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Engineering the Planet

Engineering the Planet. What Compels us to do so?. Science, Technology, Humanity. We are special (different than other animals)  Bible We are uniquely positioned at the center of the Universe  Aristotle The Universe is ordered, logical and rational  Plato (Science without uncertainty)

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Engineering the Planet

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  1. Engineering the Planet What Compels us to do so?

  2. Science, Technology, Humanity • We are special (different than other animals)  Bible • We are uniquely positioned at the center of the Universe  Aristotle • The Universe is ordered, logical and rational  Plato (Science without uncertainty) • With the application of Reason, humankind is unbounded  Descartes • The Newtonian world shows us the machine and it is precise  God’s “technology” plan

  3. Outcomes • Collectively, humankind treats nature as a consumable. • Implicit belief that the world is infinite • Unchecked consumption rates  Industrial output of the world increases by a factor of 40 from 1900 to 2000.

  4. Can humanity be deprogrammed? • Transformation of environmental ethics • Explicit recognition of partnership with nature so that behavior changes • What’s the mechanism to change a world view?

  5. GOD Connectivity Of Atoms HUMANS HUMANS NATURE Super Nova ROCKS TREES TREES ROCKS Everything Is Connected to Everything Disconnected States

  6. William Cronon’s Controversial Essay (1996) • The Trouble with Wilderness • Cronon  Wilderness is everywhere; it constantly surrounds you; we are part of it • Environmental view of Wilderness  a place to protect and a place to visit. • Can Outdoor Education Programs transform the participant’s view of wilderness?

  7. National Outdoor Leadership School • “Leave no Trace Behind” ethic • Does the environment end at wilderness boundary for students, or do they carry home a new environmental ethic of living lightly? • Note: a NOLS course is usually 3-4 weeks in the wilderness

  8. Goal of the Study • To examine the obstacles impeding the transfer of minimum impact ideology from outdoor backcountry experience to the daily lives. • 1) How do students apply their knowledge and understanding of living lightly in the wilderness to their lives at home? • 2) What aspects of their outdoor education experience best facilitate this transfer?

  9. Methodology • Series of structured interviews with self-selected participants • Assess attitudes and concepts towards: the environment, nature, environmentally responsible behaviors, activism. • 1 Pre and several post interviews: immediately after, 1 month after, 6 months after, years after,

  10. General Results • Levels of environmental awareness and appreciation were raised considerably and maintained well after the experience. • Elevated level of passion toward “protecting the environment” • Increased knowledge and attention of environmental issues • Nature feels more intimate • Wilderness remains the distant place to visit

  11. Conclusion 1 • It would appear the NOLS experience has been successful in increasing overall awareness of one’s interaction with nature, the necessity of reducing one’s individual consumption footprint, and the recognition, at least on the intellectual level, that the man is not separate from nature.

  12. But – Conclusion 2 • The integration of the wilderness into the fabric of the individual participant did not occur. Wilderness remains the place that you go to visit, to better ground yourself in simplicity and perspective. • There seems to be no significant transformation of the environmental ethic within the individual at the level of moving away from an “aware” relationship with nature towards a reverent partnership with nature, which Cronon asserts is “The Trouble With Wilderness”.

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