Humanising Nature
Kapil Aggarwal, PRM-27
4. Detailed rules and regulations: As with any organisation, the human body also has certain rules and regulations in place for the effective functioning of the entire system. Each cell performs its functions under certain constraints of alkalinity, acidity, and temperature. What it should produce, how much it should produce, and when it should produce—these matters are predetermined. When the rules are broken, as when less insulin is produced, the result is an organisational disease like diabetes. When individual cells break the rules (that is, when they mutate), the result is cancer. Hence, the organisation is governed by rules and regulations aimed at maximising efficiency.
5. Impersonal relationships: It is only the brain that possesses consciousness. It is aware of the functioning of the various organs. Individually, the organs lack consciousness. The kidney is not aware of the existence of the heart. As long as it receives a supply of blood, it will keep filtering it. In the event that one kidney fails, the other kidney does not decide to go on strike because his best friend has died. The organs simply perform their functions and achieve their predetermined goals.
Hence, what we observe is the enormous complexity that the human body is able to achieve. The kinds of tasks that we have accomplished can be credited to a bureaucratic structure. As our understanding of this complexity increases, we build a similar complexity in society so that there is a match between the internal and the external.
To emphasise the point:
Earlier, those who studied medicine thought that disease had a single cause. They believed in the existence of a linear relationship between cause and effect. This explains the considerable advances made in allopathic medicine. Similarly, in the area of development, it was thought that economic solutions were needed for all world problems. In agriculture, it was thought that the single solution represented by the Green Revolution—with its increased use of fertilizers and pesticides—would be enough to increase agricultural production and solve the problem of world hunger. However, all these solutions were simplistic in nature; they emerged at the same time in human history. Now we are realising that one school of medicine is not enough. Similarly, in agriculture, organic farming is becoming increasingly popular. In development, holistic is the new buzzword.
Look at the human body. The head (encasing the brain) is at the top, and the limbs are below. The limbs obey the commands of the brain. If the body suffers brain damage, the limbs revolt. In the sphere of international relations, we see that most idea leaders in the world belong to the northern countries, while the physical work is carried out in the southern countries. Most revolts have also taken place in the southern world. Our human body is intricately networked and interlinked; we are creating a society on similar lines. The phenomenon of globalisation means that various parts of the world are becoming increasingly interdependent and networked. Earlier, human society had diverse cultures and languages, but slowly this heterogeneity and variety is being lost. We need a system of common communication so that everyone can be interlinked. A similar process exists in the human body. Just as we are discovering genes that determine certain properties of the human body and human behaviour, so are we finding certain explanations for social properties and traits.
Let us assume that what I have proposed above might be happening to a certain extent. Then what? I feel that the result of many of our actions is to move us further away from nature. However, nature has always been, and it always will be. However, nature has existed before man and will exist after man too. No matter what you do, you cannot transcend it. If you try too hard to get out of the system, you will disrupt the processes. When that happens, the system will repair itself. It has been doing so before you were born and will continue to do so long after you are dead. Global warming, I feel, is nature’s response seeking to repair and protect itself. When too many idiotic humans disturb the system, nature thinks, let me throw in a few earthquakes, bring about a few tsunamis, and raise the sea level. These natural disasters will reduce the numbers of humans. Will it make a difference to nature if the entire world is covered with water? Will it complain? I guess not, but you would. It would certainly make a difference to you.
I don’t know how to end this essay, because I am afraid of prescribing a particular way of being as an ideal. I am confronted with the paradox right now. All I can say is—keep confronting it, keep engaging with it. Nature will look after itself anyway.
Kapil Aggarvl can be reached at
p27017@irma.ac.in
In his book, The Sane Society, Erich Fromm writes that all of man’s strivings are the result of his fall from grace.Unlike other creatures, man is the only animal that can ask questions, seek and attach meanings to his actions, and identify a purpose for doing things. Unlike animals whose brain development indicates a relatively low memory capacity, man has a tremendous memory potential. It is this memory potential that is both his gift and his bane. Though we talk about exercising choice, we have not yet progressed to a level where we are able to exercise choice in the selection of our memories. Hence, whatever we experience, observe, or sense enters our memory and consciousness. In daily life, these memories are being continually accessed, reinforced or weakened. Hence, these memories form an important part of our reality. The ability to discern what is reality and what is memory is still being studied by scientists.
When I read the writings of philosophers and spiritual guides like John Mohawk, J D Krishnamurti, Rudolf Steiner, Mahatma Gandhi, and Eckhart Tolle, I find that they recognised this limitation of the human mind. The ancient Indians of America were highly spiritual beings. They worshiped Mother Nature and all her creations. They understood nature as a complex system of which we humans are only one part. They also understood that no matter what they did, they would never be able to transcend the system. The longing for freedom, transcendence, and creation is an illusion, a symptom of brain development. . Their wisdom made them peaceful beings, who chose to live within the system of which they were a part and to use their intelligence to ensure a balance. They practised sustainability in the truest sense.
One of the effects of this memory development and social progress is that the ability of the human mind to process information has increased. At the same time, so has the compulsive need to do so. Take the example of the personal computer. The advances in processing speed have been tremendous; we are amazed by them. On the other hand, power consumption has also increased, as has the need for greater memory capacity, more graphics acceleration, etc. There is no limit to our needs. Similarly, identification with the mind—the extreme importance given to the ability to process information (which we call the intellect)—instead of remaining a tool has become the master. The microchip always needs power. Similarly, the brain always needs some thoughts to function. The only time we can say that we are conserving energy is when we sleep (and in the case of the personal computer, when it is in the sleep mode). When we sleep, we have dreams. Thus, we can understand that continuous thinking is an energy-consuming activity and requires a source of power of some kind or the other.
Now imagine a world where no problems exist. There is nothing to solve, nothing to worry about. What would happen? We would all go mad. The developed brain would no longer be able to function. It would not know how to spend time.
Memory development has led to the concept of time. Would one be able to spend sixty years without having any thoughts? It is quite difficult to do this. That is why we revere spiritual gurus, who are able to achieve this goal. This is because they have been practising intense penance to break this vicious cycle in which we humans are caught. The way I see it, when the gurus finish their penance and return to worldly affairs and take on followers, they are not asking you to give up worldly things, but they are asking you to attempt to search for this universal truth, this light. Until then, you will think that you are making choices, but in reality you are simply a mechanism responding to the needs of your memory and brains. This is from where this concept of YOU arises. I define this as real development. In development, we talk about choices. If you possess a spiritual orientation and understanding, you are then not bound by social norms or by notions of hierarchy. Needs do not exist; wants do not exist; no justifications for your actions exist; it is just a simple world where you and your choices exist. That’s what a choice essentially is: a choice. If a justification existed, it would not be your choice, but the outcome of that justification.
Eckhart Tolle in his bestseller, The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment, talks about the illusion of time. Our desires are actually expectations of future events that have yet to unfold. If you ask a question why, then you would conclude that because the present is not what you want, you are thinking about the future. This rejection of the present in anticipation of the future (the future has still to come) means that you end up with having neither the present or the future. This leaves you with a feeling of emptiness, loneliness, and depression. All of us suffer from some sort of depression. This is not bad, but just an effect of things as they are. Werner Erhard (Erhard Sensitivity Trainings, Landmark Education, the Hunger Project) says that acceptance is the key to happiness. But if one were to accept, then all reasons would vanish. Justifications for one’s actions would cease to exist. How would one function? All the purposes of our work and action would be lost.
This is what I have been wanting to bring out—that the purpose or meaning of our life (which we have to recognise) is our own creation. There are no answers to find. Life is empty and meaningless. But you should not get depressed about this. It’s the paradox that you should confront constantly. You have nothing, but at the same time you have everything. You have to create a purpose for yourself, for your life. It’s your creation. It’s an illusion that you are building for yourself, out of your own choice. That’s the way it is. Animals also live for a hundred years, but they don’t have our kinds of problems. When we both are part of the same natural system, can we be governed by different rules and processes? No! We both are the same, and we need to recognise this sameness. The only differentiating factor is your gift and how you choose to use it. This depends upon the choices you make, and the choices you make depend upon the frameworks that you have. There are no prizes for using your gift in the best possible way. Don’t make that your purpose. If you do so, you will then stop living and instead become driven. Build frameworks, but abandon frameworks until you are so thoroughly fed up with them that you no longer need them to function. When you reach this state, only then will you have attained Zen.
Based on what I have outlined above, I now propose the following:
Man cannot understand himself in isolation. It is only through comparison with things physically external to him that he is able to reference himself. Now this may appear to be an absolute referencing. However, since he is unclear about the way nature works, and because no universal truth has been passed down to him in a form understandable to him, this has become a circular referencing. Whether he sees things the way they are, or whether the things are the way they are is because this is how he sees them, is a paradox that he will not be able to resolve or understand. As a result of this, as he comes to understand himself more, he will project the same understanding onto the external world and will in this way actually be humanising nature.
Let me explain how this will happen.
Max Weber wrote that bureaucracy is characterised by division of labour, a clear authority hierarchy, formal selection procedures, detailed rules and regulations, and impersonal relationships. If we look at the human body, we see that it is the most complex organisation. It epitomises the organisational efficiency attainable in nature, with a large number of cells performing specialised functions and complex procedures aimed at converting food into various nutrients. Now if we look at the way science and society have progressed, we observe that during the eighteenth century a large part of science was directed towards the study of human anatomy and physiology. On the basis of this observation of the human body, society developed notions and understanding about itself. It is the study of an individual that is finally generalised to a group. Hence, my argument is that Max Weber’s definition of bureaucracy relates to the organisation of the human body. Let me illustrate this point.
1.
Division of labour: Division of labour in the human body begins at the cellular level. Specialisation of cells for immunity, digestion, body repairing, oxygen carrying, etc. leads to the development of functional grouping in the form of organs (heart, lungs, kidney). This is then further clubbed under digestive, reproductive, and neural systems.
2.
Authority hierarchy: In animals, the amygdale controls the fight-or-flight mechanism, which is crucial for survival. In humans, the objective is different. Just as the goal of any organisation is to grow and develop, the goal of the human body is also growth and development, which is monitored by the apex organ, which is the brain. The brain makes decisions and choices that will have an impact on the entire human organisation. In contrast, the survival instinct in animals is determined by the amygdale while auto-reflex responses are mediated through the spinal cord. In the case of disease, the body automatically generates antibodies to heal itself. Hence, there is a clear hierarchy between the needs of the body and the centre of power or control that will meet these needs.
3.
Formal selection: In an organisation, the process of formal selection is used to filter all inputs. In the human body, we have the five senses—smell, sight, hearing, taste, and touch. These five senses filter the information and stimuli we receive from and about our environment. Again, the formal rules are internalised by the sense organs; these have been set by the apex organ, which is the brain.
