the failure of reason
First, just let me mention the new link on the side pionting to my other blog at Zaadz, which was also a personal blog, but I have decided to focus it on things that uplift people’s spirits rather than having it personal, two personal blogs was too time consuming.
Today I was at Riverbanks, as usual, admiring the fall colors of the trees and the roses that were blooming despite the chill of recent weather systems. I was walking across the bridge that separates the zoo from the garden, thinking about my job, jobs in general, the ability to reason, and humanity’s obsession with cause and effect. (long post ahead)
I think it’s been percolating in my subconscious for a few days, ever since I read the articles on the internet about the surfer who has generated a proposal for the Holy Grail of physics: the Grand Unified Theory of Everything. I won’t go into it since I haven’t read it and wouldn’t understand it if I did, let alone be able to explain it clearly to you. With that as the backdrop, I was thinking about man’s ability to reason, searching for cause and effect for everything in the world.
Although logic is now typically considered the domain of mathematicians, logic originated with the discipline of philosophy, if I’m not mistaken, logic is first considered to have originated with the Greek philosophers, particularly Aristotle. Origins aside, from its rudimentary beginnings to its considerably refined state and use in science, logic and reason have played a big part in the advancement of civilization. And therein lies the beginnings of its failure.
Reason has been one of man’s primary weapons in utilizing the world around him, in thinking that he is more advanced than the animals in the wild, that he is somehow ’special’. I would say exactly the opposite: that despite all the wonderful things man has accomplished, we are no more advanced than any other animal, and in many ways, have fallen far behind them. Here is my train if thought.
For my example I’m going to talk about utilization of our natural resources, i.e. logging forests for timber, conversion of wild erness areas to agricultural purposes, and the like. Some years ago the timber industry commisioned a study to determine the value of the resources of an acre of natural woodland area, then determined the value of the resources of an acre in an area managed by a timber concern. Their conclusion was that the natural area contained resources twice as valuable as the area managed by man.
This is where the failure of reason enters the picture. Man, in his arrogance, thinks he can do a better job of resource management than nature. What humanity in general has forgotten is that we are part of something larger, something that knows better than we how to take care of itself. ‘Primitive’ man understood this. The American Indians, Australian aboriginals, the tribes of Africa, all understood that they were part of the land, part of the earth, and that in order to continue to live, it was necessary to live in harmony with nature, rather than subjugating it. The timber industry is wrong, in that clear cutting land doesn’t make any sense because that isn’t how nature works. Correspondingly, the preservationists are wrong for exactly the same reason: nature doesn’t work that way. The life of the forest, of our planet, is cyclical, and we have a role in that cycle, as does everything else. We have altered that role, and it is affecting the cycles of nature, and we are seeing the change.
This natural cycle, or rhythm, applies to our lives individually as well. We find a groove that is comfortable, a way of living that is comfortable for us, but at some point it will change. For this discussion the cause is unimportant, the point is nothing lasts forever, and it is necessary to see the cycle and go with, to adapt to the change. We can apply reason to the change and attempt to direct it, but it’s not always the wisest thing to do.
When all is said, I think this post really isn’t about the failure of reason, but the need to adjust to the cycles and seasons of our lives, and those of our planet. When we do that, the world will begin to go back into harmony.