We have much to learn from the few surviving aboriginal peoples of the earth-- their ways of living, relating, working, their values and beliefs. It would be nice to know how the hundreds of thousands of extinct aboriginal bands and tribes viewed the world because we could use their perspectives to gracefully undergo our transition, the revolution we are experiencing, moving from top down industrial era to bottom up connection era. But we CAN learn from the living Indigenous peoples.
Where we're heading is in many ways where indigenous cultures already live. And that can be a very good thing. We need to develop ways to make it clear to "Digital Natives" who have lived all their lives, or their adolescent and adult lives immersed in bottom up technologies and cultures that indigenous wisdom and knowhow offers a pre-existing, readily available collection of insights, values, practices and teachings which can make life, work, relationships and business more moral, meaningful and sustainable.
Indigenous people can benefit from learning to use the digital vocabulary associated with bottom and top down ideas, so they can more easily and effectively communicate their ideas, values, practices and teachings TO digital natives.
The conference presentations reinforced my belief. They took me further along in thinking about Animism-- a spiritual way of relating to nature that western religions criticize and treat as uncivilized, heretic, sacrilegious, blasphemous.
I realized that animism is the natural way, the healthier way to relate to nature, to all living and natural parts of our world, including rocks, trees, air, wind, as well as non-human living beings. Robin Kimmerer suggested that we stop calling our non human relatives in nature "it," and that we start realizing that "it" is a disrespectful way to address fellow spirits of mother earth. If we are going to relate to earth in a sustainable way we need to start waking up to our connection to all aspects of nature. We need to let go of the western, pathological way of seeing humans as better and more deserving of special privilege and treatment than trees or other living members of our earth community. She suggests that instead of saying "it" we say "ki" which has roots in many languages relating to life force (like chi) and that the plural would be "kin."
Respecting nature while not essential to the future of a sustainable world, is a very valuable, more whole way to go, in terms of adopting a way of relating to nature that produces a sustainable outcome.
This is a simple idea. Of course, critics of all sorts, from religious or political perspectives will call it tree hugging. The characterization of nature as something to be dominated, like a slave or machine is controlled, is a central part of top down civilization. Knee jerk reflexes to the contrary way, the natural way that existed before civilization, are to be expected. Resist them.
Do hug a tree. Talk to one. Thank ki. Same for the grass, the birds, the wind. Go to them, regularly. connect with them. It's the way we will spiral to the sustainable future.
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