01 Feb 2010
All You Need Is Love

Why was I born? To some extent, this is not a question at all. A question usually implies a choice - why is it x and not y? There is no choice here: asking "Why wasn't I born?" is a contradiction.

Yet this question has been considered at some level by every human who's ever walked Midgard. Some are seeking a purpose, some are seeking enlightenment. I'm looking for an answer.

So let's get physical and rephrase the query. My real question isn't "Why do I exist?", but rather "What is it about me that makes me unique? Why am I 'me', and not somebody else?"

I remember when I was a little kid, it had to be when I was 6 or seven, the girl next door - was her name Becky? - insisted that her mom and dad had "made" her. I was equally adamant that God had made me, and her and everybody else. My Sunday school teacher said so! But she asked the obvious (and pretty perceptive for a first grader) question: if God made her, why did she look like her mom?

We are, biologically, our ancestors. Here's a thought that'll blow your mind: fifty thousand years ago, somewhere in Eurasia or Africa, two humans mated. If they had not done so, you would not exist.

On a biological level, it's safe to say that you were born because of all of your ancestors that successfully mated, and raised their brood to maturity. Sounds kinda sterile, eh? But take a look at the emotional side...

What's the primary motivation for human mating? Is it mere attraction? Availability? Lust? I think it's probably safe to say that the primary motivation for mating, across cultures and across the centuries, has been an emotional desire. This may be for security, or to please one's family, or it may even be a violent outburst, but commonly the emotion that motivates us to make the beast with two backs is love.

I think it's probably a safe bet to say that the vast majority of your ancestors felt an emotional bond with their mates, and I guarantee that they felt an emotional bond with their children (because unloved children typically do not thrive). Those bonds are what we today would call love.

You were born because your ancestors loved. They loved each other, and they loved their offspring.

This love - this desire to mate and raise children, is the basis for our survival as a species. If we are indeed children of the universe, then love is the universe insuring it's own propagation.

From the perspective of the universe, the Beatles were right.

21:46 /Asatru | 0 comments | permanent link

For the Love of Culture

When law becomes an impediment to history, it's time for it to get out of the way.

Her project faced two challenges, one obvious, one not. The obvious challenge was technical: gathering fifty years of film and restoring it digitally. The non-obvious challenge was legal: clearing the rights to move this creative work onto this new platform for distribution.

(link) [The New Republic]

19:40 /Copywrongs | 0 comments | permanent link