Comments on: Age of Aquarius, Revisited http://risaaratyr.com/blog/2008/08/10/age-of-aquarius-revisited/ risa's writerly life Sun, 29 Apr 2012 08:19:31 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: aratyr http://risaaratyr.com/blog/2008/08/10/age-of-aquarius-revisited/comment-page-1/#comment-13 aratyr Thu, 21 Aug 2008 20:30:00 +0000 http://risaaratyr.com/blog/?p=30#comment-13 Ah, this is brilliant! Whatever the merits (or de-merits) of my own writing, the fact that "Age of Aquarius, Revisited" and its attendant replies have inspired Poetry from my fave poet has now and forever established "Neither Here Nor There" as a worthwhile web-journal! Thanks for the delightful word-play amid the serious thoughts. I, too, can't distance my mind from some of these notions... the feed/greed connection may well trigger next Sunday's post. Ah, this is brilliant! Whatever the merits (or de-merits) of my own writing, the fact that “Age of Aquarius, Revisited” and its attendant replies have inspired Poetry from my fave poet has now and forever established “Neither Here Nor There” as a worthwhile web-journal!

Thanks for the delightful word-play amid the serious thoughts. I, too, can’t distance my mind from some of these notions… the feed/greed connection may well trigger next Sunday’s post.

]]> By: blairza http://risaaratyr.com/blog/2008/08/10/age-of-aquarius-revisited/comment-page-1/#comment-12 blairza Tue, 19 Aug 2008 08:47:51 +0000 http://risaaratyr.com/blog/?p=30#comment-12 Glass Turning A Poem on the Declaration of the Anthropocene Epoch The Earth burns about the Son. Who feeds greedier than an infant at suck? Grasping at the Madonna's dugs. We're anxious pups grown long in the teet. Bees have been driven mad by the buzz of our greed. Swallow or spit, the ground glows, molten, and brittle. The air swelters with the new age of man and you stand,on the deck; The first crew to watch the Captains of science turn this particular glass of sand.. Now time like a mortgage, is upside down. Noun, The ghost of Victims Past overrunsOverruns The Shapes oh Thinks t'Come. Meanwhile, They've loaded Lucy's bones and cart her cross the sky. Tourists now flock, with their broods, to her relic and perchance purchase an indulgence of carbon credits. Glass Turning
A Poem on the Declaration of the Anthropocene Epoch

The Earth burns about the Son.
Who feeds greedier than an infant at suck?
Grasping at the Madonna’s dugs.
We’re anxious pups
grown long in the teet.

Bees have been driven mad by the buzz of our greed.

Swallow or spit,
the ground glows,
molten, and brittle.

The air swelters
with the new age of man
and you stand,on the deck;
The first crew to watch
the Captains of science turn
this particular glass of sand..

Now
time like a mortgage,
is upside down.

Noun,
The ghost of Victims Past
overrunsOverruns
The Shapes oh Thinks
t’Come.

Meanwhile,
They’ve loaded Lucy’s bones
and cart her cross the sky.
Tourists now flock,
with their broods,
to her relic and
perchance purchase
an indulgence of carbon credits.

]]> By: aratyr http://risaaratyr.com/blog/2008/08/10/age-of-aquarius-revisited/comment-page-1/#comment-11 aratyr Mon, 11 Aug 2008 19:46:22 +0000 http://risaaratyr.com/blog/?p=30#comment-11 Geologists might disagree that theirs is a science of historical reflection and contend that geology is equally the study of the immediate and ever-changing activity of our evolving planet--as much about plate tectonics as biostratigraphy. True, geology’s primary focus is the Earth’s rocks, soil and physical structure, not her life forms. But when planetary biota have a profound influence on that structure, they necessarily become a part of the geological picture. With that in mind, to officially recognize that post-industrial humans have left a measurable, indelible stratum on the surface of the planet, distinct from earlier strata and deserving of its own time marker, is hardly pushing the geological envelope. I might also argue that geology has largely been a reflective science because humans are the newbies on the block in chronological terms. This is, essentially, our first opportunity to identify an epochal shift in real time. In fact, it’s exactly that perspicacity that inspired my post. We expect geologists to wait for a geological stratum to be buried under another and its contents to fossilize before they acknowledge its existence. That some are proposing we relabel the present as “the Anthropocene” is, to me, a frightening affirmation of the intensity of the impact humans have had on Mama Earth. Finally, it was a blog, not research. I didn’t check out exactly where the proponents of the Anthropocene intend to notch the world timeline. My impression was, they’re talking about NOW. Setting it at the Industrial Revolution would be, as you say, a radical departure from standard geological practice. The IR may have instigated the shift, but it’s merely a cultural-historical event. The researchers argue, and I agree, that the human effect on the planet has reached levels of stratigraphic significance that constitute a geological event. Geologists might disagree that theirs is a science of historical reflection and contend that geology is equally the study of the immediate and ever-changing activity of our evolving planet–as much about plate tectonics as biostratigraphy. True, geology’s primary focus is the Earth’s rocks, soil and physical structure, not her life forms. But when planetary biota have a profound influence on that structure, they necessarily become a part of the geological picture.
With that in mind, to officially recognize that post-industrial humans have left a measurable, indelible stratum on the surface of the planet, distinct from earlier strata and deserving of its own time marker, is hardly pushing the geological envelope. I might also argue that geology has largely been a reflective science because humans are the newbies on the block in chronological terms. This is, essentially, our first opportunity to identify an epochal shift in real time.
In fact, it’s exactly that perspicacity that inspired my post. We expect geologists to wait for a geological stratum to be buried under another and its contents to fossilize before they acknowledge its existence. That some are proposing we relabel the present as “the Anthropocene” is, to me, a frightening affirmation of the intensity of the impact humans have had on Mama Earth.
Finally, it was a blog, not research. I didn’t check out exactly where the proponents of the Anthropocene intend to notch the world timeline. My impression was, they’re talking about NOW. Setting it at the Industrial Revolution would be, as you say, a radical departure from standard geological practice. The IR may have instigated the shift, but it’s merely a cultural-historical event. The researchers argue, and I agree, that the human effect on the planet has reached levels of stratigraphic significance that constitute a geological event.

]]> By: blairza http://risaaratyr.com/blog/2008/08/10/age-of-aquarius-revisited/comment-page-1/#comment-9 blairza Mon, 11 Aug 2008 15:28:27 +0000 http://risaaratyr.com/blog/?p=30#comment-9 Well! This would be a remarkable step for the IGC. All other geological epochs have been determined by the ossified evidence of their completion. Because geology has for the most part been a study of rock and the remnants of past life contained therein. To identify an epochal shift as it happens redefines the parameters of geology. All previous eras were identified long after they had ended, and geology was a science of reflection, a constantly expanding record of Mama Earth's past. To declare that an epoch is emerging is also to declare a shift in the definition of the purpose, practice and role of science. It suggests an endgame, because what observations can follow the age of the observer? This decision is also interesting because it invokes the arbitrary millennial moment, and merges science with public relations. Why the twentieth century? Wouldn't the beginning of industrialization be a better marker of the causes of the events being observed? Well! This would be a remarkable step for the IGC. All other geological epochs have been determined by the ossified evidence of their completion. Because geology has for the most part been a study of rock and the remnants of past life contained therein. To identify an epochal shift as it happens redefines the parameters of geology. All previous eras were identified long after they had ended, and geology was a science of reflection, a constantly expanding record of Mama Earth’s past. To declare
that an epoch is emerging is also to declare a shift in the definition of the purpose, practice and role of science.
It suggests an endgame, because what observations can follow the age of the observer? This decision is also interesting because it invokes the arbitrary millennial moment, and merges science with public relations. Why the twentieth century? Wouldn’t the beginning of industrialization be a better marker of the causes of the events being observed?

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