While I basically agree with you, in terms of civilization, I rather imagine that the origin of man’s fear of the natural environment is the fact that everything out there really IS out to get you, from lions, tigers and bears, to insects, bacteria and viruses. That doesn’t negate your assessment of our relationships to one another.
Some of the walls we create are for purposes that ultimately harm us, but on the other hand some walls can be beneficial. Consider the monastery, which is typically a community of persons who (among other things) create walls around their community for the sake of attaining silence, avoiding the distractions of the world, to ultimately make it easier to live a life of ascetic perfection. Hence many are attracted to the monastic life because it helps them to live in greater harmony with nature and fellow-man, and to worship God better. So my view would be that walls can be good or bad, depending on the intentions of the community that creates them.
While I basically agree with you, in terms of civilization, I rather imagine that the origin of man’s fear of the natural environment is the fact that everything out there really IS out to get you, from lions, tigers and bears, to insects, bacteria and viruses. That doesn’t negate your assessment of our relationships to one another.
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Some of the walls we create are for purposes that ultimately harm us, but on the other hand some walls can be beneficial. Consider the monastery, which is typically a community of persons who (among other things) create walls around their community for the sake of attaining silence, avoiding the distractions of the world, to ultimately make it easier to live a life of ascetic perfection. Hence many are attracted to the monastic life because it helps them to live in greater harmony with nature and fellow-man, and to worship God better. So my view would be that walls can be good or bad, depending on the intentions of the community that creates them.
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The walls are nothing but metaphors for mental boundaries. The ancient human – animal instinct of teritory marking.
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