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ECOLOGY OF EVERYDAY LIFE
In addition, what we do not know about ourselves is potentially
dangerous to ourselves as well. Members of oppressed social groups are often
deprived of knowledge of their own histories or cultures. This lack of self, or
‘collective-self knowledge destabilizes a group and makes it further vulnerable
to social control. In contrast, self knowledge fortifies our ability to determine
the degree to which we may be truly seen or known by another person. If we
truly know ourselves, we are better able to assess the ability of another to
perceive us accurately. In the same way, the degree to which we know
ourselves heightens the degree of satisfaction we feel when another is truly
able to see the qualities which render us utterly distinct.
KNOwiNq TIhe WoRld
The second dimension of differentiative desire is the desire to know the world
through creative and intellectual expression, to develop new ideas and art
forms which give meaning to our lives, nuancing our understanding of the
world. The ability to conceptualize is predicated on the capacity to translate
abstract meaning into the differentiated forms of symbol or language.
Differentiative desire is the desire to differentiate the world conceptually,
making meaning where there was none before, to express our interpretation of
reality. From the time we are children, we take great joy in finding the right
words to describe a particular feeling. Language allows us to point to specific
shades of meaning, allows us to experience the wondrous “ah-hah!” that
emerges as we elaborate a theory that explains a mystery we might never have
been able to articulate before.
Differentiative desire finds its expression in both the informal and formal
philosophies of peoples all over the world. Although the mediums vary, the
desire to differentiate the world through conceptual and verbal expression is a
universal phenomenon. Language gives form to our ideas and feelings,
allowing us to communicate the particularities of our experience. Through
language, we may give shape to our experience and perceptions while also
giving the world edges, texture, and meaning.
Historically, in the West, those in power have rigidly determined what
would be defined as legitimate ‘theory’. The most liberatory possibilities of the
Enlightenment have too often been eclipsed by a capitalist tendency toward
rationalization and instrumental logic. As many feminists, social ecologists, and
indigenous theorists have demonstrated, the desire to differentiate the world
solely through deductive, linear, or instrumental reason alone, has led to a way
of thinking that is often reductive, fragmented, or relativistic. However, while
breaking a subject down to its components can lead to a greater understanding
of the whole, it can also fragment the whole into a sea of meaningless
incoherent components, Hence, our desire to differentiate the world through