From : Authenticity, anti-vaxxers, and the rise of
neoprimitivism
neoprimitivism
by ANDREW POTTER, OTTAWA CITIZEN
...The philosopher Bertrand Russell once noted that the
misfortunes that can befall humanity can be sorted into two broad categories:
things that are inflicted by nature, and things that are inflicted by humans.
For most of our history, a great deal of suffering was due to natural causes
such as famine, disease, and disaster. But as we have developed in knowledge
and skill, the class of harms inflicted upon humans by other humans has come to
occupy a greater chunk of the total. Put simply, there is less disease but more
war, and as a result, we’ve come to believe that “nature” is relatively benign,
while “civilization” is increasingly a threat.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Yet we are caught
in the grip of a fierce nostalgia, where the thought of contracting a disease
like the measles is not something to be feared, but to be welcomed as a sign of
our profound connection to nature...
@ Potter: Authenticity, anti-vaxxers, and the rise of neoprimitivism | Ottawa Citizen:
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