SUNDAY, JAN 30, 2022: NOTE TO FILE
Me, Myself & I vs. Nature
Century of the Self vs. reality
Eric Lee, A-SOCIATED PRESS
TOPICS: WE, FROM THE WIRES, THE ONES
Abstract: As a bat-eyed and materialistic priest I am biased. I read poetry, and for ten years attended weekly meetings of the Literati Club where we usually watched a Teaching Company lecture on the current work of consideration. But I celebrate some poets, authors, and not others, as I was never properly educated (schooled).
COOS BAY (A-P) — I have an old website featuring memorable poems and poems to memorize. I did not include Whitman, and as to why, my hypothesis is it reflects my failure to appreciate his celebration of modern techno-industrial society (MTI). As MTI poet, he died just before the 20th century, aka The Century of the Self he sang of, i.e. he was humancentric/egocentric to the core.
Leaves of Grass, 1890-1891
136,008 words
389 poems
22,000 lines
Word usage:
| me | 534 | 0.39% |
| myself/self | 440 | 0.32% |
| I | 3,036 | 2.23% |
| nature | 72 | 0.05% |
| you | 581 | 0.43% |
| the | 8,693 | 6.4% |
Me, myself and I vs. nature: 59:1
Whitman was not only humancentric, but remorselessly egocentric, the great patho-poet.
Walden, 1854
117,285 words
Word usage:
| me | 243 | 0.21% |
| myself/self | 78 | 0.06% |
| I | 1,885 | 0.09% |
| nature | 103 | 0.05% |
| you | 363 | 0.31% |
| the | 7,427 | 6.3% |
Me, myself and I vs. Nature: 21:1
Thoreau was also a product of MTI society, but was attempting recovery, and so was naturcentric, but still could sing of himself as we moderns (MTIed ones) are prone to.
Origin of Species, 1859
198,879 words
| me | 116 | 0.058% |
| myself/self | 25 | 0.012% |
| I | 885 | 0.44% |
| nature | 329 | 0.16% |
| you | 2 | 0.001% |
| the | 14,518 | 7.3% |
Me, myself and I vs. nature: 3:1
Darwin was naturcentric. He listened to Nature who has all the answers.
Silent Spring, 1962
89,709 words
| me | 4 | 0.004% |
| myself/self | 0 | 0% |
| I | 45 | 0.05% |
| nature | 104 | 0.116% |
| you | 9 | 0.01% |
| the | 6,385 | 7.1% |
Me, myself and I vs. nature: 1:2
Carson was not a Century of the Self enthusiast.
Thinking in Systems, 2009
67,852 words
| me | 20 | 0.029% |
| myself/self | 4 | 0.006% |
| I | 162 | 0.025% |
| nature | 17 | 0.05% |
| system | 1,304 | 1.922% |
| you | 384 | 0.566% |
| the | 4,314 | 6.4% |
Me, myself and I vs. nature/system: 1:7
I will claim that 'system' is synonymous with 'nature' in Donella Meadows' thought as it was not prior to the mid-20th century. Her 1:7 book is at the top of my pile to confirm my naturcentric bias, my religious belief in 'system over self' [H.T. Odum (PBUH)].
The first three books were written by men. The least humancentric, the more system centric, were written by women. Perhaps in patriarchal cultures men are encouraged to focus on themselves and their short-term self interests to “get ahead” and to rule in ways women are less driven to do, hence a matriarchy, a society where women rule, is as aberrant as a patriarchy where men rule (a society of elites and commoners is of recent ventage, a condition our hominin ancestors prior to about 50k years ago did not live in, did not regard as “natural and normal.”
Normalizing pathology doesn’t change one’s dysfunctional condition. Alternative to patriarchy is living in small (<50) communities where the mothers endeavor to listen to Mother (the system, the nature of things), and men endeavor to listen to the mothers and Mother as our ancestors did prior to becoming an expansionistic invasive species whose rapacious ways selected for patriarchy for 50k years.
On a finite planet viewed as a planet for the taking, the taking climaxing this century, the expansionistic form of human civilization will climax and some humans will renormalize or Homo insapiens will go extinct.
Human supremists would rather die than stand down from their hubris heights. Mother can accommodate them. The mothers may be better able to listen to Mother than denormalized males whose challenge to renormalize is the greater.
