Back from holidays
August 31st, 2008 Posted in GeneralI’m finally back from holidays and will begin updating the site tomorrow. In the meantime, as something to chew on, try this: I’ve just watched the wonderful episode of “Who do you think you are” about the London mayor, Boris Johnson. He came up with a great quote near the end of the episode that must have been scripted because it was so utterly brilliant. He said “we aren’t the end product of our genes, we’re just their custodians.” And of course, that’s true.
It would be so easy to see ourselves as the end product of billions of years of evolution, and that in itself is inspiring enough – but the reality is something far greater. In actual fact, we are not only the end product of billions of years of evolution, but we are but one link in an unbroken chain that began with the first few self-replicating organisms in the primeval seas of our young Earth, and have evolved over time to such a wonderfully diverse family of organisms. And yet, without the social lens of technology, our link in that chain is otherwise unremarkable – one more tiny meander in the river of life. For most of us, we are a link, but not the final one.
I personally find it inspiring to think of myself as a component in that huge story of life – to sense that I am very much a component part of the Universe, not simply a separate observer. However, I know that there are many who are insulted by this truth. It seems a great shame that our own egos often cloud the light of reason from our sight.
If you haven’t seen that episode of the wonderful BBC series I mentioned above, then I suggest you do so – in fact, all the episodes are fascinating as they each tell a story of how we became to be who we are, and that’s a story that I believe ought to be told. I only differ in that I suggest the greatest stories unfold when we look a lot further back.
