Very fine essay as is your usual, Jason. I so look forward to your posts showing up in my mailbox each week. What a writer you are! I agree it is an important era in which to be alive- "the best of times, the worst of times." So many changes occuring so fast. Bewilderingly many possible futures. Never before has there been such turbulence in the smooth flow of human history. The world rivers are changing their flow patterns, computer scientists are on the verge of creating true AGI, biology scientists are on the verge of creating "mirror life bacteria" which might pose existential threats to all life. Meanwhile the poles melt and the sixth extinction is upon us. The Chinese curse of interesting times has come true.
Such a beautiful post, Jason. So beautiful, in fact, that couldn't even be eclipsed by your GORGEOUS photographs!! I would very much like to have those last two framed and hanging on my office wall so I could marvel and be reminded of the mystery and of how the way that we see reflects nothing of the way that things are... Love to you.
So nice of you to say, Chloe. The images are yours if you want them. The final one I took a lifetime ago, and only found among my old slides some hours before I published. I did a quick scan but it's covered in the dust of decades. If you would like them, let me know, and I'll provide the (cleaned up) digital files.
There's still a childlike pleasure for me in taking the shots and flipping the image to see the plane of the water surface disappear.
You write so beautifully about the mystery of existence, Chloe. Thank you.
I am super, super grateful to you for offering up the digital files, Jason. And, as long as it's not a hassle, I would really love that. They're very special images. No rush at all, of course. Thank you, thank you! 🙏
Though somewhat disturbing this is a brilliant essay,Jason . I was just having this conversation with my husband. The 2024 election results will historically be remembered ; The realization that the majority of people who believed and voted for Trump ultimately has shown us a large percentage of the population lacks the intellectual ability to process information. To separate truth from artifice .“ The inability to comprehend”. And in that state of ignorance, the propensity to be magnetized towards, hate and retribution. How do we get past THAT?
Your photography of reflections, I think we are fellow kindreds when it comes to the mirrors in the water, often times, looking through ‘clear glass’. I am always in awe, and every place I have stopped to admire, a water droplet on a leaf , a puddle, stream, river or lake, is my favorite. Looking my dog in the eye and seeing my own reflection looking back, a mirror image of pure love. ( Who would we be without our dogs) .Truthfully , I know this is a bit off topic, well, probably all of it, but these are the sparks that fly from your words. I hope I will always see a mirror image of myself when I peer into those gorgeous reflections of nature. It means I am still out there immersed in it all. I wish the same for you.
Sorry to disturb, Lor, but it is occasionally the business I'm in... As for what the campaigns and the elections say about the voters, the more I look the more complicated it seems. Certainly the capacity and power of disinformation is far greater than it once was, and without a fix for that either in terms of regulation from the top down or education from the bottom up, we're in for a long haul. Wait until AI plays a larger role.
So let's talk about water instead... I've played with the upside down reflections for many years, and was happy to find a way to incorporate them here. But that whale eye picture was new to me, and I'm still cheerfully haunted by it. Awed, really. So yes, stay close to your natural mirrors and I'll do the same here. Thanks as always for the comment.
Thanks for noticing, Kollibri. It's something I've played with since I was young. This piece partially evolved out of wanting to use them here. All these years later I'm still amazed how the plane of the water surface disappears when you flip the image, leaving rocks or other items floating in midair.
Thanks Jason for distilling the overwhelming ecosystem of (dis)information into your cogent, intelligible and eloquent columns.
Thank you, Maureen. Very kind of you to say. When will you start your own wonderful substack...?
haha. Never. I hate writing on deadline.
Very fine essay as is your usual, Jason. I so look forward to your posts showing up in my mailbox each week. What a writer you are! I agree it is an important era in which to be alive- "the best of times, the worst of times." So many changes occuring so fast. Bewilderingly many possible futures. Never before has there been such turbulence in the smooth flow of human history. The world rivers are changing their flow patterns, computer scientists are on the verge of creating true AGI, biology scientists are on the verge of creating "mirror life bacteria" which might pose existential threats to all life. Meanwhile the poles melt and the sixth extinction is upon us. The Chinese curse of interesting times has come true.
Thanks very much, Michael. Turbulence is a perfect word for these interesting times.
I hadn't seen the "mirror cell" article, but someone else alerted me to it this morning. I'll definitely be taking a look at that.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/12/climate/world-rivers-flow-mapped/index.html
Another beautiful and thought-provoking piece. Thank you.
Thanks very much, Stef.
Such a beautiful post, Jason. So beautiful, in fact, that couldn't even be eclipsed by your GORGEOUS photographs!! I would very much like to have those last two framed and hanging on my office wall so I could marvel and be reminded of the mystery and of how the way that we see reflects nothing of the way that things are... Love to you.
So nice of you to say, Chloe. The images are yours if you want them. The final one I took a lifetime ago, and only found among my old slides some hours before I published. I did a quick scan but it's covered in the dust of decades. If you would like them, let me know, and I'll provide the (cleaned up) digital files.
There's still a childlike pleasure for me in taking the shots and flipping the image to see the plane of the water surface disappear.
You write so beautifully about the mystery of existence, Chloe. Thank you.
I am super, super grateful to you for offering up the digital files, Jason. And, as long as it's not a hassle, I would really love that. They're very special images. No rush at all, of course. Thank you, thank you! 🙏
Though somewhat disturbing this is a brilliant essay,Jason . I was just having this conversation with my husband. The 2024 election results will historically be remembered ; The realization that the majority of people who believed and voted for Trump ultimately has shown us a large percentage of the population lacks the intellectual ability to process information. To separate truth from artifice .“ The inability to comprehend”. And in that state of ignorance, the propensity to be magnetized towards, hate and retribution. How do we get past THAT?
Your photography of reflections, I think we are fellow kindreds when it comes to the mirrors in the water, often times, looking through ‘clear glass’. I am always in awe, and every place I have stopped to admire, a water droplet on a leaf , a puddle, stream, river or lake, is my favorite. Looking my dog in the eye and seeing my own reflection looking back, a mirror image of pure love. ( Who would we be without our dogs) .Truthfully , I know this is a bit off topic, well, probably all of it, but these are the sparks that fly from your words. I hope I will always see a mirror image of myself when I peer into those gorgeous reflections of nature. It means I am still out there immersed in it all. I wish the same for you.
Sorry to disturb, Lor, but it is occasionally the business I'm in... As for what the campaigns and the elections say about the voters, the more I look the more complicated it seems. Certainly the capacity and power of disinformation is far greater than it once was, and without a fix for that either in terms of regulation from the top down or education from the bottom up, we're in for a long haul. Wait until AI plays a larger role.
So let's talk about water instead... I've played with the upside down reflections for many years, and was happy to find a way to incorporate them here. But that whale eye picture was new to me, and I'm still cheerfully haunted by it. Awed, really. So yes, stay close to your natural mirrors and I'll do the same here. Thanks as always for the comment.
Nice photos. I'm a big fan of flipping reflection photos like that.
Thanks for noticing, Kollibri. It's something I've played with since I was young. This piece partially evolved out of wanting to use them here. All these years later I'm still amazed how the plane of the water surface disappears when you flip the image, leaving rocks or other items floating in midair.