#becoming-with

[raffaellopalandri]

The Philosophical Animal: Consciousness, Kinship, and the Undoing of Human Exceptionalism

In contemplating the philosophical animal, one confronts the profound undoing of the anthropocentric hierarchies that have shaped both metaphysical systems and material histories, for to interrogate consciousness in its manifold expressions is to dissolve the presumption that the human occupies a privileged summit within the continuum of sentient life. The contemporary neuroscientific and…

[simer-dhume]

Nature happenings in Central Park you don't want to miss

The firs warm day in Manhattan, and yes, not just humans but our urban wildlife friends were enjoying the water and warm sun. Nature happenings in Central Park are the perfect positive motivation you need to get through the remaining winter. It’s a sign SS

The first warm day in Manhattan, and yes, not just humans but our urban wildlife friends were enjoying the water and warm sun. Nature happenings in Central Park are the perfect positive motivation you need to get through the remaining winter. It’s a sign Spring is nearly here. It was, in fact, a perfect Saturday afternoon at the park. You won’t believe since two months today; for the first time,…

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[simer-dhume]

Nature News: Cristiano Ven best ‘Wildlife Photographer' 2021

Nature News: Cristiano Ven best ‘Wildlife Photographer’ 2021

Hints Of Life brings you interesting nature news and happenings in the world of nature. Unplug from the daily clamor with stories that are positive, engaging, intriguing, and unique, from a snow owl sighting in Central Park to ‘The first sign of intelligent life beyond earth’ by Avi Loeb. Dive into the world of fascinating stories today. Nature News: Cristiano Vendramin the best ‘Wildlife…

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[iwillnotreturnyourrecords]

One last walk down my desert road, my heart overflowing with deepest thanks and joyous gratitude for *everything* that this land, its wild inhabitants, and the experience of 30 nights here have taught me... North Joshua Tree CA, Sept 1, 2018.

Holding on tight to the utterly enchanting sounds, the teachings of the heat, the desert’s inhabitants of alllllll kinds, the ancient ways and wisdoms of Joshua trees and creosote rings and cacti and yuccas, the out-of-this-world sunsets, night skies alive with planets and stars and psychedelic sunrises, the mountains and mesas and the living cryptobiotic desert crust, the war games that boomed at all hours (and forced a rerouting of my thesis project), the colonies of such incredible oddities and people and other living beings...

Never forgetting choirs of coyotes howling after midnight, pink lightning bolts sizzling while watching a storm move over valleys miles away, taking part in one heavy-as-heck cacao ceremony under the full Sturgeon moon, beholding the Perseids meteor showers night after night from a papasan chair out in the midst of this great wide open living desert, soundbathing at the Integratron, summoning wild serpents as if by will, the sweet yet haunted moans of the desert’s summer winds, while listening so deeply to it all. 

[blockreview]

Corn is the hero of its own story, and though we humans played a crucial supporting role in its rise to world domination, it would be wrong to suggest we have been calling the shots, or acting always in our own best interests. Indeed, there is every reason to believe that corn has succeeded in domesticating us.      To some extent this holds true for all of the plants and animals that take part in the grand coevolutionary bargain with humans we call agriculture. Though we insist on speaking of the ‘invention’ of agriculture as if it were our idea, ... in fact it makes just as much sense to regard agriculture as a brilliant (if unconscious) evolutionary strategy on the part of the plants and animals involved to get us to advance their interests. By evolving certain traits we happen to regard as desirable, these species got themselves noticed by the one mammal in a position not only to spread their genes around the world, but to remake vast swaths of that world in the image of the plants' preferred habitat.

Michael Pollan, The Omnivore's Dilemma 23-24.