what is nature
Man has created a world in which he can exist. At no time has he ever considered the ramifications of this existence – it merely is. Now whether this can be considered ethical or whether it is a part of human nature is for the individual to assess. But one thing that cannot be argued is that, in the past 100 years, the world has changed dramatically.
Now we must ask ourselves whether this is solely down to the acts of man and whether such acts can be considered "natural" and therefore justifiable. We are undoubtedly causing problems, but so did photosynthesising microorganisms some 3 billion years ago! Perhaps what we understand as an idea of unnatural is basically a human short coming.
Nowadays we might ask ourselves “what is nature“ as it is certainly a totally different concept to how it was. Such as the city dwelling child who when asked if he knew where milk came from replied, "Of course - from the shop". These days, in order to appreciate nature and to know and understand what it is, one must go in search of it as, except in very rural areas, it can no longer be found on our doorsteps. Only then can one fully understand the damage humans are doing to their environment and the importance of conservancy of nature.
Are humans a part of nature or are we being self-destructive? A dilemma indeed. Take the farmer who at one time was the conservationist of nature. Now he is planting genetically modified crops and using insecticides of which the long-term effect is not yet known. However climate change is something that however much we like to pretend is not happening, we see it every year as we get progressively more severe weather patterns. Hurricanes and tornadoes are becoming more frequent and much stronger. Summers are much drier and winter's wetter and more harsh.
Although the need to produce more food is unarguable due to the enormous increase in population, one has to ask whether we are actually causing the damage to our own natural environment because of insecticides, aerosols, CO2 emissions and genetic modification. Animals are being fed genetically modified food, the meat of which is then passed into the food chain – is this natural – how can it be – is it essential – who knows. One thing that is for sure however is that man is now motivated by wealth and nature must take a back seat.
To ask whether human action is natural and considerate towards nature is rather a rhetorical question as we must do what is necessary to survive, just as animals do in the wild. But because survival for humans is now financially orientated, we no longer regard what is best for future generations and we tend to live by the motto "live for today – let tomorrow take care of itself". To do all we can to conserve our world is not just necessary - it is essential.
Repost from http://qa-nature.com/
