“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”
Albert_Einstein
When did Einstein wrote this ? It sounds very introvert, but philantropic at the same time. Must be a sentences from his later life. But I think that consciousness in fact requires the mental separation between ourself and the rest (of the world). If we consider ouself an integral part, we will loose our self-consciousness.
ReplyDeleteDoes your interest in astronomy and astrophysics ever brought you in contact with Carl Sagan and the SETI project ? My wifes grandpa was I.S.Shklovsky, and him and Sagan wrote together "Intelligent life in the universe". From your posts, I imagine you are a person like Eleanor Arroway (played by Jodie Foster) in the movie CONTACT.
best wishes, Michael
I do not know when he wrote it. I think feeling connected to, in harmony and at peace with the universe is also a good experience and feeling, requiring some level of consciousness of our history, creation and existence, role and place in the universe.
ReplyDeleteYes, I know about Carl Sagan and SETI project and once had lunch with Jill Tarter when my work had invited her to give a talk :-) ... but I am not like that character, thanks for the compliment though. I often help people like that character with their algorithms and computational needs.
Wow... that is neat, I wonder what it would be like to grow up having someone like Carl Sagan or I. S. Shklovsky as a role model. They should make cool and fun grandparents.
O.k., I think I understand what you mean. And I fully agree that the understanding (or consciousness) about the world, the society, the universe for sure gives a feeling of ease. If we don't have this consciousness, we will fall in despair again and again. In particular in the modern society, that forces us so often into a stereotype role and makes us feel unfree, it can be of great benefit to understand how tinny and unimportant things can be, that worry us day by day. I think people who lack this consciousness very quickly turn angry, violent, or depressive. Thats when you don't see a way out.
ReplyDeleteFor scientist, the university of their discipline always provides a sort of shelter from this daily trouble (at least in some lucid moments). Shklovsky also wrote (among a couple of scientifc monographies) a more personal book, called "5 billion wodka bottles to the moon" (it is still available on amazon). In the time of the soviet union, the contrast between the daily odds and the beautiful world of scientific theory was even bigger. And very much of this conflict between a scientist reaching for the stars (Eleanor Arroway) and politicians and beaurocrats is also very well described in the movie Contact.
best wishes, Michael
PS: Do you know if books by Sagan or I.S.Shklovsky have been translated into Persian ?