mmmm.... thank you harrison and mike. this feeling of coming home is exactly what struck me and has continued to unfurl within me ever since i first learned of open space and recognized, "this is how i live (and like to live) my life."
in love and gratitude, ashley On Sat, 5 Mar 2005 08:17:08 -0500, Harrison Owen <hho...@comcast.net> wrote: > Why is the universe lumpy? Because it has quantum jitters! Strange item for > OSLIST, but this is a pretty strange LIST! And what about lumpiness? Well, > isn't it wonderful that a blinding flash of homogenous, superheated plasma > spreading out in the moment of the Big Bang to create space and time should > clump and lump? And big clumps and lumps like galaxies and stars, super > novas and tiny galactic splinters like planet earth. Not to mention even > smaller clumps and lumps like you and me. And how did all that happen? > > According to Brian Greene, physicist and author of "The Fabric of the > Cosmos", it all began with Quantum Jitters. The silent, majestic clockwork > universe of Newton holds a deep secret. The panoply of the stars which > appears eternal and un-changing as we view the night skies is jumpy at the > core. Well beneath the effective threshold of our feeble eyes, the fantastic > world of quarks and electrons, neutrinos and photons vibrates in fits and > starts. Some have called this a dance, but it is a very odd dance, for no > step is like any other, and every step is indeterminate and unpredictable. > In a word, it jitters. > > Who cares? Well we should because the random jitter of some jumpy quark > provided the small chaotic disturbance that initiated the ongoing process of > self-organization. The Cosmic Butterfly flaps its wings to transform the > primal sameness of hot plasma into the variegated splendor of our universe, > to say nothing of the infinite, special diversity of each and every one of > us. At least that is the story as Brian tells it. > > Needless to say, my competence to judge the veracity of the tale is > non-existent. But Brian's colleagues in the exotic world of physics in all > of its various flavors - astro, atomic, quantum and whatever -- appear to be > telling a similar tale. And from my point of view the story is too good not > to be true - more or less. But why tell it here on OSLIST? > > You could blame my weird, esoteric, possibly perverted, and definitely > curmudgeonly nature - and I wouldn't argue. But frankly, I hold Mike > Copeland responsible. Several days ago, Mike wrote: > > "You know we are catalysts for a huge cultural shift that is happening in > our world. I firmly believe I need to be living in open space myself if I am > to facilitate in this way. It is very much a case of Open Space starts at > home." > > There is little doubt in my mind that we are witness to a "huge cultural > shift." How that will all turn out, and whether we are actually catalysts, I > don't have a clue. But perhaps we can help. The essence of that "help" is > pointed to; I think, in Mike's final phrase - "Open Space starts at home." > But as I thought about this phrase, it occurred to me some addition to his > words might be in order. No question, "Open Space starts at home" but the > real news is that Open Space is all about coming home! As we stand in the > circle inviting the random, indeterminate passions of those who cared to > come, we acknowledge and celebrate the advent of the human version of the > cosmic jitters, the power of chaos loosed by the flaps of butterfly wings. > And once again the eternal force of self-organization does its thing. We add > nothing, we have created nothing new. It is only that we have come home to > what we always were - despite out best efforts to be something different. > It's nice to be home. Thank you, Mike. > > Harrison > > Harrison Owen > 7808 River Falls Drive > Potomac, Maryland 20845 > Phone 301-365-2093 > > Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com <http://www.openspaceworld.com/> > > Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org > Personal website http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm > osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu > To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives Visit: > http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html > > * > * > ========================================================== > osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu > ------------------------------ > To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, > view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: > http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html > > To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: > http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist > * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist