I saw Steven Spielberg's movie, listened to the president's Inauguration speech, and read the NYT. Also I have been thinking about consciousness the last few weeks. Here you can read what I have to say about these three men.
From the NYT:
"Security in Washington was tight as Mr. Obama, the nation’s first black president, delivered his second Inaugural Address from the Capitol just before noon. Speaking on the day the nation sets aside to honor the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Mr. Obama took his oath with his hand on two Bibles: one once owned by Dr. King and another once owned by Abraham Lincoln."
Another relevant passage for this note is:
"The president has already unveiled his proposals to reduce gun violence amid fierce opposition from gun owners, the National Rifle Association and many Republican lawmakers. Aides say Mr. Obama will soon begin the immigration fight as well, perhaps as soon as next month, when he delivers his State of the Union speech."
This note is also informed by Jared Diamond's new book: "The World Until Yesterday".
Let me start with the fragility of life.
After Lincoln constructed a new Social Consciousness, by passing the Thirteenth amendment to the constitution, he was slain by Booth, after MLK delivered an important speech he was killed by Ray. I hope nothing happens to Obama, but he knows history.
Diamond writes about non-state societies, where sometimes differences are resolved violently. I come from a region in Mexico, where even seventy years ago, if not even more recently, neighbors keep grudges very much alive.
Given that fragility of life, it is a miracle that we keep building Social Consciousness.
Consciousness.
Enrico Fermi asked many years ago: Where are they? He was referring to the intelligent beings, that should exist in other planets, given current scientific knowledge. We are the only conscious beings in the known Universe.
I know more than Fermi knew, and the question is even more unsettling now.
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