Human Nature Relationships and How They Contribute to Sustainability
We as humans have an important role to play when confronted with an issue which is in any way concerned with our relationship to nature. Although we coexist on this planet with numerous other species of life, ours is the only one whose decisions can potentially have a significant influence on the status quo of the delicate system that is Earth. Our attitudes and connections towards nature are important because they directly affect how we will realize the goal of sustainability. Nonetheless, in order to begin this task we must first ascertain what it is exactly that we are working with. The words ‘nature’ and ‘sustainability’ are often used but rarely defined, therefore an interdisciplinary approach is required to provide a working definition of these terms, because we will not know whether we have achieved our goal if we never truly understood what it was.
Nature, it is all around us, or is it? What is nature exactly? (Sternberg 2009) conceptualizes it as a biophysical reality or fact, something quantitive that can be measured or observed. In his text, the word nature was used to describe the small stand of trees visible from the patient’s bedside window, leading to Ulrich’s conclusion that patients with ‘natural’ views from their window recovered faster than those who had views of a brick wall. In (Sternberg 2009)‘s use of the idea, objects such as the brick wall which we have modified from its raw state are not included within the boundaries of nature. Does he mean to exclude humanity from nature? Although it is true that we have made technological advances that can be seen to have set us apart from nature, there can be no argument that we are here due to evolutionary processes. When we compare (Sternberg 2009) with (Cronon 1995), the different interpretations of nature are apparent. Although (Cronon 1995)’s opening idea would seem absurd to many, one of his main arguments points out that we cannot think of ourselves as separate from nature. His stand against
Nature, it is all around us, or is it? What is nature exactly? (Sternberg 2009) conceptualizes it as a biophysical reality or fact, something quantitive that can be measured or observed. In his text, the word nature was used to describe the small stand of trees visible from the patient’s bedside window, leading to Ulrich’s conclusion that patients with ‘natural’ views from their window recovered faster than those who had views of a brick wall. In (Sternberg 2009)‘s use of the idea, objects such as the brick wall which we have modified from its raw state are not included within the boundaries of nature. Does he mean to exclude humanity from nature? Although it is true that we have made technological advances that can be seen to have set us apart from nature, there can be no argument that we are here due to evolutionary processes. When we compare (Sternberg 2009) with (Cronon 1995), the different interpretations of nature are apparent. Although (Cronon 1995)’s opening idea would seem absurd to many, one of his main arguments points out that we cannot think of ourselves as separate from nature. His stand against
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