Does It Matter?: Essays on Man's Relation to MaterialityDoes It Matter? presents Alan Watts' thoughts on the problem of humankind's relationship to its environment. Here he argues that contemporary people confuse symbols with reality, preferring money to wealth and "eating the menu instead of the dinner." Focusing on numbers, concepts, and technology, he says, makes us increasingly unconscious of nature and of our total dependence on air, water, plants, animals, insects, and bacteria. We have hallucinated the notion that the "external" world is a cluster of "objects" separate from ourselves, that we "encounter" it rather than come out of it. Consequently, he claims, humanity is fouling its own nest and is in imminent danger of self-obliteration. In one of his most provocative books, a philosopher known for his writings and teachings about mysticism and Eastern philosophy confronts the nitty-gritty problems of economics, technology, clothing, cooking, housing, and the rest of the world around us. First published in 1971, the book is especially timely today. |
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abstract absurd Alan Watts Alfred Korzybski American attitude aware basic become biological body brain bread Buddhism called cannabis chemical Chinese civilization clothing colorful concepts confusion consciousness cooking culture D. T. SUZUKI dance death delight dishes dress earth eating electronic energy system existence feel fruit goes Hindu Hinduism Hu Shih human ical illusion immense individual intellectual Japanese John Cage kimono kitchen living room look machines Mahayana man’s material mind monarchical monks mystical experience nature never Noble Eightfold Path numbers one’s oneself organism pants person philosophy physical plants plastic playing political principle problem psychedelic drugs psychedelic experience psychology of religion reality realize reason religion religious ritual sarong sense simply sound spiritual style Suzuki symbol taste things Timothy Leary tion traditional trying universe vibrations wealth wear Western whole women words