... II. The Framework ...

values paradoxes

Biology is also all about time and space. Biology takes up space. Biology got to where it takes up space by being planted there, or moving there by expanding, by being planted, by burrowing, by crawling, by floating, by being blown, by being dropped, by swimming, by walking, by running, or by flying there. The time-scale of biology ranges from bacteria, which when provided with proper food and water double their cell population in a half-an-hour or less, to elephants, which have a gestation period of 22 months, longer than any other land animal, to crinoids, also known as “sea lilies” and “feather stars” and which have been around since at least the Ordovician geologic age (see Chapter VII, Sections 1 and 2).

Biology is life. Life is all about birth, growth, and death. Life is about experiencing time move from the past to the present to the future. When we drop a plate on the floor, it shatters, and it never reassembles. When we pick roses, put them in a vase, they shrivel and die, and do not regenerate.2.45 Both cases demonstrate the arrow of time. Both cases demonstrate the relationship of the arrow of time to space (see Chapter VIII, Sections 1 and 2).

In addition, both cases provide a framework for a spiritual experience, an experience of anger or an experience of love. In each case, it is an experience which, once written in our memory, transcends time and space. An experience we can instantly go back to, at least as long as our memory of the event is working. An experience recorded in the hologram of the universe, simply because it occurred. Both cases provide an experience which science neither measures the importance of, nor the lasting meaning of, because its importance is spiritual, and its meaning is tied to context. Thus both the breaking of a plate or the gift of a rose demonstrates how a common time and space framework provides a way to relate science and religion.

Maybe this search for a way to relate the experiences of life with how to be a better person is the basis of mythology. Certainly mythology is tied to not being able to explain something from a natural standpoint, and thus needing to create a supernatural framework. It is interesting how mythological time and space seems to be parallel some of our modern mythologies. Consider the following condensed review of Viking mythology, from a more complete story posted on the web.2.46

    “Ymir
    There was nothing in the beginning but seemingly almost endless chasm called the Ginnungagap. Ginnungagap was a void, like the Greek Chaos. Ginnungagap was bordered by Niflheim, far to the north, and Muspelheim, far to the south. Out of this chaos the first being came into existence from the drop of water when ice from Niflheim and fire from Muspelheim met. This first being was Ymir, a primeval giant. …
timedex infinite grid

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