A couple days ago I announced my Taoism to the DK-verse. Upon reading through the comments I got all warm and fuzzy when I saw that 1) I'm not alone, 2) People are actually kinda interested in stuff I say (I'm an INTP, these things are strange and foreign to me). One of the commentators (I like this word better than commenter, probably because it reminds me of Sonic tater tots) implied that she would like to learn more about Taoism, I am happy to oblige.
One of the underlying principles of Taoism is that humanity is a microcosm of the universe. This is a concept that you, me, even Glenn Beck are all scaled down versions of the Universe. This kind of supports my belief that Glenn Beck is a blue hypergiant star that, given the right conditions, will explode into a devastating supernova destroying everything around him; then collapse into a massive black hole, destroying everything that gets near him.
To take this concept further, it also implies that patterns tend to repeat themselves at all levels of existence. This probably has a lot to do with the Universe being around for a few billion years and knowing how things need to work for things to keep going. Principles that apply at one level, apply to all levels above and below it.
To exemplify this further, I like to start at bacteria. When bacteria interract with other bacteria they often exchange genetic material, this allows both bacteria to evolve and become more fit for their environment. This is similar to humans, when we interract with other humans, we exchange thoughts and ideas, and come away from the experience more fit for future encounters. This is akin to communities that encounter other communities, meeting to exchange goods or services that strengthen both communities. When our Earth encountered the moon a few billion years ago, it provided a satellite large enought to influence the tidal cycle that is quite possibly responsible for abiogenesis. Our galaxy is in constant intteraction with a number of satellite galaxies, which allows our galaxy to safely traverse the universe.
That is but one of the patterns that is observable in this crazy little thing called existence. There are many, many more. Simply look at state governments compared to the federal government. Since these patterns work, we naturally mimic them at every level imaginable.
With an understanding of microcosm/macrocosm, it is easy to recognize the natural evolution of systems toward a heiarchy that is familiar to us. Take your body, for example: your brain is the driving force for every system in your body, its various pokes, prods and coercions allow your body to adjust to an extremely wide range of environmental conditions (it can also go bat-shit crazy and make that body work against itself in the worse ways imaginable). In turn, your brain depends on those systems it regulates for support; without your heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, and every other part of your body, your brain would not be able to function. It is mutually assured destruction: the brain dies, the body is soon to follow, the body dies without the brain (or fancy machines that mimic the regulatory functions of the brain).
If that seems, at all similar to how a democracy works, that's because it should. I'm not sure if it is the people or the president that represents the brain in that analogy, or maybe they both do. Wait, our brains have two hemispheres. For the love of all that's sticky I just blew my own mind.
So that's my "I'm not a hippy but sometimes say things that make me sound like a hippy" lesson for today. Enjoy!
