the meaning of nature
When I think of nature my mind goes directly to my time spent in Cajas National Park in Ecuador. I have not experienced a more profound moment in my life than I did those two days while taking in the breathtaking views of the Andes Mountains. These magnificent mountains were covered in a blanket of paramo grasses that gave the landscape a beautiful velvet appearance. At night the sights somehow turned out to be even more spectacular as the night sky became glittered with stars.
Nature to me is a place separate from civilization that one can retreat to in order to escape from the burdens of society. I envision nature to be mountains, like in Cajas National Park, or large trees and forests that doesn’t normally involve people and that is secluded. My interactions with nature are to either explore it or sit and admire it while within nature or from afar. I depict myself to be out in nature and using it as an escape and home away from home in order to find myself and relax. Nature is somewhere quiet and peaceful in which you can hike and gaze at animals and plants. While this is my instinctual vision of nature in my mind, I also begin to think about human’s role in nature. We aren’t separate from it like I initially perceived and instead we live as part of nature. Humans rely on nature to survive in the most basic aspects of live, but we’ve also transformed nature into the urban landscape that we see today. Although it may not seem like we are living within nature, the materials we build our houses from, the land we build on, and the living creatures around our homes are still apart of nature.
Nature is hard to conceptualize, but one view of nature I strongly relate to and that fascinates me is Arne Naess’s Deep Ecology environmental ethic. I agree with the notion that all living things have
their own right and intrinsic value which is independent of their usefulness to humans. I can also appreciate how humans aren’t viewed as being on top of the ecological pyramid but rather within a web or net with all other beings. As I mentioned earlier, my interaction with nature is one where I find myself which follows directly with Deep Ecology’s idea that nature is connected to self-realization. I personally wouldn’t value animals or landscapes as less than or below humans, just as Arne Naess believed. Nature deserves its own right to continued existence dispite its use to humans, because in the end humans rely on Mother Nature for survival but Mother Nature would do just fine and even thrive without humans. This relationship demonstrates that humans should be taking care of Mother Nature if we want to continue using her resources for survival. I know the idea of humans caring for Mother Nature doesn’t correctly align with Deep Ecology’s views, since they believe that nature is much too complicated to intervene, but I believe there is a balancing act since we are inherently apart of nature as well.
I can also connect deeply with the Ingenious Traditional Environmental Knowledge. Similar to Deep Ecology and what I also believe, is that the living environment is made up of a community of beings and that the beings are both natural and supernatural. While I don’t completely agree with the notion that there are sentient animal spirits, I am intrigued by this idea and am willing to keep my mind open
to the possibility of it being true. Another thing I don’t completely agree with in regards to the TEK is the respecting of animals through killing them. I approach nature and the animals within it the same as I do humans, you cannot respect humans and simultaneously kill them just as you can’t respectfully kill an animal or respectfully degrade nature. In compliance with the TEK I do believe that there are social and moral obligations towards animals and that we as humans should be using resources in a sustainable manner. Humans are unquestionably part of the ecosystem and need to use resources from the land, but the way in which we use them shows respect for nature or disregard for it. If policy makers talked to indigenous peoples and took into account how they have managed to live off the land sustainably for generations, we could write environmental policy to include the needs of humans as well as the environment.
Nature can mean many different things and depends completely on the person and their current mind state when asked. Since it is a socially constructed idea, it’s important to try and think broadly about what nature can mean and include as many perceptions as possible. If we limit ourselves to one or two ways of thinking, then an important aspect that we hadn’t thought of might go unnoticed and not all needs will be met when creating environmental policies and moving forward in the future.
Nature to me is a place separate from civilization that one can retreat to in order to escape from the burdens of society. I envision nature to be mountains, like in Cajas National Park, or large trees and forests that doesn’t normally involve people and that is secluded. My interactions with nature are to either explore it or sit and admire it while within nature or from afar. I depict myself to be out in nature and using it as an escape and home away from home in order to find myself and relax. Nature is somewhere quiet and peaceful in which you can hike and gaze at animals and plants. While this is my instinctual vision of nature in my mind, I also begin to think about human’s role in nature. We aren’t separate from it like I initially perceived and instead we live as part of nature. Humans rely on nature to survive in the most basic aspects of live, but we’ve also transformed nature into the urban landscape that we see today. Although it may not seem like we are living within nature, the materials we build our houses from, the land we build on, and the living creatures around our homes are still apart of nature.
Nature is hard to conceptualize, but one view of nature I strongly relate to and that fascinates me is Arne Naess’s Deep Ecology environmental ethic. I agree with the notion that all living things have
I can also connect deeply with the Ingenious Traditional Environmental Knowledge. Similar to Deep Ecology and what I also believe, is that the living environment is made up of a community of beings and that the beings are both natural and supernatural. While I don’t completely agree with the notion that there are sentient animal spirits, I am intrigued by this idea and am willing to keep my mind open
Nature can mean many different things and depends completely on the person and their current mind state when asked. Since it is a socially constructed idea, it’s important to try and think broadly about what nature can mean and include as many perceptions as possible. If we limit ourselves to one or two ways of thinking, then an important aspect that we hadn’t thought of might go unnoticed and not all needs will be met when creating environmental policies and moving forward in the future.
