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Consumption

This video is very interesting to me:



What fascinates me is the way the single-celled organism on the right envelopes the one on the left. These are two incredibly simple organisms, yet they represent the whole of the universe. There's so much going on here that it's just stunning.

Consider: these organisms are alive. At what level they are sentient - aware of their own existence - is a matter of conjecture, as we haven't figured out how to communicate with these animals. Yet they are each aware of their surroundings (pun intended) - you can almost feel the panic in the organism on the left as it begins to be consumed, and you can feel the patient persistence on the part of the organism on the right, knowing (?) (!) on some level that it's doing the right thing in taking in this perceptible (?) food... How it knows the other animal is food - how it knows ANYTHING - is just beyond comprehension... Yet, clearly it does.

Perhaps by taking the other animal into itself, an organism can begin to change. Perhaps this kind of chance meeting isn't chance at all. Perhaps this is how we got started - different animals taking different parts and pieces and making them into a grand, glorious whole... But just think of what random causality is apparent in that idea - how did these two cells come into contact with one another? What cosmic forces are at play? What if these two cells - these two individual animals - had never met? What if they do not survive - they subsist for a period of time and then - for what ever reason - die off, their combined uniqueness ill-adapted for survival? What forces, circumstances, or conditions must be in perfect alignment in order to produce this survival? I suppose that, given enough time, such random events are increasingly likely. But here's the thing - these processes began (however they began) billions of years ago, and other life has evolved and changed and grown and progressed since then, producing the marvelous diversity that we enjoy today. We live in a perfect mosaic of life, each facet, each piece contributing to the whole, lending beauty and interest and LIFE. And this life extends from these two tiny animals locked in mortal combat to you and I, dear reader. Which just blows my mind.

There are infinite infinities (Victor Hugo said that this was a terrible plural!) - the infinite within each of us, the Infinite of the Universe, whom we call God... Mathematics recognizes rational infinites, irrational infinites; thus, between zero and one are multiple infinities. In all of this infinite, somewhere we try to gain understanding and meaning, often frustrated at the limited nature of our own capacities. Perhaps the definition of "God" then is someone who is not limited as we are.

Perhaps.

Finally, consider that these to animals are animals. The definition of "animal" involves the same root as "animate" - meaning capable of movement, but it's the word's etymology that I find interesting. Here's what Merriam Webster has to say:

Middle English, from Latin animatus, past participle of animare to give life to, from anima breath, soul; akin to Old English ōthian to breathe, Latin animus spirit, Greek anemos wind, Sanskrit aniti he breathes

These animals, in acknowledging that they are animals, are alive. And they have a soul. A spirit. They may not communicate, they may not KNOW anything, and they may simply be functioning on some automated program, the same way a computer does - a series of inputs produces a result. But there is a soul to these things, something that is powerful and binding, a link in the chain that brings together all living things. And I think that's amazing.

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