Evolutionarily Drawn to Nature?

I'm curious why it's so relaxing to be in nature or to look at natural scenery. I think we evolved this way because it was an advantage to be very familiar with our territory. It was important to know where to find the most effective paths, escape routes, shelters, and food, etc; so the more time one spent learning his surroundings, the greater his chance of survival to an extent. So this is why I think we have that little "pleasure circuit" hardwired into our brains that gets activated when we look at natural scenery.

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Welcome to EvC, dude!
  —Larni

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Thanks! It's great to be here.

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I'm not so sure that it is hard wired into our brains, though. I would suggest that natural places are often devoid of people and it is this that makes us feel more at ease.
  —Larni

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True, being alone may put you at ease, but I'm curious why the very act of observing natural scenery is relaxing.

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Also, we often take holidays in areas of outstanding natural beauty and we can learn the association between such places and rest and relaxation.
  —Larni

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True, and why is nature so beautiful to us? It's pleasurable to look at nature, so we call it beautiful. I think it's pleasurable to look at nature because, evolutionarily, it was beneficial to our survival. It was beneficial for someone to know his surroundings intimately.

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I bet when you talk about nature being so relaxing you don't mean the type of nature you would find on Dartmoor in the freezing rain and no shelter
  —Larni

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Well, if my health was in danger I would be more concerned with finding shelter of course. But if I had shelter, I'd enjoy observing the natural scenery even while it rained.

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That said, when ever I have a shroom trip I always prefer to be in a 'natural surrounding' because I get the sense that there are less people around to weird me out.

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That's an experience that I'll have to try

petrophysics1,

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Yetman,
You along with several posters to lesser or greater degree appear to REMOVE humans from your natural scene.

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Any ideas about why people are doing that?

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Sure, because humans have the unique ability to manufacture. We make drastic changes to the earth that no other species could accomplish, so we make the distinction between natural things and man-made things. Nature can also refer to the universe in its entirety, but for the sake of this thread I'm using the definition that excludes man-made things.

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Do you think it represents a hatred of others?

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Not at all, it's just a simple way to distinguish between man-made things and (non-man-made?) natural things.bluescat48,

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No smog, no noise, no bossy, irritating or pushy people...

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True, those are factors I would definitely consider, but I'm curious about how the very act of observing natural scenery affects us.Consider this: If you were given four hours to relax, and you could choose to spend your time in one of these two places, which would you pick?a) A big, luxurious hotel, all to yourself, completely isolated from society. Maybe it has a gym inside it, or a spa. However, there are no windows and no depictions of natural scenery whatsoever.b) A place in nature. Maybe an empty beach, or some place in the wilderness.I'd like to hear everyone's answer to this hypothetical situation. Please share your thoughts, I'm very interested in this subject.

Bluejay,

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Hi, Yetman. Welcome to EvC!

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Hello and thanks very much.

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I don't think it sounds all that beneficial to become entranced by pretty things around you. To me, it sounds like more of a distraction that allows predators or enemies to sneak up on you than a way to memorize the landscape.

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I think it would actually be an advantage against predators. Looking around, observing the environment closely would increase detection of potential predators, as well as instill a familiarity with the landscape.

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It seems more logical to me that a habitat-familiarity mechanism would be successful if it caused us to be attracted to things that are directly beneficial for our survival, like food, water and shelter, and not to flowers, butterflies and flames.

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We do have mechanisms for those necessities: hunger, thirst, and discomfort. In order to satisfy those needs, we'll need to know where to find the resources. For that very reason it's important to be familiar with the environment. This is why I believe we have evolved to enjoy observing natural scenery. If we're familiar with our territory, we'll know exactly where to find food, water, and shelter, and we'll know the best routes for travel or escape, thus increasing our chances of survival.

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I also wonder if it's not simple projection of a personal perspective onto the entire human species at large (Larni: what do they call that?). Without having actually done a poll, I'm pretty sure a large chunk of people I know don't really care for nature, so I'm hesitant to accept the premise of your thesis that people are innately drawn to nature.

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I haven't taken a poll either, and if a study has been done I would be interested in the results for sure. But from personal experience, I think typically people consider viewing a picture of natural scenery to be relaxing.

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So, that's one vote against the argument for an innate love of nature in humans. Take it for what it's worth. But I, personally, have a hard time assigning evolutionary significance to a trait that's not universal, or for which I'm not sure there is evidence that it's even particularly common.

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I don't think a study has been done to test if the trait is universal. It may not be, but I'm proposing that, for the most part, it is. I do think that looking at a picture of natural scenery is somewhat relaxing to most everyone, and more so when experienced firsthand. I think we have evolved to enjoy looking at natural scenery because of its survival benefits.

Of course, the basic needs always come first. If you had shelter you might've enjoyed the scenery regardless of the weather. I think if you had a traumatic experience somewhere in nature, you might develop a negative association with that specific place or very similar places. That association works to your advantage to increase your chances of survival. You'll know to avoid that place because it might be dangerous. If you viewed a picture of that place, you would remember that experience and that would affect your feelings. But that probably wouldn't change your feelings toward natural scenery as a whole. I think if you look at a picture of some natural scenery, even if it is totally unfamiliar with you, you'll instinctually feel some level of relaxation, regardless of past experience.

Yeah, I mean places that resemble natural environment, whether viewed in person or in photograph.