Seeking Surprise

Too close, too far, too fast, too slow.

Author’s note: today, for paid subscribers, an idea that is knocking around in my head, but not really fully formed. Still in its protostar phase. Still, I think there might be something to poke at. What do you see?

Consider it: some are too close, some are too far. Some too shy, some too bold. Some too rich, some too poor. Some eat, some starve. Some are together, some alone, some too isolated, some too mixed up in it all. Some are spread too thin. Some in the country, some in the city, some so different they could never really see the others for what they are. Some take, some give, each touched and shaped by chance encounters. Some move quickly, some move slow. Some stagnate. And some dance. All if it is complicated and messy and unique and beautiful. 

These are the lives of galaxies. Complicated and messy, yet unique, and beautiful. Just like you, and me.

There’s resonance here between these giant, complex, breathing island universes and the much smaller, but similarly complex breathing humans. I’m still trying to work it all out. But it’s something to chew on.

I guess the process of working it out is its own difficulty. The life of a galaxy is sure hard to figure out - we still don’t have a full model of a galaxy’s life. You can spend your life studying galaxies, think you’ve learned it all, and still never cease to be surprised by new revelation. SciTechDaily headline yesterday: “Astronomers surprised by Webb Data”; should we be surprised?