Into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.
-John Muir
A “Naturalist” is a person who embraces nature rather than seeks to control or change it.
John Muir is considered to be one of the greatest naturalists that ever lived, but he was also a scientist before “environmental science” was an actual subject. He wasn't an official “scientist” but he played on in reality. Today, he is mostly remembered for being a racist who thought that trees could talk.
Like many American white boys of the late 1800s, he was raised to believe that he was superior. His father beat him daily, forced him to work in the logging industry, and pounded into his head Bible verses to make him feel ashamed of himself.
John Muir rebelled of course and wound up becoming everything that his father hated.
A long time ago, the term “naturalist” was used in a derogatory sense to discredit someone as being hedonistic, a savage, or a hippy.
Any kind of person who rejected societal norms in favor of being true to one’s nature could be called a naturalist. Native Americans were naturalists until they got “modernized” by the education system.
To war with nature is to war with ourselves and whenever we do that, it inevitably creates disharmony and “dis ease” in our relationships with others.
Once deemed to be anti-modern advancements or anti-science, or simply “rebellious romantics”, naturalists have earned their place in the natural sciences and amongst poets and philosophers.
Such “romantic” poets, artists, and philosophers are still sometimes called “snowflakes”, or worse…some are kicked outside society for being conspiracy theorists, but I think that overall there's a new appreciation for nature and natural things.
What all the naturalists from various time periods had in common was that they wanted to be free.
Essentially, freeing their mind required a return to their true nature, whatever that meant to the individual.
Their “true nature” likely meaning their “soul” or wherever they felt most at home in their “heart of hearts”. Romantic, but not all bad.
They used their natural instincts as a sort of homing device and embraced their wild animal within in order to find their way back home, back to where their heart is or was.
They engaged in a form of immersion therapy to “find themselves”, a conversion therapy that yogis practice to master subconscious and instinctive aversions.
By allowing the subconscious to speak freely, we begin to loosen up the reigns of our mind. By allowing our primal instincts to release tension we diffuse emotions which drive our hidden intentions.
Diogenes was referred to as a “Socrates gone mad” because he wandered around like a lost homeless man walking backwards, holding a lantern, in search of an honest man left after his country had been seized by Alexander the Great.
They called him “kyon” which meant “dog” and treated him like a mockery of the old ways. Diogenes accepted his lowly stature with joyful triumph of freedom claiming to be a “citizen of the world”, thereby adapting to the new government takeover.
I think they treated him like an insane person to discredit him like how people throw around the word “crazy” like it's the new “N-word”. Anyways, Diogenes gladly embraced his new nickname as “cynical dog” and even earned the respect of Alexander who once said that if he wasn't Alexander then he'd want to be Diogenes. To that Diogenes responded, “If I weren't Diogenes, I'd want to be Diogenes too”.
The term for dog and cynic are the same in Ancient Greek. Diogenes was, I believe, the first official Cynic Philosopher because of this dog analogy, but credit is given to his mentor, Antisthenes, who was a student of Socrates. Diogenes was just too “mad” or too much of a troll to be taken seriously. He reminds me of Sacha Baron Cohen if he were to do a homeless man character.
Diogenes wasn't given proper standing amongst the great Ancient Greek philosophers because he was a naturalist who refused to participate in society after it was conquered by Macedonia. He went from being a wealthy high ranking citizen to a homeless person who was as “free as a dog”. Diogenes was a pretty funny guy but he had to be nuts to eschew wealth and social acceptance just to “stay true to his nature”.
He didn't romanticize his true nature but instead revelled in the dirty dog side of life that comes without caring what people think, or that come with being homeless and honest.
Diogenes was a genius, a troll, and comedian who mocked the Ancient Greeks for selling out their fellow countrymen.
In this podcast, I read a short article about him and get a little choked up after coming to a realization about my own true nature as I discover the meaning of my life.
The great big question of philosophy, “What is the meaning behind all this suffering?” will be answered at the end of the Brainbow episode called “Comic Philosophy”.
I hope you join me here and leave a comment if you already know the answer to this existential question, and let me know how you discovered or stumbled upon it.
Most of us learned the answer the hard way after being forced to figure out a way to survive on our own after facing some existential crisis.
In philosophy and art, the cynics followed the realists who paved the way for the existentists that cry out how none of this matters. They are followed by surrealists who’ve expanded their consciousness through altering their perception either by hallucinating or developing their subconscious cognition, thereby finding meaning where meaning may or may not exist.
Profundities give rise to the necessary sense of humor that needs to be developed in the later stage known as Absurdism.
After the Surrealists come the Absurdists, who make up a large portion of the artists at present.
Comedians have replaced the poets and song writers replaced philosophers.
Our artists have gotten darker in their sense of humor. Memes have replaced essays, and parodies mock our reality. Cartoons replace the serious canvas. Digital art renders the human mind and hand obsolete.
A middle finger replaces the salute and heil hand …
The only thing we will ever really ever know is our true intention. Chances are that even that will get obscured by wishful thinking and through unconscious self-deception.
We may never fully understand the nature of God or anyone else.
We may never really comprehend the extent of our true animal nature with all its dark and disturbing instincts, addictive desires, twisted fantasies…ideas and images that we respond to by projecting it onto others. Conscious reins may steer us to deviate from the path of light where truth reveals everything about ourselves to the world.
In order to protect ourselves, first do the least amount of harm. This may require a bit of self-deception. This is why the conscious mind wars with the subconscious.
Absurdism and having a good sense of humor with little or no ego can save us from ourselves and allow us to free our mind by changing as changes become necessary.
If you are not offending yourself daily then you're probably not a good philosopher. -Diogenes
Sources:
ATHENS CULTURATI, JANUARY 28, 2022. The Genius Absurdity Of The Greek Philosopher: Diogenes The Cynic. By ALLISON HINRIC
The John Muir Project, 2014. https://johnmuirproject.org/2020/07/who-was-john-muir-really/#_ednref4
This was really cool. As Gabor Mate would say Diogenes was living his authentic life. Lol. Didn't he tell Alexander to get out of his direct sun. The audacity. I love it. I like cynic or comedian as they have always been social critics and help us all laugh at ourselves and Diogenes undoubtedly helped the ancients do that I'd like to think.