Rime Of The Ancient Mariner

I can easily believe, that there are more invisible than visible Beings in the universe. But who shall describe for us their families? and their ranks and relationships and distinguishing features and functions? What they do? where they live? The human mind has always circled around a knowledge of these things, never attaining it. I do not doubt, however, that it is sometimes beneficial to contemplate, in thought, as in a Picture, the image of a greater and better world; lest the intellect, habituated to the trivia of daily life, may contract itself too much, and wholly sink into trifles. But at the same time we must be vigilant for truth, and maintain proportion, that we may distinguish certain from uncertain, day from night.

-- T. Burnet, Archaeol. Phil. p. 68 (1692)

Facile credo - these are the first words of the motto to 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner' by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Now, it talks about belief in supernatural beings, but I'm going to talk mostly about beliefs in natural phenomena. Some things are easier to believe than others, and I cannot bring myself to believe in some of the hypotheses, for example, on the origins of water on planet Earth.

Generally, I think we are unclear about the scope of the known and knowable. Science purports to describe the visible beings in the universe, and the modern man (not necessarily male;) firmly believes in science and scientific discoveries. However, when talking about ancient events, like 1 billion years ago, we have to acknowledge certain limits of accessibility to our knowledge. We don't know and we might never do, no matter how science progresses, much more than we now know about the Rodinia supercontinent, for example. Mapping out a supercontinent is as much a play of imagination as anything else.

Imagination also plays an important role in the above mentioned hypotheses on the origins of water. Liquid water is found only on Earth, although in other form it has been found elsewhere in the Solar system and interstellar clouds. The origins of water are traced back to the origins of the universe.

Here are the hypotheses listed in Wikipedia:

1. The cooling of hot gases were released causing "outgassing", potentially bringing water to Earth.
2. Comets, trans-Neptunian objects or water-rich asteroids (protoplanets) from the outer reaches of the asteroid belt colliding with a pre-historic Earth may have brought water to the world's oceans.
   
3. Liquid may have been "locked" in the Earth's rocks and leaked out over millions of years.
4. Photolysis. (Radiation can break down chemical bonds separating liquid from hard mass)
5. Rain and sandstorms may have pooled.

I like the 'may have been' modality here, signifying 'we don't know but we'd like to know'. A few words on each hypotesis:

1. Outgassing is producing gases from solids and is not the same as producing liquid water. It is the quantity of water that is puzzling here.
2. My favorite: the panaqua theory - asteroids bringing water to Earth, therefore life! It looks very much like putting all your eggs in one basket, though. And there are different claims as to the correspondence of isotopes found on comets with those in oceanic water.
3. May have. However, evidence suggests that water was present on Earth pretty early after its formation. Several hundred millions of years early, that is. This is pretty short time, considering that the age of Earth is now calculated at 4.5 billion years.
4. Photolysis - probably, the effect on light on chemicals. But again, there had to be MANY chemicals. And oxygen. What is the main source of oxygen - algae, and plants in general.^_^
5. Rain, wtf? I thought the formation of oceans preceded the formation of athmosphere, at least oxygen-rich atmosphere. Anyway, the whole water cycle is full of mysteries.

This post is getting ridiculously long, and I haven't said anything about the most recent experiments on producing life. This is because my point is that the Supernatural Man (TM) asks questions about life, the universe, and everything (water as part of everything), but at the same time makes myths, writes poetry, sings, loves, plays, translates (o rly), paints, and reads. And refuses to sink into trifles, habituated to the trivia of daily life.

Off to cook my pork stew with rice.

Unlikely?

И всеки път си казвам, че повече няма да поствам стихове, и все нещо става. Аз всъщност не си падам много по поезия:)

ЛУДОСТ

Викнах те, майсторе, къща насред село да ми вдигнеш –
като я зърнат селяците, чак до зори да не мигнат,
както са пусти душите им, тъй да са чашите пълни,
да ме заплюят мъжете, а пък жените – прокълнат…
Искам прозорците, майсторе, да ги направиш широки,
минеш ли, да те погледам. Нали съм зеленоока.
Да ме обикнеш майсторе, ще ти направя магия.
Като вълчица жена ти насред мегдана да вие,
и да се кръстят старците, и да ме плашат със Бога –
мога без Бога, майсторе, само без тебе не мога –
че ми е пусто в къщата, а пък в градината – суша.
…Като те виках, майсторе – луд ли бе, та ме послуша?

Венета Вълева

НОСЕТЕ СИ НОВИТЕ ДРЕХИ, МОМЧЕТА -
падаме, както ходим,
умираме, както спим.
Въпросите на тая планета
я решим,
я не решим…

Но не казвайте: утре ще бъдем красиви.
Не казвайте: утре ще бъдем щастливи.
Не казвайте: утре ще бъдем, ще бъдем…
Ще обичаме утре,
утре ще бъда любим.
Носете си новите дрехи, момчета,
падаме, както ходим,
умираме, както спим.

Не казвайте: утре ще почнем голямото,
днес да спечелим пари за прехраната.
Не казвайте: утре да бъдем честни,
днес тихичко
ще се проврем…
Носете си новите дрехи, момчета,
ходейки падаме,
сънувайки мрем.

Не казвайте: утре с вик на площада
ще кажа истината, после – на клада!
На клада, но утре. А днес потърпете,
днес се налага
да премълчим…
Носете си новите дрехи, момчета –
падаме, както ходим,
умираме, както спим!

Стефан Цанев

Мда, Стефан Цанев. Не обещавам, че няма да поствам и други негови неща.

Hell Breaking Loose

Haiku-edit:)

kids jumping on beds
often goes smoothly enough
this time hell broke loose

The fragile balance of life can be upset by the smallest thing, when it's, er, fragile. This bed was supposed to last for another three years. The plan was to design two separate rooms for kids when M. starts school and R. enters puberty. Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans:)

Anyway, Third Kid Plan is now officially cancelled.

Team Building With Ramen

I had an extraodinary dream about aliens.

Their space base on Earth looked like a hotel in the mountain where we got by bus(!). I even had my son with me. All the earthlings knew in advance they were participating in a volunteer experiment, and were provided with the test documentation, so we were aware we were being assessed. The overall objective was to test the level of compatibility of humanity with the alien race, and quite possibly, vice versa.

The hotel was something between 2 and 3 stars (stars are supposed to be huge balls of hot gas, not a measure of luxury:D). The aliens looked like humanoids at first glance, although some had wierd hairstyles (ok, some humans did too), and mingled with us in the lounge areas. We had our rooms but we were instructed not to spend much time there. There was a lake outside the hotel where we could swim and where my son almost drowned while playing with alien kids. There was a lawn of my favorite kind - not completely flat but slightly slopy. Food was served all the time, and sweets were a key ingredient in the menu. I vaguely remember that when you met an alien for the first time, you had to exchange sweets, so I had brought quite a lot. Some sweets remained at the end of the dream...

Which brings me to the confession that I was a grand failure in the experiment. I was so inadequate in communicating with aliens that it reminded me of a painful experience when I was about 11 and went to a folk dancers training camp where I couldn't talk to anyone (a piece of shameful account of my life, yep). Earthlings were almost as much an obstacle for me as aliens and I remember a few blunders of mistaken identity, which is a sign of absolute idiocy, because, you see, aliens gave you the creeps. Literally. When you looked an alien in the eye, there was a palpable tingling sensation in your backbone. They weren't horrific, they were just different. They laughed at different things, they talked about irrelevant (for me) stuff, and they exuded cruelty. I don't know why I thought them cruel, maybe this is my post-dream imagination playing tricks on me.

The dream ended abruptly while I was packing my bag to go. I knew I missed the bus which most other humans had already boarded. The team building was a flop, at least as far as I am concerned. I was so absorbed with myself and my reflections that I didn't even look at people, I refused to adjust my behavior to match theirs (or at least match the test criteria), and I expected them to adjust to me. After all, for them I am the alien, right?

This is my fear of strangers speaking, for those tempted to quote Freud;)