While packing for Japan...
The quality of one's model of the universe is measured by how well it matches the real universe. There is no guarantee that one's current model does match the reality, no matter how certain one feels about it. Feelings of awe, reverence, sacredness and certainty are adaptable metaprograms, attachable to any model, not just the best fitting one.	Modern science knows this: that merely because a culture generated a cosmology of a certain kind and worshipped with it, it was no guarantee of goodness of fit with the real universe. Yet modern science refuses to recognize data on Cetacea, as it runs contrary to the arrogant belief in the pre-eminence of human consciousness on this planet.	We need humans from all walks of life and points of view to open their minds, and join in the difficult task of communicating with our older, wiser roomates here on Earth. Hopefully we can bring human consciousness to a more correct match with the real universe. Our very survival as a species depends on it.
on the eve of Japan Trip, March 1998