3.22.07
palm springs, ca. foot of mt san jacinto watching sunrise over palm springs. the entire
community below me is busy. cars moving. random slamming sounds, the bark of a faraway
dog, the hum of vague machinery and the omnipresent lights.it is like looking down on an ant colony. individual ants running about busy working or
doing thier business. they are oblivious to me watching them standing above... if i
smoosh some with my shoe, many others will flee but the collective continues working.
after a little while, new ones pickup the vacancies left by the smooshed.
what would happen in palm springs if part of this mt. crashed down, wiping out the
neighborhood to my right. individual tradgedies, but the collective would continue on.
eventually, the old neighborhood would be rebuilt and reclaimed by new individuals.
we think that ants act communally. driven by robot like instincts. yet we know that the
people of palm springs below me act in each, self interest. Is there really any
difference?