Our "anti-natured" society...

[Tobi]

Originally Posted by Sarian

I prefer to live in the country so I do. I prefer trail running as to running on tarred pavement, so I trail run. I prefer the company of natural surroundings- Trees/birds/animals. I sound anti-social I guess or reclusive but I can't tell you how much it troubles me to see people destroying whatever they get their hands on just because they can or they are jerks. One beautiful park has a fence to prevent people from tumbling down into the gorges...but people who insist they must litter because it's too much of a burden to carry it back home or to a trash can, so they litter the beautiful park and trails but not only that, they go a step further and toss it over the fence where it cannot be easily retrieved to clean up since they can't be bothered to do so.

As for cell phone, it grieves me to see people with their heads buried in their phones even if out walking with another. While I'm thankful for a roof over my head and heat when it's cold and a fan when it's hot (no ac in the house) but it's nice in the car...I would rather spend every minute I can outdoors in nature. Don't relish the thought of getting attacked by any wild animals or bee swarms, nature can be harsh as well ,but I'm thankful I have beautiful surroundings still to go to and enjoy.

What you said sounds like my life, Sarian.

And yes it is very sad to see litter just dumped in lovely places. I pick it up and bring it home to recycle or burn. There are so many in my area, passing through in cars who think it is cool to dump something out of their car windows....some fast-food or soft drink item that will take 1000 years to break down naturally (or even more!)

[Macsen1961]

The further from nature humans get, the sicker humans become.

Since moving back to the property I grew up on, going back to growing vegatables, hunting for meat, raising a couple of steers a year, a funny thing has happened.

My cholesterol has dropped 30 points (even eating red meat,) I have dropped nearly a hundred pounds (not eating less, just eating less processed ****) my shrink has taken me off all psych drugs to treat bipolar disorder (first because the side effects outweighed the benefits, now she says that I really dont need them,) my issues with PTSD has diminished to the point I am not ready to hit dirt every time there is an unexpected noise, my blood pressure has dropped to the point that my primary care doc has cut the meds to a quarter of the original dose.

Now, for some facts:

With each passing decade of technology advancement, up to 100 new forms of cancer are discovered, and cancers that were rare have become more common.

Diseases that were barely a nuisance before processed foods are becoming fatal, and not always due to antibiotic resistance.

Overall, human immune systems have gotten weaker due to dependence on drugs that deal with everything from heartburn to a cold.

It doesnt help that natural selection has been removed from the human genetic equation. 200 years ago, not only were wild animals a threat, but so was the mere act of living. Being stupid weeded out a lot of people.

Today, you can damn near kill yourself after some stunt that started with "hold my beer" and a simple trip to the ER gets you patched up, thus allowing the complete lack of common sense to be passed on to yet another generation.

[Thunder Bow]

Originally Posted by DaiBach

Our Stone Age ancestors weren't that careful about caring for their environment or fauna. For instance, you only have to stand on any Atlantic coast headland to find masses of chipped flint. During the Stoneage, these headlands would have looked like factory floors, with tons of imported stone, and probably, tons of human excrement and waste. As for Stoneage fauna, our ancestors didn't protect their fauna; you don't see any Mammoths, giant elk or sabre tooth tigers trotting round the countryside anymore, because our ancestors slaughter them all.

This is not quite true: It was the end of the Ice Ages that caused this. The plants these animals depended on became less plentiful as the climate warmed. This changed the whole food chain, and these large animals could not adapt to the changing climate.

Hello Thunder Bow,

Originally Posted by Thunder Bow

This is not quite true: It was the end of the Ice Ages that caused this. The plants these animals depended on became less plentiful as the climate warmed. This changed the whole food chain, and these large animals could not adapt to the changing climate.

Interesting you brought this up. I was just reading a blog regarding Mammoths close cousin the Mastodon. Mastodon fossils were found with full stomachs indicating the huge appetite they had, consumed about 500 pounds (1,000 kilos) of food each day. This, made them seek for more food through forests to feast on moss and twigs of cedar, larch, pine, and spruce trees. Their hunger drove them deeper into bogs and swamps in search of food, where they died; knowing the Mastodon had a huge appetite for food, I wouldn't doubt the Mammoth had a similar desire for a full stomach either.

Lepus

[Howla Dark]

I agree that mammoths were not all killed by people. Megafauna such as mammoths, sabre toothed cats, dire wolves, woollen rhinos, cave bears and mastadons vanished at a similar time. Something catastrophic happened there. Humans didn't slaughter these giant beasts all at once.

Besides that, DaiBach, the people of Stonehenge and other parts of the world respected mammoths.

[Tobi]

Originally Posted by Thunder Bow

This is not quite true: It was the end of the Ice Ages that caused this. The plants these animals depended on became less plentiful as the climate warmed. This changed the whole food chain, and these large animals could not adapt to the changing climate.

That is very true.
Also, re: what DaiBach said...the ancient people cared a LOT about their land, the animals, and their relationship with the natural world. It was a spirtual thing as well as based on common sense for survival. They also buried their dead with great ritual and respect. They would not poop where they lived, ate and fed their children any more than we would! And they had obviously never heard of Louis Pasteur!

[Sarian]

Originally Posted by Tobi

What you said sounds like my life, Sarian.

And yes it is very sad to see litter just dumped in lovely places. I pick it up and bring it home to recycle or burn. There are so many in my area, passing through in cars who think it is cool to dump something out of their car windows....some fast-food or soft drink item that will take 1000 years to break down naturally (or even more!)

I went to a place to run that I'd not been to in awhile. Good thing I had my hoodie on with the pockets in the front. I had picked up 5 water bottles...and one empty can of an "energy drink" too bad the poor slug who needed that didn't have the energy to carry it back to his/her car...) I looked like I had a big gut with all those bottles in my hoodie front pockets. Kind of broke my stride having to clean up other's trash but I didn't want to leave them there.

Wish there were more people like you around my neck of the woods (for that matter, this planet!)

[Tobi]

I would like to say the exact same thing to you Sarian! Yes I do the same along my lane, and you would be very welcome to walk along with me! It seems like those 'energy drink' drinkers are the repeat offenders when it comes to litter.

But the other day I found a (Victorian?) glass bottle of McSomebody's "Lung Tonic" in the stream....so there were litter louts even in those days! LOL