Walden Lake in Thoreau
The history of mankind is a history of continuous development of productive forces and an increasingly rich history of human spiritual world.
In the past five thousand years, material civilization has developed to the present level. However, behind the material civilization, a primitive impulse, in the form of ancient blood inheritance, has been passed down for 5 thousand years without interruption. This is a supreme law that has been above the long river of life since the cells in the ocean began to appear many years ago, and it is an indelible ancient memory in human blood. This is the wildness of spirit.
Civilization and wildness always seem to exist in opposition. The former is manifested in the material and the latter in the spirit, which is contradictory. The former pursues order, while the latter yearns for unruly; The former is the condensation of human wisdom, while the latter is the surge of human soul. Five thousand years of development is enough for material civilization to suppress spiritual wildness step by step, so there are people wandering under the neon lights in the city.
Their eyes are dull and a little sharp.
We must admit that material civilization has promoted the development of mankind, but it does not mean that the spiritual wildness has been erased at the same time as the development of material civilization. Of course it's impossible. This is true for dogs named Buck, and so is it for humans. Civilization can unify the material world, but spiritually, there must be wild space and a land that has not been assimilated by material civilization.
The essence of spiritual wildness lies in the uniqueness of thought. Descartes said, "I think, therefore I am." Pascal said: "Thought-all human dignity lies in thought." Chen Yinque said: "The spirit of independence and the idea of freedom have lasted for thousands of years, and * * * is Yong Guang." The virgin land in the depths of the soul is the last line of defense for material temptation to invade the soul. Spiritual wildness makes the mind free and the soul unique, so that every living individual will not tend to assimilate due to the development of material civilization. Without spiritual wildness, there is no "I", only "we". Without spiritual wildness, how can there be white unruly and elegant? Without spiritual wildness, how can Thoreau be quiet and simple? Without spiritual wildness, how can Hemingway be tough and comfortable?
The power of spiritual wildness is free and unrestrained. Material civilization and spiritual wildness are interdependent. In fact, the development of civilization needs the promotion of spiritual wildness, or the publicity of wildness promotes the progress of material civilization-without the progress of material civilization and the publicity of spiritual wildness, we may still be driven by wild animals on the East African prairie and exhausted. After the development of material civilization to a certain extent, it should be diversified and personalized, not uniform. The diversification of material civilization, in turn, will make the power of spiritual wildness best released and expressed.
From this perspective, if we give up our spiritual wildness and independent personality and pursuit in this material world, it will be pitiful and pathetic. Thoreau's seemingly crazy behavior, as a response to spiritual wildness, is extremely natural.
Some people may say: the pressure of social development is enormous, and Thoreau's life is hard!
Of course, Thoreau's thought and practice may not be easy to copy, but it is too superficial to interpret spiritual wildness as going to the wild for a few years. As long as you have your own unique experience in the complicated world, your thoughts and ideas, and adventurous spirit in ordinary life, then every day you are free, full and brand-new. Your daily life is a perfect expression of spiritual wildness.
Without material civilization, human life will be difficult; Without spiritual wildness, our spiritual world would be a desert. It is at this level that material civilization and spiritual wildness have achieved harmony and unity.