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Author | Topic: Evolutionarily Drawn to Nature? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
yetman Junior Member (Idle past 5909 days) Posts: 7 Joined: |
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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AdminNosy Administrator Posts: 4755 From: Vancouver, BC, Canada Joined: |
Thread moved here from the Proposed New Topics forum.
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FliesOnly Member (Idle past 4468 days) Posts: 797 From: Michigan Joined: |
yetman writes: I've often felt the same way about campfires. What is it about a campfire that makes people want to sit around and stare into it? I'm not really talking about the idea of using it for warmth, or the social aspect of it...I talking about how, if you start a campfire, people will show up, sit down, and stare into it. Sure, every once in a while, somebody will poke at it with a stick, toss on a new log, or whatever. But most people just sit there and stare. Obviously, it's our ancestral "fire gene" I'm curious why it's so relaxing to be in nature or to look at natural scenery.![]()
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anglagard Member (Idle past 1160 days) Posts: 2339 From: Socorro, New Mexico USA Joined: |
FliesOnly writes: I've often felt the same way about campfires. What is it about a campfire that makes people want to sit around and stare into it? I'm not really talking about the idea of using it for warmth, or the social aspect of it...I talking about how, if you start a campfire, people will show up, sit down, and stare into it. Sure, every once in a while, somebody will poke at it with a stick, toss on a new log, or whatever. But most people just sit there and stare. Obviously, it's our ancestral "fire gene" . A perceptive observation, one shared by the followers of Hecate and Zoroaster. Read not to contradict and confute, not to believe and take for granted, not to find talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider - Francis Bacon The more we understand particular things, the more we understand God - Spinoza
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Larni Member (Idle past 177 days) Posts: 4000 From: Liverpool Joined: |
Welcome to EvC, dude!
You dead right with your point about familiarity with ones territory. Anxiety patients almost universally feel better in some locations they count as home ground and feel higher levels aof anxiety in places where they do not have an 'escape route'. 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. Also, we often take holidays in areas of outstanding natural beauty and we can learn the association between such places and rest and relaxation. 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 ![]() 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. Edited by Larni, : No reason given.
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DevilsAdvocate Member (Idle past 3425 days) Posts: 1548 Joined: |
I've often felt the same way about campfires. What is it about a campfire that makes people want to sit around and stare into it? I'm not really talking about the idea of using it for warmth, or the social aspect of it...I talking about how, if you start a campfire, people will show up, sit down, and stare into it. Sure, every once in a while, somebody will poke at it with a stick, toss on a new log, or whatever. But most people just sit there and stare. Obviously, it's our ancestral "fire gene". Here are my thoughts on the facination with fire. Fire is certainly unlike anything else we find in nature. From a pre-modern science standpoint, the flames of fire defy the natural tendancy for most objects to fall to the earth (i.e. gravity), it's colors are unlike any others we can find in nature (most living organisms are shades of green and brown with a few exceptions), it has an etherial property (that is you can pass your hand through the flame and not be able to tangibly feel anything besides its heat), fire consumes whatever it touches leaving a chared hulk or dust of what was once there, and fire is very animate and flames constantly flicker, fade, grow and change colors depending on what it is consuming. That is my thoughts of why humans find it so facinating to watch fires. This facination of fire has existed with the human race probably since an early homo sapien first fixed his gaze at a tree struck by lightning later becoming engulfed by flames. This principle of facination with the unexpected and unknown can also be expanded out to the rest of nature. For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring. Dr. Carl Sagan
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yetman Junior Member (Idle past 5909 days) Posts: 7 Joined: |
quote:Thanks! It's great to be here. quote:True, being alone may put you at ease, but I'm curious why the very act of observing natural scenery is relaxing. quote: 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.
quote: 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.
quote: That's an experience that I'll have to try ![]()
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bluescat48 Member (Idle past 4513 days) Posts: 2347 From: United States Joined: |
No smog, no noise, no bossy, irritating or pushy people...
There is no better love between 2 people than mutual respect for each other WT Young, 2002 Who gave anyone the authority to call me an authority on anything. WT Young, 1969
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petrophysics1 Inactive Member |
Yetman,
I see you have gotten several answers to your OP. You along with several posters to lesser or greater degree appear to REMOVE humans from your natural scene. Any ideas about why people are doing that? Don't you, or them, believe people are a part of nature? The presence of my wife, or my three sons, or my good friends, or whoever, makes me think a place is even more enjoyable. People excluding other humans from nature, or what they consider a "natural scene", makes me wonder to no small degree about the social and political opinions people like that hold. Do you think it represents a hatred of others?
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DevilsAdvocate Member (Idle past 3425 days) Posts: 1548 Joined: |
I have to agree with BluesCat in that for many people (not necessarily all) a return to nature serves as an escape valve for the hustle and bustle of modern life.
I know for me, even today, taking my daughter to the park which is nestled next to a large lake surrounded by hundreds of acres of woods is relaxing. No TV, computer, nagging wife (just kidding or maybe not ![]() For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring. Dr. Carl Sagan
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bluescat48 Member (Idle past 4513 days) Posts: 2347 From: United States Joined: |
Do you think it represents a hatred of others? No. My reasons stated in the above message were personal in nature. Natural settings, in my case wilderness or at least a forested park is totally relaxing. Prior to my retirement, I sometimes worked as many as 27 consecutive days without a day off. Both my time in the military and at the post office. Getting away from the hustle was the most relaxing thing to me. My comments about bossy, irritating or pushy people are in regard to the way many people come off, particularly when they are stressed out or angry, not necessarily with the person they are talking to, but such things do "rub off" in such situations. My going to nature, as it would be to me, the non urban areas, gave me a chance to get the irritation, stress & anger away. Working for the U S Government for over 30 years tends to build up a lot of stress. Nature was the one way I could put up with it. There is no better love between 2 people than mutual respect for each other WT Young, 2002 Who gave anyone the authority to call me an authority on anything. WT Young, 1969
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yetman Junior Member (Idle past 5909 days) Posts: 7 Joined: |
petrophysics1,
quote: 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.
quote:Not at all, it's just a simple way to distinguish between man-made things and (non-man-made?) natural things. bluescat48,
quote: 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.
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bluescat48 Member (Idle past 4513 days) Posts: 2347 From: United States Joined: |
my answer to your question is in post #11
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DevilsAdvocate Member (Idle past 3425 days) Posts: 1548 Joined: |
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. Some people would choose option A and some B. It has to do with a lot of different factors: how was that person raised (did he or she grow up in the city with vert little surrounding natural scenery or in the country around nature), their personality (do they like the hustle and bustle of city life or do they like a slower paced life - that also will be affected by the first factor of how they were raised), religion, culture, etc. Doing a stastical analysis of these answers will only prove that a lot of different factors play into what option people choose. I myself would choose B due to my exposure of nature as a boy. I was an Air Force brat who grew up in some remote places (Edwards AFB in the mojave desert of CA, Eglin AFB, Wheeler AFB in HI, Guam and other remote places). I also was a Boy Scout and backpacked and camped all over the Sierra Madre as well as hiked in the mountains on Oahu in HI. For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring. Dr. Carl Sagan
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onifre Member (Idle past 3274 days) Posts: 4854 From: Dark Side of the Moon Joined: |
Hi yetman,
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.
I travel a lot, im on about 6 flights per month. There is nothing like walking into a 4-5 Star Hotel, stepping foot into a high-end suite, and ordering room service while watching tv in your boxer shorts. Then, laying down on a plush king size bed and getting under a goose down comforter. It's simply an awesome feeling after a long flight. However... With that said, I just came back from fishing in the Florida Keys today, (suffer Northerners! It was 80 degrees today in Miami ![]() If I had to choose, I'd say the beach or the ocean. Edited by onifre, : spelling "All great truths begin as blasphemies" "I smoke pot. If this bothers anyone, I suggest you look around at the world in which we live and shut your mouth."--Bill Hicks "I never knew there was another option other than to question everything"--Noam Chomsky
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