Technological Nature: Adaptation and the Future of Human Life
by Peter H. Kahn, Jr., MIT Press, 2011
Spoiler art: Technological simulations of nature do not provide anywhere near the same physiological, emotional and therapeutic benefits as exposure to real nature, but are better than no nature-like experiences at all.
I have no remorse revealing the conclusion of "Technological Nature" (http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=12446) because Kahn, who conducts nature/tech interaction research at the University of Washington. conveys plentiful grist for intellectual and practical purposes. At a time when humans are accelerating damage and depletion of nature in what geologists are now calling the Anthropocene age, reasonable people find they have to quantify the financial value, now and future, of aspects of the ecosystem -- oceans, rivers, soil, air, and so on.
Kahn adds supporting evidence that nature (rather, what he terms "actual nature") is essential for humans to not only survive, but flourish. And we humans need to flourish to be productive, creative members of society. After all, man can't live on microchips alone.
Innovations have led to more material goods, access to services, convenience and leisure time over the ages, but at costs ranging from loss of native intelligence to compromising physical and mental health. As people get increasingly disconnected from nature, researchers are looking at the potential value of digital-age artifacts such as:
* "Technological nature windows" to refresh and spur creative problem-solving among office workers
* Robotic dogs to help children with autism build communication skills
* Telegardens to give people surrounded by pavement and powerlines a way to experience the fulfillment of growing plants, sort of a distance learning/distance living concept. The telegardeners plant their remote plots using Internet-controlled robotic arms.
Citing an array of reports from such notables as Jared Diamond, author of 2005's "Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed," Kahn recounts how "environmental generational amnesia" through history has led to damage, and loss, to ways of like. For example, native people who within just a few generations lost knowledge of self-sufficient skills and sustainable co-existence with their region's animals and plants -- and clear-cut forests that their ancestors relied on for shelter, food, medicine, storm protection, erosion control, canopy.
The book explores engaging theories, philosophies, and questions about surviving and thriving. Such as:
* Biophilia, our shared and biologically rooted love of nature (think of the awe that children and adults express when spotting animals from deer to dolphins to birds, waterfalls, oceans, mountains).
* How the worldview that humans were granted dominion continues to underpin continued destruction of natural resources. In frighteningly short periods, mankind wiped out whole species from the trees of Easter Island to America's buffalo herds and passenger pigeons.
* Adaptations: Ranging from changing diets based on changing land productivity, to zoos, to dams, to addictions, adaptations aren't always beneficial to individuals or society.
* Slippery slope debates: Trails to Yosemite's Half Dome enable people to behold inspirational beauty. But at what point does access begin diminishing nature?
Kahn ends with practical ways to encourage people to think about benefits of our connection with nature and support its preservation. If we don't, "technological nature" may be the only nature left for our children.
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