Eve Arthur - Nature and Balance

I enjoyed our discussion in class today concrening Eisenberg's distinction between the Mountain and the Tower (chapters 7-10?) as well as the Pole and the Pipe. The information that was given and the comments that resutled form the presentation were very stimulating, and forced us to really analyse our ecological situation from a basic mythic and symbolic developmental standpoint. However, some specific aspects of the dicsussion deeply bothered me! While I agree with the fact that we as a species have been (and are continueng) to move away from the wilderness or "our natural states," and that we have engaged in many practices that cause deep wounds for our Mother Earth, I refuse to believe Eisenberg's assersion that everything we do will cause her damage, nor that anyplace we go will be derstoyed in our passing. I would like to believe that there is more hope than that. We cannot drop everything we have come to know and have grown comfortable with. We as a group of like-minded, interdepentent individuals depend too strongly on the sytsem we have created. I am sitting at my desk, talking to you through this damned and beloved pyschotic all-consuming word machine, in a comfey colorful room with a slanted floor that is protected from the elements. I have spent some time in wilderness places but not without the aide of a pack and other sundry supplies, and not yet on my own, completely alone. All the same, I believe it is possible for us to find a better balance in our own nature and in our Mother's, so that we hurt her (and in turn, oruselves) much less. One truth that we must be aware of is that humans, although (usually) intelligent beings, still experience basic instincts and primal emotions. We still act upon our fears, anxieties, excitements, and other powerful emotions even if all the evidence in front of us points out that such reactions are illogical, irrational, or unjutsified. People will do incredible things if they feel threatened, if they are straving, or if their pride is wounded. It is a basic insticnt for many species to migrate in search of food, water, or other nesesary resources. Coupled with our unique level of intelligence and curiousity, is it any wonder why humankind has ventured (or migrated) past the mainland, and into the sky in search of resources, living space, and answers to some of our oldest questions? There is a very fine line between what we consider "natural" and "unnatural" (or "against nature"). But I think that all of our actions, even if they are devastating to our ailing Mother, are natural...perhaps just not thought out very well. In order to benefit all of the creatures on this earth, including ourselves, we must find a balance between our inescapable instincts, our insatiable curiousity, and our cursed intellegence. Intelligence (or consiousness, what have you) may be the "Fall of Man," but we have it, and there is no escaping it. So let's use it to help our current situation, and to teach others what we know.