| Forelaws on Board In its full potential evolutionary empathy and compassion - the measurement of intelligent life - remains, like intelligent life, a gift with indefinable promise. "We are particularly interested in the science of prosocial emotions, including moral elevation, compassion, empathy, and altruism." - The Saturn Lab, Sarina Saturn, Director, Oregon State University. Evolutionary Empathy and Compassion Of pivotal relevance to understanding human origins, cosmic genealogy and evolutionary empathy and compassion have taken on new meaning following the merger of biology and astronomy (astrobiology.) Universal forelaws of empathy and compassion (empirical attributes of cosmic genealogy seated within the genome of humankind and all intelligent life) ground evolutionary empathy and compassion. Conspicuously fundamental in the nurturing of offspring and early childhood education, evolutionary empathy and compassion highlights the reality of cosmic genealogy and, in particular, cosmic dissemination of intelligent life by intelligent life (CDIL.) Credit for bringing cosmic genealogy into sharp relief on Earth goes without question to astronomers Fred Hoyle (1915-2001), Chandra Wickramasinghe and Halton C. Arp. With their pioneering research in the 1970s and 1980s on organic matter in space, Fred Hoyle and Chandra Wickramasinghe (currently director of Buckingham Centre for Astrobiology, UK) launched the new discipline astrobiology - leading to Earth's destiny as a parent planet of intelligent life (CDIL.) Evolutionary empathy and compassion compels heightened interest in cosmic phenomena including the role of comets and related materials as apparent/specific DNA carriers, and "homeless planets" (that have been ejected from orbiting a star or were originally formed on their own) possibly outnumbering stars (T. Sumi et al 2011.) Since 1996 Brig Klyce, director of Astrobiology Research Trust, USA, has chronicled and elucidated the consequent shift from abiogenesis (as author of Cosmic Ancestry) in the website Cosmic Ancestry. A cosmic morality perpetuating empathy and compassion from infinity to infinity, cosmic dissemination of intelligent life by intelligent life (CDIL) operates in a cosmic setting where no two star systems with intelligent life (in terms of solar radiation) are exactly the same, thus explaining "races" (superficial genomics before amalgamation) in the makeup of intelligent life and prompting (in the case of Earth and counterparts) cultural eradication of all forms of racism and ethnic discrimination which may exist. In addressing the deep human need to know from whence we came, the search for parent planets of humankind (SPPH), together with Earth as a parent planet of intelligent life (CDIL), add important and creative dimensions to human endeavor and fulfillment. Albedoism, NASA's Kepler, Terra and Mars Curiosity missions, ethnicity revisited, the merger of astronomy and biology (astrobiology), and discovery thus far of over 3000 exoplanets, provide tangible inertia for life-centered cosmologies. Life-centered cosmologies, part and parcel of naturalistic Nature ("everything is connected to everything else"), reflect cognizance of universal forelaws of empathy and compassion as empirical attributes of cosmic genealogy, of universal forelaws of empathy and compassion seated within the genome of humankind and all intelligent life, of the observable universe of humankind (13,000 million light years in all directions) and of star systems with and without intelligent life. "I suspect that the cosmic quality of microbiology will seem as obvious to future generations as the Sun being the centre of the solar system seems obvious to the present generation" - Fred Hoyle ("The Relation of Biology to Astronomy"). "The biosphere of the Earth can . . . be thought of as linked to a galactic or cosmic biosphere." - Chandra Wickramasinghe. "But the climaxing observation appeared in year 2002. How exceedingly ironic that 30 years after Fred Hoyle pointed to NGC 7603 as a crucial system which must force out acceptance of the existence of discordant redshifts - after a generation has passed - the luminous link between this active Seyfert and its appendage is observed to have two high redshift, quasar-like objects in it." - Halton C. Arp, American Astronomer, Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, and author of Seeing Red, Apeiron, 1998 (refuting "Big-Bang" theory.) "Life comes from space because life comes from life." - Brig Klyce. "The first message from an intelligent extraterrestrial civilisation may not emerge from a radio telescope but, instead, from a DNA sequencing machine." - John Walker, Fourmilab Switzerland. --------------------------------------------------------- Adaptive relationship with the plant kingdom, adaptive civil engineering, adaptive architecture, adaptive urban and rural planning, adaptive materials technology, e.g. polymers changing color with temperature changes, and global water equilibrium (the state of balance between amply available freshwater worldwide on one side and, on the other, relative constancy in planetary saltwater sea-level). . . toward refinement of the surface of Earth for surface reflectivity of solar radiation conducive and basic to climate stability . . . are among essentials necessary in realistically ending and/or mitigating weather-related phenomena such as (but not limited to) global warming, ice ages, droughts and desertification, as well as floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, lightning-induced wildland fires. As a natural progression from agriculture to horticulture to permaculture to albedoculture to United Albedo Regions on Earth, global climate stability (albedoism) - prioritized in a compassionate/cooperative global society - exemplifies generational evolutionary empathy and compassion unifying the whole of humanity. "Location, topography, and the exchange of radiant energy between the sun and Earth ultimately determine weather" (from Retrieval of Surface Albedo from Space, December, 2002.) - John Maurer, University of Hawaii at Manoa. Terra Mission (NASA, 1999) . . . "carries five instruments that observe Earth's atmosphere, ocean, land, snow and ice, and energy budget. Taken together, these observations provide unique insight into how the Earth system works and how it is changing." Clearly the guidepost for compassionate/cooperative education at all levels, evolutionary empathy and compassion instills reverence for life and oneness of life principles while advancing empathy and compassion values - and societal basics of: (a) a healthful, sustainable environment for every planetary citizen, (b) universal health care publicly supported, (c) education for all based upon individual capability, (d) creative/productive employment for every planetary citizen, (e) post-retirement security. Obviating nationalism and militarism, societal evolution from nation-states to United Albedo Regions on Earth faces challenges not least of which deal with terrorism - freshwater and food shortages - fossil fuels and excessive CO2 emissions - nuclear weapons/energy - the specter of international trade wars - overpopulation - energy conservation and global energy sufficiency, the latter supplied by solar energy on a global grid system - hydrogen produced by solar energy. "the human brain is the most complex and orderly arrangement of matter in the universe" (apropos of all cosmic, human-level intelligent life) - Isaac Isamov (1920-1992), professor of biochemistry at Boston University and author of over 500 science and science fiction books. "Research shows that young children’s earliest learning experiences can have powerful long-term effects on their cognitive and emotional development, school achievement, and later life outcomes." - Stand for Children, Portland, Oregon, USA. "We believe that scientific study of the developing mind and brain is the next great research frontier and that discoveries in the next decade will be comparable to those in genetics, biotechnology, and informatics." - Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, University of Washington. Create a multi-disciplinary environment whereby compassion and altruism studies are supported and legitimized within the broader scientific community." - Vision of The Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education, Stanford University. "The MBE program's broadest mission is to create a new field of mind, brain, and education, with educators and researchers who expertly join biology, cognitive science, and education." - Kurt Fischer, Director of Mind, Brain and Education Program, Harvard University. "Research projects cover a wide variety of fields, including neuroscience, psychology, political science and economics." - Human Neuroimaging Laboratory, Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, Read Montague, Director. “…respect for oneself, understanding and compassion for others, and a sense of responsibility for the world, its citizens and its future.” - Mary Gordon, founder of Roots of Empathy and author of Roots of Empathy: Changing the World, Child by Child (2005.) --------------------------------------------------- Residents of Beijing, China's capital, could be drinking freshwater from desalinated seawater within five years. As part of China's eleventh five-year plan, this source could become a main supply in efforts to deal with the water shortage (National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) People's Republic of China.) Eminently in order on a global scale, national and international five-year plans aimed at satisfying freshwater needs, at job creation, and environmental sustainability through seawater desalination - intermediate and integral to United Albedo Regions on Earth - address, additionally, climate change and rising sea-levels. The current growth rate of desalination at coastal locations bodes well for strategic and direct movement of freshwater to inland points such as Beijing. Mandated and coordinated by progressive efforts the world over, dramatically accelerated, expanded and sustained seawater desalination - receiving important impetus from the International Desalination Association - ensures (1) globally plentiful freshwater and food surpluses, (2) relief for low-lying communities vulnerable to sea-level rise, (3) stabilization of ocean shorelines, (4) enlarged land mass/biomass on Earth, (5) freshwater storage in areas which include those where once resided coal and petroleum. Global water equilibrium on Earth envisages a growing network of overland pipelines (new &/or converted to freshwater use) carrying freshwater from desalination plants - and from seaports (linking freshwater transported by tanker ships) - to interior locations for local and regional needs including irrigation and replenishment of aquifers. Interport transportation of freshwater converted from seawater can be expected to take advantage of surplus marine tanker capacity coincident with ongoing trends to green energy sources. The same is true with respect to existing overland pipelines (potentially a medium for the transport of freshwater) now used in moving petroleum and petroleum products. In this and all stages of albedoculture/climate stability, from seawater desalination to rolling back desertification, plastic pipe and other products made from industrial hemp - and industrial hemp itself as a growing plant - will make a major contribution. A plant requiring no genetic modification, industrial hemp can be cultivated with and without irrigation in countries like Afghanistan, Columbia, Mexico, and the USA - and processed into upwards of 10,000 useful products including paper, food and building materials. "CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — A new approach to desalination being developed by researchers at MIT and in South Korea could lead to small, portable desalination units that could be powered by solar cells or batteries and could deliver enough fresh water to supply the needs of a family or small village. As an added bonus, the system would also remove many contaminants, viruses and bacteria at the same time." . . . . . Source: “Direct Seawater Desalination by Ion Concentration Polarization,” by Sung Jae Kim, Sung Hee Ko, Kwan Hyoung Kang, and Jongyoon Han. Nature Nanotechnology, March 21, 2010. - from MIT News 23 March 2010. ". . . we have found a way to make a membrane (for use in seawater desalination) that can produce higher amounts of water compared to the commercial membranes being used today, while using the same process." - Mohammed Rasool Qtaishat, Water for All. "Among U.S. states, Maryland, Virginia, and DC are exceptionally vulnerable to climate change. The states have more than 5,000 miles of Chesapeake and Atlantic shoreline, almost every inch of which would be degraded or inundated completely by the projected sea-level rise of up to three feet._ - Chesapeake Climate Action Network. "Concerns about global warming, energy consumption and increased demand for potable water sources are causing a dramatic expansion of the desalination industry. These changes present an exciting opportunity for IDA to play a more centralized role in speaking for the industry to increase public awareness of the many benefits of desalination, including drought-proof reliability, expandability, availability and potentially unlimited production." Lisa Henthorne, International Desalination Association. --------------------------------- Protection from Internet malware, such as ongoing Conficker which has infected millions of computers since 2008, is fundamental to realization of a compassionate/cooperative global society on Earth. "That leads me to my next point, which is how we can more broadly engage each of you – students, educators, researchers, engineers, and the larger academic community – in our nation's cybersecurity efforts. To meet the challenges I've discussed, DHS needs a world-class cybersecurity team – a strong, dependable pipeline for the future." - Secretary Janet Napolitano, Department of Homeland Security, at San Jose State University, April 16, 2012. "This is one of the defining battles of our age, one that takes place for the most part out of the public eye." - Mark Bowden, author of Worm: The First Digital World War (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2011.) "The hazard of fission products persists for a time that is longer than any I can conceive." - Larry Bogart (1914-1991), Anti-Nuclear Activist. ------------------------------------------------------- "Of course, today, for science in particular, electronic communication makes possible communities of individuals from all corners of the world. The most direct evolution toward an enlightened science is for these groups to just go about supporting each other in doing science free of disproved, official assumptions." - Halton C. Arp. "Without in any way ceasing our direct attack upon the institution (war), we may well consider the effects if we cut the umbilical cord to its mother evil, the animal abattoir." - from Diet and War, The Recovery of Culture, by Henry Bailey Stevens, 1949. "A human being is part of the whole, called by us "Universe," a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest - a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty." - Albert Einstein. "It would be good to prevent the vast suffering and countless violent deaths caused by predation." - Jeff McMahan, Department of Philosophy, Rutgers University. "Win-win sees life as a cooperative arena, not a competitive one. Win-win is a frame of mind and heart that constantly seeks mutual benefit in all human interactions." - Author Steven R. Covey (1932-2012.) “From the right to know and the duty to inquire flows the obligation to act.” - Sandra Steingraber ("Rachel Carson of the 21st Century"), author of Living Downstream (1997, 2010.) “A man can do what he wants, but not want what he wants.” - Arthur Schopenhauer. It (Darwinism) “proclaimed that our true relation is that of competitors and combatants in a struggle for mere survival . . ." - George Bernard Shaw. ----------------------------------------------------------- NASA's Kepler and Terra Missions, leaders in performing breakthrough space research and discovery (the former compiling data on Earth-like planets; the latter collecting data on Earth's reflectivity of solar radiation), lend support and credibility for cosmic genealogy and for evolutionary empathy and compassion. Through universal forelaws of empathy and compassion, eternalized by life procreation and CDIL, intelligent life finds meaning, purpose, and fulfillment. Ethnicity revisited, a compassionate/cooperative global society, veganism, global climate stability (albedoism) in the 21st century, Earth's destiny as a parent planet of intelligent life (CDIL) in the cosmic community of intelligent life describe exemplars of evolutionary empathy and compassion whose full potential - as the measurement of intelligent life - remains, like intelligent life itself, a gift with indefinable promise. "In less than 20 years, we have gone from not knowing if any other planets exist in the universe, to being able to look out at the night sky and realize that essentially any star we can see has at least one planet, and a good number of those are likely to be habitable." - Alan Boss, Science Working Group, NASA Kepler Mission. "To suppose that Earth is the only populated world in infinite space is as absurd to believe that in an entire field sown with millet, only one grain will grow." - Metrodorus of Chios (Greek Philosopher, Fourth Century BC.) "Whatever you can do . . . . . or believe you can . . . . . begin it Boldness has magic . . . . . power . . . . . and genius in it." Johnne Goethe Forelaws on Board Forelaws_on_Board@forelawsonboard.net |