Search found 720 matches

by noman
Thu Jan 21, 2010 6:17 am
Forum: The Conversation with a Thousand Faces
Topic: Is Man Part of Nature
Replies: 345
Views: 49402

The central peak of the world is right where you, and I, are standing at this moment. So when we are talking about Joseph Campbell, we should at least acknowledge that this was his take on the whole mess... - jj JJ – the reason I respond to your posts is because you complained about me ignoring you...
by noman
Wed Jan 20, 2010 9:35 pm
Forum: The Call to Adventure
Topic: Worthy Successor? / Kindle electronic text
Replies: 7
Views: 2524

Hello Pococurante, and welcome to the forums. You ask a good question. Some of Campbell’s work is getting old. We’d like to get the current information. There are plenty of popular generalists. Here is a good one on Science: A Short History of Nearly Everything , Bill Bryson, 2003 Here is one on spi...
by noman
Wed Jan 20, 2010 9:22 am
Forum: The Conversation with a Thousand Faces
Topic: Is Man Part of Nature
Replies: 345
Views: 49402

(the one billion estimated number of species is pulled out of thin air. Nobody even knows how many species exist on earth at present. Estimates range from 10 million to 100 million. The average life span of a species – about 4 million years. An earth of highly diversified multi-cellular life – abou...
by noman
Tue Jan 19, 2010 5:40 am
Forum: The Conversation with a Thousand Faces
Topic: Is Man Part of Nature
Replies: 345
Views: 49402

We are neither underdogs nor overlords when it comes to life on this planet. - Cindy Yes, from a Gaia’s-eye view. A mother does not play favorites. We are only one of an estimated one billion species that have ever existed. But from a human-eye view we have a vested interest in perpetuating one par...
by noman
Tue Jan 19, 2010 5:02 am
Forum: The Conversation with a Thousand Faces
Topic: Is Man Part of Nature
Replies: 345
Views: 49402

Romansh, Birds do it, bees do it, even educated spiders do it: http://www.alanbauer.com/images/Patterns%20in%20Nature/Spider%20web%20with%20dew.jpg And so do human beings: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Nagasakibomb.jpg Nagasaki, 15 August, 1945 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe...
by noman
Mon Jan 18, 2010 9:43 pm
Forum: The Conversation with a Thousand Faces
Topic: Is Man Part of Nature
Replies: 345
Views: 49402

Hi Nandu, Nice to know you’re still among the living. But now, the tables are turned (at least in our psyches); and we, human beings, have our foot on the throat of nature. So we root for the underdog. - NoMan * * * * * * * Really? If you must. I think a Haitian would look at you kind of oddly... - ...
by noman
Mon Jan 18, 2010 5:59 pm
Forum: The Conversation with a Thousand Faces
Topic: Is Man Part of Nature
Replies: 345
Views: 49402

Joe says... "...Now, the biblical tradition is a socially oriented mythology. Nature is condemned. In the nineteenth century, scholars thought of mythology and ritual as an attempt to control nature. But that is magic, not mythology or religion. Nature religions are not attempts to control nature b...
by noman
Mon Jan 18, 2010 5:46 am
Forum: The Conversation with a Thousand Faces
Topic: Is Man Part of Nature
Replies: 345
Views: 49402

This is a long thread. Thought I'd throw in my spare change. But don't let me derail the conversation. What follows might be water under the bridge. (Natural water; artificial bridge 8) ) JJ’s list of definitions is a good meditation on the uses of the word ‘natural’. Any word with thirty definition...
by noman
Sun Jan 17, 2010 11:43 am
Forum: Mythology and Religion
Topic: Catholic Koans
Replies: 3
Views: 1512

Hello Watson and Evinnra, I think the blogger is a bit too defensive of Catholicism as the one and only Christian religion. Everyone has a right to their opinion. But my interpretation of Campbell is that he didn’t like to rank one religion or denomination over others. When confronted with the many ...
by noman
Mon Jan 11, 2010 3:18 am
Forum: The Conversation with a Thousand Faces
Topic: Matriarchal and Patriarchal Consciousness and Culture
Replies: 86
Views: 22747

Hi Watson, You mean Joan of Arc and Eleanor of Aquitaine weren’t Protestant? Now why would that be? We live in a world where half of all people are women. Half of the one billion Catholics alive today are women. I would expect there to be many powerful women among them, especially in progressive Wes...
by noman
Mon Jan 11, 2010 1:56 am
Forum: Exploring Your Personal Mythology
Topic: Joseph Campbell and Postmodernism
Replies: 316
Views: 48849

There is certainly a resonance between postmodern philosophy and contemporary sciences - particularly particle physics, chaos theory, and the emerging science of complexity. There is the same sense of smokiness - vague, paradoxical, counterintuitive, difficult to pin down and contrary to traditiona...
by noman
Fri Jan 08, 2010 6:37 pm
Forum: Exploring Your Personal Mythology
Topic: Joseph Campbell and Postmodernism
Replies: 316
Views: 48849

…or would a hero break with traditional thinking… - JJ JJ – Pomo is not about a break with traditional thinking. It’s about a break with thinking – period. It’s about knowing there is no provable connection between language and reality. Postmodernism is about giving up. Once you understand this you...
by noman
Wed Jan 06, 2010 7:24 pm
Forum: Exploring Your Personal Mythology
Topic: Joseph Campbell and Postmodernism
Replies: 316
Views: 48849

Good point Watson. Our socially constructed reality is influenced by – how do I put this – real reality. And it isn’t always easy to draw the line. A border is influenced by geography but not dependent on it. And it is crucial to know the difference. Consider this statement: The planet that travels ...
by noman
Wed Jan 06, 2010 5:50 am
Forum: Exploring Your Personal Mythology
Topic: Joseph Campbell and Postmodernism
Replies: 316
Views: 48849

From where the sun now stands, I will post no more (in this thread), forever. - NoMan * * * * * * * I don't think Chief Joseph is going too far.... - Clemsy LOL The sun has not moved in a Copernican sense. Therefore, I not speak with forked tongue. The postmodern truth is, I can’t resist answering ...
by noman
Mon Jan 04, 2010 11:37 pm
Forum: Exploring Your Personal Mythology
Topic: Joseph Campbell and Postmodernism
Replies: 316
Views: 48849

If religion and philosophy were "answers" that had real value in our day to day lives, we surely would have seen some progress by now, right? Do we still suffer? Do we still have war? Do we still have greed?....and on and on? Yes. Why? Because the external answers offer nothing but a replacement of...