Materialism: The Antithesis of Wisdom
"The cultivation and expansion of needs is the antithesis of wisdom. It is also the antithesis of freedom and peace. Every increase in needs tends to increase one's dependence on outside forces over which one cannot have control, and therefore increases existential fear. Only by a reduction of needs can one promote a genuine reduction in those tensions which are the ultimate causes of strife and war."
-E.F. Schumacher
We live in a world of increasing needs. Historically, humans have been a species of relatively few and basic needs: food, shelter, water, clothing, community, and love. Why have our needs changed and how have they changed us?
We need untrammeled nature because it makes us feel good in a way that nothing else can. When we sit and observe the natural world, we are seeing life that was created by the same hand that created us, and so the experience gives us some objectivity in an otherwise subjective experience. The fact that the creator should create such beauty gives us peace and trust in a greater power.
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Lupine and Valerian plants pictured in the Mount Nebo Wilderness Area, Utah.
Of the total biomass of life on Earth:
0.01% is Human
13% is bacteria
82% is plants
-E.F. Schumacher
We live in a world of increasing needs. Historically, humans have been a species of relatively few and basic needs: food, shelter, water, clothing, community, and love. Why have our needs changed and how have they changed us?
We need untrammeled nature because it makes us feel good in a way that nothing else can. When we sit and observe the natural world, we are seeing life that was created by the same hand that created us, and so the experience gives us some objectivity in an otherwise subjective experience. The fact that the creator should create such beauty gives us peace and trust in a greater power.
Article Link
Lupine and Valerian plants pictured in the Mount Nebo Wilderness Area, Utah.
Of the total biomass of life on Earth:
0.01% is Human
13% is bacteria
82% is plants
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