Life shapes

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fractal
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Life shapes

Post by fractal »

I was sitting in the park whe the sun came out, quite rare in this island...and suddenly something beautiful happened. A tree fell down due to a very strong wind and, I could see it. I had the same feeling the first time one of "my" patients died. It is sad,but beautiful cause it is truth, cause there is nothing in between interrupting that amazing natural process. How does life look like? You just have to look inside your innermost layer of your body. Something alive is more than three dimensional, it blends over an over,and repeats itself over and over, it is cyclic, living and dying constantly.

A very simple example of life shape is a butterfly. Their lives are short compared to our body as total, but much longer than any cell along our epidermis. Buttrflies do not last long, so they develop a "basic" shape of life, and the funny thing is that we can find that shape in our bodies more than a thousand times...For instance, the lungs, all levels of the spinal cord, in the skull... So we can divide life shapes into simple and complex. This is not new, but what matters is where can we place the human will in here? Is our will complex or simple? Does it depend on the trees surrounding us? Or just on our cells?

Every human being has been designed to fight death, but the thing is death always wins. So why are we not surrounded by life shapes the whole time? Why don't we feel life anymore? It is beautiful when you realize that you do not have to fight against death cause it is already in yourself. Your cells die everyday, and others regenerate.Movement is life, as Parmenides thought. Movement is a complex and a simple process that is beautiful itself. I could be ages looking how the waves in the sea break against the rocks. But life shapes change as well according to your emotional state, and then you forget about what is life ad what is death and, it is then when you are finally living. So, shall we stop thinking then?Shall we behave like animals? Of course not, because we can not. We have will ,and with it we are able to modulate the shapes surrounding us.
Therefore, if awe can watch life shapes nd not perceive life from them, the same happens when we watch death shapes and we percieve life. But do we act differently according to the enviroment natural or urban? No, we do not. Same things happen in the countryside and in the cities, human being is so adaptable and at the same time so simple, making the same "mistakes" as centuries ago, over and over. Everything is cyclic. So, nor the life shapes or death ones matter,what really matters is our will.

Shopenhouer and Nietzsche were not agree in the complexity of will, but I believe it is something worthy to stop and think. And I would like to know more points of view.
I guess when a strong wind comes against us and our will is weak, we start to fall down...
Last edited by fractal on Fri May 08, 2009 5:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
artisticsolution
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Re: Life shapes

Post by artisticsolution »

Hi Fractal,

I like this post very much. The whole thing contains a beautiful sentiment. I agree that we are designed to fight death and that death will always win...but to me death is not the end as even you say cells die and then regenerate. The regenerate is what we fear I think. We fear the unknown. However, even though I believe the fear is natural, I think the problem is we view fear as something negative, instead of something neutral or even positive. There is a certain rush we feel when we experience fear. It is when we feel most alive in my opinion. How come it is hard for us to admit that 1. We enjoy fear. 2. We usually set ourselves up to feel fear and 3.There is nothing wrong with feeling fear.

F:I guess when a strong wind comes against us and our will is weak, we start to fall down...

AS: As you said...even when our will is strong, we can fall down. There is joy in falling...in failing...there is no way to experience life fully unless we do.

P.S. What you wrote below is so uniquely beautiful I can't even take it:

'A very simple example of life shape is a butterfly. Their lives are short compared to our body as total, but much longer than any cell along our epidermis. Buttrflies do not last long, so they develop a "basic" shape of life, and the funny thing is that we can find that shape in our bodies more than a thousand times...For instance, the lungs, all levels of the spinal cord, in the skull... So we can divide life shapes into simple and complex. This is not new, but what matters is where can we place the human will in here? Is our will complex or simple? Does it depend on the trees surrounding us? Or just on our cells?'
fractal
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Re: Life shapes

Post by fractal »

Hello artisticsolution,

I am glad you liked it. And I am glad you said:
artisticsolution wrote:I agree that we are designed to fight death and that death will always win...but to me death is not the end as even you say cells die and then regenerate.
Cause what I really think is that life and death are two constants living in harmony, but is our will the variable, and this does not accept the "death" of the whole body, and here it comes the fear and the fight...
I do not know if we enjoy fear...but surely we need it. What I think is that fear can either enhance your will or the other way around. It is dangerous sometimes...
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Nisus
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Re: Life shapes

Post by Nisus »

One of our basic mistakes is to think that we can control life, or will, when it's in fact the exact opposite that happens, i.e., we are controlled by life.

We are slaves to life, slaves to the will to live. That means that we will go on living whenever life remains possible, notwithstanding the difficulties or handicaps we might find in our way. In this sense, we are not different from any other animal.

Also, one shouldn't attribute so much importance to the human intellect. It was developed to be just another tool in the struggle for survival. Nothing more, nothing less.

O and yes, I've liked this post too, Fractal.
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Sonofgloin
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Re: Life shapes

Post by Sonofgloin »

I am of the age where the number of funerals I attend is on the increase, I am not burying friends at this stage, rather parents and elderly relatives but it is giving me an understanding of mortality that I did not carry ten years ago.

Factal you would be acquainted with the stages of mourning, loss, disbelief, and later acceptance. I expect this emotive triangle is also visited upon those who been informed of a terminal illness, especially if at a relatively young age. The final act of the trilogy "acceptance" I have observed brings a solace to the individual living through the experience, this understanding that no prayer or medical intervention can alter the path now being travelled changes life long perspectives and personal philophies on life the universe and everything during those end times.

I have not railed against the mortality of the species in my mind as it would be of absolutely no use, we control nothing that exceeds our own life span, but what is our loss at death, this question I have pondered. If our lives were lived in emotional isolation we take to our graves the loss of ourselves, and our dreams and aspirations which is a manageable inevitable outcome that we accept when all avenues are expired. But how do we cope when we leave a circle of loved ones that we have lived for and with.

This loss at death brings a multitude of emotion that to my mind is the largest obstactle to overcome when it is time for us to depart. If we have lived alone and later to have died alone is perhaps the best outcome for our psychological selves, we grieve for the loss of ourselves. But a life full of loved ones ses us departing with an anguish that multiplies the loss factor by the power of ten. Our hearts now have to contend with the loss of more than ourselves, and I bet that hurts.

So I expect the old adage of "to have loved and lost is better than never to have loved at all" does not take into account the psychological and emotional baggage that these relationships bequeath to us on our death beds. Is it easier parting with a loving interpersonal history behind you, or is it easier when our only thoughts at death are about ourselves. Pehaps the lonely man dies best.
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Sonofgloin
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Re: Life shapes

Post by Sonofgloin »

Nisus wrote:
We are slaves to life, slaves to the will to live. That means that we will go on living whenever life remains possible, notwithstanding the difficulties or handicaps we might find in our way. In this sense, we are not different from any other animal.
Nissus you are such a happy chappy, you understand the futility of existance as we know it, but rather than saying "fuck it, it's a short short game" you agonise over the inevitability of a prescribed outcome. I have said to you before that all we have is now, not yesterday and certainly not tomorrow. What we fill our now time with is a consequence of how we view our tomorrow. I have a few years on you and those years have exampled me one thing, nothing is important unless you make it so, our existence is in the brain not the body, being there is a fallacy, being aware is reality.
fractal
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Re: Life shapes

Post by fractal »

Hello,

Nisus, I think you are completely right saying:
Nisus wrote:we are controlled by life.
But that does not mean that we can not change our will, of course with a very limited range of movement but eventually the detalis make a great difference in our essence and the ones around.
As Sonofgloin says, the last moment of life, the traslation from life to death can be pretty traumatic or, can be not. It is at that moment when you are the wisest person you have ever been, because you are suffering completely alone, and you are completely convinced that you are going to die, you have the truth by your side. And at that moment the feelings you experience are usually guilt mixed with fear, and that is what you can previously change. Life does not have the right to control that. When you are dying you get rid of the will that you have been carried for so long, and it is then when you can feel either peace or fear;and with fear, guilt.
Sonofgloin wrote:So I expect the old adage of "to have loved and lost is better than never to have loved at all" does not take into account the psychological and emotional baggage that these relationships bequeath to us on our death beds. Is it easier parting with a loving interpersonal history behind you, or is it easier when our only thoughts at death are about ourselves. Pehaps the lonely man dies best.
I guess it is easier for the lonely man, but I ask myself if it is peace what he is feeling. Or a troubled mind trying to forget and welcoming death as the only exit available.

We do not know how Nature works, and we do not know what time and space mean. And if Nietzsche was right?And if this is an eternal return?Or a chaos? When everything is connected and no matter where you are and no matter what you are. And if life does not distinguish between human and trees? I guess it is then when faith comes... And I guess our eyes just see what thay can see, as the flowers see the bees...we are so limited, and at he same time we are just a miracle.
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Nisus
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Re: Life shapes

Post by Nisus »

Sonofgloin wrote: Nissus you are such a happy chappy, you understand the futility of existance as we know it, but rather than saying "fuck it, it's a short short game" you agonise over the inevitability of a prescribed outcome. I have said to you before that all we have is now, not yesterday and certainly not tomorrow. What we fill our now time with is a consequence of how we view our tomorrow. I have a few years on you and those years have exampled me one thing, nothing is important unless you make it so, our existence is in the brain not the body, being there is a fallacy, being aware is reality.
I do not disagree with anything you say here, Sonofgloin. I just don't pretend I'm 'happy' or 'satisfied' just for knowing ('being aware of') this...
fractal wrote:Hello,
But that does not mean that we can not change our will, of course with a very limited range of movement but eventually the detalis make a great difference in our essence and the ones around.
As Sonofgloin says, the last moment of life, the traslation from life to death can be pretty traumatic or, can be not. It is at that moment when you are the wisest person you have ever been, because you are suffering completely alone, and you are completely convinced that you are going to die, you have the truth by your side. And at that moment the feelings you experience are usually guilt mixed with fear, and that is what you can previously change. Life does not have the right to control that. When you are dying you get rid of the will that you have been carried for so long, and it is then when you can feel either peace or fear;and with fear, guilt.
I do not believe a man has either the power or the potential to change any essential aspect of his existence. I do not believe one can cease to be a slave to life, i.e., to the will to live at least not in any practical sense of the world.

Don't forget that all philosophers who talked about an 'overcoming' of human nature were really talking about an abstract man, that is, a man who existed only in their heads.
And changing something theoretically has no practical significance whatsoever in our lives...
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Re: Life shapes

Post by Morpheus »

The patterns of life are indeed fascinating. The image of human lungs below is identical in structure to a tree with its main trunk and numerous branches. Moss, lichens and algae comprise a similar structure. This is a practical shape, since all these branching structures are involved in gaseous exchange or respiration. On the macrocosmic scale, it's easy to see how rainforests and ocean algae function as Earth's lungs. Whereas rivers and streams could be Earth's veins and arteries - and so on.

I'm sure I've said all this this before in some other long-forgotten thread!
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artisticsolution
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Re: Life shapes

Post by artisticsolution »

Morpheus wrote:The patterns of life are indeed fascinating. The image of human lungs below is identical in structure to a tree with its main trunk and numerous branches. Moss, lichens and algae comprise a similar structure. This is a practical shape, since all these branching structures are involved in gaseous exchange or respiration. On the macrocosmic scale, it's easy to see how rainforests and ocean algae function as Earth's lungs. Whereas rivers and streams could be Earth's veins and arteries - and so on.

I'm sure I've said all this this before in some other long-forgotten thread!
Hi Morph,

I have thought about the same types of things when it comes to art. I believe when we see a work of art, a person, a huge world event, that makes us sit up and take notice, it is more than just a life altering experience, it is the feeling of familiarity...like the thing we are witnessing has always been. We look at with a feeling of "Of course! This was meant to exist.'

I believe everyone has a similar purpose on earth but in varying different degrees. I remember the first time I was aware of this phenomenon. I was a young women. I remember getting ready in the morning with the TV blaring in the background. While I was looking in the mirror putting on my makeup, I heard a familiar voice coming from the TV behind me. I knew I had never heard it before but it seemed so familiar. I turned around to see who it was and there before me, was Pee Wee Herman...LOL. Okay, not the most profound way to become aware...nevertheless...it made sense...it was familiar. I said, "Of course!" That is the exact voice for that character! It was time someone created that character's existence!" Although, I had never watched the PeeWee Herman show before, I knew that is what that character should have looked like when I heard the voice. It is the same way with art. I know when I am looking at a work of art that 'must exist.'
I think it is the same with all people, they feel compelled to do a certain 'thing' because it must exist. There is a pattern to it all.


“In every block of marble I see a statue as plain as though it stood before me, shaped and perfect in attitude and action. I have only to hew away the rough walls that imprison the lovely apparition to reveal it to the other eyes as mine see it.”

Michelangelo
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Sonofgloin
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Re: Life shapes

Post by Sonofgloin »

Nisus wrote:
I do not disagree with anything you say here, Sonofgloin. I just don't pretend I'm 'happy' or 'satisfied' just for knowing ('being aware of') this...
Oh to be a simple soul
Where mystery does not entice
To see and hear and feel the world
With no questions to invite
Today is all and pleasure king
And the morrow anothers domain
Oh yes to be a simple soul
Without the guilt of refrain
Sonofgloin.

The gift of consciousness is sometimes a curse and we who observe and ask why are the dammed.
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Sonofgloin
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Re: Life shapes

Post by Sonofgloin »

fractal wrote:
. And if life does not distinguish between human and trees? I guess it is then when faith comes... And I guess our eyes just see what thay can see, as the flowers see the bees...we are so limited, and at he same time we are just a miracle.
Factal how miraculous we are became evident when we invented gods that invested us as the premium life form. I believe it is a numbers game with time, physics, and gravity evolving out miracles such as ourselves for a period of time, through out time. Then the only constant that matters takes control, change.
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Re: Life shapes

Post by Morpheus »

Hello AS,

Beautifully expressed! I think it would be great if everyone could be taught to view the world in the same manner as an artist, for it makes the 'ordinary' magical. I do this with plants and trees. As well as seeing meaningful shapes in gnarled tree trunks, I like to study plants in great detail. I like to observe the plant's shape, growth pattern, scent (if any), natural habitat, flowering season, even it's taste (if a non-toxic plant), and much more. I also enjoy examining every part under a magnifying glass, thus revealing hitherto unknown qualities. Then, if I happen upon the same plant in some other place, suddenly it jumps out of the background in all its familiarity - just as I'd recognise an old friend in a crowd!
fractal
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Re: Life shapes

Post by fractal »

Oh my goodness, I wrote this so long ago. And the amazing thing is that I still feel the same way but with an improved English.

It is good to be back :)
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Bernard
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Re: Life shapes

Post by Bernard »

I still feel the same way about it too. Good to have you back!

Just living isn't enough," said the butterfly, "one must also have freedom, sunshine, and a little flower."
Khalil Gibran

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