Branches

What are we afraid of these days? Of new things? Of having to face brutal difficulties? Since their advent, the Universe, living beings, and humanity have incessantly created necessary laws and unpredictable events. For Michel Serres, novelty arises from form, just as a branch sprouts from a stem. Fallible and inventive, the Son originates from the Father, who dictates dogmas and laws. In "Ramos," based on the realization that it is urgent to reinvent the universality of human relationships with the planetary totality, Serres encourages us to rethink everyday life without distinctions between sciences, arts, cultures, and religions. It is the fourth volume of the tetralogy formed by the titles "Variations on the Body" (1999), "Hominescences" (2001), and "The Incandescent" (2003). Divided into two parts, "System" and "Narrative," it is an optimistic essay that leads the reader to reflect on everyday actions, which only seemingly seem restricted to the monotonous repetition of patterns, rhythms, codes, numbers, and notes. The first part revolves around the idea of format, which is present in all segments of daily life: at home, at work, in affectivity, and in politics. The roots that sustain the format-father, the science-daughter, and the adopted son condition the overall perception of the Grand Narrative in which we are all inserted. In the second part, Serres delves into the universal tree of events. Artists, scientists, and philosophers, even haunted by various difficulties, never give up imagining, inventing, and designing. Thus, there are always new things, challenges, and ramifications. As the author affirms, evolution always ends up producing a producer of evolution. Michel Serres proposes a stimulating reinterpretation of the history of thought in which science, culture, arts, and religions ultimately converge. A celebration of life and a message of hope for future generations, it is a book that helps us understand and love the restlessness of the present.