Planetary Criticality


We are probably the only species that finds fault with our own. We are the great criticizers. And we find fault too with our existence and the environment, identifying the causes of conditions in our existence as flaws in fate or in others or in God or in our own groups ('when are they going to do something about... ') and our planet.

Of course this planet is a minor one, on the rim of a minor galaxy in a minor cluster, far from the Center of the Universe, I suppose. Or at least you could look at it that way. Then we could get serious and aim our criticism at the right target -- those Big Guys closer in toward the center of the universe. It's probably their fault. We here are doing the best we can with the broken straws and weak clay they left us. When are they going to wake up? Sheesh. They ought to do something about...

It is also possible that this Universe itself is a cheaply made one, despite all the glamour of novae and the melodrama of black holes. Maybe it's a tract Universe, tacky materials assembled in poor taste, on the back quadrant of some City of Universes. That would really give us someone to yell at, if we could get a message through... those wise guy unproductive bureaucratic sinecures down at Universe Hall. They should get an honest job, that's what, learn what it's like to earn a living.

Now it may be that beyond these overworked Universe Bureaucrats there is some other power structure we could blame. But the universe from this critical stance is fog on a shaving mirror. You can draw cartoons in it, snarl at it, and imagine realities galore in it as Alice did. But when the heat's on, all there is is a reflection of the Author, shaving critically.


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