/2011/09/25/lucretius/
{"item":{"status":"visible","url":"\/2011\/09\/25\/lucretius\/","trash":"","name":"lucretius","parent":"","title":"Lucretius: Modern thought from ancient Rome","date":"2011-09-25 11:28:24","filepath":"posts\/2000583_lucretius.xml.json","type":"post","content":"The following comes from a Roman man named Lucretius who lived <strong>over 2000<\/strong> years ago.\n<blockquote>... moving randomly through space, like dust motes in a sunbeam, colliding, hooking together, forming complex structures, breaking apart again, in a ceaseless process of creation and destruction. There is no escape from this process. ... There is no master plan, no divine architect, no intelligent design.\n<p id=\"aeaoofnhgocdbnbeljkmbjdmhbcokfdb-mousedown\">All things, including the species to which you belong, have evolved over vast stretches of time. The evolution is random, though in the case of living organisms, it involves a principle of natural selection. That is, species that are suited to survive and to reproduce successfully, endure, at least for a time; those that are not so well suited, die off quickly. But nothing \u2014 from our own species, to the planet on which we live, to the sun that lights our day \u2014 lasts forever. Only the atoms are immortal ...<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<img class=\"alignleft\" style=\"margin-bottom: 5px; margin-right: 5px;\" title=\"Lucretius, bad ass of ye old times\" src=\"http:\/\/media.npr.org\/assets\/img\/2011\/09\/16\/51246738_custom.jpg?t=1316195920&s=15\" alt=\"\" width=\"131\" height=\"166\" \/>His work barely survived Christian oppression, but it soon had a revival in the Renaissance\u00a0and became a favorite of\u00a0Machiavelli, Montaigne, Sir Thomas More and Thomas Jefferson. \u00a0Thomas Jefferson had 5 copies!\n\nEven the quote from above makes one wonder if Charles Darwin borrowed the bulk of his theory of Evolution and Natural Selection from Lucretius.\n\nWhat is even more spectacular is how Lucretius dismissed fantasy, mythology, and Gods (also known as the\u00a0Nietzsche-ian \"God is dead\" proclamation) but went on to state it is not terrible or painful living without deceiving oneself. \u00a0He simply says, \"look around, what is here is more than good. It's amazing and it's beautiful.\"\n\nThe lack of meaning does not mean what you sense is any less amazing or awe inspiring. \u00a0If anything it is quite the contrary.\n\n<em>Read the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/blogs\/krulwich\/2011\/09\/19\/140533195\/lucretius-man-of-modern-mystery\" target=\"_blank\">story on NPR.org<\/a><\/em>\n\n<em>Make sure you<a href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/templates\/transcript\/transcript.php?storyId=140533195\" target=\"_blank\"> read the transcript<\/a> or <a href=\"http:\/\/pd.npr.org\/anon.npr-mp3\/npr\/me\/2011\/09\/20110919_me_18.mp3?dl=1\" target=\"_blank\">listen to the program<\/a>.<\/em>\n\n<em>I'm going to look into buying Lucretius' <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/0140447962\/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=zygmy-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399369&creativeASIN=0140447962\">The Nature of Things<\/a><img src=\"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=zygmy-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0140447962&camp=217145&creative=399369\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\" style=\"border:none !important; margin:0px !important;\" \/>.<\/em>"}}
