COSMOS TONIGHT WAS GREAT, even though the production quality was shaded by the association with FOX tv. The computer graphics were great, especially the depiction of a futuristic space ship taking the viewer on a tour of the Solar system. I also very much liked the fact time was taken to tell the story of Giordano Bruno. Few Americans know the story of Galileo, even fewer know the story of Bruno. Unless of course if you happen to be my daughter, in which case youve heard this all of your life. Bruno is comparable to Thomas Paine in his determination to stand strong in his convictions. The Church was not quite accurately depicted in this program. They really did not want to execute Bruno, and they/it had enough common sense by then to know that burning someone alive is probably the most inhumane thing one can possibly do to another human being. Bruno was imprisoned for 8 years in an attempt to make him recant, but he remained steadfast. It is as if he knew the only tool left to his discretion to further his contribution to humanity was to sacrifice his life and to hold the establishment accountable to its oppressive anti-intellectual traditions. It worked, and his life and memory were celebrated for the next several centuries. Im guessing being burnt alive is worse than being nailed to a cross. Can you imagine being burnt alive? Hell is deliberately depicted as a lake of fire because everyone knows the pain inflicted by heat is the worst ever, yet Bruno chose death by fire over recanting. That may not have been very smart because if he had true conviction in his belief the Sun is the center of our solar system, and that our Sun is simply another star like countless others in the Universe, and that the Universe is likely filled with countless planetary systems, etc, he might have supposed that sooner or later someone else would arrive at the same conclusion, and the record would be set straight. Call me a coward, but Im inclined to let the facts slip by the wayside rather than provoke a confrontation. Well, except for this post, which I hope will escape notice. I know that in the long run things will work out. Art and beauty express our relationship to life and the universe. Copernicus, Bruno and Galileo did much to establish our place in the Cosmos. Later, Einstien moved the horizon of our knowledge exponentially further. Today the bounds of our understanding are challenged in ways mind boggling compared to the relatively simple concept of relativity. We dont know if the Universe is infinite, or if there are an infinite number of universes. We stand at a crossroads of infinities. The macro world is infinitely grand and complex, and the micro world equally so. The good news is if we separate ourselves from presuppositions we have an opportunity to stand before the infinite in awe and amazement and appreciate every moment of life as it comes.
Posted on: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 03:16:44 +0000
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