Think of the skyscrapers crowded with artificial lights that fill up the skyline. Think of a beautifully designed lamp seated at the corner of a modernist architecture. Think of the optical invitations of lightings during Christmas. Think of a Japanese Casio watch with its signature blue light.
What do they tell us about our society? In the age of science and technology, we are routinely drawn to the glory of artificial lights and an unfair neglect of the occasional appearance of comets and the perpetual existence of stars. Our society is having trouble perfectly reconciling two opposing virtues of technology and nature. On promoting this material manifestation of fire and the starry night, what lesson can the appreciation of comets and stars offer? Are we confident enough not to be seduced by the satanic genius of Edison?
If the appreciation of comets and stars are able offer us moral lessons, it is perhaps because it invites us to summon our long forgotten virtue called "patience". The gospel of technology enforces us to associate productivity with haste, rather than conforming to the rigours of immobility, we tend to think the virtue of haste is the only possible way to give birth to civilisation. Technology has made us lose our powers of concentration. It has risked inspiring our inability to be alone and unstimulated. Even the most beautiful painting can barely detain us for more than thirty seconds.
But through the appreciation of comets and stars, we may be able to revive a form of previously neglected beauty. The starry night invites us to derive an aesthetic satisfaction wholly different from that of artificial lights. Though technology may make us easier to obtain beauty, but it does not simply the process of appreciating it. It seems to deviate away from its original purpose, instead of enhancing our attention to the minutest details, it urges us to use it as a substitute and therefore distracts us by offering an overblown variety of choices of artificial lights and an automatic possession of beauty without any conscious effort. The starry night, on the other hand, has us focus on one particular element, namely, stars, cutting away all unnecessary distractions, making us aware of the distinction between gazing and looking. Only through patience, we may begin to notice things which we previously neglect, taking up our vision to a higher level.
Another benefit we may derive from the appreciation of starry night is perhaps an occasional encounter of a comet. But seldom we even catch a glimpse of a comet. Is that because they seldom appear or is it because we no longer look up to the sky? If a comet is to offer any idea of life, it is because it suggests that most of the things in our life are in constant flux. It invites us to live with a sense of never letting the thought of death easily slip away.
All too often we may not appreciate the value of things while we are in the process of doing them. But only through retrospect, we may realise this is where happiness is fully acknowledged. As products of natural selection, our possession of memories enforces a nostalgia tendency. When we reflect on our worries and anxieties of work and our state of loneliness, we are pressured to think of our school days which are relatively stress-free and the reunion with friends months ago. Our happiness stems from the existence of long-lasting memories. But we are always too late in noticing the fact those days are long gone because we are often obscured by the optimistic thought that tomorrow will be much like today and the cruelly pessimistic thought of an unexpected event that will rupture our refuge in stability. A comet allows us to come clean with the fact that calm is only an interval between chaos, that almost everything is susceptible to change. Nothing is guaranteed. A comet prepares us a mind-set to accept the reality and expect the unexpected.
The most important lesson we may learn from the starry night is that we are remotely ignorant of what our universe is happening at the moment. The appreciation of stars is a mere excuse for our imperfect eye visions, something invented to make up for the lack of optical evidence, therefore falsely seen as objects of beauty rather than horror of cosmic explosions which happened million years ago. How easy a scenery of calmness and peace is disrupted by the unseen reality. But our ignorance of cosmic explosions suggests we often neglect the present. Our life comprises two confusing characteristics: our deep longing for the past and our wish to hope for a better future. Our happiness is acknowledged from the past but at the same time we entertain the uncertainty of possible happiness in the future. But these two characteristics distance us from the present. The present is where we live in at the moment. To indulge in the past and the future is an expression of our fear to face the reality. But this is delusional because yesterday is long gone and tomorrow never comes. In order to enjoy life, we ought to live in the present. In order to understand what constitutes happiness, our soul-searching starts from today rather than the past and the future.
In the dominion of technology, men have become mad and arrogant. Technology may be a material articulation of certain good ideas of life. But in the prehistoric part of our mind, there is always a deeper longing for the nature. To be a civilised being is not to be devoted to blind worship of technology, but rather, the harmony of nature and technology.
What do they tell us about our society? In the age of science and technology, we are routinely drawn to the glory of artificial lights and an unfair neglect of the occasional appearance of comets and the perpetual existence of stars. Our society is having trouble perfectly reconciling two opposing virtues of technology and nature. On promoting this material manifestation of fire and the starry night, what lesson can the appreciation of comets and stars offer? Are we confident enough not to be seduced by the satanic genius of Edison?
If the appreciation of comets and stars are able offer us moral lessons, it is perhaps because it invites us to summon our long forgotten virtue called "patience". The gospel of technology enforces us to associate productivity with haste, rather than conforming to the rigours of immobility, we tend to think the virtue of haste is the only possible way to give birth to civilisation. Technology has made us lose our powers of concentration. It has risked inspiring our inability to be alone and unstimulated. Even the most beautiful painting can barely detain us for more than thirty seconds.
But through the appreciation of comets and stars, we may be able to revive a form of previously neglected beauty. The starry night invites us to derive an aesthetic satisfaction wholly different from that of artificial lights. Though technology may make us easier to obtain beauty, but it does not simply the process of appreciating it. It seems to deviate away from its original purpose, instead of enhancing our attention to the minutest details, it urges us to use it as a substitute and therefore distracts us by offering an overblown variety of choices of artificial lights and an automatic possession of beauty without any conscious effort. The starry night, on the other hand, has us focus on one particular element, namely, stars, cutting away all unnecessary distractions, making us aware of the distinction between gazing and looking. Only through patience, we may begin to notice things which we previously neglect, taking up our vision to a higher level.
Another benefit we may derive from the appreciation of starry night is perhaps an occasional encounter of a comet. But seldom we even catch a glimpse of a comet. Is that because they seldom appear or is it because we no longer look up to the sky? If a comet is to offer any idea of life, it is because it suggests that most of the things in our life are in constant flux. It invites us to live with a sense of never letting the thought of death easily slip away.
All too often we may not appreciate the value of things while we are in the process of doing them. But only through retrospect, we may realise this is where happiness is fully acknowledged. As products of natural selection, our possession of memories enforces a nostalgia tendency. When we reflect on our worries and anxieties of work and our state of loneliness, we are pressured to think of our school days which are relatively stress-free and the reunion with friends months ago. Our happiness stems from the existence of long-lasting memories. But we are always too late in noticing the fact those days are long gone because we are often obscured by the optimistic thought that tomorrow will be much like today and the cruelly pessimistic thought of an unexpected event that will rupture our refuge in stability. A comet allows us to come clean with the fact that calm is only an interval between chaos, that almost everything is susceptible to change. Nothing is guaranteed. A comet prepares us a mind-set to accept the reality and expect the unexpected.
The most important lesson we may learn from the starry night is that we are remotely ignorant of what our universe is happening at the moment. The appreciation of stars is a mere excuse for our imperfect eye visions, something invented to make up for the lack of optical evidence, therefore falsely seen as objects of beauty rather than horror of cosmic explosions which happened million years ago. How easy a scenery of calmness and peace is disrupted by the unseen reality. But our ignorance of cosmic explosions suggests we often neglect the present. Our life comprises two confusing characteristics: our deep longing for the past and our wish to hope for a better future. Our happiness is acknowledged from the past but at the same time we entertain the uncertainty of possible happiness in the future. But these two characteristics distance us from the present. The present is where we live in at the moment. To indulge in the past and the future is an expression of our fear to face the reality. But this is delusional because yesterday is long gone and tomorrow never comes. In order to enjoy life, we ought to live in the present. In order to understand what constitutes happiness, our soul-searching starts from today rather than the past and the future.
In the dominion of technology, men have become mad and arrogant. Technology may be a material articulation of certain good ideas of life. But in the prehistoric part of our mind, there is always a deeper longing for the nature. To be a civilised being is not to be devoted to blind worship of technology, but rather, the harmony of nature and technology.
W
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my most favorite topic, i used to get lost in this wonderful world, looking at the star nights and sky is like giving meaning to my life,i hope god will keep me alive in any shape as i am really willing to know that after destroying the earth which planet will be the home of human and how many kind of species are living out there,but above all the realty stars moon and sun are our best friends we must find some time and listen to them,take care
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