These are all great points. But balance would argue that care for the
environment should stem both from an appreciation of its utility as
well as from moral sensibilities. Indeed, there has been a long-
standing debate in philosophy on the utilitarianism vs. intrinsic
rights as a basis for preserving nature. Granted, I haven't quite
said where love fits into this - but would offer that we can love
something both because we recognize we need it, as well as just for
itself.
Heather Reynolds
Associate Professor
Department of Biology
Jordan Hall 142
Indiana University
1001 E 3rd Street
Bloomington IN 47405
Ph: (812) 855-0792
Fax: (812) 855-6705
[email protected]
On Jan 6, 2009, at 10:39 AM, Jane Shevtsov wrote:
I don't know about parasitologists, but the mycologists I know are
more enthused about their subjects than any other group of biologists
I've met! "Loving" something in nature has, for many scientists,
nothing to do with conventional beauty. (Luckily for most of us,
something similar applies to human relationships.) My work is in basic
science, without immediate practical application, and I wouldn't be
doing it if I didn't love forests and food webs.
However, I agree with your larger concern. While I'm all for getting
people to experience nature, it makes me cringe to hear people say
care for the environment depends on such experiences or love of
nature. Do you love your water main, the farms that grow your food,
penicillin? This is about life support, people!
Jane Shevtsov
On Tue, Jan 6, 2009 at 8:01 AM, William Silvert
<[email protected]> wrote:
Although this sounds like a lovely book, I am not terribly
comfortable with
the concept, at least not in connetion with an ecology mailing
list. Part of
our work as scientists is promoting a rational, rather than romantic,
concern for our environment, and while some of us (like Ehrlich)
may have
gotten involved with ecology because of an emotional attachment to
beautiful
creatures, many of us are having difficulty defending the role of
the ugly
and even disgusting organisms that are an essential part of
ecosystems (such
as detritivores).
I am curious to know how many parasitologists and mycologists feel
that
their life's work was rooted in some "rapturous love affair" with
tapeworms
or mildew. Who ever fell in love with nematodes and polychaetes?
(Although
my late friend Peter Schwinghamer had a sign over his door saying
"Worms can
teach us awe and wonder.")
My concern has a practical side to it. There are seal species far
more at
risk than harp seals, but mottled grey beasts with nasty teeth do
not seem
to attract the support of anti-sealing campaigners. It is hard to
argue that
the biodiversity of beautiful flowers in Costa Rica is more vital
to our
survival than the worms crawling around in the mud of the North
Sea, but
much of the emphasis on conservation of biodiversity focusses on
tropical
hot spots rather than the low and dirty.
I don't want to discourage anyone from enjoying the beauty of the
natural
enviornment, but I also want to remind the scientific community
that ecology
is not about beauty, it is about systems that often do not appeal
to our
aesthetic sense. I like my work, but manage not to get too
emotionally
involved!
Bill Silvert
----- Original Message ----- From: "Jamie Reaser"
<[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, January 05, 2009 10:44 PM
Subject: [ECOLOG-L] New Book for Nature Enthusiasts
Dear Nature Enthusiasts -
Hiraeth Press and Ecos Systems Institute are please to announce the
publication of:Courting the Wild: Love Affairs with the Land,
edited by
Dr. Jamie K. Reaser and Ms. Susan Chernak McElroy.
Do you remember the first time you fell in love?
Within these pages will you find love stories, rapturous love
affairs with
the land, longings, shameless seductions, betrothals, vows
exchanged,
marriages of the soul, heartaches, partings, healings, and
renewals. The
authors are the courters and the courted.Their landscape paramours
embrace
them and they grow forth from within.
"A stirring book.filled with transcendent and highly personal
moments of
revelation, of awe, reverence, and love for nature.the profound
truth and
magic of becoming one with life on Earth. This book is for anyone
anywhere.from the camper's backpack to bedside tables." - Dr. Thomas
Lovejoy, President, The H. John Heinz III Center for Science,
Economics
and the Environment
"Like many ecologists, I had a love affair with nature (especially
with
butterflies) long before I became a scientist. The love affairs
described
here will either tell you what I mean, or remind you of your own
affair.
Either way, you'll enjoy them." - Dr. Paul Ehrlich, co-author of the
Dominant Animal: Human Evolution and the Environment
Available from:
- Hiraeth Press: www.hiraethpress.com
- www.amazon.com
A limited number of signed copies are available, contact Dr. Jamie
K.
Reaser at [email protected]. If you'd like to help promote the
book,
please e-mail Jamie for a flyer.
--
-------------
Jane Shevtsov
Ecology Ph.D. student, University of Georgia
co-founder, <a href="http://www.worldbeyondborders.org";>World Beyond
Borders</a>
Check out my blog, <a
href="http://perceivingwholes.blogspot.com";>Perceiving Wholes</a>
"Political power comes out of the look in people's eyes." --Kim
Stanley Robinson, _Blue Mars_
