The sky that we encounter every night is the same as the night sky that the Ancient Greeks once gazed upon, and from it created stories as they observed the distinctive patterns between the stars. The air we breathe is the same as the air that the Navajo once recognized as a spiritual entity, and referred to it as “Holy Wind”. These presences that once meant so much to our ancestors now commonly go unnoticed. Because of this, environmentalist and author, Thomas Berry, refers to our generation as the ‘autistic generation’. We are noticing less and less of the more-than-human world around us. It is evident that as societies advance, our senses our numbed and our relationship to the sensuous earth is severed. After the industrial revolution, …show more content…
Our connection with the natural world around us is meager compared to the connection our ancestors once possessed. In the words of Thomas Berry: “We've lost our guide. We don't know the language of the trees any more. We can't listen to the universe anymore, we've become autistic.” Although the term “autistic” is rather malapropos, I agree with the concept he is trying to convey. His claim is evident through the way our views of language have transformed. According to philosopher and writer, David Abram, in the original Hebrew aleph-beth, all of the letters were consonants, and vowels were “… nothing other than sounded breath,” (Abram 241). The absence of vowels in the Hebrew text made reading require highly active participation and an awareness of the exchange of breath between the speaker and the nonhuman world. Abram claims that “…the vowels, or rather the absence of vowels, provided the pores, the openings in the linguistic membrane through which the invisible wind – the living breath – could still flow between the human and more-than-human …show more content…
On the radio, news, and social media sites, we are overexposed to horrific and obscene images. Much of these sensory stimuli have “emotional content beyond our capacity for response,” (Olsen 59). If our minds fully examined and retained these graphic images, we would not be able to function, therefore our minds shield us from the content this images contain by shutting down sensory pathways. This is a phenomenon called “numbing” that is prevalent in our generation (Olsen 59). Numbing is an important mechanism when serves as protections, but it also prevails in situations where protection is not needed. When most people of this generation encounter natural, they use their cameras and phones to capture the moment before, or instead of, immersing themselves completely in their surroundings. Many of us view the natural world behind a lens as spectators instead of participating in discussion with the world around us as equals. We become less receptive to the sensations around us, and “as we become less receptive we miss the delight, the sensuality, and the depth of feeling that comes from being engaged with life,” (Olsen