Natures wonders: clever tiny wasp controls another (Introduction)

by dhw, Wednesday, February 01, 2017, 14:27 (2850 days ago) @ BBella

dhw: […] you are obviously thinking of a deeper, “spiritual” kind of connection (morphic fields etc.), and although I myself can understand and accept the possible reality of such immaterial links, in all honesty I can only do so in relation to living things. I don’t for one second believe that anything I do will affect a distant star, and I don’t think a pebble on a beach in Australia has the remotest connection with me or I with it. Where does one draw the line? Perhaps it boils down to the question: are we and our fellow organisms uniquely alive in an impersonal universe, or is the universe itself a living organism?
DAVID: BBella is really referring to the quantum connected universe, I'm sure, not what you are discussing.
BBELLA: Yes, that is correct, David, it is what I was referring to. And, maybe, dhw, the universe is a living organism. I have read on more than one occasion of scientist that see this possibility in what they have found in their studies - but often find it hard to express in a scientific way. Of course, it's a favorite belief of philosophers and spiritualist as well.

I don’t understand what you mean by the “quantum connected universe”. The universe consists of tiny particles and units of energy some of which sometimes behave in ways we do not understand. Why does this suggest interconnectedness, and how can one experience it at such a level? However, the concept of the universe as a living organism is certainly coherent and conceivable, and it fits in nicely with what I see as possible parallels between the microcosm and the macrocosm.

“So let us talk of microcosms and macrocosms. Within our own world there are many parallels between cells and the universe, between individual and society, between the body of man and the body of the Earth – so perhaps it is the same between us and our designer. Perhaps the cells that microreflect the body that microreflects society that microreflects the Earth that microreflects the universe are also a microreflection of the designer. The designer may even be the universe, which may even be a body, within which the galaxies are limbs, and our solar system a mere cell.” (Brief Guide, 6: The nature of a “Creator”) (I should add that this is taken out of context, and is not an expression of faith in the existence of God.)

dhw: (re “Where is Time?”): I’m sorry to say that I lost patience with it…
DAVID: I lost patience also, but he seems to be saying, on skimming it, that time is a construct in our brains as we all have discussed.
BBELLA: I can easily understand you both losing patience with this article […]I'm not sure I can extract what I saw there...but will try and do so, and will also try and remember to leave more comments on future articles.

Thank you. I’m relieved to hear that I wasn’t alone!