Is Descartes’ Rule Finished? The Future Is Deep Ecology

As views and beliefs flow with the times, deep ecology is here to stay.

Desiree Driesenaar
The Apeiron Blog

Photo by Jason Blackeye on Unsplash

What I like about the Tao (from ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tze) is that it tells us that we’re walking backward. Facing the past. Feet in the here and now, and our backs to the future. That’s why we train to have a strong back.

Why not walk forward so we can see where we’re going? Later, I read that many other teachings say the same thing. There’s no other way. Because the past is the only thing we can see clearly. And we need strong backs to be courageous in facing the unknown future.

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”
Soren Kierkegaard

If we train our body-mind connection, we can feel our feet in the here and now for most of our waking hours. Personally, it took me quite a bit of training. Not so easy, but I learned it by embodying my own life. Dancing. Physically connecting to nature. Meditating outside and hearing the birdsong.

“The only way to move into the future is backward, as if sitting in the back of a moving boat, looking out over the wake, seeing the next moment only after we have passed through it.” — The Buddhist Review

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Responses (17)

What are your thoughts?

James Lovelock with the Gaia Hypothesis proved that the earth is a systemic, self-regulating system with flows and feedback loops.

Very nice piece! Yes! Not only self-regulating, but self-protecting. Gaia will rid herself of whatever is infecting her. Right now, it's humans. Humans, who always put Decartes before de horse!

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Lynn Margulis gives us the knowledge we need for creating a fully regenerative world. A world in which our bodies can heal themselves, our planet can heal herself, and our human product...

This is true, but the science and medicine are trying their best to convince us otherwise.

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This piece is a breath of fresh air amongst the stifling arrogance of humans that is currently prevalent. Thank you for exploring a regenerative way forward.

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