A Murmuration of Starlings

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A Murmuration of Starlings

Postby MacCruiskeen » Wed Dec 17, 2014 1:17 pm

Words by Heathcote Williams, via Rupert Sheldrake (good to see those minds meet):



It's a wonder how the starlings do it. But also: why do they do it, if not for the sheer joy of it?
"Ich kann gar nicht so viel fressen, wie ich kotzen möchte." - Max Liebermann,, Berlin, 1933

"Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts." - Richard Feynman, NYC, 1966

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Re: A Murmuration of Starlings

Postby tazmic » Wed Dec 17, 2014 2:06 pm

Image
UV
"It ever was, and is, and shall be, ever-living fire, in measures being kindled and in measures going out." - Heraclitus

"There aren't enough small numbers to meet the many demands made of them." - Strong Law of Small Numbers
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Re: A Murmuration of Starlings

Postby elfismiles » Wed Dec 17, 2014 4:32 pm

One of my faves:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRNqhi2ka9k

Some great murmuration vids here:

Visualizing Bird “Jizz”
Post by seemslikeadream » 30 Jan 2014 01:59
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=37685

... and another ...

Re: Scores of starlings fall out of the sky
Post by brainpanhandler » 11 Mar 2010 18:03
viewtopic.php?p=324519#p324519
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Re: A Murmuration of Starlings

Postby minime » Thu Dec 18, 2014 8:57 pm

You won't believe this, but Heathcote Williams and the word 'murmur' have come to mind on numerous occasions the past few days. Though not at the same time.
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Re: A Murmuration of Starlings

Postby MacCruiskeen » Fri Dec 19, 2014 12:26 pm

It's one my fondest childhood memories, the incredible display (and the incredible noise) every winter at dusk on Glasgow's central square. They used to swoop in in their thousands before roosting in the countless nooks and crannies on the City Chambers cliff-face:

Image

...until the council called in a firm to get rid of them. :( My old prof wrote a poem about it:


[...]

A man looks up and points

smiling to his son beside him

wide-eyed at the clamour on those cliffs—-

it sinks, shrills out in waves,

levels to a happy murmur,

scatters in swooping arcs,

a stab of confused sweetness

that pierces the boy like a story,

a story more than a song.

He will never forget that evening,

the silhouette of the roofs,

the starlings by the lamps.

[...]

http://dogonaswing.tumblr.com/post/6737 ... rge-square
"Ich kann gar nicht so viel fressen, wie ich kotzen möchte." - Max Liebermann,, Berlin, 1933

"Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts." - Richard Feynman, NYC, 1966

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Re: A Murmuration of Starlings

Postby MacCruiskeen » Fri Dec 19, 2014 1:02 pm

"Ich kann gar nicht so viel fressen, wie ich kotzen möchte." - Max Liebermann,, Berlin, 1933

"Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts." - Richard Feynman, NYC, 1966

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forgive

Postby IanEye » Fri Dec 19, 2014 4:15 pm

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Re: A Murmuration of Starlings

Postby norton ash » Sat Dec 20, 2014 2:21 am

Have you ever seen a 'V' of geese flying? One arm of the 'V' is always longer than the other. There is a reason for this.

There are more geese in it.

Zen horse
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Re: A Murmuration of Starlings

Postby Seamus OBlimey » Sat Dec 27, 2014 3:53 pm

Just wasted two hours looking for the funniest Hitchcock/Sta'lin' link :wallhead:
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Re: A Murmuration of Starlings

Postby Nordic » Sun Dec 28, 2014 10:56 pm

This behavior has always seemed to be evidence of psychic phenomenon in that the birds move all at once. No one leads, so no one is following, so how could this be possible unless the birds shared a mind?

Fish seem to do it, too.
"He who wounds the ecosphere literally wounds God" -- Philip K. Dick
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Re: A Murmuration of Starlings

Postby Ben D » Mon Dec 29, 2014 3:51 am

Nordic...go to 13.10 Coleridge may be more poetic, but Sheldrake is closer to the mark...

There is That which was not born, nor created, nor evolved. If it were not so, there would never be any refuge from being born, or created, or evolving. That is the end of suffering. That is God**.

** or Nirvana, Allah, Brahman, Tao, etc...
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Re: A Murmuration of Starlings

Postby minime » Mon Dec 29, 2014 11:27 am

Nordic » Sun Dec 28, 2014 9:56 pm wrote:This behavior has always seemed to be evidence of psychic phenomenon in that the birds move all at once. No one leads, so no one is following, so how could this be possible unless the birds shared a mind?

Fish seem to do it, too.


Have you ever seen a horse (or even a dog) herding cattle? Roping a steer? The response of herder (the horse, not the human) to herded is so immediate, even shown in slow motion, as to give the illusion of singlemindedness. If the connection is psychic, it is in the sense of mind informed by perception.

In the herd, in the flock, in the school, none may be leading by choice or by design, but they are leading in fact and by necessity.
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Re: A Murmuration of Starlings

Postby BrandonD » Thu Jan 01, 2015 5:43 pm

Nordic » Sun Dec 28, 2014 9:56 pm wrote:This behavior has always seemed to be evidence of psychic phenomenon in that the birds move all at once. No one leads, so no one is following, so how could this be possible unless the birds shared a mind?

Fish seem to do it, too.


Another option is that rather than the minds of the individual birds communicating with one another, the minds of the individual birds are relinquishing control to the currents of an invisible field.

Imagine a thousand ping pong balls on the surface of the ocean, and then make the ocean invisible. I think this would be a good analogy.

(on second consideration, this might just be a rephrasing of what you are already saying)
"One measures a circle, beginning anywhere." -Charles Fort
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Re: A Murmuration of Starlings

Postby Ben D » Thu Jan 01, 2015 7:27 pm

* One fish says to the other fish...."where's this ocean everyone is talking about?"
There is That which was not born, nor created, nor evolved. If it were not so, there would never be any refuge from being born, or created, or evolving. That is the end of suffering. That is God**.

** or Nirvana, Allah, Brahman, Tao, etc...
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Re: A Murmuration of Starlings

Postby Nordic » Tue Jan 06, 2015 5:19 am

BrandonD » Thu Jan 01, 2015 4:43 pm wrote:
Nordic » Sun Dec 28, 2014 9:56 pm wrote:This behavior has always seemed to be evidence of psychic phenomenon in that the birds move all at once. No one leads, so no one is following, so how could this be possible unless the birds shared a mind?

Fish seem to do it, too.


Another option is that rather than the minds of the individual birds communicating with one another, the minds of the individual birds are relinquishing control to the currents of an invisible field.

Imagine a thousand ping pong balls on the surface of the ocean, and then make the ocean invisible. I think this would be a good analogy.

(on second consideration, this might just be a rephrasing of what you are already saying)



That's very cool, BrandonD, I had never thought of that. Considering the magnetic sensors inside birds brains, used for migration, and what must be an incredible sense of wind, and direction, and 3D space, there's no telling!
"He who wounds the ecosphere literally wounds God" -- Philip K. Dick
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