‘Our life-force begins its journey with the instincts.’ Hearing that stopped me in my tracks. It was so exact, yet, at the same time, so counter to what I would
Category: evolutionary biology
An Eye for the UniverseAn Eye for the Universe
It had all the hallmarks of a bad horror film. A mad scientist transplanting a section of human DNA onto the leg of a fruit-fly… It was doomed to end
Going ViralGoing Viral
There’s nothing funny about Covid-19, the Wu-Han-originated Coronavirus that has just been declared a global pandemic. But the explosive spread of the infection throws a lot of light on the
Echoes of the BunkermenEchoes of the Bunkermen
I was born in the 1950s. It was an age riven by anxiety about nuclear war. Ten years after the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had been destroyed by
Primal ScreenPrimal Screen
Somewhere in the frontal cortex of our brains there’s a very special junction – a place where we learned to do something truly different with our minds… Let’s call it
The What of Life (2)The What of Life (2)
I want to like you, she thought, loudly. Please don’t spoil it by picking on science in a stupid, fluffy way… but don’t stop challenging, either… find the villains… She
The What of Life (1)The What of Life (1)
She was sitting in the front row – the car had mysteriously failed to start for the first five minutes of the would-be journey, as though projecting her future to
The Rotating Blade of Meaning (8) – Final PartThe Rotating Blade of Meaning (8) – Final Part
In the preceding parts of this series (see below for full list) we have seen how Arthur M. Young, inventor and chief engineer of Bell’s early helicopter design, was convinced
The Rotating Blade of Meaning (7)The Rotating Blade of Meaning (7)
Now we have finished with our incursion into maths, and I know that will be welcome… Why have we been talking about such non-spiritual things as acceleration, velocity (speed) and
The Rotating Blade of Meaning (6)The Rotating Blade of Meaning (6)
(Above: the original Bell 30 which established commercial helicopter technology, and was invented and developed by Arthur M. Young. Picture Wikipedia, public domain) In our last post, we looked
Deep and PersonalDeep and Personal
“At what point should we expect the contact with the universe to become deep and personal?” The red-haired man in the corner had asked the question. He always sat in
Golden Hours…Golden Hours…
Image and text from the ‘Ash and Seed’ weekend… * * It is difficult to conceive, perhaps, the birth pangs of a Giant which stands for a land mass… *
The Unseen Sea – 16: The Envy of SelfThe Unseen Sea – 16: The Envy of Self
Part Sixteen of The Unseen Sea Jason Rowbrook, our Foreign Office diplomat, is an example of an Enneagram Type Four. We talked about the three primary figures on the enneagram’s
The Unseen Sea – 15: Tall Child of EnvyThe Unseen Sea – 15: Tall Child of Envy
Part Fifteen of The Unseen Sea The fish that crawled out of the sea was ancient by the time LUCA, the EarthLife, came down from the trees, and, much later,
The Unseen Sea – 14: The Layers of MeThe Unseen Sea – 14: The Layers of Me
Part Fourteen of The Unseen Sea With the flickering of the cottage’s log fire behind her, Maria looks in on her father, snoozing on his bed after their spat.
The Unseen Sea – 13: A Four-Eyed TelescopeThe Unseen Sea – 13: A Four-Eyed Telescope
Part Thirteen of The Unseen Sea The history of life’s reactions to its environment – the ‘out there’ – is written in what we now call the psychology of the
The Unseen Sea – 12: A Passion for PerfectionThe Unseen Sea – 12: A Passion for Perfection
Part Twelve of The Unseen Sea Maria is calmer, now, after their confrontation. The rawness of such encounters is draining, her father knows. Like all deeply personal interactions, they
The Unseen Sea – 11: An Angry WomanThe Unseen Sea – 11: An Angry Woman
Part Eleven of The Unseen Sea “You didn’t listen–you never listen!” Maria is angry. Grandad Lucca has seen it many times. Recent events have, of course, made things worse.
The Unseen Sea – 10: Mind and the EnneagramThe Unseen Sea – 10: Mind and the Enneagram
Part Ten of The Unseen Sea If you have been following this series of posts, you may have detected a liberal use of the name LUCA. The Last Universal Common
The Unseen Sea – 9: The Image of FearThe Unseen Sea – 9: The Image of Fear
Part Nine of The Unseen Sea “She’s being picked on at school,” says Maria. Grandad Lucca gazes back to the thick rug in the corner of the tiny living room in
The Unseen Sea – 8: The Nature of MeThe Unseen Sea – 8: The Nature of Me
Part Eight of The Unseen Sea “Grandad,” asks Jessica, taking his hand as they walk up the face of the sand dune. “What is a me?” He looks down at
The Unseen Sea – 7: The Energy of FearThe Unseen Sea – 7: The Energy of Fear
Part Seven of The Unseen Sea The life force – the will to survive that had become LUCA – found that her life was contained in a bubble. She had no
The Unseen Sea – 6: Of Fear and TrustThe Unseen Sea – 6: Of Fear and Trust
Part Six of The Unseen Sea Grandad Lucca is walking on the shoreline with his grandaughter, Jessica. The beach is made up, mainly, of pebbles, twinkling black and white in
The Unseen Sea – 5: Now you see me…The Unseen Sea – 5: Now you see me…
Part Five of The Unseen Sea The square in the town is bathed in the kind of mellow light that you get only at the end of summer. Jessica is
The Unseen Sea – 4: Nine Steps to KnowingThe Unseen Sea – 4: Nine Steps to Knowing
Part Four of The Unseen Sea: adrift in the enneagram I am not equating LUCA’s enduring sense of self-protection with our own consciousness as a living, brain-possessing being, with all