Reply to comment

During the discussion on Thursday, I was intrigued by the connections between seemingly irrelative things—the geography, the domestic animals and the empire. Perhaps, nothing exists independently in the world. (This point of view reminds me of the “Trees” on planet Pandora in film Avatar). How could I still believe that individuals are individual? Some more sophisticated associations beyond heat exchange exist, especially some connections that are built during the development of human civilization.

Another point that interested me was the reasons for and the consequence of existence. I had never imagined that the result brought by one kind of crops or domestic mammals can influence the development of a whole empire. I was overwhelmed by the relation between cause and effect. I felt my understanding about the “cause and effect in the world” superficial. Just like that I can only see the peak of an iceberg above the sea level, while I cannot easily detect how huge the part of iceberg immersed in the ocean truly is.  

I found I formed a habit of writing and drawing randomly in my draft paper. I wanted to record the instant inspiration from the discussion among classmates, Professor Dalke and me. “Write it down when it is still fresh.” Our topics involve from origin of universe, biological evolution and human civilization. I really enjoy the path to self-identification. We are journeying.