Replace “the scientific work of metahumans” with “nature,” and it becomes an evocative and loving vignette of, well, science.

This makes it more humble: less about endlessly pushing boundaries, more about knowledge and understanding as simply very human practices.

The human science that endures as knowledge pushes into incomprehensible frontiers remains almost unchanged—only now it’s occupied with interpreting metahuman discoveries.

Mental content is remarkably stable, too–there aren't many moments when thought processes do not tread on well-worn paths & follow very familiar patterns.

Amazing that this is nonetheless paired with the possibility of deep change & radical adaptation through the few ~different~ moments.

Makes me think of contraction and expansion: to breathe in, you first have to breathe out and likewise there's often an oscillatory nature to relationships, growth of persons and companies and societies.

And similarly, we (I) often forget to allow this breathing.

“i don’t pay attention to the
world ending.
it has ended for me
many times
and began again in the morning.”
― Nayyirah Waheed, Salt; giving the same vibe

(when people say the world is about to get weird with ai, I sometimes think of the more mundane ways our world is weird and wondrous!)

I’m curious: could you imagine yourself holding all of those beliefs as strongly as you do now, but not caring much about space exploration?

Which aspect of these beliefs would you have to give up for that to be possible?