“how goes it”: heartbreak

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part 1: how it goes

It’s heartbreaking. “It” is heartbreaking. Yet, whatever it is, no one wants to be heartbroken. Yet, we read about what’s allegedly heartbreaking. One—“one”—reads, thanks to empathic interest. We feel a bond to others, someone whom an author notes or stories, journals, reports, or narrates.

let there be trust in sky blue

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Friday, the United Nations General Assembly marked the 70th anniversary of the UN with a declaration reaffirming the faith of the 193 member states that the U.N. charter unites all member states “in diversity beyond our differences of language, culture or religion, today as 70 years ago.” Around the world, over 200 landmarks were lit in UN blue.

Interview of Habermas on philosophy’s missions

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In a recent interview (Web and PDF), Habermas emphasizes the importance of individuation:

...Every...step in the process of the socialization of a person, as they grow up, is simultaneously a step towards individuation and becoming oneself....reason does not lose the transcendental power of spontaneously projecting world-disclosing horizons. This 'creative' power of imagination expresses itself in every hypothesis, in every interpretation, in every story with which we affirm our identity. In every action there is also an element of creation…

appropriation of Logos by Christianity

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The classical Greek notion of Logos expresses a concept of cosmic order (with governing power) evident in persons that was broadly appealing in the pre-Common Era world (i.e., for the West: pre-Roman Empire). Way back, with Heraclitus, an element of the cosmic order in persons allowed persons to perceive the cosmic order. For the Stoics, this order was found immanent in all of reality, thus discernible by persons.

exobiology and the work of humanity

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My interest in all things S.E.T.I. and extraterrestrial are philosophical and literary. I have good reason to want to give serious attention to related topics. But I’m kidding about contact with anyone who’s had contact with any beings. This is so needless-to-say! Part of my interest in exobiology and S.E.T.I. is why lack of local ET presence is clearly the case.

But a recent tabloid interview with an Apollo 14 astronaut is being picked up by non-tabloid sources, claiming that NASA has long known about an Earthly presence of ETs. I’m amazed to see my improvisational mind being “corroborated.”

intelligence of Earth

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Relative to exoplanetary research, it’s appropriate to regard a life-bearing planet as a singularity. Our only example shows how intelligent life evolves into singularly caring for planetarity—Ours and Others, just as caring for other persons exemplifies the best of our humanity, which is always admired.

Relative to Our Anthropocenic condition, evolutionary engineering (in highly ethical senses) is how extinction level events are avoided, yet relative to designing how we are to flourish in Our evolving.

Relative to transnational Good (for the sake of Our evolving), global human development is a paramount value of economic health.

beings there?: ETs and the Silence

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Last January, I had an exchange with science columnist Dennis Overbye at the NYTimes about his light-hearted Christmastime article on prospects for ETs to be found.

He responded graciously, saying that he wanted to follow up someday by writing about the Fermi Paradox. He did so, last week, in light of Stephen Hawking’s call for accelerated searching, and Yuri Milner’s pledge of $100 million to the cause. Overbye focused on pessimism toward SETI that is argued in detail by philosopher Nick Bostrom.

So, I wrote back today, after studying Bostrom’s case.

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