an Argument for Semipermeability

No man is an island, entire of itself

- John Donne
Meditations XVII

This quote is a point to which I have, of late, returned frequently. It has been useful for considering what it would mean to be an island - and how a thing or a person would come to be considered an island. I am aware that different people have different opinions on what importance (if any) they give to social interactions. Further, I have a sense that there is something that society considers vaguely noble about the notion of someone personally strong enough to shun society and living a brilliantly productive hermit lifestyle.


My thoughts at this time are first, that a human has many different aspects, each with their particular needs. Second, that a human exists within many different environments. And third, that a human exists as a subset or a part of each of these different environments - a human is not separate or other than the environment - which semipermeability and interactivity are necessary for survival and growth.

We think too big: we think of ourselves as one whole thing, and we say that this collection has a name and is a being.
- Danny Schmidt, "This Too Shall Pass"


For example, it is easy to consider a human as a physical being.
As a physical being, we live in a physical environment. Our physical being has physical needs and in order to meet them, we must interact with the physical environment in order to sustain ourselves, survive, and grow. It is easy to consider that a human who is physically separated from his or her physical environment would be deprived both of new nutrients and a means of eliminating waste products. Our physical bodies are a part of our physical environment, and our needs require that we interact with the physical environment and allow things that are healthy for us to pass into and through us.

I began to think of these things first, when I realized about two years ago how very influential my physical condition was in affecting my more internal emotional and psychological internal environments. I have been more able to consider the ways the people I am around contribute to my emotional and psychological environments, and further, that it is not reasonable to suppose that I should expect to maintain a healthy physical / emotional / psychological state in an environment that is poorly suited to it, or an environment in which I have not learned how to interact to meet my sustainability needs.

It is easier to consider how to meet our physical needs in a physical environment
For some reason, perhaps because they are not as readily visible, concrete, or tactile, it is more difficult to consider humans as emotional, spiritual, or psychological beings, and to consider how exist within those environments.

But, I believe the same ideas apply.

For example, if we consider a human as an emotional being,
this being inhabits an emotional environment and has emotional needs that must be met in order to sustain, survive, and grow. This must be done by interacting with the emotional environment through the means of people, pursuit of interests, and self-development. You might argue that these emotional needs are based on chemical reactions which are a physical thing, but reducing everything to physical explanations is not a useful solution here.

If a person were cut off from the emotional environment through which they give and receive in ways that are emotionally healthy, they would suffer in ways less visible than a person physically isolated, but similarly severe. Further, when the emotional being interacts with others, not only is the person's emotional state influenced and developed, but the emotional beings that the person interacts with are also affected. This requires an emotional permeability. The person is not an isolated component, but is a part of the emotional system.

An interesting thought is to consider the emotional, spiritual, and psychological environments. What do they 'look' like? How do we inhabit the environment? How do we interact with the environment to meet our needs and how do we affect others living in the same environment? What things from each environment are healthy? What does it mean to be permeable in each environment? How does our presence contribute to each environment?

Clearly, physical beings need food, water, and air.
Other aspects of being require a sense of self-worth and of being worthwhile to others.

These needs are met and the various aspects of being sustained and developed through interaction, both giving and taking, with the environments, of which, we humans are a part.

Therefore, a human is necessarily not an island, and further, it does not seem useful for me to think of myself as an island, and even less useful to aspire to be an island.

Something which does not interact with its environment is, in that sense, dead.