Are humans part of nature?

Philosopher Peter Godfrey-Smith: ‘To some extent, our planet would be better off without humanity’​


It is the coming and going of life and death that he sees as an essential part of Earth’s history. As he writes: “I identify with that process, including turnover and renewal, the flow of new arrivals who then depart and leave room for more.”

www.theguardian.com

Philospher Peter Godfrey-Smith: ‘To some extent, our planet would be better off without humanity’

With the bestselling Other Minds, the philosopher dramatically changed our view of octopuses. Now, concluding his trilogy about the evolution of intelligence, he shows how animal life has shaped the planet itself
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Humans derived from nature and are related via our natural origins, but we have separated ourselves from it so as to either no longer be a part of it, or tangentially related to it at best.
 
Nomad said:
Humans derived from nature and are related via our natural origins, but we have separated ourselves from it so as to either no longer be a part of it, or tangentially related to it at best.
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Isn't our death a sign we are part of nature?
 
Nomad said:
Humans derived from nature and are related via our natural origins, but we have separated ourselves from it so as to either no longer be a part of it, or tangentially related to it at best.
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People want to segregate humanity from nature so that we may maintain the myth that we are somehow "special".
 
Hume said:
Isn't our death a sign we are part of nature?
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As I said, IMO we originate from nature, but during our lives, we separate ourselves from it.

We put manmade synthetic shoes on our feet to protect the soles from the Earth. We put manmade synthetic clothes on our bodies to cover ourselves up and protect our skin. We live in boxes made of concrete and wood and glass to protect us from the elements and other animals. We drive around in motorized metal cans with wheels to get ourselves around. We communicate via electronic devices over signals sent through the airwaves. Practically nothing we do has anything to do with nature. Even camping trips to "get back to nature" involve the use of tents and mass produced camping gear.

Our deaths just mark our real "return to nature".
 
Hume said:
Defining nature as separate from people perpetuates troubled relationship with the natural world, say campaigners

Currently, all English dictionaries define nature as an entity separate from and opposed to humans and human creations – a perspective campaigners say perpetuates humanity’s troubled relationship with the natural world.

So when she got home, Gormley approached Jessie Mond Webb, of the collective Lawyers for Nature, with whom she was already working, and they decided to start a campaign to persuade dictionaries to grant a new, more expansive definition to the word “nature” – and with it, perhaps, to redefine what it means to be human.

www.theguardian.com

What is ‘nature’? Dictionaries urged to include humans in definition

Defining nature as separate from people perpetuates troubled relationship with the natural world, say campaigners
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
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When you feel not a part of something, you don't care about it. You may even abuse and exploit it.

I found that my Earth/nature-centered spiritual path meshes well with my scientific knowledge that we are just a thread in the web of life, and cannot survive apart from it.
 
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Nomad said:
As I said, IMO we originate from nature, but during our lives, we separate ourselves from it.

We put manmade synthetic shoes on our feet to protect the soles from the Earth. We put manmade synthetic clothes on our bodies to cover ourselves up and protect our skin. We live in boxes made of concrete and wood and glass to protect us from the elements and other animals. We drive around in motorized metal cans with wheels to get ourselves around. We communicate via electronic devices over signals sent through the airwaves. Practically nothing we do has anything to do with nature. Even camping trips to "get back to nature" involve the use of tents and mass produced camping gear.

Our deaths just mark our real "return to nature".
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There are still a few of us left who go barefoot outside, garden nude, forage in the forest for delightful goodies and come home covered with scratches and bug bites and twigs in our hair, with a refreshed soul. :)
 
goat said:
The purpose of formal education is to help one be a better communicator who can play nice with others. Education does not prevent one from having a god complex or losing touch with reality.
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I thought education was to make more money
 
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