Cause Principle Unity

A general account of bonding
speech, the harmony of customs and the chance meetings of sympathy by
which men are bound to men, animals to animals and even animals to men.
Thus, it is clear that the sight of a snake raises a mortal fear in a child, and
the sight of a wolf terrifies a lamb, because of a natural prompting and not
because of any previous experience or acquaintance, while the sight of a
cow or a sheep causes playfulness and enjoyment. There are also various
aromas by which men and spirits are bound in various ways. I have known
men who were so terribly horrified by the smell of musk, which is sweet for
everyone else, that they have even fallen down because their spirit was so
disturbed. And I have known one person who was extraordinarily delighted
by holding under his nose a bug crushed by his fingers. Thus, different
things are bonded in different ways, and not only contrary but even diverse
things are bonded to each other. Furthermore, at the social level, it is clear
that Germans and Italians do not have the same language, or the same
habits of caring for and clothing the body, or the same grace and elegance
in their customs. Nevertheless, an individual Italian may diverge from his
national norm and be more like a German; vice versa, a German may be
more like an Italian. This causes a complication and requires great prudence
in binding at the social level, especially when the bonds are cast not
over a group but over an individual. Indeed, it is easier to bind many rather
than only one. A hunter has a greater chance of hitting a bird with an arrow
shot into a group of birds than he would have of hitting a particular bird
with a more accurate aim.
6. The gates of bonds. The senses are the entrances through which bonds are
cast. And vision is the most important of them all. The others are more
suitable for different objects and powers: touch is bound by the softness of
the flesh, hearing by the harmony of sound, smell by the sweetness of
breath, soul by the elegance of customs and intellect by the clarity of proofs.
Different bonds enter through different windows; they have different
effects in different people, and they please because of different desires in
different people, for, indeed, a bond does not arise equally from all things,
nor have an effect equally in all things.
7. The types of bonds. We know that there are as many types of bonds as there
are types and varieties of beauty. Also, these varieties do not seem to be
smaller than the primary varieties of things, that is, the different species.
Furthermore, within each species there are different individuals who are
bound by different things in different ways. Thus, the hungry are bonded
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