.....busy, busy, busy

...it must be christmas ...satsuma's in the bowl, every type of cream known to man in the fridge, an abundance of bread products, and brussel sprouts in the veg draw..... it can not mean anything else.....

....my night out last night with nik in durham was an excellent affair. we discussed blogging, web site building, evolution (particularly the bit where there was a move from asexual reproduction to sexual reproduction and also we questioned whether human's have stopped evolving because we have the ability and skill to evolve our environment so that we no longer need to "physically adapt"), religion (and how it's still ok to embrace all things christmas even without a faith), camping and cycling.... it was a stimulating night followed by a walk home in the snow... was a lovely end to the night.

i was particularly interested in the asexual to sexual reproduction move because david attenborough touched on it in a program i was watching the other night. nik pointed out that just because we reproduce sexual does not mean this is the best method. organisms that reproduce asexual do very well in environments that change little but for those species that live in changing environments, like ourselves, sexual reproduction is better as it throws up more random combinations that may result in improvements. it's a flaw in our human thinking that because we do something, or behave, in a particular way that that must be the best way. this led us on to discuss that this view - that we as a species are set aside as special - is what religion draws on. we are no better adapted to our environment than other animals and organisms are to theirs. we ask questions like "why are we here" because we are here, we ask "what is the purpose" because we search for a purpose that sets us aside from "animals". but we are an animal, just an animal, who as it turns out, has done very well. but are we resiliant? or have we started to evolve our environment compensating for a lack of other "evolving". this gives us a problem. what happens when our environment changes? what if there was a catastrophe? how would we cope with out the infrastructure that supports us? (lets face it we're coping with the snow very well!!) we couldn't evolve quickly enough to adapt, so, one possibility is we would perish. in the same way that when we take away the forests and the jungles from the animals they perish or dwindle, the same would happen to us.

are we evolving weakness? coronary heart disease, infertility, diabetes, obesity... all of these things are now commonplace.... and from the point of view of passing on genes that create strong organisms in which to live, this is not a good position....

.....and then religion. durham cathedral is a special place.... why does it feel special when you walk in... because it does.... christian's would have us believe it is because of the presence of god. but they would say god is everywhere so we should get that feeling everywhere (and some claim they do). for me, the feeling is a product of socialisation. we know the place is "special", "set aside", so we know what to expect when we go in there so we get it... the mind is a powerful tool and is equally as powerful when used against ourselves when we delude ourselves something is as we want it to be. for me you get the same feeling in a venue after a gig, after the audience have gone. you get the feeling that something has happened in the place, something significant. you could argue that if you were there, at the gig, you will feel it as you will have the memory, you will draw on the experience. but, it is reported that people who haven't been to such an event can "feel" the same thing when presented with the empty venue... as though something is left behind... more investigation required on this one...

....and as i'm not a christian is it still ok for me to enjoy the christmas story? well, i know that it is not based in fact but rather a myth supported by some circumstantial historical evidence. i think it's ok for me to enjoy the christmas story if i want to because after all i know that the greek gods don't exist and i still enjoy watching "clash if the titans".......