Leopold A Land Ethic

The Land Ethic

Ethics is the branch of philosophy that involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong conduct and human behaviors. Aldo Leopold in 1949 in a Sand County Almanac talks about human behavior which he calls “A Land ethic”. This is a philosophy that seeks to guide the actions when humans use and or make changes to the land. He says   there is a need for a "new ethic", an "ethic dealing with human's relation to land and to the animals and plants which grow upon it" (Leopold 1949). Is this possible on a full scale?  How much of the population would have to practice this ethic to make it work?

 

"The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively” (Leopold 1949)

                                           

Leopold says we should not act is if we are land conquers but consider the land along side of us. He talks about how every conquer eventually fails.  And I believe this to be true. At some point we may have to decide that maybe human life is not as important as the environment.  Do we not worry about it because it most likely won’t matter during are life time? I think due to things like religion and such we have a way of believing we are more superior to anything else on this planet. That God created this for us.  Though I think it’s just as a team of humans you are only as strong as your weakest link.  If we started to thing as everything not just humans as are team, we would realize we are out competing are self’s.  The funny thing is we are worried about invasive species in the wild, but why don’t we consider are self to be invasive? 



 

 

 

 

Perhaps the most serious obstacle impeding the evolution of a land ethic is the fact are education and economic system is heading away from, rather than toward, and intense consciousness of land (Leopold 1949).

 

This is something I do not agree with.  Although this is probably due to the time of this writing. I think back to my education when I was younger we did some things in nature. Some field trips were probably useless trips, but I remember taking some to different places in the area learning about the environment.  I took a 10 year break from in class learning, but since I have returned I feel like there is defiantly a lot of concern about the land compared to the past.  I would say at least educationally I can see a direct change towards, rather than away.

 

 

NDD

I think nature deficit disorder Is a real thing.   Just being outside is something the younger generation does less and less of.  I talk about it all the time how it seems like when I was young kids where everywhere in there yards. Now most nieborhoods looks like ghost towns.  I remember when I was a kid we would fight are parents to stay outside after dark. Now my generation is becoming parents and they have to push there kids to go outside and step away from the 1000 channels and video games on every smart phone. Really everyone , myself included  probably is  staring at there phone more they should daily. A pet peeve of mine, I absolutely hate when people have there phones out when people are at the dinner table or hanging out.  Mind you I am probably a little older then most the people reading this.  I kind of have 2 beliefs of why a lot of this could be happening. One is what I mentioned earlier to much entertainment in the home. Another reason I believe is many parents are scared by media. You know everyone talks about the world being so crazy today. I don't believe its any crazier, I just think we hear everything now.  Just as we have those games in are hand, we have news and information as well. I think a lot of it has to do with hysteria caused by media, many parents are paranoid something will happen to there kids.

Talking more about what Louv wrote about Nature -deficit disorder other problems exist such a PE being reduced 42% between 1991 and 2003 (Louv 3).  They correlate excersice with being outdoors and that's one thing I don't agree with.  The one parent says they are "considering moving to the mountain" ( Louv 4).  It is known and if you exercised in your life you understand you feel less stress, have less issues when your body is right.  I don't know I necessarily agree its directly related to nature as it is the exercise. Nobody goes to the outdoor gym to feel better.  I actually think you don't really appreciate nature itself until you get older. Simple things like just sitting on the beach , listening to waves, watching sunset that becomes relaxing as you get older.  And the reason that is , is because its away from the grind of adult life. Its a escape from the stress we put on are self's to succeed in life.  Although I think being outdoors generally requires some form of exercise rather that's walking or hiking.

http://wearelovely.com/symptoms-of-a-zombie-apocalypse/

 

 

 

Love it or lose it: The coming Biophilia Revolution by David W. Orr

 

 

Love it or lose it: The coming Biophilia Revolution by David W. Orr discusses human mindset towards the environment. He suggests a biophilia hypothesis in which the author suggest there is natural instinctive bond between humans and nature.  Although he does mention there is also some who possess what he calls biphobia. He says this phobia is “increasingly common among people raised with television, Walkman, radios attached to their heads, and video games living amongst shopping malls, freeways, and dense urban and suburban settings where nature is permitted tastefully as decoration”(Orr 2). Although that didn’t necessarily makes sense as he quotes Woody Allen as saying “Nature and I are two”(Orr 3).  The issue with his first statement is that he says all humans are inherently bonded with nature.  Another problem that exist with what he says is that Woody Allen was born in the 1930s probably didn’t grow up with many of the modern things such as TV’s, Walkman’s and the other things mentioned.   There is many opinions, maybe even stereotypes within the reading. 

Although I don’t agree with many things in the reading, there is other things I can say directly affected my outlook on nature.  I think education is important in pushing this Biophilia revolution.   I believe this because my education in civil and environmental engineering has opened my eyes to a lot of issues.  Obviously as an engineer the environment is something we learn a lot about.  It allowed me to start taking into consideration everything. We learn a lot about how to design with the environment in consideration.  As an engineer we are one of the main professions which is responsible for human impact to the environment, as well as sustainability.  So throughout my education it made me start thinking about the great natural places in Southwest Florida we had I’ve lost since I was a kid.  And it seems as every year passes a great place is gone and we always think back to when we were a kid. This directly relates to what Orr calls “The recovery of childhood” (Orr p204).