A Grain of Sand
My reading of “A Grain of Sand,” by Robert W. Service (1874-1958). You can find the text of the poem here:
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/15156-Robert-W-Service-A-Grain-Of-Sand/
Robert Service was not the first poet to express the idea that larger mysteries might be unlocked in a grain of sand, if we had the eyes to see and the brain to comprehend. Here is what William Blake (1757-1827) had to say about it in “Auguries Of Innocence:”
“To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.”
It’s a reductionist sentiment, the same sentiment that underlies much of science: if you can understand a thing from what it is made of, and in turn understand what *that* is made of, and so on, you can grasp the fundamental truths of the universe. Reductionism leads us from whirling galaxies all the way down to the tiny scales of quantum physics.
The space photographs were all created with the Hubble Space Telescope and are in the public domain, courtesy of NASA.
The first beach photograph is the work of Francois Schnell, “Dune and Blue Sky,” in the public domain. The second beach photograph is the work of kendiala, “Dune,” licensed under the Creative Commons. The final beach photograph is by zenmasterlauren, “Child on the Beach,” in the public domain. You can find these photographs by searching on each artist’s name at http://www.flickr.com/.
Music is by Mooma, “Entropy,” from his album “Herd Forming,” licensed under the Creative Commons and available from http://www.mp3.com/.
I don’t normally present poetry this short, but I was learning some new software. Consider this video the result of testing.
Enjoy.
Duration : 0:3:18
[youtube L7EM6KUdAU0]
Thank you for this …
Thank you for this video. I am sure you read many books from J.Krishnamurit,Carl Sagan to Bertrand Russel, & other pleasant ones. Anyways this video speaks to me. Love.
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What an intriguing …
What an intriguing question!
I don’t know, either. But I will observe that though mathematics is indeed the language of nature, it does not follow that all mathematics is part of the natural language. In fact, it’s pretty clear that some mathematics has nothing whatsoever to do with nature.
The trick is knowing which is which, and for that, we must experiment and examine evidence.
Science accepts no hypothesis which cannot be tested. Keep that in mind as you peruse Gödel ’s ideas.
Kurt Gödel showed …
Kurt Gödel showed us that falsifications can be modeled mathematically. In other words, that a statement delcaring a falsehood is possible such that is only true when it is false and false when it is true.
I think people are still dealing with the ramifications of that revelation…that maybe a unified theory of the universe is impossible because it must entail contradictions.
Maybe it means that mystery is intrinsic? Or that the universe ultimately doesn’t make sense? I’m not sure….
that was a very …
that was a very beautiful and philosophical poem. thank you Urgelt
Your reading, it …
Your reading, it reminds me of Dr.Seuss. It was soo good
Urgelt! Still love …
Urgelt! Still love this video, even after nearly 2 years since i discovered it.
Er, I’m afraid not. …
Er, I’m afraid not.
Odd question to put on a poetry video.
very interesting. …
very interesting. Do you play bass guitar? I need one for my band
I thank your voice …
I thank your voice – and you of course. What a gift!
And that is a very …
And that is a very good thing for poets, I think you’ll agree.
Being a lover of …
Being a lover of words and language, I wish I could disagree.
But I cannot.
Galileo introduced the idea that mathematics is the language of nature. It’s an idea that has long legs. But mathematics is a limited way to grasp nature, too – it would take an unreasonable number of equations and minds to comprehend them to describe it all.
What we are left with is imperfect knowing. Science may be less imperfect than the rest; I think so, anyway. But there will always be mystery.
Ah. Evidence is …
Ah. Evidence is crucial at times… but can be a bad behavior. Sometimes just a mere snapshot of current truth against a constantly changing world where there are no guarantees.
I reckon that there are many ways of thinking required to understanding a universe. Reductionism may be one. Relationships another. Seeing flux, balance, and its patterns, perhaps.
But thus, we are limited to language to interpret its understandings… and I doubt words are enough to comprehend it all.
Reductionism is a …
Reductionism is a method of understanding in science.
But it is a trope of science that one cannot understand an ecosystem, nor a universe, solely by dissecting it into its parts. Relationships matter; everything is connected.
Science regards evidence as the sole arbiter of truth. But like any human endeavor, sometimes it needs to be guided into looking in the right places.
I am not alone in regarding native traditions as one of the best places to look.
Interesting choice …
Interesting choice for a poetry topic. As for your discussion on the side notes… I do recall a unique exhibition called: “A Dialogue between Western and Indigenous Scientists” where Mi’Q Mac elders believed a unique approach of understanding the fundamental truths of the universe. Instead of looking at one thing is made of… we, native people, attempted to understand what that one thing is related to… to understand its relations to learn everything about it.
Ah, grano salis.
Ah, grano salis.
If I wouldn’t have …
If I wouldn’t have been hooked on you before this would’ve done it easily. I listen to this before bed sometimes, its very relaxing.
very nice
very nice
I don’t often …
I don’t often recommend books for others. My curiosity drives me in certain directions. Yours may drive you in others. There is no universality involved. We’re all different.
I do offer this advice, however.
Being open to ideas does not mean lacking skepticism. You need to be able to recognize honesty in writing – and even honest writers can err. Look for evidence before deciding to believe something, preferably from multiple, credible sources.
The web is a terrific way to fact-check.
Driving my …
Driving my interests in books (and web-based writing) is curiosity and the sheer fun of learning things I did not know, and trying to fit what I learn into what I knew before.
If we are honest with ourselves, we will admit that what we know is dwarfed by what we do not know, both individually and as a species. For a person who loves discovery, this is not at all a bad thing.
Urgelt is a …
Urgelt is a pseudonym.
I don’t have favorite books, so much; or, equally true, I have hundreds of favorites, My favorite genres are the sciences, economics, politics, history (particularly military history), contemporary news, and science fiction, with classical poetry and literature and other topics for spice.
I shun ideologies, because they all, every single one, close the door to learning. Ideologies are all based on “received wisdom,” truths for which evidence is supposedly not needed.
youre awesome…How …
youre awesome…How can i expand my vocabulary. What are some books you recomend? the kind of books you like to read that is. and is Urgelt your real name? Because that is one awesome name…what does it mean? my name is William….pretty simple. Thanks dude, you inspire me!
Comparisons happen …
Comparisons happen inside our heads. We invent them; they are imaginary. Useful to us, perhaps. But still imaginary.
Take away the imaginary comparison, and the universe and its parts, large and small, simply are.
A particle is a thing of amazement and mystery; so is a galaxy cluster.
Are we as a species …
Are we as a species, a planet, a solar system, a galaxy,a universe,even as significent as a grain of sand? the question answers its self -F.
Well read Sir,thank …
Well read Sir,thank you