For mammals like us, mothers play an essential role in life. Before the arrival of civilization, infants could not survive without the milk mothers provide. With the advent of artificial nourishments for the babies, mothers are still indispensable for our existence, especially in the early periods of life.
Thus, it is not surprising that we have developed a wide usage of the metaphor "mother".
For example, the expression "mother nature" has a deep resonance for a human being. Nature provides us with food, gives us protection, and supports our day to day life materially.
The mother nature metaphor is so natural to us that it is deeply unnerving and then ultimately revealing to realize that the universal concept has originated from the very particular condition in which our specific life style is to be kick-started and nurtured. It is an instance of a particular transforming itself to a universal.
3 comments:
I agree with you, Dr. Mogi, although I am a female - this means that it is the same gender with my mother.
I have so many stories, that are sweet and sour, on/with my mother .. as well as you.
母ちゃんのブルースですね！
ヾ(;´▽｀A``
私の母は1997年12月から父の介護をしています。
12年以上になります。私も弟も遠い街にいるから、母が一人でやってます。ヘルパーさんがいなかったら、成り立たないです。
私はというと、介護から逃げているわけじゃないです。ほんと家族ってのは複雑なもので。弟は新宿で新聞の営業をしています。同業者の中ではトップの成績らしいです。
A friend of mine pointed out the possibility that for most humans, the concept of "mother" is probably formed before our general concept of "people". So, perhaps to our brain, our mothers are not people but more like transcendent beings. I wonder what you think about this idea.
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