#humanism

[robreyart]

Bioluminescence Oil, 18 x 24 in, 2015, First in the Bioluminescence series. The light of life and the natural world. In all the vastness of space, as of yet, we know of only one planet that supports life. At least within some great distance from here, life is rare. Each organism being the exquisite and detailed product of billions of years of evolution, life is precious. This point of light and inspiration stands in contrast to the lanterns and lights that are historically thought to be sources of illumination but are now dimmed; mythologies and superstitions humans have created as we struggled in the dark of ignorance to understand our world. But the process of science has revealed a luminous, living planet, more amazing than we could have ever imagined. Where the intricacies of biology are miracles of evolution and our consciousness is a gift of natural processes that allow us to experience what it is to be alive. Prints: https://robrey.storenvy.com

#humanism #cosmic perspective #spiritual naturalism #bioluminescence #oil painting

[liberalsarecool]

The Left wants a community where everyone is welcome to be who they want.

The Right wants 'lonerism' where everyone is grinding their lives for shareholders' crumbs.

#lgbtq #transgender #humanism

[quasi-normalcy]

I know that this is the "Turning social problems into matters of individual virtue" website, but here's one change that you can make to yourself as an individual that I honestly think will have beneficial collective effects:

Stop Thinking You're Better Than Other People.

Do I mean that you should go through life thinking that you're the lowliest and most wretched scum who's ever lived? No. I mean that there exists no meaningful criterion by which one human being can be said to be absolutely 'better' than another. And even if there was, you don't know enough about other people's circumstances and interior thoughts to meaningfully judge them in these absolute terms. So don't even try! It's a futile endeavour.

"But what about fascists? Surely I'm better than them!"

Okay, so let me preface this by saying that fascists are dangerous, they're misguided, their acts and intentions are evil, and they need to be stopped, including through physical violence. But you're not better than them. I know that this is a difficult pill to swallow; I myself used to pat myself used to pat myself on the back because, well, at least I wouldn't have been a Nazi. But you know what? If the circumstances were right, I could have been. We all could have been, just as we all could have joined a cult at some point.

Looking at myself, for example: there was never any serious possibility that I could have been swept up into the alt-right movement. Why? Because I'm transgender, and I was raised to be a socialist. How easy it is to *not* become a fascist when you're one of their scapegoats! How much harder it would be to avoid if you're one of the people they flatter and groom, if you're raised by people who are sympathetic to fascist ideals, if you grow up in a community where such ideals are common! The fact that fascist movements can seemingly emerge amongst every nation and people--including those who have historically been victims of fascism--confirms this. What if I had lived a hundred years later, at a time when transgenderism was a complete non-issue, and they'd moved on to some new scapegoat? What if they had approached me on my absolute worst day and told me that all of my problems were caused by moochers and parasites, and that I could fight back and claim my birth right by joining them? Can I really say that I wouldn't? Can anyone?

But even beyond that, what is a fascist but the ultimate example of someone who needs to feel superior to others? What is scapegoating but the act of selecting an entire group of people and declaring them to be inferior to you? And if you just refuse to believe these things; if you refuse to accept the premise that some people are better than others, and call it out whenever it comes up; then you're cutting these movements off at knees! The ideological force of fascism comes from imagining humanity as a strict hierarchy, with the master race on top and the degenerates on the bottom. Simply refuse to believe in such a hierarchy! Refuse to even entertain it!

"But then how can I feel self-esteem? How can I feel that I matter and have value?"

You have value just by existing as a person! But if that's not enough for you, then try this: instead of trying to increase your sense of self-worth by finding people to feel superior to, increase it by being of value to others. Help them! Make their lives better! Contribute to society! Not even in a way that you can (necessarily) put a dollar value on, but in any way you can! Create art! Plant a pollinator garden! Tell a joke! Make someone happy! If nothing else, you can at least give someone love, and I guarantee you that that will be of value to them. The universe is so vast and we're all so small that any value we can ever have will only ever be to each other. And surely it beats spending your life trying to be king of the microbes.

#humanism #ethics #sorry I'm going off a bit here #i've been nursing this one for a while

[agelessphotography]

Le photographe à Londres (The London Photographer), Sabine Weiss, 1954

#photography #vintage photography #vintage #black and white photography #sabine weiss #1950s #1954 #london #england #night scene #fog #swiss #french #female artists #women artists #humanism #100 notes

[andromeda3116]

since the jwst is on everyone's minds right now, i want to take a second to remember voyager i, our little interstellar probe that could. it's out past the sun's reach now, traveling away from us at nearly 40,000 mph. and it carries with it the "golden record".

we knew when we sent it that it would eventually leave the solar system, and would someday -- many, many years in the future -- find another star or solar system. eventually. the laws of physics demand it.

and so we put a record of ourselves with it. just in case -- in the highly unlikely, but still possible, event that it happened upon a world with intelligent life that could understand it. our message in a bottle, cast out into the endless sea of space.

we recorded our voices, in many languages. we recorded the sounds of wild animals, of insects, of water rushing. we recorded brainwaves.

ann druyan's brainwaves, in fact. an hour of them, as she thought of all kinds of things.

she and carl sagan worked on this project together, and over the course of their work, they fell in love.

she took the time, during the recordings, to think of him, and how she felt about him.

so that love -- not just earth's existence, or its sounds, or human voices, but love -- would be sent out in our message, cast out into the ocean of space, in the distant hope that someday, somewhere, something would see it and hear us, and know us, and know how we feel.

even if voyager i never finds another life in the universe, even if the golden record is never played, i think it's important that we sent it anyway. what it says about us as a people, our hope and our optimism and our faith and our love -- we cast this all out into the stars.

"dare to cast thy bread upon the sea," indeed.

#space #jwst #astronomy #the golden record #voyager i #science #humanism #optimism

[weirdlookindog]

Félicien Rops - Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité (Liberty, Equality, Fraternity)

#félicien rops #liberté #liberty #egalité #equality #fraternité #fraternity #political art #humanism #art #illustration #as relevant today as it was in 19th century!

[iphianasssa]

spiralspiralspiral

#spiral #contemporary art #art #spirituality #humanism #spirit #nature #bugs #uzumaki #weirdcore #dreamcore #insects #woodlice #whimsical #witchy #witches #witchcore #fairycore #fairy grunge #faery aesthetic

[artist-issues]

Also, I’m just going to say it out loud—NOT EVERYONE believes in the New Age-inspired, simplistic, poetic turn of phrase: “we are all made of stardust.”

The truth of the matter is, we might have some of the same matter in us that stars do—but that doesn’t mean we have “the power of the stars.”

And even if we’re just meant to believe that, in the fictional world of Wish, alone, stars have power, and this is no commentary on our real world…it is still a commentary on our real world. Because all you’re saying is there is no higher power to plead to for your wishes to come true. “Stop trusting a higher power with your wishes and work for them, yourself.”

And you know what, #NotMyDisney? Not everyone in your audience believes that. You’re intentionally alienating us with your feature animation department, now. You’re directly trying to make us all believe what New Age philosophy dictates. You’re directly trying to get us to side with this humanist, self-centered ideology.

You didn’t used to do that.

When you made Pocahontas, Native-American spirituality might have been in it, but Pocahontas wasn’t about it. It wasn’t trying to make me believe that rocks have names and spirits, it was trying to make me believe that “love sees clearly, while hate blinds.”

When you made The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Catholicism might have been in it, but Hunchback wasn’t about it. It wasn’t trying to make me believe that Catholicism is evil and the Romani people are good; it was trying to make me believe that “what you are inside is what counts.”

When you made Cinderella, the idea of fairies which comes from Paganism, might have been in it, but Cinderella wasn’t about it. It wasn’t trying to make me believe that fairies are real and reward good behavior; it was trying to make me believe that “acting on the faith it takes to be good and kind regardless of your circumstances is powerful enough to set you free.”

But now that you’ve made Wish? New Age, Humanistic, Evolutionary worldviews are in it, AND Wish is about it! You’re trying to make me believe that I have something in and of myself that is powerful enough to render any idea of a higher power useless, and that I should place my trust in myself, alone.

No. You’re losing me. I grew up with you, and you’re losing me. And I am not the only one you’re losing.

#notmydisney #NotMyDisney #RealDisney #Real Disney #Pocahontas #The Hunchback of Notre Dame #Quasimodo #John Smith #Cinderella #Ella #The Fairy Godmother #paganism #spiritualism #humanism #new age #stardust #Star #wishing Star #Disney #when you wish upon a star #wish hate #wish love #wish 2023 #asha #Valentino #king Magnifico #queen Amaya #ariana debose #Chris pine #Disney hate

[robreyart]

Bioluminescence : Altruism Oil, 16 x 12 in, 2020

The light of life and the natural world. In all the vastness of space, as of yet, we know of only one planet that supports life. At least within some great distance from here, life is rare. Each organism being the exquisite and detailed product of billions of years of evolution, life is precious. We inhabit a luminous, living planet, more intricate and amazing than we could have ever imagined.

This point of light also represents one of our human traits that gives us hope for the future. We have an evolved capacity for altruism because we thrive when we work toward our mutual benefit. Let us keep the future bright.

Prints: https://robrey.storenvy.com

#cosmic perspective #humanism #oil painting

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

November 19 is International Men's Day.

Because:

76% of suicides are men

85% of homeless are men

70% of homicide victims are men

40% of domestic abuse victims are men

Men are the majority victims of violent crime

Men on average serve 64% longer in prison

Men on average are 3.4x more likely to be imprisoned than women when both committed the same crime

==

Regarding the last two points, the male-female sentencing gap is larger than the race sentencing gap. So if you're concerned about racial incarceration disparities, remember that black men are also men. And secondly, imprisonment is also much more likely when the crime involves a female victim.

#International Men's Day #humanism #gender equality #suicide #homeless #homelessness #homicide #homicide victims #domestic abuse #male victims of domestic abuse #male victims of domestic violence #violent crime #victims of violent crime #sentencing gap #male disposability #religion is a mental illness

[vladimir777sk]

Куда пропало добро и сострадание? А оно было?..У стада его не было никогда. Лишь Человеки имеют совесть и сострадание.

источник

#добро #милосердие #сострадание #совесть #мораль #нравственность #гуманизм #видео #эксперимент #kindness #mercy #compassion #conscience #morality #humanism #video #experiment #русский тамблер #русский блог #мотивация #motivation #жизнь #русский пост #life #смыслы #meanings

[jesusinstilettos]

I recently saw someone explaining that instead of viewing frustrating behavior as “attention seeking behavior” we should view it as “connection seeking behavior” and honestly it’s changed the way I’ve seen other people and the things they do.

#I’ve been trying to be more empathetic #and this reframing has changed my life #deconstruction #empathy #self healing #shadow work #humanism #humanist #leftist

[andromeda3116]

in network effect... it's probably going to be a small moment... but when they're trying to escape the hostile planet with art's crew...

and thiago goes back for seth

like.

these are total strangers. they barely even know art. they know nothing of its crew. they got dragged here entirely against their will. they have absolutely no emotional connection to these people whatsoever, except that they are also people, and they need help, and one of them has fallen behind.

and so thiago goes back to save someone he a) has never met before, b) probably doesn't even know the name of, c) has absolutely no emotional connection to, and d) was basically conscripted into coming into horrible danger to find, when he e) had every reason and excuse not to.

he could have kept running. he was leading the others to safety, he could have leaned on that excuse. he had nothing to gain from going back, and quite possibly very much to lose.

but he went back.

because humans, at our best, are the ones who go back for each other. even when it's objectively stupid. even when there's nothing in it for us.

not everyone will do it, but enough will. enough to be a defining trait of our species: we're the brilliant idiots who run into danger to save the wounded and bring each other out to safety. even if we don't know them. just because they can't get out on their own.

that's why it's such a Big Thing in stories when a character doesn't go back -- because this is ingrained into our dna. we have come this far because we build communities. because we build upon one another. because we go back for our wounded even when it's dangerous and we could have gotten out safely and we don't even know them. that's why it's a marker of an evil person or a horribly fraught ethical situation in stories. because that is not who we are. we are not the ones who leave someone behind.

i just. i love what these books say about the nature of personhood and intelligence and love, but i also love what they say about humanity. we're not all bad. we're not our worst impulses. we are the ones who care about a sentient robot because if it can think, it's not a thing, and it deserves to be treated like a person, even if it doesn't want to be a human.

we are the ones who care. that's what makes us human.

#the murderbot diaries #i paused to make this post so idk what the fallout will be of this moment but i was just like. #''you're crying over a space sci-fi novel about a sentient ai?'' #''the tiny moments that define humanity as the ones who are compassionate at the very bottom of things got to me all right'' #humanism #< i think that might be why i have loved these books so much #in spite of being told from the point of view of a non-human they are steeped in the concept of humanism #that when we have nothing else we still have each other #the universe is dark and cold and uncaring and many people are cruel and unfeeling but they do not rule our fates #we have the power to cleave to one another and stand fast against the darkness and the chaos and win

[ch3rnovyl]

I'm a mosaic of everyone I've ever loved, even if it was for a heartbeat

#poetry #girlhood #humanism #quotes #spilled words #words words words #spilled ink #hope #hopecore

[agelessphotography]

Paris (Chairs), Sabine Weiss, 1952

#photography #vintage photography #vintage #black and white photography #sabine weiss #1950s #1952 #snow #winter #paris #eiffel tower #france #swiss #french #female artists #women artists #humanism

[atmosphericradar]

I get the feeling that the unspoken division between how so many people view "History" and "Anthropology" is not correct. History seems to happen in an unbroken line, and mostly to the people of powerful nations (or those nations which are well remembered). Conversely, Anthropology happens sporadically in many isolated instances, and to anyone left over who isn't a part of a powerful nation. Ancient Greece is History, while the Aboriginals of Australia are Anthropology.

But I don't like that division. It erases the histories of small cultures. It removes the humanity from past events, leaving only Nationalism and mummified politics. That unbroken line of history is fake!

History is just the record of what people did. Anthropology is the record of how they did it: the record of cultures! Both are equally important, and one without the other is incomplete. The history of any colonized indigenous tribe is just as much a part of history as the history of Ancient Greece. What people ate for dinner in 1960's USA is just as much Anthropology as the Incan Khipu knot system.

#history #anthropology #history includes the marginalized #humanism #my posts