If the Earth .......

[demicav]

If the Earth were only a few feet in diameter, floating above a field somewhere, people would come from everywhere to marvel at it. People would walk around it, marvelling at it's big pools of water, it's little pools and the water flowing between the pools. People would marvel at the bumps on it, and the holes in it, and they would marvel at the very thin layer of gas surrounding it and the water suspended in the gas. The people would marvel at all the creatures walking around the surface of the ball, and the creatures in the water. The people would declare it precious because it was the only one, and they would protect it so that it would not be hurt. The ball would be the greatest wonder known, and people would come to behold it, to be healed, to gain knowledge, to know beauty and to wonder how it could be. People would love it and defend it with their lives, because they would somehow know that their lives, their own roundness, could be nothing without it.
If the Earth were only a few feet in diameter.


Author unknown.

[thunder]

Quote
If the Earth were only a few feet in diameter, floating above a field somewhere, people would come from everywhere to marvel at it.
Endquote

No chance. If the Earth were only a few feet in diameter, floating above a field somewhere, the police would cordon it off and call the bomb disposal squad, who would carry out what is euphemistically called "a controlled detonation". Then they would announce that this suspicious object had turned out to be "a harmless package".

henrya (feeling more that usually cynival this morning!)

[demicav]

Originally Posted by thunder

Quote
If the Earth were only a few feet in diameter, floating above a field somewhere, people would come from everywhere to marvel at it.
Endquote

No chance. If the Earth were only a few feet in diameter, floating above a field somewhere, the police would cordon it off and call the bomb disposal squad, who would carry out what is euphemistically called "a controlled detonation". Then they would announce that this suspicious object had turned out to be "a harmless package".

henrya (feeling more that usually cynival this morning!)

That may be true but looking at it from a poetic point of view it's beautiful and truly sums up my own feelings about saving the planet.

[agrumpycow]

Originally Posted by thunder

No chance. If the Earth were only a few feet in diameter, floating above a field somewhere, the police would cordon it off and call the bomb disposal squad, who would carry out what is euphemistically called "a controlled detonation". Then they would announce that this suspicious object had turned out to be "a harmless package".
henrya (feeling more that usually cynival this morning!)

Ooh you pessimist you

[eeyore]

if the earth were only a few foot in diameter floating above a feild somewhere a bunch of chavs would grafiti it , use it as a football, then attempt to sell it for enough folding to keep them in white lighting and 20/20

[demicav]

I must say I haven't had quite the response I was expecting, not off one person. It's not meant to be taken literally. I wish I hadn't bothered now.

[agrumpycow]

Originally Posted by demicav

I must say I haven't had quite the response I was expecting, not off one person. It's not meant to be taken literally. I wish I hadn't bothered now.

Oh, don't feel bad It is a lovely piece, where did you get it from?
I just guess everyone's feeling a bit grumpy given then weather - why can't it just rain during the week when I'm at work or during the night lol

[Mr Mag00]

a nice piece, and the replies raised a titter so all round a good post.

[rlchew]

Originally Posted by demicav

I must say I haven't had quite the response I was expecting, not off one person. It's not meant to be taken literally. I wish I hadn't bothered now.

Hey .... don't feel like that.

I think that it is an excellent piece of writing and in many ways sums up my own feelings.

However, you can't help thinking "If only ....".

Thanks for posting demicav.

Richard

[demicav]

Originally Posted by rlchew

Hey .... don't feel like that.

I think that it is an excellent piece of writing and in many ways sums up my own feelings.

However, you can't help thinking "If only ....".

Thanks for posting demicav.

Richard

Thank you for your comments Richard.

Lorraine.

[buzfuz8149]

I thought we were going to get a bit of Kipling then Richard.
One of my favourites.

[demicav]

Originally Posted by agrumpycow

Oh, don't feel bad It is a lovely piece, where did you get it from?
I just guess everyone's feeling a bit grumpy given then weather - why can't it just rain during the week when I'm at work or during the night lol

I got it off an old junk mail envelope about 17 yrs ago. The mail went in the bin but I kept the envelope as I thought it was lovely, even back then with my teenage hormones. Almost given away my age there .

[pressld2]

It's lovely Demicav, and an interesting way of looking at things. Thanks for posting it.

The most moving piece I've ever read about the beauty, fragility and uniqueness of our planet came from the American astronomer Carl Sagan. In 1990, when Voyager 1 was some 4 billion miles from Earth, he persuaded NASA to point it's camera back at us and take this photo from the edge of the solar system...



Here's what he had to say about it:

"We succeeded in taking that picture [from deep space], and, if you look at it, you see a dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever lived, lived out their lives. The aggregate of all our joys and sufferings, thousands of confident religions, ideologies and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilizations, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every hopeful child, every mother and father, every inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every superstar, every supreme leader, every saint and sinner in the history of our species, lived there -- on a mote of dust, suspended in a sunbeam.

"The earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that in glory and in triumph they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of the dot on scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner of the dot. How frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the universe, are challenged by this point of pale light.

"Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity -- in all this vastness -- there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. It is up to us. It's been said that astronomy is a humbling, and I might add, a character-building experience. To my mind, there is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly and compassionately with one another and to preserve and cherish that pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known."

And some people still think scientists are soulless creatures! The world became a slightly poorer place the day that Carl died.

Dave P.

[demicav]

That's absolutely beautiful and so moving. It really brings it home to a person. Thank you so much for sharing it.


Lorraine.

[smartie]

Yes - thanks, pressld2, for that reminder of Carl Sagan. I can hear him in my head saying those words in that wonderful deep voice of his. And thanks demicav, too. This thread brought me up short - my initial reaction to your post was pretty similar to what Henry and Eeyore said, and then I thought what a shame, that I've become so jaundiced over the years about human nature that I automatically see the bad. Of course there are many people out there who don't care and don't understand, but I have to hope there are enough of us who do to keep the wonder (and the planet) alive.

[Amiguru]

Originally Posted by demicav

If the Earth were only a few feet in diameter, floating above a field somewhere, people would come from everywhere to marvel at it. People would walk around it, marvelling at it's big pools of water, it's little pools and the water flowing between the pools. People would marvel at the bumps on it, and the holes in it, and they would marvel at the very thin layer of gas surrounding it and the water suspended in the gas. The people would marvel at all the creatures walking around the surface of the ball, and the creatures in the water. The people would declare it precious because it was the only one, and they would protect it so that it would not be hurt. The ball would be the greatest wonder known, and people would come to behold it, to be healed, to gain knowledge, to know beauty and to wonder how it could be. People would love it and defend it with their lives, because they would somehow know that their lives, their own roundness, could be nothing without it.
If the Earth were only a few feet in diameter.


Author unknown.

Humble, naive, fundamental, pedantic question in meek, timid voice: On which planet is the "field somewhere" above which the Earth is floating?
Awaiting verbal brickbats.....

[pressld2]

Originally Posted by Amiguru

Humble, naive, fundamental, pedantic question in meek, timid voice: On which planet is the "field somewhere" above which the Earth is floating?
Awaiting verbal brickbats.....

Didn't you know? It's on the Discworld! See "The Science of Discworld" series by Terry Pratchett, Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen. You can even see a picture of it on the cover of volume I. The wizards of Unseen University are fascinated by 'Roundworld ' and are busy investigating its properties...

Dave P.

[Amiguru]

Originally Posted by demicav

If the Earth were only a few feet in diameter, floating above a field somewhere, people would come from everywhere to marvel at it. People would walk around it, marvelling at it's big pools of water, it's little pools and the water flowing between the pools. People would marvel at the bumps on it, and the holes in it, and they would marvel at the very thin layer of gas surrounding it and the water suspended in the gas. The people would marvel at all the creatures walking around the surface of the ball, and the creatures in the water. The people would declare it precious because it was the only one, and they would protect it so that it would not be hurt. The ball would be the greatest wonder known, and people would come to behold it, to be healed, to gain knowledge, to know beauty and to wonder how it could be. People would love it and defend it with their lives, because they would somehow know that their lives, their own roundness, could be nothing without it.
If the Earth were only a few feet in diameter.


Author unknown.

I think I may have found the author of this poem. It is accredited to Joe Miller on this website: Backyard Tourist, Inc. a 501(C)(3) non-profit

Apparently there is a book entitled "If the earth were only a few feet in diameter"

[smartie]

Originally Posted by Amiguru

I think I may have found the author of this poem. It is accredited to Joe Miller on this website: Backyard Tourist, Inc. a 501(C)(3) non-profit

Apparently there is a book entitled "If the earth were only a few feet in diameter"

Indeed there is, and you can buy it on Amazon if you want to. It sounds odd (as does he) but interesting.

[demicav]

Originally Posted by Amiguru

I think I may have found the author of this poem. It is accredited to Joe Miller on this website: Backyard Tourist, Inc. a 501(C)(3) non-profit

Apparently there is a book entitled "If the earth were only a few feet in diameter"

Well I've wondered for years where it came from and now I know, Thank you.

[Varan Komodosky]

If the Earth were only a few feet in diameter, floating above a field somewhere, people would come from everywhere to marvel at it. People would walk around it, marvelling at it's big pools of water, it's little pools and the water flowing between the pools. People would marvel at the bumps on it, and the holes in it, and they would marvel at the very thin layer of gas surrounding it and the water suspended in the gas.

No they wouldn't. They'd dump rubbish on it and use it to throw stones at or play footie with. Someone would spray it with graffiti (and call it art) then someone else would start charging entrance to the field. Eventually it would get stolen.

[demicav]

It really annoys me that people can be so cynical and scornful. It's meant to be read from a poetic point of view , as said before not taken literally, if people cannot be more polite I'd rather they didn't post at all.

I would really appreciate it if someone can end this thread for me so no more posts can be made.

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by demicav

It really annoys me that people can be so cynical and scornful. It's meant to be read from a poetic point of view , as said before not taken literally, if people cannot be more polite I'd rather they didn't post at all.

I would really appreciate it if someone can end this thread for me so no more posts can be made.

you really need to chill out - varan, thunder, and I ( and indeed anyone else) are as entitled to post our thoughts about this is you are to post yours - that is the nature of discussion forums, no one has attacked you or your views, rather they have merely disagreed with them

The poem you have posted in a beautiful poetic word picture , but you only have to look at how people actually treat the world to see that it is also not an accurate one, and expression of the cynisism that many of us feel about how the world isd actually treated by the human race at large is a perfectly valid point to make.

[demicav]

Originally Posted by eeyore

you really need to chill out - varan, thunder, and I ( and indeed anyone else) are as entitled to post our thoughts about this is you are to post yours - that is the nature of discussion forums, no one has attacked you or your views, rather they have merely disagreed with them

The poem you have posted in a beautiful poetic word picture , but you only have to look at how people actually treat the world to see that it is also not an accurate one, and expression of the cynisism that many of us feel about how the world isd actually treated by the human race at large is a perfectly valid point to make.

I'm well chilled. There's nothing wrong with me at all.