The Major Problems in the world

[Aloka]

The major problems in the world are the result of the difference between the way nature works and the way people think.

The above is a quote from the late Gregory Bateson (1904-1980), anthropologist, social scientist, linguist, semiotician, and cyberneticist.


Any comments from a Buddhist point of view?

[philg]

I would turn the sentence round to say that the major problems arise as a result of working with nature or not. Nature doesn't 'work' in any way. It just is. We see cause and effect, but no causation in an anthropomorphic sense. If we as Buddhists develop mindfulness, then we become mindful of what nature is and what we do to harm or protect it.

[woodscooter]

Perhaps Bateson hasn't managed to express a universal truth in a few words, at all. Perhaps he's simply not right.

From a Buddhist point of view, the major problems in the world are caused solely by the way people think.

People think about their own needs and desires. People think in terms of xenophobia. People think very short-term.

The major problems in the world could be moderated if people understood the causes of their own suffering and took a different path.

[Thinker]

Perhaps Bateson hasn't managed to express a universal truth in a few words, at all. Perhaps he's simply not right.

From a Buddhist point of view, the major problems in the world are caused solely by the way people think.

People think about their own needs and desires. People think in terms of xenophobia. People think very short-term.

The major problems in the world could be moderated if people understood the causes of their own suffering and took a different path.

I have to disagree, people are born into conditions, and then nurtured into those conditions(Education if one can afford that?)
Born into war zones

There exists an all powerful cult of Greed, which dictates conditions, in the modern era one of those cults is the Banks or more to the point those with large wealth protecting their wealth at the cost of those without.