HUMOV1003 Community and Bush Environments
Seminar eleven
Ways of knowing nature
Head, heart and hands overlap but have contributing uniqueness.
Public knowledge – that which is potentially open to all.
Private knowledge – that to which only you have access.
Scientific knowledge
information, hypothesis about a place, which have been derived from careful study of natural or other phenomena.
Cultural knowledge
information about the history or ‘story’ of a place which you may have heard or gained
but which is not principally derived from careful scientific study.
Experiential knowledge
information you have gained by living with a place.
These types of knowledge are valued and used
variously within our society.
Enviro life history - retrospective (Chawla)
(emotional connections)
1. Childhood experiences of nature
2. Experiences of enviro loss or destruction
3. Pro-enviro values of family
Enviro life history - retrospective (Chawla)
(emotional connections)
4. Pro-enviro organisations
5. Role models (friends, teachers)
6. Education
Nature is the material world
– everything is of, or from, nature (including humans and all their works…).
Nature as wilderness
(separate from people and culture).
Nature as the natural order of
things (Naturally so…the laws of nature excludes humans and culture).
What things are made of – their
nature The nature of rock is hard, his nature is
caring etc etc.
Nature – 4 meanings
But – humans have more power than nature now, so boom bust cycle is
disrupted?
Sustainability, then must be brain driven from an emotional response (foresight).
Connections with nature vary with:
Place
Activity
Weather
Level of technology available
NR scale
Structural development theory for HNR - based on maturation of moral reasoning
Integrated with Nature
Caring for Nature
Travelling through Nature
Alienated from Nature
Everyday nature caring behaviour.
Connectedness and caring for the bush.
The importance and awareness of nature in a person’s life.
Levels of comfort outdoors
Experiences and time in nature
Positive disposition towards nature
How do you get to know a friend?
Relationship with individual
Initial attraction/aesthetic. Positive experience.
Builds over time with the same person.
Grows with increasing trust. Comfort, non-threatening.
Emotional bond initially.
Information from stories of other lived experiences?
Recognition of the other person.
Receptive to what the other has to communicate.
Displacement of self-interest to the other.
Knowing nature is similar to knowing a person –
has many implications for the practice of OEE
Relationship with place
Initial attraction/aesthetic. Positive experience.
Builds over time with the same entity.
Grows with increasing trust for safety. Comfort, non-threatening. Skills to be outdoors.
Emotional bond initially.
Information from stories of other lived experiences?
Recognition of the Other in nature.
Receptive to what the Other has to communicate.
Displacement of self-interest to the other.
but…what other views exist?
Anthropocentric = human centred view
Biocentric= non-human centred view
(ecocentric)
We are, after all, human!
Knowing nature as a friend is a biocentric view in that it attempts to develop a ‘subject to subject’
view of non-human nature.
It helps acknowledge non-human nature as having intrinsic ‘rights’ (like
people).
Nature as object or subject?
“subject” implies emotions, human-ness, consciousness(????)! = intrinsic rights for its own wellbeing.
“object” implies inert-ness, a thing without rights, an ‘instrument’. (An object could be an artifact?)
Nature as Friend
• Implies:– A relationship with a subjective other
(emotional)– Based on lived personal experiences with
other.– Closeness but separate (a relationship with)– Co-operative and caring outcomes sought– Developmental – grows or diminishes
Language indicating “subject”
Country in Aboriginal English is not only a common noun but also a proper noun. People talk about Country in the same way that they would talk about a person: they speak to Country, sing to Country visit Country, worry about Country, feel for Country, and long for Country.
People say that Country hears, smells, takes notice, takes care, is sorry or happy. ... Country is a living entity with a yesterday, today and tomorrow, with a consciousness, and will toward life.
(Rose 1996, p.7)
"people never used to go just hunting especially, they used to go walking around and see what might happen. They walked for their energy, or to make their body feel good, or to brighten their spirit, just walking around on Country." pg. 150
Iwenhe Tyrerrtye – on what it means to be an aboriginal person. Margret Kemarre Turner IAD Press 2010
Language indicating relatedness?
“Yeah sometimes when I’m climbing I look at the cliff - if
you think of it like you’re a fighter and the cliff is your
opponent and you get to the top without falling then you
have pretty much got a knockout - if you have got to the top
with a few falls well you’ve taken a few blows during the
rounds - and sometimes if you retreat off a climb it keeps
on haunting you, like if you lose a fight then you want to
come back and do it again another time until you win.”
Language indicating relatedness?
[Could you use that metaphor with your surfing - if you fall off or get dumped is that the same?]
“Umm not really I don’t take offence to it when I’m
surfing. I surf for different goals as well. When I climb it’s
me and the mountain and I’m trying to get to the top and
when I surf it’s me and the wave but I’m not trying to
overpower it and become the best surfer in the world. I’m
just out there to relax basically and get away from
everything.”
A summary of conceptions of the human-to-nature relationship (Martin, 2009)
Metaphorical images
Nature as a:?
Metaphorical images as a guide to human nature
relationships
A metaphor is not a reality – but then reality isn’t real either!
(Multiple constructed realities)
Metaphorical images
Because language is metaphorical and also imaginary, words are imbedded with
assumed behaviours and values.
http://theliterarylink.com/metaphors.html (link on Moodle, or scan => )
Language and metaphors
Make a list of UP words!
Make a list of DOWN words.
Museum&
Resource store
Cathedral
Close Friend
Part of self
Nature as an object
Nature as a subject
Playground&
Gymnasium
Perspectives of Nature(Martin 1996)
Spending time in more natural settings, in small groups, for several days, mindful of
equipment and activity, CAN lead to new perspectives of yourself, others and the natural
world
