Capitalism overwhelms our senses while also insulating us from the connection we need

under capitalism, we all do live on a spectrum of captivity, with access to social and physical and intellectual stimuli unequally distributed. And thus we live on a spectrum of forced introspection, in which we ruminate on our own lives excessively because we do not have adequate access to external stimuli.

Ours is a culture based on excess, on overproduction; the result is a steady loss of sharpness in our sensory experience. All the conditions of modern life - its material plenitude, its sheer crowdedness - conjoin to dull our sensory faculties.... What is important now is to recover our senses. We must learn to see more, to hear more, to feel more

We can spend so much time in our homes, cars, offices, and shopping malls that we feel removed from nature and separate from each other and even ourselves. With our world so circumscribed, we become cut off from a natural vitality and connection with life. We may feel numb, flat, or simply disconnected from a sense of purpose. Spring flowers and wi

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