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The Fascination of Knowledge: Natural Creativity, Time’s Arrow, and Reciprocity

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The Poetry of Knowledge and the 'Two Cultures'

Abstract

This chapter argues that the content of knowledge has a strong potential appeal to the imagination, including that of poets. The inherent creativity of nature gives an unforced connection with human creativity in poetry and the other arts. The concept of the ‘arrow of time’, of the universe as immersed in evolutionary change, gives a parallel with humans’ sense of lived time and the irreversibility of our experience. And the theme of reciprocity, seen for example in environmental studies, is in tune with poetry’s characteristic awareness of interconnections.

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Correspondence to John G. Fitch .

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Fitch, J.G. (2018). The Fascination of Knowledge: Natural Creativity, Time’s Arrow, and Reciprocity. In: The Poetry of Knowledge and the 'Two Cultures'. Palgrave Studies in Literature, Science and Medicine. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89560-4_5

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