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While
our sense of the natural world has always been encumbered
by our sense of human culture and history, there was a
time, not long ago, when you could get out of your car
at a curve on a scenic road and admire the view on something
resembling its own terms. There were no signs directing
your gaze, no coin-operated binoculars, no brochures answering
your unasked questions…
Today many people would regard such an unadorned curve
in the road as a missed opportunity. Environmenal educators,
government agencies, and corporate public-relations departments
all make claims on our understanding of nature and its
place in our everyday lives. By the mid-twentieth century,
it seemed, nature had to be explained to its human inhabitants;
it was not enough to just try to experience it.
–excerpt from The Culture of Nature, Alexander
Wilson. |
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