-- *Mar*Thank you — here is an *edited and academically structured version* of your piece. I've preserved your core ideas and tone, but refined the language, improved flow, and added structure to suit an academic or essay-style context. ------------------------------ *The Era of Ridiculing Nature: A Critique of Cartesian Education and Technological Humanism*
*By YM Sarma (Edited Version)* *Introduction* The modern world, shaped largely by Cartesian rationalism and mechanical science, has strayed far from its roots in nature. Where once nature served as humanity’s first and most intuitive teacher, today it is increasingly dismissed — reduced to data, utility, or mere superstition. This shift has created a deep disconnect not only from the biosphere but also from the emotional and sensory faculties through which life truly communicates. In this essay, I explore how the modern educational system, dominated by Cartesian dualism, ridicules and marginalizes our natural, emotional, and sensory intelligence — and how this movement, if left unchecked, may culminate in a technocratic, cyborg-like future devoid of genuine human essence. ------------------------------ *1. The Cartesian Legacy and Its Discontents* The rise of Cartesian philosophy in the 17th century marked a turning point in the Western understanding of knowledge and life. Descartes’ assertion of the mind-body duality led to a mechanistic interpretation of the world, where organisms were seen as machines, and emotion was considered an unreliable source of truth. Modern education has absorbed this worldview almost entirely. Every perception that arises from emotional, sensory, or intuitive engagement with the world is subject to ridicule unless it is first filtered through mechanical analysis or mathematical validation. Emotional intelligence, spiritual perception, and natural empathy have been relegated to the fringes, often mocked as unscientific or mystical. In place of holistic understanding, we are taught paradigms — artificial, compartmentalized frameworks that deny the interconnectedness of all life. ------------------------------ *2. The Education System as a Factory of Ridicule* Today’s universities, often seen as temples of knowledge, have become factories of intellectual conformity. The Cartesian model dominates curricula, and alternative ways of knowing — particularly those rooted in nature, emotion, or inter-species empathy — are excluded entirely. A tragic feature of this system is its embedded culture of ridicule. Grades, rather than encouraging growth, frequently serve as instruments of shame. The majority of students receive average or low scores, which follow them for life, silently branding them as inadequate. This institutionalized ranking system fosters insecurity and marginalization instead of nurturing curiosity and diversity of thought. Worse, education enforces a singular way of thinking. There are no mainstream university courses that teach students how to communicate emotionally with other life forms. There is no curriculum on interspecies relationships based on smell, touch, or vibration — even though these are the primary languages of many organisms. The loss is not just academic; it is civilizational. ------------------------------ *3. The Cyborging of Perception and the Future of the Human* In recent years, the trajectory of scientific advancement has taken a dramatic turn toward merging humans with machines. In one news report, a brain chip developed in China was claimed to extend life expectancy up to 150 years. While such developments may promise enhanced capabilities or longer life, they also present an existential question: *What happens to the human soul when the body becomes a vessel for machines?* As we embed chips into our brains and bodies, will there emerge a new form of techno-elitism — a *“chip snobbery”* — where those enhanced by technology look down upon natural, unaltered humans? Could we see a future divided between the “chip haves” and the “chip have-nots”? In such a world, emotional and sensory communication may be further eroded, replaced by digital protocols and algorithmic perception. The very essence of natural living may be ridiculed and marginalized further — or extinguished altogether. ------------------------------ *4. The Mechanized Extinction of Nature* What we are witnessing is not simply the rise of machines, but the mechanized extinction of nature — carried out by those shaped by an education system that values control over compassion, and calculation over connection. University-educated professionals are often at the forefront of ecological degradation, equipped with skills to exploit rather than protect the environment. Their training rarely includes a reverence for life or an understanding of its emotional complexity. The idea that trees, animals, or ecosystems may communicate, feel, or reciprocate emotion is still met with skepticism or ridicule in most academic circles. Natural Theism — the intuitive sense of oneness with life — is labeled superstition. The vast, intricate, hormonal communication systems of plants and animals are dismissed as irrelevant, even though emerging science is only beginning to uncover their depth. ------------------------------ *Conclusion: Can This Path Be Reversed?* We stand at a threshold where the human experience risks being surrendered to machines — not only physically, through implants and augmentation, but epistemologically, in how we perceive, learn, and understand the world. The domination of Cartesian rationalism and technological fetishism has marginalized the emotional, sensory, and spiritual dimensions of life — dimensions that are essential for empathy, coexistence, and harmony with the biosphere. To move forward without losing our humanity, education must expand its scope. It must once again include *nature as teacher*, and honor emotional, sensory, and spiritual ways of knowing. Only then can we hope to avoid a future where the chipped, mechanized human stands alien and alone, unable to smell, touch, feel, or love — and where the last whisper of nature is met not with wonder, but ridicule. ------------------------------ 💬 *Author Note* This essay is not a rejection of science or technology, but a plea for balance — for an education and civilization that remembers its roots in the living world, and values emotional intelligence as deeply as intellectual reasoning. ------------------------------ Would you like this formatted into a PDF or prepared for submission or publication? -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/CACDCHCJroEyGiVgEU7O4a-s3z_RQQ-X4iFjZsJRGWKRyJvh9VQ%40mail.gmail.com.
