Humans as Part of Nature

Environment Psychology and Theology Humans as Part of Nature AJ R Chun PhD Fresno Psychology Examiner Environmental Psychologist Theologist Nature: the inherent character or basic constitution of a person or thing, a creative and controlling force in the universe, an inner force or the sum of such forces in an individual, a kind or class usuallydistinguished by fundamental or essential characteristics , the physical constitution or drives of an organism, a spontaneous attitude, the external world in its entirety, humankind's original or natural condition, the genetically controlled qualities of an organism. What about humans themselves, are they part of nature?Most of us would conclude sooner or later that humans are part of nature.This exception was a secular man who explained that humans are above nature because we are on one of the top layers of the food chain. ³We eat the salmon. That to me seemsProbably « if you want to admit it or not, it is an act of a higher creature feeling that it has the right to eat the salmon.´ The rest of us gave various reasons why humans are part of nature. Mostmentioned was our dependence on natural resources like water and oxygen. Otherscalled humans part of nature because we form a part in the ³chain of being´. ³We aremade up out of all the elements that are found in nature.´ Some religious respondents regarded humans as nature because its creation needs the involvement of a ³higherpower´. In the words of a Muslim woman: ³Humans are a creation of God, they are anatural being.´ Two Buddhists clarify that it took the bringing together of many causes tocreate both nature and humans: ³The consequence of so many things together so that wehave human beings («). The ground and the mountain and the trees « There are many causes to make the ground there, the water there and the trees growing.´Although a large majority concluded that humans are part of nature, many of the laterresponses on this subject showed their doubts about the naturalness of humans. First,some respondents got confused by the human ability to think. ³We have the brains,´ we can use our wisdom´ and ³are self-conscious.´ According to some this makes usdi erent from the rest of nature: ³Obviously we are in position to change things more thanevery other species, so we are di erent, we are part of it but we have more responsibility,because of our brain.´ Only a few respondents of those who earlier called humans part ofnature put the rational capacities of humans above the abilities of the rest of nature:³So I think at a certain point I think human is above nature.´ Second, many respondents let the naturalness of humans depend on their behavior.If humans ³don¶t pollute´, ³treat it properly´ and ³don¶t make it unbalanced´, then they

arenature or more natural. ³Humans can be part of nature. If we consider ourselves one withthe earth if we respect it well enough, then I consider us part of nature.´ The respondentsoften give illustrations of more natural people like tribes in the Amazon or the Native Americans in Canada. At this point the interviewer confronted these respondents withthe implication of their thoughts. Is one person more part of nature than the other? Based upon their actions? Yet, all these respondents disagreed; ³You can¶t say that somepeople are a part of nature and some aren¶t. («) We are all people and we all do somethingwrong.´ A third doubt on the naturalness of humans became clear when half of the respondentstalked about a fundamental process of disconnection between humans and nature.Especially for the Native respondents this is an important issue:Sometimes, you don¶t think about how we are connected, we become removed from it, wedon¶t have to think about it, we go to the grocery store and buy our food and we don¶t seethe bugs and animals that had a hard time because of what we are doing. We are not doingit ourselves; somebody else does it for us. Many respondents add that this alienation from nature has emerged over time.All Natives, many Buddhists, and some Muslims mentioned that humans could see Godor spirits in nature as long as they have the right eyes. ³Wherever you see, the God iseverywhere, if you know how to see.´ They elaborated on the topic by saying that weforgot how to see. We got further alienated from the original spirit and spiritual contactwith nature due to the development of the human intellect. The Buddhists primarilyemphasized the lost connection with our own original spirit. The Natives stressed thelost connection with the spirits in nature:To us we are told to listen to the water, the fire and we believe that trees can give usmessages and that one time a long time ago the animals could all speak to us and we wouldbe spiritually healthy enough to understand. So we are not as healthy as we used to be along time ago. More on Environmental Psychology Design Product, Home and Work; based on Higher Power The Nature. AJ R Chun PhD Fresno Psychology Examiner Environmental Psychologist/Theologist