changes in the phases
Changes In The Phases
There was a particular part that stuck out to me in the reading. It starts with the line "The moon is the most changeable body in the visible universe" and ends in "[...] following it steadily, you do not realize that it is imperceptibly eluding you."
This quote made me think about how people are ever-evolving. Everyone around you is constantly changing, maybe not physically, but each day we learn something new that adds to our personality, our lifestyle, our habits. Each day we discover things that change us ever so slightly. You are blind to it when you are constantly surrounded by them, but think back to when you saw your friend for the first time in a while and their hair was a little longer, they talked about new things, and they dressed a little differently. These changes are always happening but we never see it, much like if you were to watch the moon every night. You wouldn't see much change from the night before or the next, but when you gaze at it a week later, you can see a difference.
With this idea of imperceptible change, it leads me to wonder if that is the reason Mr. Palomar chooses to observe the moon. In the passage, he argues that he must observe the moon, for if he doesn't, no one will, and the moon's existence will be in question. Perhaps, when he makes such a bold claim, what he really means to say is that the existence of the moon's change will be in question. For, his observation of the moon is even during the period in which it changes the most. Anyone else who observes the moon, likely when it is most visible, will not know of nor acknowledge where it came from that night nor how it emerged and clarified as time passed.
ReplyDeleteI like your connection of observing the moons phases to observing changes in people. If we see something every day, we never notice the changes that happen over time. But if we don't observe it for a while, we begin to notice what is different. The moon is very much like a person in that sense. It is always moving and changing we hardly seem to notice the changes because its always around us every day.
ReplyDeleteI think that habits are a form of change also too subtle to notice while it is occurring. They say that it takes about two weeks to turn a behavior into a habit. Most habits that people develop seem to be ones that developed unintentionally. It's like a slow decision, and by the time you've made a new habit, you've hardly had to time to realize that you made the decision not to stop, you know? Maybe habits are just these subtle changes you describe, but in one's self.
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