“The Bird and the Machine” is a chapter from Loren Eiseley's collection, "The Star Thrower." It's a reflective essay that juxtaposes the rapid advancements in technology with the enduring beauty and complexity of the natural world. Eiseley uses the image of birds to represent life's intricate processes, contrasting them with the mechanistic view of the world promoted by technological progress. The essay explores themes of time, perception, and the human relationship with nature, prompting readers to consider the profound implications of technological advancement. It's a poignant meditation on the balance between human ingenuity and the natural world's inherent wonder. The essay's evocative language and philosophical depth leave a lasting impression on the reader.
In this major work of ecological philosophy, David Abram draws on diverse sources including the philosophy of Merleau-Ponty, Balinese shamanism, Apache storytelling, and his own experience as a magician to reveal the intricate relationship between human perception and the natural world. The book delves into the character of perception and the sensual foundations of language, highlighting how even abstract language echoes the natural world. Abram argues that humans have severed their ancient reciprocity with nature and explores what it would take to recover a sustaining relation with the earth.
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"The More Than Human World" is a phrase that I (Robbie) came across years ago when reading David Abrams's book The Spell of the Sensuous." It immediately struck me as a profound and beautiful perspective on how we perceive of and imagine the world of beings that make up the world that does not include humans. Everything else. And yes, it is more than. Much more than. Especially in an anthropocentric social order that barely values the lives and beings of humans themselves, let alone beings which are not human.
Today's Patreon episode is a reading of a beautiful story told by the author and philosopher Loren Eiseley. The story is about birds, machines, and much more, and is aptly titled "The Bird and the Machine"—just one chapter in a book of stories and essays written by Loren Eisley titled The Star Thrower.
You might want to keep a box of kleenex close by, this one gets a little emotional.
Covert art: Carolyn Raider
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