Nature vs Technology: The Utopian Illusion

“A world with technology and no nature could create a utopian society!” This is the conclusion one would come across if one only watched the classic Hanna-Barbera cartoon: The Jetsons. Although the ideas of buildings hovering in the sky, and flying cars compressing into a light suit case are fun to imagine, it is not very realistic, if not for the fictitious technology, but for the fact that the people are content with being separated from everything of natural origin. Unfortunately, as humans, we see utopia as the Jetsons model, where the skies are clean and there is almost no backlash to a luxurious lifestyle. It is for this reason that it would be difficult to convince people to live a more biophilic and nature-connected life, largely due

Unfortunately, this is no easy task. Although people may be willing to put a recycle bin in their office to guilt their workers into occasionally tossing a soda bottle in, when one starts to talk about moving people out to more natural settings, or even planting a park in their local empty lot, people can get nervous. Much of this is due to the presence of a negativistic attitude present in many humans, and especially within people who have grown up in an urban environment. The negativistic attitude is one of nine values coined by Stephen Kellert, in his publication The Value of Life, and it deals with the fact that people will sometimes view nature through the lens of intimidation and fear. Sadly, this type of attitude can eventually lead to all-around apathy to environmental concerns. Beyond this value, I feel people often oppose a more nature filled lifestyle, because they are simply stubborn. Many people live in cities without much interaction with natural settings, simply because it can be much cheaper and therefore very attractive to those who are poor. Even if one tried to convince these people that a more natural setting could be vital to health, they may still stubbornly deny it, saying that it is more important that they save money and maintain the lifestyle they have become accustomed