To my own surprise, much of this seems to arrive in verse. And—not surprising to me at all—there seems to be a disproportionate mention of cats and rain. We find meaning where we can.
A central theme for all this is a worldview grounded upon reason, empathy, and passion. A worldview leavened over the years by the good fortune of love shared with extraordinary minds. With it, I do not intend to be prescriptive toward other lives, but hope to describe instead the vistas of stubborn hope in mine. It is our stories that provide beacons of navigation for one another—particularly in the less frequented landscapes of experience or in places where despair reigns darkly. And when the celestial spheres we were told to steer by are revealed to be hollow, we still have one another. Not immutable, but at least honest. Not a consolation, but a constellation of imperfect lights.
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During the day, I am a theoretical biophysicist, studying collaboratively how nature harvests sunlight. A related life-long passion for me is science outreach to make our work accessible to many, where I employ scientific visualization as a narrative tool for the retelling of our oldest story: how from light, life grows. Recently, I retold this story also on stage as part of the ‘Joy of Regathering’ collaboration. Our own voices & bodies are also storytelling tools; stories of science have need of them no less than others.
These pages reflect an urge that a literacy of reason is a survival necessity for our fledgling species. I believe that scientists themselves have a disproportionate responsibility in establishing such literacy. In the past, ordinary literacy—the ability to read and write—was regarded as a prerequisite for a democracy; it is no longer sufficient. New literacies are needed of us, if we are to maintain a just society founded upon empathy for one another’s plight.
As we are flooded with deliberate disinformation and with a new cacophony of generative content, which reflects all our errors and prejudices back to us, we are called also to a literacy of meaning, woven from threads of attention. Attention is a sacred gift (thank you for reading this!) and the one currency that cannot be removed from us. Our choice of attention holds an ultimate power. The meaning we create by what we give attention to defines us and defines the world we choose for ourselves.
Similarly, a numerical literacy—the ability to compare quantities—is demanded of us, if we are to comprehend the otherwise invisible consequences of our actions and inactions upon one another. Such comparisons invite us, individually and collectively, to take responsibility for our choices and priorities. Thus, numerical literacy provides a harsh mirror to our biases, revealing which lives we silently deem worthy, whilst being complicit in acquiescing that some do not matter. As I have recently argued: “numerical literacy has become the new literacy upon which democratic institutions depend; and the ability to visualize information has become a basis for empathy in a society where misinformation is rampant”.
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My lyrical passions wish to seek a voice here as well. Movement is like breath to my soul—and shared movement, love. Dance has always been a consistent light in my story, even as I am a stranger to its learned refinements.
And whimsy, apparently. Perhaps, it is easier to write about whimsy—far more so, surely, than about one’s personal history or identity. Perhaps, my fears will mark a safe playpen of whimsy for me that I dare not step out of… Yet whimsy is not a mere refuge; it is also friendship with oneself and mine has been kind to me. Whimsy is what on occasion wakes me up laughing at my own dreams. And it wishes to have a voice also. Cats and all.
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This is my story. Or as much as I can muster courage to share of it.
Melih Sener (he/him)
P.S. If you have read all this, if you have an interest in sharing any content on these pages somewhere else, you can email me at (contact at aworldsimply dot org). I will aim to be responsive to earnest messages, if I am able.