At this time of the planting of the seed of the new lunar cycle, I am struck with the observation - or revelation - that I am responsible for the future of the world.
Everyone else is responsible for the world's fate too, of course.. This fact, though, doesn't diminish the fact of my personal agency..
To be human or enlightened - or simply alive, I assume my personal agency, my personal responsibility for the "fate of the earth". It is as "simple" as that..
The above observation is scientific - as well as "gnostic" - in nature and so can be demonstrated scientifically Physically speaking, life is energy flow. No flow, no life (note 1). The energy flow through me implies that, as long as I am alive, I cannot but act on my environment. At the most basic level, my breathing removes oxygen and adds carbon dioxide to the atmosphere (a physical action on the environment whether or not I am conscious of it). Therefore I possess (some) "agency" on the world.. QED
The question of how to act, what to act toward is a bit more problematic, admittedly. The French philosopher / sociologist of self-organization, Edgar Morin, has some interesting things to say on the matter.
- All actions in the social, cultural, political realms have unforeseen / unforeseeable consequences ("blowback").
- These consequences may be positive, negative or mixed. Typically, some parties will gain, some will lose, so whether the effects are positive or negative often depends on your perspective(!)
We are left in the curious situation of (unavoidably) interacting with our environment but without detailed knowledge of the probable longterm consequences of those interactions..
The only rational conclusion I can draw is that we have to act according to what we see is right (Right Action) - and to hell with the consequences!
https://www.facebook.com/Edgar-Morin-La-M%C3%A9thode-167436323275851/
notes:
1- cryptobiosis: no energy flow leads to either death or "suspended animation":
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11290443
The full article:
http://courses.washington.edu/bioe555/Clegg%202001.pdf
"Live tardigrades have been regenerated from dried moss kept in a museum for over 100 years! Once the moss was moistened, they successfully recovered from their tuns"
http://serc.carleton.edu/microbelife/topics/tardigrade/index.html
