In this world which is under so much stress and threatens to become completely unhinged it is wise to pause and appreciate the sheer magnificent beauty of Nature ...
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Last night a thunderstorm approached and as the sun was setting I happened to notice a rainbow. In the process of watching the sunset play across the entire sky I happened to see bats ... this is the living world and it is perpetually and infinitely beautiful.
As for the Mandelbrot set, I spent a long time exploring this mathematical wonder because of the sheer beauty of the images generated ...
If you want to learn about the Mandelbrot set there is plenty of information available on the internet. Fractals are quite fascinating though after a long time exploring them I realized that even infinitely complicated 2-dimensional mathematical objects cannot compete with the infinite beauty of Nature across the entire scale from subatomic to cosmic.
There's more to this Universe than meets the eye. The human imagination is more limited than Nature's imagination. The human intellect is a very small dim candle in a inconceivably large, unimaginably complex, unbelievably ancient Universe.
Which is one reason why people turn their minds away from science as quickly as possible ... science and Nature cannot help but humble a human. There are forces in this Universe much more powerful than humankind could ever muster. There are questions in this Universe thath the human mind, individually or collectively, cannot ever answer.
Humans are very limited creatures. Don't believe all that fantasy hype about science & technology making the impossible possible, "to infinity and beyond!"
Humans are too emotional when thinking about human nature. There is no possibility of objectivity when an objective investigation of the human condition reveals that humans are terrible (except, of course, for you ... the reader ... you're not like everyone else, are you?). Humans live in the worst possible way and humans commit atrocities to maintain the horrendous lifestyle which makes us all stressed out, unhappy, and perpetually at war with each other.
I'd love to turn the human mind away from all of these negatives and purge out all of the violence from human nature ... but there is no such thing as humankind without violence. Violence is as much a part of human nature as eating wood is a part of termite nature.
The fabric of American civilization is being torn apart right now and I am becoming increasingly concerned about radicalized conservatives behaving in a violent manner. I've spoken to too many conservatives who love their guns and dream of violence to dismiss their talk of revolution as mere idle talk.
We're living in dangerous times and yet we're still living in the "good old days" before the real troubles start.
When the Soviet Union collapsed the citizens of those lands accepted the dramatic change remarkably peacefully. When the United States of America collapses there is no reason at all to imagine that the American people will accept impoverishment and deprivement peacefully. The American people are not peaceful people. Americans have a capacity for violence, mayhem and anarchy which is presently just barely constrained by the government.
In the decades ahead the government's power will diminish and the American people will have to rely upon the peacefulness and good will of fellow Americans. God have mercy on us all!
David Mathews
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