From the "Naturalistic Philosophy a Denial of Life" thread:
Alex wrote:
Taking a more simple model, why is it that the Plains Indians (or the Aboriginals of Australia, I guess they are similar) of North America did this thing called Vision Quest? A very male thing, to leave the women behind and go up into the craggy mountains and starve oneself for days on end, praying for a vision? What is the purpose of that, what could possibly be the use?
Good question.
Why does a man seek such solitude ? The Buddha did it. Jesus went into the wilderness for forty days. Nietzsche had his "cave". A man has a shed, or taking the car for a lonely drive to nowhere, or weekend wilderness treks. Why is it that a man's communion with nature is always solitary?
Kelly Jones wrote:From the "Naturalistic Philosophy a Denial of Life" thread:
Alex wrote:
Taking a more simple model, why is it that the Plains Indians (or the Aboriginals of Australia, I guess they are similar) of North America did this thing called Vision Quest? A very male thing, to leave the women behind and go up into the craggy mountains and starve oneself for days on end, praying for a vision? What is the purpose of that, what could possibly be the use?
Good question.
Why does a man seek such solitude ? The Buddha did it. Jesus went into the wilderness for forty days. Nietzsche had his "cave". A man has a shed, or taking the car for a lonely drive to nowhere, or weekend wilderness treks. Why is it that a man's communion with nature is always solitary?
Kelly
Different reasons I think. Jesus.. To not share your God with the community. A wide open space is like a large, empty glass to contain a large presence. But the Bible is contrived anyway.
Whereas the indians believed that to become a man you must find your animal spirit guide. He's out there somewhere, now go, and find him. These people took drugs as well, and drugs like this cause some strange behaviour.
Men eh, on their missions. Leader of the pack, and all that.
Really innovative deep thinking requires leaving group think behind.
Women are instinctively less inclined to leave the group. In hominid evolution, the alpha male commonly drove the young male away so he could control access to the females. Only the young males who could make it in the bush alone survived long enuf to grow up big enuf to challenge and replace an alpha for his turn at the harem.
The females were never kicked out of the group. They were often kidnapped, and had to adapt to the customs of a new group. They therefore did not evolve to be steadfast in their values, and today we see them adapt more readily to modern corporate culture.