The Gods Wonder Too: Musings From Out of the Ether

By G. H. Butler Calabrese

A nonfiction book comprised of thoughts and observations on a myriad of subjects from the Big Bang to corporations to death itself -- some with a philosophical bent.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tellwell Talent
• Release date: Feb 4, 2020
• ISBN: 9780228814733

Book preview

THE

GODS

WONDER

TOO

Musings from Out of the Ether on The Big Bang — Corporations — Death

& Everything In Between

(a ‘cosmoScopic’ perspective)

by:

g. h. butler calabrese

The Gods Wonder Too

Copyright © 2020 by g. h. butler calabrese

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Tellwell Talent

www.tellwell.ca

ISBN

978-0-2288-1472-6 (Hardcover)

978-0-2288-1471-9 (Paperback)

978-0-2288-1473-3 (eBook)

DEDICATION

To my mother for always encouraging her sometimes incorrigible youngest offspring, namely me.

PROLOGUE

Before we immerse ourselves in the ether (defined below), there are several brief, preliminary matters that should be addressed to foster, hopefully, a receptive frame-of-mind for the ‘musings’ that follow.

a)The ether is an invisible substance once believed to be evenly distributed throughout all space, and through which electromagnetic waves were thought to move—including visible light. Metaphorically, there’s a lot of information just floating around out there in that supposed ether. All one has to do is open his or her mind to this freely accessible knowledge and simply absorb it through osmosis …

b)An unexamined life is not worth living, (Socrates, 469-399 B.C.). It’s worthwhile to keep in mind that many, if not most, of these ‘musings’ are concerned with some aspect of living a thoughtful, self-aware existence.

c)The anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss (1908-2009) remarked that ‘in every place, in every time, the minds of humans are the same,’ meaning that there are more similarities than differences between the peoples of the world, both past and present, in thought and deed—a viewpoint which will be reflected herein. An obvious example of this is the familiar pyramid shape. Pyramid architecture was independently developed by both the ancient Egyptians and the not-so-ancient Maya, who lived completely on the other side of the world. There are also similarities in creation myths found in different cultures around the world, but they are too numerous to go into here.

d)Levi-Strauss’ insight has caused me to decide that no special concessions will be given here to modernity, although of course, the concerns of today will figure into some ‘musings’—especially those involving transnational corporations, a dominant institution in our present time.

e)Even after earning a master’s degree in socio-cultural anthropology, and taking numerous university courses in philosophy, the best definition of humanity I ever came across was by astronomer Carl Sagan, who said, humankind is … the matter of the cosmos, contemplating itself, (The Cosmic Connection, 1973). This brings us to an explanation of the word ‘cosmoScopic’ in the title …

f)This newly-minted term ‘cosmoScopic’ (with a capitalized middle ‘S’) goes a little beyond the obvious. Certainly, through the lens that is the universe, our lives are a puny and brief affair. But a cosmoScopic view of things points intrinsically and inevitably to our personal connection with the greater cosmos. We tend to forget this until we look up at a starry sky and remember that the very atoms which make up our bodies were forged in the interior of dying stars as they went supernova billions of years ago. We are, indeed, stardust. It’s hard to keep this cosmoScopic perspective in our busy daily lives. So just hold onto the thought: The cosmos had to conspire to bring you—a thinking being—into existence.

g)It’s not uncommon for some to say they sometimes feel a mystical oneness with all time and space (some call it the mind of God). Who am I to argue metaphysics? I only say that there exists a sacred, inclusive, cosmoScopic continuum, from the Big Bang, to the stars, to atoms, to us.

h)Finally, I rarely elaborate on these musings. They are just recorded as they came to me out of the ether. So some may feel familiar if you have been listening in on the content of the ether yourself …

MUSINGS

*** 1 ***

When seeking truth before the gods, the only honest approach is that of a devout agnostic, in the broad sense of studiously leaving one’s preconceptions and prejudices behind before this, a sacred quest.

*** 2 ***

It’s difficult to conceive of life without …

H ow O ur P syches E ndure

*** 3 ***

Science is not the last word but it is the first.

*** 4 ***

Germany didn’t do too badly in the two big wars. After all, they came in second—twice! And they always had the best uniforms.

*** 5 ***

Those who predicate their identity on their own skin colour are as shallow as those who judge them by the same criterion.

*** 6 ***

Those who are right all the time are usually …

R ighteous I n G iving H alf T ruths

*** 7 ***

A thought, I imagine, is the most miraculous thing throughout all the cosmos.

*** 8 ***

Once humans found out the world was round, there was just no end to it!

*** 9 ***

Every Summer’s Day

In the mornin’

In the sun

I’ll come runnin’ like everyone

Hopin’ that just for me

This shining day was spun

—Every Painfully Shy Kid

*** 10 ***

The majority’s opinion may be the reality of the day (reality as a social construct) but that doesn’t make it true or right—the world is not, nor ever has been, flat. And burning witches should be frowned upon in any age.

*** 11 ***

Those who fear death most are those who lived life least.

*** 12 ***

That ‘Good Corporate Citizen’ is Suspect

Most large corporations as ‘citizens’ are, at best, sociopaths. Morals or a conscience just don’t figure much in their calculations when it comes to net gains.

*** 13 ***

Freedom of Religion Doesn’t

Trump Hate Crimes

It is well known that homosexuality is anathema to fundamentalist believers in the Bible. They cite Leviticus 18:22 of the Old Testament, which famously reads: Thou shall not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. But everyone stops there when they should go on to read Leviticus 20:13, which incites violence towards a whole group. It reads: If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

The thorny question arises: Why hasn’t anyone taken this to court under our hate speech laws? There couldn’t be a more cut-and-dried case!

*** 14 ***

The Scientific Method is the most powerful and essential tool ever fashioned—right up there with the first stone hand-axe. Without it having been used with precision, today’s world simply would not exist.

*** 15 ***

The same war cry goes out from all sides …

"W e A re R ight!"

*** 16 ***

It happens more often than one would expect. You meet someone who has the unfortunate combination of being both pugnacious and puerile and so they have the tendency to become quarrelsome over childish things. Indeed, it happens even in the most august company, such as at university faculty meetings.

*** 17 ***

Booze takes away first reason and then the reason to booze.

*** 18 ***

To believe you as an individual, or as a member of a cultural group, are chosen by God above all others is nothing less than vainglorious arrogance bordering on the delusional—no, it is most definitely delusional!

*** 19 ***

We haughtily deny our animal heritage, our place within the greater animal kingdom, at our own loss—and peril.

*** 20 ***

I have grave doubts about life after death (pun intended). If there is something, I will be pleasantly surprised. If there is nothing, at least I don’t have to be worried about being disappointed … The universe went on for billions of years before I arrived and it will go on for billions of years after I depart.

*** 21 ***

Repression (of self) leads to depression.

*** 22 ***

The Dominant Institutional Entity in Today’s World

In today’s global economy, heads of state seem to be just to the right of Attila the Hun. They all bow down to the newly constructed transnational corporations, whose tentacles reach around the planet and hold it in a stranglehold. These conglomerates have only one goal—profit at any cost and they are making exploitative relationships the name of the game in a manner unmatched since the days when slavery was acceptable. They particularly exploit the third world, where the people have the least power.

*** 23 ***

Standing between the states of chaos and order in human societies, there was first the weak force of primitive culture; and in recent human history since the advent of agriculture, there has been the even weaker force of civilization.

*** 24 ***

Obviously, urban living does not encourage living with Nature—least of all with our own natures! And thus, psychiatry is a growing business, as most of us now live in cities and feel this alienation ever more sharply. But our doctors can’t prescribe that we all move back to the country …

*** 25 ***

If parts of your life seem to have taken place in another lifetime, it is because they did … The older you get, the more divorced from your former life you become, and you can’t retrieve that long-dead past in fact or feeling. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule—some growing pains of youth remain as sharp in our memories as the day they first cut through us, such as our first unrequited love.

*** 26 ***

S omewhere in the ether the …

G ods O mnipotently D ebate … iverse S cenarios

*** 27 ***

Einstein said that, ‘at the heart of the universe lies mystery.’ And with the advent of quantum mechanics, this couldn’t be truer. Quantum mechanics even ‘spooked’ that grand old man of science himself.

*** 28 ***

Romantic love is most