(Ebook) The Walls of Things Around Us - Philosophical (Hi)story of Technology and Mindfulness of the Human Environment by Antón Bousquet ISBN 9798390609743, 8390609746

(Ebook) The Walls of Things Around Us - Philosophical (Hi)story of Technology and Mindfulness of the Human Environment by Antón Bousquet ISBN 9798390609743, 8390609746

Mankind began when our ancestors rose on their feet and found ways to occupy their idle hands, crafting tools with stone, wood, or bone, parts of the earth and the bodies of living things. Since that day, men have raced against one another to appropriate nature, exploiting the earth, life, and the skies to edify their world, building up civilization with increasingly complex technologies. These things, our inheritance, now surround us from all parts, and the major portion of our existence is spent either creating or using these things, so pervasive that they form gigantic walls enclosing us, veiling the truth of nature found beyond them. So familiar are these things that most men remain blind to their nature, never having taken the time to investigate them, to see their origin as parts of the earth, life, or the skies, or to notice the grip they exert on mankind. Man thinks that the world around him serves him, protecting him from the dangers of nature, but it equally enslaves him and deny him the ecstatic experience of communion with nature as a whole. Examining the nature of some of the most emblematic things of our world, the present work aims at shedding light upon some of the most influential milestones of the race for the appropriation of nature by mankind, from the use a wooden stick by the first men until the fabrication of rockets allowing man to conquer the depths of the skies. To see the walls of things around us for what they are is nonetheless only a first step. After examining the nature and origin of some of these things that are part of our daily lives, an invitation to an experience of mindfulness of the role played by these things in our existence is proposed to the reader, intended to lead him to transform his relationship with his surroundings, these walls of things enclosing him since his birth, and guide those yearning to renew their bond with the truth of being, the experience of the whole of nature, veiled by our dependence upon these…