I like this quote from H.G. Wells. Education is that function of society which is nurtured in order to perpetuate the dominant culture. As pressures from inevitable change mount, causing society to face imminent catastrophe, education is typically forced to research a solution that leads to a paradigm shift warding off the catastrophe. » More: Journal 5: “History is a race between education and catastrophe”
It’s not the speed that kills us. It’s the wearing down action that friction plays. Many are living with gusto. They are moving at the speed of life without so many cares as some who plow ahead against so many self-imposed barriers. Most of these barriers are built up in the mind rather than in reality. Nevertheless, real or imagined, they must be overcome as well.
The science of superconductors has experimented with the use of ceramics that are supercooled and suspended by magnetic fields in order to drive force without friction. The theory of generating energy without friction underlies such research. Equate this with living a stress-free life.
I’ve heard it said that the only people who are without stress are in a coffin. This may be true or it may be a psychological defense mechanism to deal with the stress of thinking about “how” to live stress-free. :-0
Ancient scriptures speak of a “peace beyond understanding” (Philippians 4:7). If such a thing exists, it is not common in our world where everyone is seeking to understand the reasons behind everything. Perhaps the problem is that we live too much in the mind and not enough from the heart.
Perhaps the friction on our mind makes us smarter while the friction on our heart kills us. An old proverb says, “Above all things, guard your heart for from it are the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23).
Are we living a heart-felt life or a brain-stressed one?
Eventually, your participation in the human race will come to a dead stop. Are you excited for that moment??
The general reaction to the question of slowing down appears skewed. It may be that we are flawed in our understanding of what ‘slowing down’ means and entails. Slowing down may not refer to speed as much as it does to » More: The human race or Dead stop?
The three kingdoms – human, animal, and plant – share the same biosphere. Because humans possess the highest form of intelligence, they bear the greatest responsibility in caring for their environment. During the development of this stewardship, certain choices were made in order to ‘manage’ the environment. Through trial and error, the best choices became the norms of society and in order to protect those norms, laws were enacted. Localized cultures formed around these regional environmental practices and today, we have all grown up within certain cultural constraints that taught us how to live and ‘manage’ our personal universe for the good of all according to our entrenched world-view.
» More: Is Game Management Anti-Environmentalism?
I recently read a fellow student’s post entitled, “Nature is Undefinable.” My reply is as follows:
Though it may be true that we have yet to exhaust our research in order to come up with an adequate definition, as intelligent beings who bear the principle responsibility as the planet’s stewards, I believe our quest to define nature is not in vain.
Actually, Ashworth in his book, “The Left Hand of Eden,” does a good job of exposing the inherent contradiction we face by looking at nature as “other” and somehow separate from US. Even reading the posts, you can see the circular reasoning and logical fallacies expressed by nearly everyone because of this intrinsic contradiction.
We know we are “supposed” to be one with nature yet everyone discusses nature as “other” and thereby perpetuates the misunderstanding. Until we resolve this elemental fact, we cannot hope to rescue our future from its collision course with disaster.
In our world, there are just 118 known elements. These 118 elements make up every iota of physical matter including ourselves. It doesn’t matter whether you drive a Cadillac and I ride a bicycle; you wear fur coats and I wear second hand; you eat caviar and I eat from a trash can. Regardless, you and I cannot exceed the bounds of the 118 known elements. We are imprisoned with all of creation inside the four walls of » More: The Definition of Nature is Elemental…
The trading post had been raided and several people killed; in the name of conservation. Chief Tenaya and his tribe, renegades among their own people, were feeling the encroachment of the miners and settlers closing in. Through retaliation, they sought to conserve the land they called Ahwanee. The year was 1851.
The miners and early American settlers had their own definition of conservation. So they captured and drove the Chief and his Paiute renegades from the land and, as was customary among 18th century Europeans, renamed the land. The name chosen was » More: The Sierra Club
The microscopic world so small
The super macro high and tall
Unreachable they seem at best
Such reason cannot stop man’s quest
From subatomic particles
To Galaxies in constant swirls
For movement most centrifugal
Yet life of meaning hardly full
From small to large the search goes on
From high to low, from short to long
Though man conceives eternity
When in the dark it’s hard to see
For depth of soul has not been plumbed
And height of Spirit not yet climbed
Except for One whose overall
Who can’t be named by man so small
Such mystery, how can it be?
Yet one who tastes will surely see
Reality experienced
Yet not explained by common sense
The living know though can’t explain
The life beyond the space/time plain
They see by their experience
The life beyond the human fence
The wheel of life in cyclic flow
Science does this life man show
Yet wheel within the wheel is dim
To those with conscience marred by sin
And with the light within comes truth
Yet not for lofty heads comes forth
As water fills the empty cup
So humble souls the truth fills up
The wheel within the wheel is seen
Experienced beyond the mind
It lies within the deepest part
The likes of which some never find.
- by D. McPheeters
I’ve enjoyed the thoughtful comments from the class (Soc 333 on Sociology of Environment) concerning the simple living movement. However, I noted some inconsistencies due either to misunderstanding or circular reasoning. I wish to clarify two of them.
First, simple living is not the reduction of Man-made items. From beginning of time, man has made his shelter and clothing and containers for food and weapons to secure food. It might be better stated that Man should continue to progress by making new items in » More: Simple Living with a twist…
1. “How deep the ruts of tradition and conformity!” (Thoreau, Walden, paragraph 6 of Conclusion)
The Simple Living movement recognizes the superficiality of present day society which, though formed with mankind’s happiness in view, has not succeeded in achieving it. Thoreau, who saw through the facade from nearly every angle, said it best when he penned, “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” (Economy, paragraph 9). His view of the modern world’s pursuit of luxuries was a “positive hindrance to the elevation of mankind.” (Ibid, paragraph 19). He had come to realize that ‘being’ was more important then ‘doing’ but that society had only framed a universe for the latter rather than the former. The Simple Living movement therefore, is interested in » More: We are “Human Beings” (not ‘human doings’)
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