flies on an orange

[blinddesign]

this is simple and you may not get it but here goes- a fly on an orange may think it is the earth. that was told to me when i was young and it left an impact on how our view of the world is somewhat... narrow. tell me what you think of this.

 

[blinddesign]

it's kind of similar to the Kurt Vonnegut "yeast conversation" if you've heard of that. basically, it's about two pieces of yeast, pondering the meaning of life as they eat their sugar and suffocate in their excrement- not knowing at all that they are in the business of making "Dom Perignon" champagne.

 

[irmerk]

It reminds me of the jellyfish in Ishmael.

 

[ImprobableJoe]

this is simple and you may not get it but here goes- a fly on an orange may think it is the earth. that was told to me when i was young and it left an impact on how our view of the world is somewhat... narrow. tell me what you think of this.

I think it is superficially deep, but meaningless when you grow up and gain the ability to look deeper than seemingly deep sayings from people who are more interested in weed than in deeper meaning.

 

[Whisperelmwood]

A more apt version would be 'fly on a beachball' maybe?

But yes - I've actually always been aware of this feeling, or at least, ever since I had my first understandable science class.

It's actually this specific feeling - of being a very small thing, in a very big universe - that makes me wonder at the arrogance of the theist who believes the world was made just for humanity.

The topic also makes me think of the Terry Pratchett mini-story of the Mayflies holding a conversation while flying over a pond.

The sun was near the horizon. The shortest-lived creatures on the Disc were mayflies, which barely make it through twenty-four hours. Two of the oldest zigzagged aimlessly over the waters of a trout stream, discussing history with some younger members of the evening hatching.

"You don't get the kind of sun now that you used to get," one of them said.

"You're right there. We had proper sun in the good old hours. It were all yellow. None of this red stuff.

"It were higher too."

"It was. You're right."

"And nymphs and larvae showed you a bit of respect."

"They did. They did," said the other mayfly vehemently.

From 'Reaper Man'.

 

[blinddesign]

I think it is superficially deep, but meaningless when you grow up and gain the ability to look deeper than seemingly deep sayings from people who are more interested in weed than in deeper meaning.

i see your point but i think it does actually have some meaning to it. it's not like the "what is the sound of one hand clapping?". answer either "nothing, douchebag" or *slaps palm with fingers* "that". anyway, it was when i was very young and regardless of the superficiality of it, it affected my way of thinking.

It reminds me of the jellyfish in Ishmael.

i'm not familiar with that but there are probably dozens of examples of such metaphors through personification, etc.

 

[ImprobableJoe]

i see your point but i think it does actually have some meaning to it. it's not like the "what is the sound of one hand clapping?". answer either "nothing, douchebag" or *slaps palm with fingers* "that". anyway, it was when i was very young and regardless of the superficiality of it, it affected my way of thinking.

It might affect you, but it is only a stopping point on the way to deeper thinking, not a destination in itself.
After all, a fly on an orange is stuck with its perspective. It can't build telescopes and satellites and microscopes, to determine what it is standing on and what is surrounding the orange.

 

[mknorman]

From 'Reaper Man'.

That's modern ephemeroptera for you.

 

[Frore]

it's kind of similar to the Kurt Vonnegut "yeast conversation" if you've heard of that. basically, it's about two pieces of yeast, pondering the meaning of life as they eat their sugar and suffocate in their excrement- not knowing at all that they are in the business of making "Dom Perignon" champagne.

:lol: Ah, Vonnegut.

It's a neat saying, and rather poetic. It reminds me of one of those old proverbs.