Al had a vision and a worldview that he expressed not in a Manifesto but rather in a Covenant, a promise, a pledge, a commitment, a guarantee, a hope for humankind. He called it Eomega. This neologism is used by others with different meanings. But for Al it delightfully and paradoxically combined two Greek terms for opposite ends of the spectrum, “Eo” meaning dawn or beginning, “Omega” meaning the finality or the end. Here is his documentation of his optimistic worldview that might combine the end in the beginning, or at least the end in the process of becoming.
From his Eomega covenant, 1969
“One of the principal challenges of the remaining years of this century is to explore, generate and validate alternative modes of community, work, education and individual growth. In the generation of alternatives we must encounter face to face many of humanity’s deepest and oldest core beliefs – beliefs that in shaping our ideas of ourselves and the world have also intervened in our destiny. The periodic examination of core beliefs is an essential part of man’s search to discover his role in the cosmos, a search that began before the first tool was fashioned or the first poem was uttered. In our search we must identify and protect that which nurtures humanity, identify and restructure that which can be adapted to the service of humanity, and identify and dismantle that which threatens or oppresses humanity. Although this search has led to plateaus of partial attainment where mankind properly paused for reintegration, there may never be a final summit. If not, dedication to an unending search is not the entrance to a Sisphyean hell, but rather the discovery of that blend of confidence and humility that tunes our own pulse to the pulse of the universe. Ultimately, in the process of searching for his cosmic role, man will have created one – the role of the searcher. This role is certainly dignified enough and challenging enough for man until his true role be found. The role of searcher is indeed dignified enough and challenging enough for all time, if no other role is ever found.”
Albert G. Wilson, 1969
From this statement, we see that Wilson’s main objectives were to be:
- a searcher, and this website is an expression of his search efforts
- across a very wide range of topics, and we see those in the buttons
- provision of alternatives, perhaps seen in the wide range of topics
- Challenge established but uncontested assumptions
- Identify and protect
- Identify and restructure
- Identify and dismantle
- Constantly reintegrate, but with humility balancing confidence
- Coordinate humanities pulse with that of the cosmos in which we are nested.
It is interesting that compared to when the above was written in ’69, we are now IN the next century. Have we progressed far beyond his ambitions? Does this website advance those tasks?