Joseph Campbell vs. David Suzuki on the Mind
Joseph Campbell was of the opinion that people suffer from a 'schizophrenic denial' about their world and what takes place in it. He was deeply philosophical, even from an early age, and the works of other individuals influenced him greatly. He met philosophy masters and because of this he changed his thinking about the Western religion that he had when he was very young (About, 2005). His main belief was that people see and hear what they want in their own heads and through their own thoughts, and then they look at the world through that filter, which stops them from really having a clear understanding of what they need to know for them to really see their world in the way that they should see it.
In a similarity to this, David Suzuki feels that both women and men are very dangerously disconnected to the world around them in this modern day and age. Not only does Suzuki feel that these individuals are spending too much time in their own heads, but he feels that they are not using what they know to better themselves and society (David, 2007). He is a serious advocate for the natural world and the environment, and has spent a great deal of time focusing his efforts on helping others to understand how important the environment is. His foundation - started in 1990 - focuses on environmental issues and what can be done in order to help plants and animals that are endangered or otherwise having difficulties with the way that the world is being run today.
While Suzuki cannot hope to show everyone that the environment is important and they are too disconnected from it, and Campbell also cannot hope to show everyone that people are living too much in their own minds and not enough in the 'real world,' individuals that spend time with the works of both of these men can come to realize that they have many similarities and also that they make many important points regarding humans and their environment.
Bibliography
About Joseph Campbell. (2005). The Joseph Campbell Foundation. http://www.jcf.org/about_jc.
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David Suzuki. (2007). The Greatest Canadian. http://www.cbc.ca/greatest/top_ten/nominee / suzuki-david.html
