Podcast Interview Answer #8:
Why a Spider Web is the Best Way to Explain Morality in Nature and
Society?
The Sun God imagined the creatures of the earth, and Spider
Woman turned these thoughts into living plants, animals, and people. She
attached a thread of her spider silk to each person to provide access to her
wisdom and protection. Southwestern
Native legend
Spider Woman is an important figure in the mythology,
oral traditions and folklore of many Native American cultures, especially in
the Southwestern United States. She had a role in the creation of the earth and
continued to protect her people by teaching them to grow corn, make clay pots,
and spin and weave. Through her silk threads she maintained the connections of
all humankind.
In many ways the spider’s web can be used as an excellent moral
metaphor for our society.
So much of our social nature is based on moral behavior with our language, laws, institutions,
and culture which has allowed humanity to cooperate and progress. We like to collaborate as individuals with
common intentions and work together for mutual benefits.
Two morals stand out in a community:
- sympathy ... the concern and respect for other beings
- fairness ... the idea that everyone should get what they deserve
Undoubtedly, our society is changing dramatically with technology
and, perhaps, this sense of innate community values may be buried under layers
of social demands, expectations and exploitation. Do you think that today’s culture encourages the pursuit of
self-interest for selfish benefits and to persuade others they are morally
right to do so?
The problem is that we have a world of connections at our
fingertips to collaborate and help resolve common society’s and environmental issues with understanding and
fairness; but, too many times, the narrow focus is on tribes, partisanship,
nationalism and ideological differences.
Perhaps it's the right time to see how nature's intricate knowledge makes a spider’s web.
A spider needs a dinner trap so he follows a genetic code of radii and spirals to
create his sticky orb. The silk thread is produced in
special silk glands and physically pulled through a set of spinnerets on the
abdomen to transform the liquid silk into solid threads. Once the lightweight
thread is started, the spider lifts its spinnerets into the breeze so it can
swing and anchor itself unto a tree branch. Then he can use the thread to
“tightrope walk” from one tree to another.
Some amazing facts about spiders just because Nature is omnipotent:
- Many spiders build new webs each night or day, depending on when they hunt.
- Spiders silk is strong, tensile and flexible. This amazing material is about twice as strong as steel (when comparing the same mass of both).
- Some spiders eat their webs, replenishing their silk supply material (protein).
- Webs can be used for transport from one high point to another called ballooning or kiting.
Some amazing weaving skills:
- The first strand of silk is called the bridge thread.
- The second strand becomes the center point from which other radial spokes are anchored to surrounding vegetation.
- A spiral thread starts from the inside and moves out to bind all the radial threads together.
- A second spiral web is made from sticky silk from the outside in that is used to capture prey.
The web’s structure is fragile, practical and framed by
previous experience where its many strands pass through a central point. It symbolizes patience and persistence because of its unique technique of setting webs and weaving its own world of survival.
It is a simple extrapolation to think about
what kinds of webs Nature would weave compared to people’s webs of business and
consumerism.
Nature’s strands would include climate, clean water, food
security, ecosystems, diversity, adaptation, recycling, environment, etc.
Business strands would include industry, technology, manufacturing,
transportation, pollution, education, science, etc.
People’s strands would include malls, shopping, advertisements,
money, credit, recreation, self-ego, virtual reality, friends, culture, etc.
The future challenge, I believe, it is more important than ever to integrate
Nature’s web partnerships in a world that is hyper-globalized and hyper-connected.
No one country can do it alone. These threats are happening now and need
immediate mitigation steps: unchecked
industrialization, degradation of natural habitats, destructive agriculture, pollution of entire
seas, ozone depletion, and global warming.
As complicated as these webs become, there needs to be center
focus, some sense of affinity that all strands are parts of a shared community
and biology.
It is not a great mystery but a reality that we are not separate
beings, a physical body unto ourselves, but our awareness and existence are to
share the energy of life with others.
Our center is to live with purpose and
promise, to learn lessons, to face challenges and to seek balance and
order.
The more we learn about nature’s incredible knowledge, the
more we understand that everything in Nature is interconnected and must never
be subordinated to human activity.
Like the Spider Woman teaches us … the past, the present, and the future of
every animate and inanimate being in our universe, including human beings, is
defined by its interconnection to everything else. If any of these links are
broken, Nature at any scale will change or simply not operate.
And so, the simple story is told of a birch tree as a love story for all ages who care about family, community and environment.
Annemarie
amarie10@gmail.com
1 833 471 4661
https://helpfulmindstreamforchanges.com
"And here’s the point, my dear Birchum, as you can
see, every thread is connected to every other thread. If you shake one, all the
others shake. If you break one, the others break, too.
The web has one purpose, Birchum, as varied and profound as
it is, it can only catch one thing without breaking. And it’s not a physical
thing. It is a feeling that moves the spirit to connect, unite and flourish. It
is called love. Sometimes it takes great imagination to see how we are all
connected by love.”
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