On the opposite wall of the art studio I just mentioned is a small letterpress-printed postcard with this quote from John Muir. While eating breakfast this morning and reading E.O. Wilson's little book on the need for all political and religious factions to wake up to the environmental disaster we are witnessing (his book is titled The Creation), I come across this statement by Mr. Wilson:
"Scientific knowledge, humanized and well taught, is the key to achieving a lasting balance in our lives. The more biologists learn about the biosphere in its full richness, the more rewarding the image. Similarly, the more psychologists learn of the development of the human mind, the more they understand the gravitational pull of the natural world on our spirit, and on our souls."
Mr. Wilson states:
"Civilization was purchased by the betrayal of nature...the revolution encouraged the false assumption that a tiny selection of domesticated plants and animals can support human expansion indefinitely."
"...the modern technoscientific revolution, including especially the great leap forward of computer-based information technology, has betrayed nature a second time, by fostering the belief that cocoons of urban and suburban material life are sufficient for human fulfillment. That is an especially serious mistake. Human nature is deeper and broader than the artifactual contrivance of any existing culture. The spiritual roots of Homo sapiens extend deep in to the natural world through still mostly hidden channels of mental development. We will not reach our full potential without understanding the origin and hence meaning of the aesthetic and religious qualities that make us ineffably human."
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