The simple things in life need to be taught and understood. We have forgotten a lot of the simple things. We think simple doesn’t need an explanation, so we say nothing. Why waste our breath? Everyone knows, for a while, but then we forget. We’ve forgotten more than we know.
Some cultures are dying out. The collective knowledge of the elders is being lost because languages are dying out. Many young people are assimilating into modern culture and don’t really think that their own native tongue is an important thing to hold on to. Things aren’t passed down from generation to generation like they used to be. A lot of universal truths, natural remedies, and stories have been lost forever. It’s a shame too. To quote the rapper Shad, “We compromise who we are and run the very serious risk of losing ourselves completely.”
It seems that everything is more complicated these days. It doesn’t need to be. Let’s remember the simple truths that we have. Let’s make sure that we teach them to others so that they won’t be forgotten.
3 responses to “Simplicity Needs to be Taught”
So very, very true! Do you realize that kids have played marbles for thousands of years? And now they don’t.
That the number of (US) national park visitors drops every year? That more (American) kids know Pokemon animal names than names of actual plants or animals?
I hope it’s better in Canada.
Not much my friend. I think that we need to instill a sense of adventure in our kids. We need to give them things to explore and do. Not everything needs to be consumer based. The newest Pokemon toys and games aren’t really helping our children.
I read a great blog about this earlier that you should check out from Hikerdude. The entry that speaks to this subject can be found at http://hikerdude.wordpress.com/2008/03/02/do-you-need-a-road-trip/
You make a very good point. We all tend to live in our heads these days. We hear so much about film stars and sports people and the latest games and movies that our minds are often closed to what is going on around us. Kids need to have their attention drawn to these things, so that they can be here in the present moment (at least some of the time!) instead of always off in their heads. At school, I was taught about chemistry and history, but I don’t remember being taught very much about the plants in my own back garden.