought and advanced more gradually.

Favorite part of Nietzche

I never thought I'd actually have a favorite part of Nietzche...but...the part that I like most is this:

"The most convincing example of the latter is the German word schlecht (bad) itself: which is identical with schlicht (plain, simple) - compare with schlechtweg (plainly), schlechterdings (simply)..." page 28.

I never thought to think about how words relate to one another. The origins of words and their roots is fascinating. I never thought of that.

One point for Nietzche. But only one.

Nietzche 1

I'm not really sure what's going on in this book. The first reading was so confusing. I couldn't tell what the book was actually going to be about. What was he trying to explain??

It was almost comical how pompous and self-absorbed this Nietzche is. My favorite part is his explanation of how it's not his fault if the reader doesn't understand what he's trying to say.

"If this book is incomprehensible to anyone and jars on his ears, the fault, is not necessarily mine. It is clear enough, assuming, as I do assume, that one has read my earlier writings and has not spared some trouble in doing so: for they are, indeed, not easy to penetrate." page 22

Well, Nietzche. I don't know what you're trying to say. And I don't believe that it's because I have not read all your other books. Perhaps if you'd actually explain properly what you're trying to say, without all the flowery, unnecessary language, I'd understand.

Thinking like Lao Tzu

I tried today to relax and empty my mind. But I couldn't do it. I tried to make my mind blank. But I just couldn't do it. It was so hard. Meditating is hard.

In my yoga class, there's a meditation period after the session. And I can usually come close to emptying my mind. Mostly because I'm so tired and the music is very soothing.

Maybe music helps. But then again, that's not really emptying your mind because your mind is responding to the notes of the music.

Emptiness is certainly hard to achieve. Perhaps even impossible.

Darwin

While I was studying for the midterm, I read back over some of Darwin's key points. While reading the sexual selection part of Darwin's argument, I remembered something that I'd watched over the summer.

I love this clip. It's hilarious.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=EL3ErKWV9g0

Sitting Quietly. Pretending to be Darwin

So. Today I am sitting quietly outside. Pretending to be Darwin. I'm trying to observe and analyze everything I see that interests me. I'm mostly looking at leaves falling and tried to observe any patterns in the way that different leaves from different species of trees fell. Perhaps they twist in those patterns for a reason. I wonder if I just discovered something profound...that leaves of different trees are formed specifically to weave different patterns in the air as they fall.

There is a lonely squirrel puttering around. He/She seems really idle at first glance - fretting back and forth between two trees, but I bet there are tons of things running through his/her head. I wonder what animals feel and think and experience. Is it the same as we feel and think and experience?

This is nice. It's a beautiful day to be outside thinking.