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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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