10.Turtle Island
There are many things in Western culture that are admirable. But a culture that alienates itself from the very ground of its own being—from the wildness Outside (that is to say, wild nature, the wild, self-contained, self-informing, ecosystems) and from that other wilderness, the wilderness within—is doomed to a very destructive behavior, ultimately perhaps self-destructive behavior.
A line is drawn between primitive peoples and civilized peoples. I think there is a wisdom in the world view of primitive peoples that we have to refer ourselves to, and learn from. If we are on the verge of postcivilization, then our next step must take account of the primitive world view which has traditionally and intelligently tried to keep open lines of communication with the forces of nature. You cannot communicate with the forces of nature in a laboratory. One of the problems is that we simply do not know much about primitive people and primitive cultures. If we can tentatively accommodate the possibility that nature has a degree of authenticity and intelligence that requires that we look at it more sensitively, then we can move on to the next step.
