Adam wrote...
.). I
> agree with Shepard, many of the worst traits in our social systems
> (stratification, gender-roling, racism, general loss of a direct
> relationship with natural cycles and the nature of "nature", etc.) have
> their roots in the agricultural revolution; that revolution (toward
> surplus-oriented agriculture and away from subsistence based horticulture,
> gathering, etc.) is the phenomenon that has driven us away from an
> understanding of our appropriate place in the world. Things have only
gotten
> worse since then (I mean things as mentioned above). Many would be quick
to
> say, oh, but agriculture ultimately is what allowed folks to develop
> politics and art and science. Was it worth it? I don't know. Did we need
> that revolution to come "as far" as we have? I honestly don't think anyone
> should be foolish enough to say they know either way for sure
I wonder if anyone on this list is familiar with the work of Ken Wilber?
I'd like to try and work his philosophy into this discussion if possible,
but I'm not really sure where to start. For now I'll say that he has this
idea about "transcending" and "including," and also the idea of
"differentiation" as opposed to "dissociation." Wilber sees our evolutionary
(and indivudual) history in light of our having transcended from one stage
to the next (I won't go into the specifics of his stage model at this time).
The problem isn't that we have, for example, transcended from an
identification with nature to a more mental identification, but that in our
transition we have failed to include nature in our larger understanding of
ourselves. It's kind of like the disdain we have for fourth grade upon
entering fifth grade (though here there is less to lose). Also, Adam
mentioned art, science, and (I'll add) morals. Wilber's position is that
these three were always there, but they were undifferentiated. The
differentiation of these three is good (for reasons which I won't go into at
this time). The problem is that they have become dissociated. Science came
to dominate art and morals. Or, the external validation of reality came to
dominate the individual internal (art) and the colletive internal (in this
case, ethics) validation of reality.
That probably didn't make a whole lot of sense to someone unfamiliar with
Wilber's work, and so I hope to elucidate in future posts.
Bryan
p.s. I haven't posted for ages but I've been on this list for a long time,
hence the immediate jumping back into it... :)
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