This month’s article about the endless hunt for energy to power modern man’s countless machines leads me to think about the psychological consequences of our dependence on external power; and how that dependence clouds our appreciation of the most simple talents and faculties we possess; and how enjoyable these actually are.
Our machines make us seek more power and more capacity, and in the process we forget to appreciate our most basic skills. So we end up seeking thrills and searching for novel experiences. But as any Zen master would tell us, we should be able to gain as much satisfaction from sweeping the floor as from reading a good book, and as much joy from drinking water without spilling any as from skateboarding.
Today, more than ever, we run the risk of mistaking external power for internal strength. Zooming around on a motorbike or a sports car powered by fossil fuel may give us a rush, but it hardly makes us as powerful as the machine on which we temporarily sit.
