Is there a growing disconnect from nature?

In contemporary society we learn to spend, on average, over 95% of our time and 99.9% of our thinking disconnected from nature (Michael J.Cohen).¹ The connection we share with nature is far greater than what we imagine. We do not realise to what extent we are dependent on nature. We are interconnected and deeply implicated in the natural system with other living things on this planet. Therefore, It is important that we do not take for granted these priceless natural resources that are so crucial. We cannot deny the fact that there is indeed a growing disconnect from nature. One of the main cause of that is the growing development of new technology, industrialisation and over urbanisation in order to make our lives more comfortable and convenient. Most of the material things we are dependent on come from a natural resource, but yet we do not pay attention to where they come from and try to preserve those very natural resources we are dependent on.

“Those of us who are not scientifically filling the void in our life with our attractions to nature have been brainwashed into producing the problems we suffer personally, locally, and globally" (Michael J.Cohen). ¹ Connecting with nature is not only beneficial to us but also help us understand our purpose and connect our inner nature to the core of nature itself. In a survey by NSTP in 1997, it shows that people that connect with nature are less depressed, lonely, and have less personality and eating disorders.¹ According to me, this lack of connection with nature is undoubtedly linked to most of the diseases out there today. Therefore it is crucial that we interact more positively with nature and understand its importance in our lives.

 
This photograph is of Australian aborigines showing us how to grasp the essence of nature and place. 2.

References

1. Institute of global education (http://www.ecopsych.com/homepage.html)

2. thoughts on australian aborigines: http://blog.lib.umn.edu/yuanx072/architecture/

Resource Activity Fragile Earth

I was touched by the interviews of the 5000 people from 70 countries in Ted’s presentation. No matter where we live in the world or who we are, we all want to do good and be good. But it is sad, to see that the choices that we make are not usually the most environmentally friendly. This has to do with  where we come from, whether we have access to education, the economy of a  country and above all to the increasing disparity between the poor and the rich. Population rise which is somehow linked to poverty and thus, the desire to acquire more especially by capitalistic countries, are probably the 
main causal factors of  environmental destruction. Furthermore, It is sad to see how our planet has changed so drastically in the past 50 years, especially the Himalaya’s ice loss, the melting of the glaciers and so much more. Today more people are aware of the metamorphosis of our planet into a less sustainable one, but to what extent are we as individuals or as a government willing to go in order to restore the damage caused to the planet.


This photograph shows the irrigation of crops and agricultural using non renewable fossil water.
(http://blog.michellekaufmann.com/?p=1927)

Criteria for solid reasoning: How well does the media do in each of these areas?

7 factors important to solid reasoning were mentioned in class. These include: clarity, accuracy, relevance, precision, breath, depth and logic.

 I believe that for the most part the media is quite clear when it comes to what they want to express to the public. However, when it comes to accuracy, more and more people are becoming aware today that the media does not get their stories right.

According to major media surveys, 78 percent of Americans believe that there is a news bias in the media.¹
As far as precision is concerned, it is not always the case that the media has enough details or is specific. Usually when a news story develops the media is not always present at once or covers every aspect of a story as it is. As with the other points mentioned above, once again relevance is not necessary respected by the media. Taking the example of  the October 4 issue of the Times magazine, Muslims soldiers were shown performing prayers with guns. The caption on the bottom of the picture said, "Guns and prayer go together in the fundamentalist battle". ²The part that the reporters omitted or failed to state was that the Muslim soldiers were praying on a battlefield in Afghanistan. Common sense of the situation meant that the soldiers had to remain armed at all times in case of an ambush at any time. ³

When it comes to breath, freedom of expression is slowly declining in the media. Information is influenced by the belief system and political opinion of journalists and news reporters. To further prove this fact, despite its First Amendment protection, the press has no enforceable code of ethics for professional conduct. ² A journalist does not have to surrender his press card for faulty report. ² As far as depth is concerned the media does a good job of informing the public, but does not necessarily go in depth in every issue.

Once again the example of the October 4 issue of Times magazine mentioned above is a good example of lack of breath. ³ Usually the media pays more attention to stories that are relevant to their belief system or what matters most to their political leaders.  Based on that, it is not easy to say whether the solutions that the media takes are superficial or realistic. It all depends on how deep they assess the complexity of an issue. There is indeed logic when it comes to what the media feeds us, but this logic is sometimes twisted, so it is up to us to think critically and be well informed of where our news source comes from. We should not let the media be a manipulator of our opinion.

References:

1.      Editors group releases preliminary journalism credibility study:http://www.asne.org/kiosk/news/98jcp.htm

2.      Accuracy in media: http://www.aim.org/about/frequently-asked-questions-faq/

3.      Martinez 1, Ba-Yunus 1 : http://www.islamfortoday.com/media.htm
4. http://www.google.ca/imgres?

The population Explosion: Why should we care and what should we do about it?

The author explains that population has a big impact on environmental damage but is not the root cause. Two other factors combined: population growth, resource use and technology are threats to nature. In less than two centuries, population growth has increased by six times. Population growth is important because it is the reason for resource depletion and this factor is often ignored or not given enough credibility. Developed countries consume a lot more energy despite having in general a lower population than developing countries. According to the author, we use in average 13 terawatts of energy, which is way beyond what our natural system can renew. Although John P.Holdren scenario of a sustainable pattern of energy sounds plausible and should be taken seriously, it will demand a major redevelopment and more efficient use of energy in order to reduce our consumption of natural resources. In the new industrialization era today, control of birth rate across the world has improved. However, due to lack of basic necessities and government involvement in underdeveloped countries, birth rate is difficult to control. Therefore, it is crucial that we reduce our consumption of energy. Moreover, efficient environmental technologies should be developed in order to help developing countries in reducing its population growth and together prevent environmental degradation

Our Stolen Future:

Colbern brings to light the effect of environmental hormone mimics on animal and human development. The fact that the close connection between humans and animals are disregarded is highlighted. Based on research on DES (a synthetic hormone drug), scientists found that animals are equally if not more, affected by toxins in the environment as much as humans. Exposure from these chemicals in high and low doses have been related to several abnormalities in both humans and animals. Despite the similarity between the latter, results from animals’ studies are often ignored. Hormone disruption is an alarming issue and needs to be addressed promptly before it’s too late.
nature of synthesis: http://natureofsynthesis.wordpress.com/tag/heart-disease/

Collapse: How society chooses to fail or succeed.

The prologue made from Jared Diamond’s book : Collapse: How Society chooses to fail or succeed brings to perspective several factors that can cause the downfall or the prosperity of a society in an attempt to eliminate the inclined assumption that ecological destruction is caused mainly by human exploitation of natural resources. Thus, in the beginning of the prologue the writer highlights significant historical events that has caused drastic changes in a population, in an attempt to relate factors responsible for the latter and provide a better understanding of its causes. A five-point framework is presented in order to further explains that environmental damage is not the only cause of a society’s collapse. For instance, the author emphasises on the fact that the determination of a population survival is based on its response to a prominent catastrophe either caused naturally or by human intervention. The inclined tendency to judge business people as being non-environmentalist, or environmentalist as being extremist is highlighted in order to rethink  this paradigm. 


Fig 1: Glacier melting faster than first thought: http://www.armageddononline.org/Glaciers-Melting-Faster-Than-First-Thought.html