Man Is The Measure Of All Things, But Beauty Is Not Man-Made, And Cannot Be Measured

Sunday, 3 May 2026, 2:44 pm
Opinion: Martin LeFevre - Meditations

Late in the afternoon a meadowlark began its varied song nearby, and a mourning dove sang its single note in another tree.

The two calls could not be more different. Yet the western meadowlark’s melodious song, which is considered one the most beautiful in North America, was complemented by the mournful note of the dove, which derives its name from the sense of sorrow it evokes.

Fittingly, a woman two doors down began yelling at the two small children in her care, sounding more like a spoiled child herself than either of them. The little girl cried, and the woman yelled, “Why are you crying?” Adults can be so dense.

The boy called her a liar out of the blue, and she really went off on him. But the old woman kept saying, “I’m not going to spank you” (perhaps because a relative had previously stopped her from doing so).

I held my tongue as her tongue-lashing intensified, and would only have intervened if she had struck one of the children. Exasperated, she took them inside.

Parents (and this woman isn’t even a parent but a grandparent) don’t own their children. Children are beings in our care for a few short years. So there is no such thing as interference where child abuse, whether physical, sexual or emotional is concerned. Witnessing it, we have a responsibility to speak up, calmly and non-violently, without humiliating the parent or grandparent.

The mourning dove ceased its repetitive melancholic call, leaving only the melodious song of the meadowlark as the last of the sun illuminated the tops of the trees. Meditation deepened.

The mind spontaneously fell silent as passive awareness gathered sufficient non-directed attention to the movement of the Earth as well as the movement of thought/emotion.

Meditation means passively watching one’s associations and interpretations with sufficient attention that the mind stops interpreting, and simply watches what is.

Truth is entirely new every time it’s seen and felt. Its wordless essence has no personal quality and therefore isn’t subjective in the usual sense at all.

This essence is in the very nature of things. Love inseparably infuses the universe, and is concentrated where there is life, especially the astonishing diversity of life on Earth.

Metaphorically speaking, Einstein was mistaken -- God does does play dice. But the idea that the miracle and sacredness of life is solely the product of chance and probability, physics and chemistry, with no meaning except what humans give it, is as absurd as the belief in a separate Creator.

Scientists are close to declaring that microbial life once existed on Mars, and may still exist in its subterranean depths. If so, it means that life arose on two rocky planets in the same solar system (even if Mars seeded Earth through early asteroid impacts). It also means that life is as intrinsic to the universe as stars and planets.

In any case, the Earth is a true jewel in the galaxy.

I came across a quote today that echoes that realization: “Beauty is not man-made; the things of man arouse emotions, sentiment, but these have nothing to do with beauty.”

Contrast this insight with Protagoras'most famous saying, which became the humanist’s credo: “Man is the measure of all things.”

Whether Protagoras was giving an insight into the limits of measurement, or an arrogant definition that humans are the be-all and end-all is not clear. But the truism has become the tired refrain of our age: objective truth does not exist, since each person interprets truth differently.

Of course as Plato, who vehemently disagreed with Protagoras pointed out, if the only meaning is the meaning you make, and the only purpose is the purpose you choose, then there is no such thing as truth.

The belief system that emerged with the Enlightenment – humanism -- was a reaction to the heavy hand of medieval Christianity. But humanism, which has much to commend it, is woefully inadequate to meet our individual and collective crises.

At its core, Trumpism is the logical end of “my truth vs. your truth.” Given that wretched premise, it comes down to who or what has the most economic and political power.

In a society half as individualistic as this sick society, the maxim “man is the measure of all things” has produced a vicious circle of self-centeredness.

Therefore rather than hubristically end with the false certainty that the only meaning in life is the meaning you make, we would do well to examine the hollow idea that potentially intelligent life is merely the meaningless product of physics and chemistry.

How have billions of years of terrestrial evolution produced a brain that’s using 'higher thought' to bring about the Sixth Mass Extinction of life on Earth? The fact that humans are doing so doesn’t point to the pointlessness of life, but to a pressing mystery and conundrum that insight can resolve.

(And please, the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs is not the same thing as a self-named sapient species decimating the planet that gave rise to it.)

The measuring and comparing brain gave us science and technology, but measurement is limited, and psychological comparison is false.

As far as Protagoras, even a cursory reading attests that his famous maxim raises more questions than it answers.

Notably, Protagoras was charged with "impiety" for purportedly denying the existence of the gods (which he didn't do, saying only we can’t know). He drowned as he fled for his life to Sicily.

And Socrates, though he made fun of sophists like Protagoras, was condemned, ironically, for also not believing in the existence of the gods. Basically ever since, western philosophy has defined humans as ineluctably "hermeneutical" creatures, insisting that we always interpret experience.

Obviously we almost always interpret experience, since often the same words have different meanings to different people. And people have different beliefs, worldviews and opinions.

However, given the utterly untenable conflict, chaos and darkness of the human condition, the question now is: Can we create temporary spaces where small groups of people factually and non-judgmentally question our meanings together, listening beyond words, beliefs, opinions and interpretations, with the intent to see the same thing at the same time?

If you believe that's impossible, then it is for you. But if you question yourself and experiment with inquiring with others, the awakening of insight will save you, and perhaps humanity.

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Martin LeFevre - Meditations

Scoop Contributor

Martin LeFevre is a contemplative and philosopher.

His sui generis “Meditations” explore spiritual, philosophical and political questions relating to the polycrisis facing humanity.

lefevremartin77@gmail