"Nature Deficiency Disorder"

When I was thinking about what to write for this blog post, I started to think about experiences which I have had in nature, and made a list of different interesting and meaningful experiences which I have had with animals, plants, trees, and forests. Most of these events, however, were not entirely away from the human world in the true Thoreau sense of leaving society behind and truly engaging with the natural world.

I can't think of any time where I was truly by myself with nature, away from the hustle and bustle of human everyday life, experiencing nature as it is meant to be experienced. The events I had on my list were places I visited during a cruise to Alaska the summer between fourth and fifth grades, but even during tours to rainforests or while watching ice melt away from the side of a glacier, I was still surrounded by people. I was often on a bus or in a car or atleast walking with a large group of people; I was not engaging with nature in a one-on-one, non-human basis. So while watching whales leap out of the icy waters or catching a glimpse of a huge waterfall cascading down the side of a mountain was for me thrilling / magical / enchanting, I cannot truly say that it was non-human, because all of these experiences were on a cruise ship or in a car or bus.

The next idea that I came up with was a dolphin experience I had when I was probably about 7, when I, with a group of other kids, got to sit and have a dolphin come up really close to us and we could pet the dolphin and experience being near another creature so directly. This experience was very exciting for me, because I have always loved dolphins and so it was really spectacular to have the chance to interact with one on such a close basis. This was definitely not interacting in a non-human way, however, because I was surrounded by other kids and a dolphin trainer. Have I had any experiences with nature where I have thrown off the leash of society and truly interacted with nature on my own terms? Where is my "Into the Wild"?

I used to hike near my house at this hiking path called Difficult Run. It's really beautiful, and nearly the whole walk you are followed to the right by a winding stream or river, depending on which point of the walk you are on. At parts, you can climb across logs which have fallen over the river, or sit on big rock outcroppings in the middle of the water. My dad usually went on these walks with me, but I think they are the closest I have come to really being by myself in a non-human environment. Sometimes we would go for a long time without talking. I can remember lying on a stone in the middle of the river, feeling the cold rock on my bare feet, my tennis shoes thrown haphazardly to the side, the burble of the water rushing past my ears. It may not be as exciting as an encounter with a wild animal or a big waterfall, but experiences like this one, for me, are the most thrilling / magical / enchanting experiences I have had with the wild. Something as simple as a river running its course, being quiet and listening to the sounds of nature can be pretty magical, because it shows how even the simplest aspects of nature can be beautiful and enchanting. For me, the everyday sounds and sights of nature are the most spectacular. You don't need to go all the way to Alaska or the Caribbean to experience nature in an exhilerating way, it exists right in our backyards and in our local parks and hiking paths.

If nature dissappears, what will future generations see and hear when they go outside? Will they hear the soft hum of crickets and the croak of the frog as the sun sets over the horizen and speckles the landscape in purples and pinks? Will there be parks for them to visit? Will they be able to dip their hands in cool, relatively clean water rushing down a stream? Will they be able to see a smog-free sky? Preserving nature is instrumentally important because we are a part of nature. We've throughout the generations created so many ways to make ourselves comfortable, such as houses and electronic conveniences, when we are the most comfortable when we are with nature. It goes back to the idea we talked about earlier in the class, with "nature deficit disorder." If we don't get outside and spend time with nature, we can often start to feel sick or wrong in some way. I try to go on a walk when it is nice out just to give myself the opportunity to spend some time with nature, in a natural setting, away from man-made contraptions.

Global warming is threatening future generations ability to have a nature to go back to. All the advocates of technology saving humanity, such as Julian Simon and his ultimate resource of human ingenuity, maybe have an argument in terms of the fact that the population keeps growing, we keep thinking that doomsday is about to appear, and then technical advances have kept humanity afloat. Although I find it extremely unlikely that we will truly be able to stave of global warming and to keep living sustainably into the future merely by inventing more and more technology to save us, I believe that even if these technologies were to be invented, a lot would still be lost. If future generations are still able to live on the Earth, but most species have become extinct, our forests are destroyed, our oceans are polluted and our skies are grey and full of pollutants, then "nature deficiency disorder" will become commonplace. An often forgotten fact is that people are a part of nature. It is natural for us to want to be with nature and to interact with nature in a basic way. If we live in a future abundant with technology and deficient in nature, life will be a much sadder and less fulfilling thing.