We're going back to the trees.
I'm basically going to pull this post out of nowhere. On the phone talking to some friends, I was told that i need to update the blog. So here it is, and i'll just give you all a little slice of some stuff i've been thinking about recently. I've been having conversations and doing some writing on the following topic, but im still very uncertain about it all. If i write something that i feel good about, i'll post it here.
The topic is about human nature. and the term you should keep in mind is "nature". How is a human naturally inclined to think and act? Probably for survival. We're animals who have evolved to think and act in certain ways because of our human institutions. "Institution" is another word you should keep in mind.
I'm guessing that since the beginning of human kind, there have been relationships of power. Humans in places of power have always gotten those under them to act in ways that suit their purposes. I beleive that this is the birth of human institutions. So it seems to me that humans are often led to achieve someone elses goals through institutions.
These institutions can be anything from education and school to religion and the church. I'm deep into DH Lawrence right now (for anyone who doesnt know his poetry, a good place to start off is "the snake") and i feel that his life and poetry characterized a deep conflict between human "nature" and human "institutions". Lawrence was arguably a repressed homosexual, and therefore had fundamental issues with the way that society worked.
Lawrence could never find happiness with any of the women that he courted, and suffered because of his repression. His repression was the consequence of his religious education. The church pushed for people to get married, and therefore instead of acting on his human inhibition (his homosexuality) he actively sought a suitable woman to marry. This was the source of much of his misery and illness. Although it did produce some amazing poetry, it shouldnt have to be this way. Lawrence's poetry strives for a "nakedness" of things, whether this be a nakedness of sexuality or posessions. He wanted to be pure. A human the way that nature intended.
I personally dont know where I sit just yet. I want to strive for this purity, as it is such a romantic concept. Even though (for the most part) our institutions serve the purposes of those who have us within their power, our institutions have brought us far. Would we still be in the trees if we didnt have our institutions? I dont know. But something i can relate to in our modern "consumerist" society is keeping minimal posessions. Why do we feel the need to fill our lives with such inane crap? Why collect all this junk we dont need? Why do boys and girls who have relationships with eachother feel that they own eachother? We need to abandon this way of thinking. We need to go back to the trees for a little while, and then come back and question the institutions that exist in our society today.
Without any questions we'll just go further down the spiral.
The topic is about human nature. and the term you should keep in mind is "nature". How is a human naturally inclined to think and act? Probably for survival. We're animals who have evolved to think and act in certain ways because of our human institutions. "Institution" is another word you should keep in mind.
I'm guessing that since the beginning of human kind, there have been relationships of power. Humans in places of power have always gotten those under them to act in ways that suit their purposes. I beleive that this is the birth of human institutions. So it seems to me that humans are often led to achieve someone elses goals through institutions.
These institutions can be anything from education and school to religion and the church. I'm deep into DH Lawrence right now (for anyone who doesnt know his poetry, a good place to start off is "the snake") and i feel that his life and poetry characterized a deep conflict between human "nature" and human "institutions". Lawrence was arguably a repressed homosexual, and therefore had fundamental issues with the way that society worked.
Lawrence could never find happiness with any of the women that he courted, and suffered because of his repression. His repression was the consequence of his religious education. The church pushed for people to get married, and therefore instead of acting on his human inhibition (his homosexuality) he actively sought a suitable woman to marry. This was the source of much of his misery and illness. Although it did produce some amazing poetry, it shouldnt have to be this way. Lawrence's poetry strives for a "nakedness" of things, whether this be a nakedness of sexuality or posessions. He wanted to be pure. A human the way that nature intended.
I personally dont know where I sit just yet. I want to strive for this purity, as it is such a romantic concept. Even though (for the most part) our institutions serve the purposes of those who have us within their power, our institutions have brought us far. Would we still be in the trees if we didnt have our institutions? I dont know. But something i can relate to in our modern "consumerist" society is keeping minimal posessions. Why do we feel the need to fill our lives with such inane crap? Why collect all this junk we dont need? Why do boys and girls who have relationships with eachother feel that they own eachother? We need to abandon this way of thinking. We need to go back to the trees for a little while, and then come back and question the institutions that exist in our society today.
Without any questions we'll just go further down the spiral.
posted by zubin at 5:37 PM
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