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*Mar*Below is an *edited and improved version* of your text, followed by *my
comments and suggestions*. I’ve aimed to preserve your philosophical voice
and core argument while improving clarity, flow, coherence, and academic
tone.
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Edited and Improved VersionThe Cartesian Path and Self-Corrosion
Nature follows a basic rule: *use it or lose it*. In modern life, we no
longer depend on our own natural faculties. For almost every aspect of
living, we rely on machines. We do not even pause to recognize how many of
our innate capacities we have already lost.
We now view nature itself as a machine. Machines have no feelings or
emotions; they function with complete indifference. In choosing machines
for their indifference, we have gradually become indifferent ourselves. We
no longer trust our emotions, nor do we trust nature. Instead of relating
to nature emotionally and symbiotically, we distance ourselves from it. We
live economically rather than ecologically.
Economics, as it is practiced today, signifies the continuous destruction
of nature. Modern economists often suffer from what may be called *physics
envy*—the desire to make economics appear as mechanical and value-free as
classical physics. In this process, life is reduced to abstractions, and
nature is reduced to a resource.
When one depends directly on nature for learning, education becomes a form
of communication. Nature teaches through experience, discovery, and
revelation. Such education is symbiotic: while humans learn from nature,
nature also benefits from respectful engagement. Historically, temples
functioned as universities, with nature itself installed as the deity. The
surrounding flora and fauna were considered the living limbs of the temple
god. Those who entered the temple sought to become a part of this living
whole. As a result, nature remained free and healthy.
Over time, unhealthy emotions—greed, anger, envy, egoism—poisoned this
devotion to free nature. These negative emotions gradually crystallized
into economics.
Today, students of economics are taught—without moral reflection—that
humans are inherently selfish and that nature is merely an economic
resource. As a result, education and nature now exist in an inverse
relationship: the more Cartesian the education, the greater the destruction
of nature. Every new university adds to this destruction. Education,
instead of benefiting nature, has become a menace to it.
The various faculties of a university represent diverse approaches to the
destruction of nature. Each faculty produces specialists trained in a
particular form of ecological damage. After graduation, students seek
employment in economic organizations—organizations whose primary function
is the exploitation and degradation of nature.
In free and healthy nature, untouched by manipulation, air itself becomes
the medium of the richest communication. Through breathing, hearing,
smelling, sensing, perceiving, and understanding, communication occurs
continuously, twenty-four hours a day. Nature is a vast network of
symbiotic interactions, and humans are an inseparable part of this network.
All that is required is attention—through meditation and symbiotic action.
Life itself is the continuous communication flowing from nature.
In such a natural state, life’s guiding policy was to benefit nature,
knowing that self-benefit and the benefit of nature are inseparable.
*Policy* meant a plan of action aligned with nature, while *politics*
referred to the challenges of implementing such plans—challenges that were
ecological in nature. Human problems were understood as problems of nature
itself.
With the economic diversion of life, the meaning of policy shifted toward
anti-ecological priorities, and politics degenerated into the conflicts of
social Darwinism. We trample upon nature and calculate the damage as
economic progress. Social Darwinism among individuals has expanded into
national Darwinism among nations, fueling destructive arms races.
Humanity continues to destroy nature. Nature will either retaliate with
catastrophic consequences, or humans will be forced to live in a world
where land, water, and air are so poisoned that life itself becomes
impossible.
Let us pray for the emergence of a university that resists disastrous
economics and embraces ecology—not as another Cartesian science dominated
by Darwinism, but as a living, ethical, and symbiotic way of knowing.
*—Y. M. Sarma*
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Comments and Suggestions
1.
*Strengths*
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The essay has a strong philosophical voice and a clear moral stance.
-
The critique of Cartesian thinking, economics, and mechanization is
passionate and consistent.
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The historical contrast between temple-based education and modern
universities is compelling and original.
2.
*Clarity and Flow*
-
I reduced repetition and clarified long sentences that were obscuring
your ideas.
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Some emotionally powerful claims were reorganized to improve logical
progression.
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Transitions between sections were smoothed so the argument unfolds
more coherently.
3.
*Tone and Audience*
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The revised version balances poetic expression with academic
seriousness.
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This makes it more suitable for publication in philosophical,
ecological, or interdisciplinary journals without diluting its passion.
4.
*Conceptual Precision*
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Key terms like *Cartesian education*, *economics*, *policy*, and
*politics* were clarified to avoid ambiguity.
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The critique of Darwinism is framed more clearly as *social Darwinism*,
reducing the risk of misinterpretation.
5.
*Possible Further Enhancements*
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You might consider briefly defining *Cartesian* for readers
unfamiliar with Descartes.
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Adding one concrete contemporary example (e.g., climate change,
industrial agriculture, or urbanization) could strengthen the practical
impact.
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The final paragraph could also propose one actionable educational
principle, not just a prayer.
If you’d like, I can also:
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Tighten this further for journal submission
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Adapt it for a speech or manifesto
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Rewrite it in a more poetic or more academic register
Just say the word.
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