Do you think in language?
Mike Cohen (nature@pacificrim.net)
2 Apr 1995 14:18:22 GMT
The Greening of Critical Thinking
Although we are part of nature, in its natural state and in nature-
centered cultures, nature does not suffer from today's problems, our
runaway garbage, environmental degradation, wars, mental illness and
medical disorders. Obviously, Western Civilization's problems result
because we learn to disconnect from the ways of the natural world.
Why don't we reconnect with nature instead?
We and nature rarely reconnect because nature sustains itself
through non-language attraction relationships, while we
build our relationships through spoken and written language.
**We think in language.** We remain disconnected from nature
because we can't teach nature to speak, read, write or think in
English.
Fortunately, all people inherit nature(IU(Js ability to communicate non
verbally. That ability lies in our inner nature that some call our
inner child, our natural loves and spirit. Therein lies hope.
There are now 107 published nature reconnecting activities that
scientifically empower our inner nature to non-verbally reconnect
with the natural world. The activities enable us to hear and relate to
the world through not just 5, but through 53 natural senses that we
biologically inherit. In addition, the activities teach us to speak from
our natural sensory connections after we make them, to beneficially
translate our connections with nature into understandable language
and thereby modern consciousness. Anybody can use and teach
these activities, even by E-mail or telephone. When they do, the
record clearly shows that problems dissolve.
To our cost, our civilization teaches us to fear nature, to refrain from
obtaining fulfillment by reconnecting with the natural world. Our
18,000 required hours of indoor K-12 classroom education alone
teach us that lesson well. The result? We spend an average of less
than one day per lifetime in tune with nature, less than 17 minutes
per year, 1/3 of a second per day.
As long as we refrain from fulfillingly connecting with nature's
wisdom, we want, and when we want there is never enough. The
stress of our frustrated natural wants creates and fuels our runaway
violence, greed and dependencies along with environmental
degradation, medical disorders and costly budgets.
To responsibly satisfy our natural wants, people can learn and teach
activities that thoughtfully reconnect us with nature, in backyards or
back country. The process is described in the applied
ecopsychology research article (IR(JCounseling and Nature(IS(J in the
March edition of the Interpsych Newsletter. **The article is
available
by Email by contacting: counseling-article@igc.apc.org
or by FTP to: ftp.igc.apc.org /pub/MISC/globaledu/counseling-article
Time permitting, I intend to honor and respond to questions and
comments about this subject in the alt.co-evolution newsgroup.
Mike Cohen nature@pacificrim.net
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