Hard to believe I’m writing this, but I think Alice profoundly hints at a solution to problems civilization imposes on individuals:
Alice says, “Better look first, for if one drinks much from a bottle marked ‘Poison,’ it’s almost certain to disagree with you sooner or later.”
Her hint: Read before you drink. Her corollary hint: Avoid excess (Alice’s “much”).
Our "civilized" problems stem from excess, but we should expect that. Civilization evolved from excess. People cooperated in various ways—some forced—to build ever more complex relationships based on the availability of materials, such as food, water, and mineral resources. The process snowballed, accumulating not only necessities but also superfluous materials we call luxuries. As behavior became “excessive,” counter behaviors evolved. Some saw excess as unhealthful, even unethical or immoral. Early on in the rise of civilization, humans developed opposing views on excess, the majority holding the perspective that “more is better” with the minority believing “less is best.” We still have those competing views.
No doubt historians will call this an oversimplification (once simplified, can something be “more simplified”?). It is such, but consider Alice’s comment in light of an affluent society. Consider this in light of your own circumstance. You have a computer or access to one. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be reading this. Do you have just one—or access to just one—electronic device? One pair of shoes? One garb? One of almost anything? One source of food? One means of transportation? One of anything superfluous to basic survival?
“It’s unnecessary to live a minimalist’s life,” you say.
And you are not wrong. Just realize that minimalists and those with less think you live a life of excess. So, how do you measure your level of civilization? Are you ‘more civilized’ than, say, someone who has no electronic devices, running water, or electricity?
Alice's message came to me through an experience I had in Guatemala, where I took an impoverished child and family to a mall to buy some items. After I bought one child two pairs of shoes and a package containing three pairs of socks, a social worker accompanying us looked at me and said, "Two pairs of shoes and three pairs of socks!" She meant the purchase was excessive. In the United States, I would not have thought that buying a package of three pairs of socks to be "excessive."
But to avoid your categorizing this as an oversimplification, let me note that I saw drug dealers pushing excess drugs to locals in that same country, and I walked in a three-level glistening mall with up-to-date fashions and household items. Civilization provides excesses. It's what it does very well even though some live without much excess.
If your excesses have led to a patterned life of minor or major addictions to things that are superfluous to basic survival, are you headed toward what Alice says will almost certainly “disagree with you sooner or later”? Civilization is itself a bottle that contains some poison, but how much we drink is an individual choice.
Knowing when to stop "drinking" from that bottle is difficult because it contains "much." At the very least, follow Alice's advice and “look first” before you "drink" something that sooner or later is “almost certain to disagree with you.”
Alice says, “Better look first, for if one drinks much from a bottle marked ‘Poison,’ it’s almost certain to disagree with you sooner or later.”
Her hint: Read before you drink. Her corollary hint: Avoid excess (Alice’s “much”).
Our "civilized" problems stem from excess, but we should expect that. Civilization evolved from excess. People cooperated in various ways—some forced—to build ever more complex relationships based on the availability of materials, such as food, water, and mineral resources. The process snowballed, accumulating not only necessities but also superfluous materials we call luxuries. As behavior became “excessive,” counter behaviors evolved. Some saw excess as unhealthful, even unethical or immoral. Early on in the rise of civilization, humans developed opposing views on excess, the majority holding the perspective that “more is better” with the minority believing “less is best.” We still have those competing views.
No doubt historians will call this an oversimplification (once simplified, can something be “more simplified”?). It is such, but consider Alice’s comment in light of an affluent society. Consider this in light of your own circumstance. You have a computer or access to one. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be reading this. Do you have just one—or access to just one—electronic device? One pair of shoes? One garb? One of almost anything? One source of food? One means of transportation? One of anything superfluous to basic survival?
“It’s unnecessary to live a minimalist’s life,” you say.
And you are not wrong. Just realize that minimalists and those with less think you live a life of excess. So, how do you measure your level of civilization? Are you ‘more civilized’ than, say, someone who has no electronic devices, running water, or electricity?
Alice's message came to me through an experience I had in Guatemala, where I took an impoverished child and family to a mall to buy some items. After I bought one child two pairs of shoes and a package containing three pairs of socks, a social worker accompanying us looked at me and said, "Two pairs of shoes and three pairs of socks!" She meant the purchase was excessive. In the United States, I would not have thought that buying a package of three pairs of socks to be "excessive."
But to avoid your categorizing this as an oversimplification, let me note that I saw drug dealers pushing excess drugs to locals in that same country, and I walked in a three-level glistening mall with up-to-date fashions and household items. Civilization provides excesses. It's what it does very well even though some live without much excess.
If your excesses have led to a patterned life of minor or major addictions to things that are superfluous to basic survival, are you headed toward what Alice says will almost certainly “disagree with you sooner or later”? Civilization is itself a bottle that contains some poison, but how much we drink is an individual choice.
Knowing when to stop "drinking" from that bottle is difficult because it contains "much." At the very least, follow Alice's advice and “look first” before you "drink" something that sooner or later is “almost certain to disagree with you.”
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