Neil Nightingale

Nature TV is fun. A real hardcore science guy might think of it as “popular”, but I put it in my science category—it’s not Doctor Who, you know; it’s middlebrow media, not unlike either a famous or somewhat anonymous middlebrow novel, contemporary literary fiction, some of which probably gets dismissed sometimes by some as being ‘popular’, and certainly a real hardcore historical classics guy might crinkle his nose since it’s not Shakespeare or Sophocles. Likewise, nature TV doesn’t involve math, or complicated terminology. But I like it, you know…. You could probably get too much of it if you watched every one ever invented, but that person must be exceedingly rare, right…. Personally, when I think of scholarly/nonfiction TV I’m more likely to think of Joseph Campbell, but since I already have such a heavier emphasis on humanities anyway, something like this is probably at least as good for me—and it’s not going to turn you into the person who thinks that folklore aren’t stories, but little bits of data, right…. It’s just balance, you know.

And it is cool to think that even the mountains move, that they aren’t nearly as old as the Earth itself…. I don’t know, but I just kinda want to round out my pyramid more, and just like I want to have more popular stuff at the bottom—having fun and managing practicalities—I want to have a little more of the impersonal scientific stuff at the top—our relationship to nature, and animals (god knows there are plenty more humans than whatever the next most populous meat-eaters are—what are there, a thousand Ethiopian wolves?), kinda make that top part a nice cap to the pyramid, and not a grain of sand or a tiny blob, right—and not have it all be the massive balloon in the middle, humanities, since I’ve always been that humanities snob, you know.

…. And the production team is mostly white guys, although they probably have to pay something to the park services of the various African countries, and I’m sure they do what they can to protect the gentle giants (eg elephants) of those countries. It’s probably at least as worthwhile as most of the other things white guys do, even if it’s an indication of what our world is like, that so many “Africa”-themed media productions are mostly staffed by those of European extraction, you know.

…. It’s a nice show. Very calm. I guess sometimes the animals die, but that’s just, I don’t know. There’s a calmness to it.

…. And I guess they are sympathetic to Africans who live off the land, and Africa itself, the land.

Also, although I’m not sure I believe in religion anymore, I do believe in God, so, (just wait until I finish), I had some philosophical thoughts about mystery, and evolution-over-millions-of-years, you know. Mystery is what you can go on understanding and learning about forever; there’s never that Boom! 🤯 Now I’m done, son: got in the bag!—which is I guess what the classic scientist wants (and what they thought they almost had in the very late 1800s), and what he objects to in religious mystery: No boom! 🤯 Done & finished with her! ~ But, of course, there’s no done & finished with evolution-over-millions-of-years, or for that matter, with (in any meaningful sense) what’s going on in the mind of an elephant, you know.

It’s mysterious.

…. And remember: the ducks are like children and the children are like ducks. The ducks live inside of us. They’re children.

…. I hate to bring it back to religion/humanities, but I wonder if this is what watching us is like for gods and angels, you know. A nature documentary, lol.

FERGAL KEANE: Baby Hermes has a new rattle, and he’s rattling it vigorously. (beat) He doesn’t want his mother, to go to sleep.

😸… (mehr)