The way of domestication is to alter the nature of the thing for another’s purposes. The way of the wild human is to understand the nature of the thing itself, to feel out its contours, to find where its forms and yours align so that you can engage with it on mutual terms.
The former engenders an obsessive quest for absolute control—a fever dream of all-encompassing domination that renders experience hollow for all parties and turns life into a tool, a disposable implement, a mere means to something else.
The latter is a form of communion.
Author: Mark Seely
Mark Seely is an award-winning writer, social critic, professional educator, and cognitive psychologist. He is presently employed as full-time faculty in the psychology department at Edmonds College in Lynnwood, Washington. He was formerly Associate Professor and Chair of Psychology at Saint Joseph's College, Indiana, where for twenty years he taught statistics, a wide variety of psychology courses, and an interdisciplinary course on human biological and cultural evolution. Originally from Spokane, Dr. Seely now resides in Marysville.
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