#2.2 The Human Child and The Childish Human
________________________________
So, this is the saga of a child, a simple and innocent child. He thrives on earth since time immemorial, in a way he is eternal. He is learning from the smallest of small happenings on the planet. He observes the stars and is fascinated by the changing phases of Moon. He infact walks through many dimensions. Somewhere he builts a raft and crosses the Nile. He is an Austrian and also enjoys the freshness of the Himalayas, he navigates through the Atlantic and lives in the Steppes. This is the tale of that child.
When the child was yet not born, as his peers presume, an unicellular organism, perhaps a bacteria dwelled on the Earth. Later, the organism found some suitable factors and thus Nature pushed it forward, it then evolved and evolved and evolved. And look, the same life energy now pervades through our 'child'. When the child was an infant he was highly attached to his parent. Every part of the Earth was sacred to him. Every shining pine-needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clearing and every humming insect was holy in his memory and experience.¹ This secure bond was to determine the child's development in the upcoming years. The child then rested completely on his sensory apparatus, that which was out of sight was out of mind. But the child was fully aware of his surrounding. He learned to grow and cook his own food. He realised the importance of shelter and clothings. He settled down at one place for good. He thought and erected a system of governance, eventually he also became an emperor. However, afterall he was still a child, he still fought and quarreled for trivial and transient things. He was the Caliph of Baghdad agitating with the Pope of Rome, he was the Portugese sailor landing on the Brazilian lands and playing tricks with the natives. This episode of fighting and killing was quite long stretching upto centuries and beyond.. He thought the world revolves around him. Slowly and gradually, he entered the stage which the Developmental Psychologists call Concrete-operational stage. He started appreciating other perspectives and views to look at 'his' world. Thus striked the root of a system which he calls 'Trade'. He exchanged spices for the Persian Shawl and gave away his wood for iron. He learnt something and in turn taught something. He recreated what he saw yesterday on his canvas today and articulated nice poems for his beloved.² His poverty and prosperity run in parallels. Unfortunately he still did not had adequate food to nourish himself and was not able to utilise his potential to its fullest.³ He sat down and thought, observed and thought and then popped up the Steam Engine, the Powerloom and Blast furnace, the Cotton Mill on the Human Landscape. The Combine harvester gave him the oppourtunity to secure a two square meal.⁴ His creativity now propelled in a thousand different ways and it thus increased the tempo of his life. Nevertheless he still commited some mistakes, but never forgot to learn from them.
As he accumulated more and more riches, the greed for 'More' which was uptill now latent in him manifested itself as Conquests. He once again ventured out to trouble and terrorise his own kith and kin.⁵
Eventually, as he realised his conquests were futile, he sank down in his own thoughts and thought - "What Next?"
And now our child ....apologies...a grown-up and prudent adolescent constructs the United Nations, he signs the Agenda 21 at the UN Summit in Rio de Janerio.⁶ Interestingly, peace and harmony are his manifestos. He sets to work on 'The Real Thing'.
Lest we forget, he is however novice to these concepts and at times tries to by-pass these establishments. He sometimes tries to overlook the Laws of Nature. But then Nature steps in to stop him. She does this in a very cruel manner.
Perhaps this is the fate of that child.
No, Wait! the child is determined to shape his destiny with his own hands. And he starts once again. He trembles down multiple times, nonetheless he rises and walks again with unwavering perseverance.
And yes, let me tell you that this child is not a third-person, sitting somewhere. This child is the representation of the entire mankind. The journey of this child from a "Null Character" to "The Thinker" is the dialectical projection of the travail of the Humanity so far. 'We' all are right now standing on the same platform of a premium combination of an adventurous History meeting the unfolding Present.
Shall we now make that attempt to gather the courage and take the leap across the vast skies leaving behind the heavy loads of agony, suspicion and hatred, with the resolution not to repeat the horrible mistakes we committed in past out of ignorance and try to unlock the Infinite Potential we all possess?
Tell me,
O' Dear Brethren, Shall we?
🙏..
_________________________________
The following are the important events highlighted above overlapping the cognitive changes of a child.
1. An excerpt from the letter of a native American Chieftain of Seattle written to the erstwhile US President.
2. The development of Humanist Culture hailing the status of Human amongst all other Beings.
3. Widespread famines and plagues accompanied by brutual aggresions.
4. Growth of the concept of Industrialisation.
5. Colonisation of Asia, Americas, Australia, Africa etc.
6. Agenda 21 is a non-binding action plan of the United Nations with regard to sustainable development. Read the Agenda 21 declaration paper here .
________________________________
Comments
Post a Comment