Comments on: Why We Love Wilderness http://dissidentvoice.org/2007/05/why-we-love-wilderness/ a radical newsletter in the struggle for peace and social justice Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:07:30 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Eric http://dissidentvoice.org/2007/05/why-we-love-wilderness/#comment-105 Eric Fri, 04 May 2007 04:11:40 +0000 http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2007/05/why-we-love-wilderness/#comment-105 Because of the environment's beauty (however useless beauty is to natural selection) this alone should give humans reasons to preserve it. Michael Crichton claimed something or other that environmentalism is "a religion" and his reasoning seemed to be that this made the environment less worthy of discussion. Wait a minute...(Even though this discussion more philosophical in nature and not religious) if environmentalism is a religion, shouldn't the environment receive that much more value. In other words, if Rivers are holy water for some people, why pour toxic waste into them? Most of us don't destroy cathedrals because we ASSIGN VALUE to them. Most humans do value the environment. Many Americans simply become irritated when you say, "Hey, tone down the capitalism and expansion somewhat because there is endangered species close by." Many people dismiss what they value until its too late and it's gone. Also, many people grow up in cities and do not ever get the aesthetic power from say, rural mountains in Wyoming, and so these people do not assign value to something they never experienced. Hope this was helpful Eric Because of the environment’s beauty (however useless beauty is to natural selection) this alone should give humans reasons to preserve it. Michael Crichton claimed something or other that environmentalism is “a religion” and his reasoning seemed to be that this made the environment less worthy of discussion. Wait a minute…(Even though this discussion more philosophical in nature and not religious) if environmentalism is a religion, shouldn’t the environment receive that much more value. In other words, if Rivers are holy water for some people, why pour toxic waste into them? Most of us don’t destroy cathedrals because we ASSIGN VALUE to them.

Most humans do value the environment. Many Americans simply become irritated when you say, “Hey, tone down the capitalism and expansion somewhat because there is endangered species close by.” Many people dismiss what they value until its too late and it’s gone. Also, many people grow up in cities and do not ever get the aesthetic power from say, rural mountains in Wyoming, and so these people do not assign value to something they never experienced.

Hope this was helpful

Eric

]]> By: joed http://dissidentvoice.org/2007/05/why-we-love-wilderness/#comment-81 joed Thu, 03 May 2007 13:59:01 +0000 http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2007/05/why-we-love-wilderness/#comment-81 Shakespeare or one of those guys said something to the effect that, "Nothing is good or bad except thinking makes it so." Seems to me that the world (universe) is neutral, that is, there is no "intrinsic value." Whatever value there is comes completely from humans. This consciousness that we humans are posessed of is amazing and wonderous and not only do we know we give "value" to the universe but we know that we know, yet most humans are ok with the murder and chaos going on in Iraq--I don't get it. Shakespeare or one of those guys said something to the effect that, “Nothing is good or bad except thinking makes it so.”
Seems to me that the world (universe) is neutral, that is, there is no “intrinsic value.” Whatever value there is comes completely from humans. This consciousness that we humans are posessed of is amazing and wonderous and not only do we know we give “value” to the universe but we know that we know, yet most humans are ok with the murder and chaos going on in Iraq–I don’t get it.

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