The sun also rises in the east
I was talking to a friend who asked me an interesting : since you live in the far east, does your sunrise in the west? I was surprised by this question, considering that the sun rising in the east is a function of the earths rotation, not your placement on earth. But while I was building a sentence in my mind to explain this to my friend he then added this comment : I think your so far east of Europe, that your east is actually west. So perhaps your sun actually rises in the west.
I reminded my friend that my sun was also his sun, as there is only one sun.
I laughed and explained that the earth rotated and this rotation actually determined where the sun appears to rise on the horizon, not our actual placement on the earth.
I then explained that concepts of east and west are local geographic constructs only, since the earth is round, there is no true east or true west. That’s why we use a system of longitude and latitude to determine your position on earth. - We both had a hearty laugh and my friend then asked if I thought he was stupid for not knowing these things, to which I quickly replied no.
I told him that sometimes science and facts are replaced with other constructs in our cultures and these ideas become so deeply in grained that we remember them and not the actual science or facts.
It was then that he stated that perhaps east and west were more political or social constructs then physical constructs, and I told him that idea seems correct.
After all as you travel either east or west you initially encounter countries, languages and cultures similar to your own. But the farther you travel, the more dis-similar the language and culture become. So as you travel east across Europe or east across Asia the language, food and culture change.
- We both remarked that from Western Europe to Eastern Europe there very significant changes in language, food and culture. And this was the same in Asia. But we both also realized that these were different varieties of the human culture, and it was the human portion that was more similar then different.
- We remarked that the majority of humans globally seek very similar personal and professional goals, with differences being defined more by culture then genetics, as our children show us when we move to a different culture, by how our children easily adopt the cultural norms of the host country, unless the family interferes in this adoption.
- It is interesting that on Hive we come from all over the world and share the same admiration for this abundance economy as well appreciating it’s unique ability to generate income independently of your job.
- I discussed with my friend, that I have another friend who is a geneticist, who often remarks that our physical appearance was dictated by our genes, which make up less the 0.1% of our total genetic material. My geneticist friend and my anthropologist friend often compliment each others views, as the anthropologist opines about nutrition, peace, healthy water, food security and societal role diversity being more important determinants of economic growth and societal development then location on earth.
- As Hive members we interact with people all over the world or globe. And I like to think that we all share many of the same dreams. All just citizens of this ball we call earth, orbiting the star we call our sun.
Title: We are all earthlings